After a few days that hinted we might see some good weather I have to confess responsibility for today's clouds. Yesterday I commissioned a local Cairns engineering company to fabricate me a new permanent pier and to machine up a top adaptor plate.
I currently use an HEQ5 Pro mount on it's tripod and living north of Cairns means having an extension pier to allow the counterweight to clear the front leg of the tripod. The new adaptor plate will allow me to attach the mount to the pier using the top part of the current extension pier, avoiding the rats nest cage approach.
I have attached rough sketches if anyone is interested, they were done in Excel as I didn't have access to drafting software, so they are rough.
