Pier and Observatory

[icftoo (George)]

Hi All,
I have started making my pier and building an observatory so i thought i would share the build. I have done a far bit of research and there is so much info and a lot of people willing to share too. So hopefully I can help others with there builds and help people save $$. Anyway here goes.

I have decided to go with a steel pier. I was originally going to use Universal Beam but finally went with tube (so I can fill it up will dampening material TBC but probably sand).

The dimensions of the pier are as follows:
Diameter - 220mm
Length - 1250mm - allowing for the floor - final height of pier from floor level will be 1000mm.
Welded to 500mm sq 16mm plate
Cost of pier $330

The pier will be capped with 10mm plate which will rotate to facilitate alignment. It will have 3 bolts tapped so it can be secured in place on the tube. The adapter plate will be secured to the top plate which is then secured to the cap by 3 leveling bolts. I have a Celestron CGEM1100 and the adapter plate is being made by a friend at work for free (well maybe for beer).

The Observatory will be made from a modified Zincalume garden shed.
Dimensions of 3m x 2.2m
Sitting on a wooden floor which will be built around the pier, not touching, of course I'm still procrastinating over the roof design but I may go for a hinged roof where it opens in 2 parts.

Thats it for now - i'll post photos soon.

Cheers
George

[I.C.D (Ian)]

G'Day George,
I think the 3x2.2 may be a little to small I have a 3x3x2 and I have ran out of room (Meade LXD75 8"SN ),I also have wood floor bolted and mounted on piers 600mm into the ground,my roof is a roll off made from 20mm x 20mm RHS I used 40mm s/steel uni-strut bolted to the frame and 30mm wheel bearing to roll the roof off all the walls are strapped to the floor so it wont be blown away.I have lost half the roof one day forgot to bolt it after use one night went away for the day came home to find half laying down the paddock and every thing wet, one lesson learnt the hard way.If want to know any more give a ring 0412998031
Ian C

[koputai (Jason)]

George,

That's a good sized pier. Mine is a similar size, 235mm diameter.

Are you sure you need the adapter plate and the accompanying flexy stand-off/adjustment bolts? Doesn't your CGEM mount have the ability to be fine tuned in azimuth (rotation of the mount on the tripod mounted base)? My current mount is the EQ6Pro, and the way it mounts on the tripod looks remarkably the same as yours does in picture 4. I am having my top cap welded on as an integral part of the pier, and am bolting the top of an EQ6 pier extension to the top of it. Essentially, the top of my pier will look like the top of the tripod in picture 4. This eliminates the flex issues of an adapter plate.

Not sure I understand how you are going to be putting that cap on top of the pier. Will it just plop on top then be fixed in place by three bolts which just hold by friction, or will there be tapped holes in the pier to match where the holes are in the cap?

Cheers,
Jason.