Jonk

I actually started to draw this pier up about a year ago! It's been ripped off from a well known UK astro engineering firm I say ripped off, I basically copied the pier based on the reasons for the shape and customised the height etc. to suit my garden. It was made by a supplier we use at work as a favour, based on him using excess materials and rescuing a 220mm diameter steel pipe from the waste. As it didn't cost me anything, I was happy to wait. Hopefully, it'll be vibration free - it's certainly going to be more than strong and rigid enough. Or to coin a phrase, "strong and stable"!

I know! The belts I bought from the link above took 2 days. My guess is that OVL would have them come in on a regular stock shipment from China... Literally on a ship. Even then, I suspect the belts only cost a pound or so each for Skywatcher, if that. Nevermind, the replacements are fine, I'm just running them in.

I also received a reply from OVL: For such belt, the BOM is 5.13.006.0039 and unit price is £17.85 including P&P for UK delivery We can order a replacement DEC drive belt for your AZ-EQ6GT with delivery in approx. 4 months. Hmm 4 months and 4x the price per belt? No thanks!

The replacement belts have arrived, seem to be ok. Here are some pictures.

Thanks Dave - it does look nice, but it's how it performs that's the key. Saturday looks to be the day to mix and pour, 1 chance to get it right! Yes the image is mine, Grant asked me to use it, there are also some of my photos on the new SGLSP pages - you're in a couple of them, you're famous!

I measured the original with a set of vernier callipers, and it was roughly 6.5mm. On the order page, you manually type the width, and it didn't complain at 6.5mm so hopefully it's ok. The number of teeth match the original, so it should be fine.

Booked for the week - hopefully house buying won't get in the way!

It has arrived! Very heavy and well finished with a weather proof coating over black powder coat. I have a cement mixer to collect than weather permitting, I can get the concrete poured at the weekend and finally get this thing in place. I'm also hoping that this will last a lifetime.

Thanks very much for the link, I've ordered 2 to replace both belts. It didn't feel too tight when I took it apart and didn't notice the break, but if there was a weakness there, I've probably found it at the best time. I'll update once delivered and fitted.

As it has been raining all day, I pulled my AZ-EQ6 mount apart to give it a clean, regrease and reset the worms. After about 3 hours work, I put it back together and started to test when I heard a clicking noise from the dec axis. Turns out the drive belt has snapped - although not completely as it's metal reinforced. I don't know if I did it without realising, but it's definitely now useless. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement? I've emailed Optical Vision and hope they can help with a part number or even supply one. The wording on the belt is MEGADYNE T2,5 177,5 2412

Well, it's been a long wait but I received this photo yesterday... The next step is to grind, finish, powder coat, gloss then spray with an industrial coating for lifetime protection. Having now seen the pier, which is my own design, I'm now anxious to receive it and get the concrete poured.

You sure have! I haven't weighed it yet, need a new battery for the bathroom scales

Yes, I think it's in this thread somewhere. It's Sumerian Alkaid 16" and yes, it is cool!

My moonlight is orange - I like it!

An older thread, but I've started looking into this again and still can't find the info I need. Does anyone have a list of part numbers / supplier for the SKF bearings required for the AZ-EQ6?

Thanks for the info Steve, I'll look up more on the Ronchi and Focault tests.

@FLO Was there ever a decision on a test stamp, or certificate? Also, what does the testing involve, just a laser through the centre? I'm curious to know how the testing identifies misaligned lenses.

An update - here are some of the latest photos of the pier, now it's complete. You can also see the 8" home made reflector. Very clever guy.

Which frame have you chosen as the reference? Pick the best by eye, then stack say the first half of your subs, then same again with the other half. It might weed the issue out.

300mm fl - Lens creep?

Here's mine so far, nothing special but I'm slowly building up a reasonable set. Ethos and Naglers etc. will come...one day!

In photoshop, you can load all of your frames as individual layers - as long as you have the latest Camera Raw installed, so PS can read the CR2 files. You can then do an automatic layer alignment, with 'median' filter - this should at least line them all up, and you can turn all layers off, then on 1 by 1 to see what's going on. Look up loneyspeck.com, he has some video tutorials, which should work for what you're ttying to find out.

So, after hearing the my pier is not ready yet (he's down on welders at the moment, so it's at the bottom of the queue!), no worrise though, as it's not costing me anything so can't complain and I'm happy to wait. In the meantime, I thought I'd measure out for a basic obsy with 3 walls, to be put up against the fence. It would have a basic hinged or roll off roof, as I was originallygoing to go the route of tarpaulin and dustbin to protect the mount, or basic box to begin with, but I think I might regret it. Bearing in mind I'm hoping to move in a year or so, so I don't want to go to town on this, but needs to be easy to put up initially, and easy to take down again. I put the mount in the rough position it would be on the pier once ready, and the largest scope that I'll be mounting, in order to get the footprint measured. Oh dear - this would be bigger than I thought! The scope is pointing south and the masking tape shows the minimum internal size, with a couple of inches to spare. I could make it a lot smaller to house just the mount, but I didn't want to risk a random slew (it does happen!) without my knowing, to find out the scope has hit a wall. With the worst case footprint sorted out, I decided to have a go at Sketchup to come up with the drawing. Having had working experience of both Solidworks and Pro Engineer, I understand what it's all about, so no brainer. Here's a couple of options, frame + OSB3, or frame + shiplap cladding. The cladding undoubtedly looks nicer, but costs double that of the OSB3. The open end will be up against the fence, or I'll board that end too, to make a reasonably sealed box. There will need to be a door, so I was simply going to hinge a board like so: It will sit freely on the patio, but I may set it down with something - no drilling or cutting the slabs, any pointers? The height of the walls will match the fence (2ish metres) as any lower is pointless due to the surrounding houses and trees. Next is the issue of the roof....a simple roll on roll off is most likely, and that's next on the list. Material for the fram and the OSB3 is looking like around £300, frame + cladding is nearer £500. Seeing as it'll be coming down in a year or so, OSB3 painted with bitumen is probably wise? Any other thoughts so far?

I have a couple of bits to move on: SW ST80 refractor with built in dew heater - F5 400mm, good for a guide scope - will include rings and a short vixen dovetail (if I can find it). £50 **Reserved for reddoss** Phillips SPC880 (SPC 900 FW) camera with nosepiece and original lens. Good as a basic guide camera, or solar / lunar / planetary cam, or even as a good webcam. It doesn't have the LX mod. £40. Starsharp Bahtinov mask for a 150P reflector. May work on a 6" refractor too. It has a crack in it (I trod on it in the dark!) but works fine. £10 Skywatcher EQ3/5 flexible control cable thing - it's about 12" long and black. £5. These items are no longer needed so need a new home. I'll be on Kingfisher 15 all week.

Just found this on the mobile. Testing the frac I recently bought from Derek (DRT) a couple of weeks ago.