Scorpius

Nice observatory and website BTW. Guess a I got a little caught up discussing my future plans and failed to mention that...

Thanks for the response and yes they do seem cost prohibitive so I'll need to re-think the pier to mount transition. Currently in the planning stages but have scheduled a week off in mid-May to get started with the goal of at least completing the pier sub-base and mounting the pier extension. Thanks to a friend at work - think I've found a good piece of scrap pipe for the pier extension which has a flange with holes all around for bolting it to the concrete sub-base. Have been debating if I would start this year and it looks like I will and just hope I can get it under roof and functional before cold weather sets in so I can use it this winter. I'm not new to construction - but always seem to over-engineer things - so that will be something I'll need to guard against during this build. The obsy will be on the same site as a four-season gazebo I built over the course of several years and below is a picture of that structure just prior to completion (meaning the steps you see were temporary and have now been replaced). I'm excited to finally get started on a permanent observatory as the constant setting up and taking down of equipment is getting old...

I'm trying to make a decision on the type of pier I want to construct for a roll-off roof observatory. After a lot of research, a concrete pier seems the most simple but the thing I'm unsure about is the transition from concrete to mount (Currently the Celestron AVX). Unless you put in a steel pier attached to a concrete "sub-pier" most of the DIY ones seem to be poured concrete and incorporate the "rat trap" design for the transition which must work reasonably well since so many are constructed this way. However, I want the ability to upgrade the mount at some point in the future without worrying if bolts will line up or drilling new holes in the pier and fooling around with industrial strength epoxy. Their mount specific adapter plates seem to fit the bill but my two major concerns: #1- The plates are machined from aluminum rather than steel and #2- There's only 3 mounting bolts for the main base plate as opposed to the typical 4. Of course another concern is price but since it seems the pier is the heart of the observatory, I'd be willing to make the investment if it's a stable solution that would prevent headaches upgrading in the future. I'm looking at building a 12" pier - even though that's probably overkill for the AVX and an 8" SCT - but this is the kit I would need. http://www.pierplates.com/products_2564.html Homepage - http://www.pierplates.com/index.html Anyone ever use this modular design and if so what are your thoughts/recommendations? Are they worth it?