pier-tech anyone?

[Rols]

Anyone had any dealing with these piers?

i'm toying with the purchase of one, i have little space apart from down by the house along the fence line with a small home made obsy, i need something to take me above the fence line with a 12"LX and guide scope, after hours of trawling this was the best i could find (costly)

but lesser restriction i will completely loose North from my observing so clearing the east fence is a must.

any info appreciated and ideas considered.

i did toy with converting the roof of the house (or a part of it) but after reading into it i could struggle with long exposure shots due to the pier not going to ground (vibration)

anyway enough for now, thanks for reading.

[r3i]

I've got a pier-tech as my garden pier and I'm pleased with it. The alloy materials that it's made out of stand up well to been out in the elements 24/7 (although I do have a Telegizmos cover over it to afford it some protection). Also the twin beams have slots running up them which enables easy attachment of shelving etc.

Mine is the simple fixed height pillar one - are you thinking about one of the fancy ones that is motorised and rises up and down?

The downside is the price - I was very lucky and got mine second hand.

[Rols]

Good to hear someone has one in use,lucky to get that 2nd hand also that your happy with it.

i'm in need of the height adjustment to breach the fences to the east as i already lose north due to the house. if i can peek above the fence i will feel a lot better about it.

[r3i]

My pier was in fact a pedestal section that originally went with a pier-tech motorised unit. The chap that sold me it had himself bought them second hand and he only needed the motorised part. He gave me a demo of its operation when I went to pick up my pier - quite impressive.

[Rols]

i was hoping to sit a nice wedge on it but i have had to except a meade super for the time being, i will do some upgrades to it before it gets a scope on it..

i was expecting some info from the guys a pier-tech but it would seem, i'm not so lucky they have dragged heel for 3 days now without even a thankyou for your enquiry.

maybe they get bored of the same questions.

[Horwig]

Just a thought Rols, what about this from the people where I got my actuator, no idea of price though.

Alpha electric column

Huw

[Starlight 1]

Have you ever look up Hydraulic jacks used on car & truck gearbox removing.

[Rols]

http://tinyurl.com/6xntohk

I have been looking into a couple of different options this is one of them, but prices are not easy to find, currently waiting for a reply on this one.

also waiting to find out what the elevated max movement is, one was measured at a maximum of 1mm at full elevation.

[Horwig]

Hi Rols, you might find this interesting, I knew I'd seen it somewhere, just came accross it again...

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/EF-cTi9KpbtaFN574CmX7jLGSlhi7bhyyl6BLh02WHyQoP-nUfgw-AEkisdT_gciejeF1p61Us84KMQS2qoJ5E4xCuD_4g/telescoping%20pier.pdf

Cheers

Huw

[r3i]

Hi Rols,

Not sure if this is the kind of thing you're after but there's this for sale on ebay at the moment from Poland: ELECTRIC ACTUATOR LIFTING COLUMN LP2 LP2-2.1R-300-24 LINAK | eBay

Spec sheet available here: LINAK

[Rols]

Page not found i will try and break down the link and see if i can get it to open...Nope...

Hi Rols, you might find this interesting, I knew I'd seen it somewhere, just came accross it again...

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/EF-cTi9KpbtaFN574CmX7jLGSlhi7bhyyl6BLh02WHyQoP-nUfgw-AEkisdT_gciejeF1p61Us84KMQS2qoJ5E4xCuD_4g/telescoping%20pier.pdf

Cheers

Huw

@R3i- i took a look at this link but think that i would do better to buy local after reading the auction details...i need to know i can ask a question and get an answer i understand and think local is best. if i had experience in this i may have taken a gamble.

i am currently talking with Thompson about the Pier the offer, we are discussing the possible use of a locking bolt or 2 to pin the unit at max elevation and stop any possibility of movement from the mount, they have suggested there is enough clearance to adapt this to make it work, promising to say the least, they seem to be slow actaully getting me a cost though..

[Rols]

Just a thought Rols, what about this from the people where I got my actuator, no idea of price though.

Alpha electric column

Huw

It would seem Horwig found a gem, i have talked to them all and this one without doubt shines like a star.

A little more info, price was not factored at this stage.

this is not a review this is just what i found as i looked into the practical installation for my observatory, anything said here is entirely my own opinion.

Thompson T16 is bearing guided and has a play tolerance of max 1mm at min/max elevation, no serviceable adjustment after a period of wear, standard service at main dealer or manufacturer only. Price was hard to get and still i dont know the actual cost in total..

Pier tech2 no UK outlet apart from one slightly lackluster web outlet, looks to be a great product but when asked if the guiding shims were available as spares for self service, i was greeted with a no there are no shims.. I asked for a proforma invoice 9 days ago and still nothing has come.

The Alpha Column stroke upto 900mm zero twist/shift, nylon shim guider at top and bottom of every stroke each four corners, fully self serviceable and shims self adjustable with the use of just a screwdriver. when asked what the total was and what the service costs would likely be if undertaken at the suppliers i was pleased to hear very little. the cost was verbally estimated instantly.

i have had at depth conversation by mail or verbal with all three options and it would seem to me that Alpha Columns come up good all round. thanks Horwig for the heads up.

Rols

[Horwig]

"Page not found" on the yahoo site, probably need to registerl onto that forum. But r3i has the link to the LINAK site, who are the manufacturers of what appears to be re-sold as the pier-tech column, which is basically what the article on the atm site was about. But pleased the IDGB Alpha column came out trumps, I can only hope that it lives up to your expectations. I bought the actuator for my column from them, and had exceptionally good service. As I said before, their product is not cheap, but personally, I've given up on trying to achieve something for nothing.

Good kit costs, and there are very few exceptions to this rule!

I wish you all the best with your obsy. You will never regret making a solid home for your kit, the sort that you can rig and strike between clouds, as you find me tonight, fighting good old Welsh weather.

Huw