Not an Obs as such but a moveable pier!

[Stargazer33]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can spot the many obvious flaws in my plan that I have missed.

When we moved into our current home I removed a rockery near to the house to make a small patio for us to sit on (have breakfast/lunch/dinner) etc. Well this was soon lined with plants in pots by my wife which made it very tight when there was more than just the two of us using it!

Since getting myself a telescope - and the inevitable bigger scope! - I was wondering about a better solution rather than carting the mount/tripod in and out of the bungalow every time I wanted to use the scope.

On the suggestion of extending the patio to make more room...cough, cough ...I was thinking about leaving one of the slabs loose. Probably resting on a lip similar to the ones that cover manholes etc. Under this would be a pier base set into the ground - usual 3x3 foot cube with studs set into it to take a metal pier. The slab would be in place for normal everyday life, then when I wanted to become 'Astroman', I lift the slab (I was thinking of cutouts down opposite sides to get levers under to lift it. I would love to just press a button and the slab drops down and then slide sideways but I think that is watching too much Thunderbirds as a child!). I could then drop the pier over the studs add the nuts and nip up tight.

Everything would be set up so that the pier would face the NCP as near as possible. Once the pier was in place I would then only need to carry the mount outside and drop that onto the pier, add the counterweights and scope, balance and away I go!

I know I'm going to get a lot of reflected heat setting up on concrete/slabs but that is what I do at the moment anyway! There is also a pond very nearby which will be turned into an Italian sunken garden with ornamental pond as part of the patio extension! So that will mean excess moisture in the air but as before I have to cope with that at the moment too.

If you are still reading and have managed to get to the end of this ramble; first, well done! Second, any thoughts?

Bryan

[r3i]

It would possibly be feasible to do. The only issue is the additional time and effort incurred in setting up and taking down, i.e. lifting the slab and lugging the pier around.

A number of people have made indents in slabs where the tripod feet will sit, so they have a repeatable location where the tripod can be placed for each session. This might be a lot more convenient and is quite unobtrusive.

[Zakalwe]

Get something like a Skywatcher pier

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-pillar-mount-support-for-heq5-eq6-series-mounts.html

Then a set of speaker spikes

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=Monacor+SPS-30/SC+Speaker+Spikes+X4&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9836027032438895061&sa=X&ei=5-BuUNCVCrCW0QWt0IHgAw&ved=0CDkQ8wIwAA

Replace the pier feet with the speaker spikes.

Get the pier in the right place and then drill 3 small holes to locate the spikes.

Hey presto......you can drop the pier into the same spot night after night without having to lift the slab.

[pete_l]

If you can make one of the patio slabs "structural" so it's firmly attached to terra-firma, rather than just being laid on a level bed of loose material, there may be another solution.

Looking at the pier in Zakalwe's post, it has some screw threaded feet. If it's possible to get some bolts that will mate with these, you could drill holes in the fixed slab and use something like a polyester resin to stick the bolts firmly recessed into the slab (maybe with some small covers/inserts to keep dirt out).

Then you would only have to screw the threaded feet of the pier into those bolts to register the correct position. That way the pier would be resting on something solid, the bolts would ensure it was aligned and you wouldn't have to pull up a slab when you wanted to observe.

[anthony]

I think your idea is a good one and it would work. It could be made easier though depending on what you are allowed to get away with.

Fix the pier as you have described but leave it up all the time and make it pretty! The only thing to take on and off is the mount head. When it is off, place a sundial or bird bath or bird feeder or breakfast tray shelf - or some such thing on top. I am sure that you can think of something that is ornamental, functional or aesthetic that is agreeable to your wife.

In my garden I have an apple tree that is on its last legs. When it goes, it'll be cut fairly level at a height that will be good base for a table top that we can all sit round. The table top fixing will be identical to a pier top mounting plate.

[r3i]

Fix the pier as you have described but leave it up all the time and make it pretty! The only thing to take on and off is the mount head.

That's what I did at our last house. When not in use I covered it with a Telegizmos cover. Those not in the know thought it was some kind of barbecue, though I doubt it looked pretty:

I've done the same for now at our new house but hopefully soon an observatory will materialise around it.

[Stargazer33]

Thanks for all the replies!

It was an out loud thought as I am going to be extending the patio anyway and I had my crazy idea for incorporating a more permanent fixing for my mount.

It probably would be more effort than just carrying my mount into the garden and aligning the feet with indentations in the paving. I guess you know what happens, I sit looking at the forum whilst on my lunch break at work and I look through the DIY Observatories forum and before you know it I am coming up with hairbrained schemes about palm trees bending to the sides, swimming pools opening up and my telescope and mount rising out of the ground all ready to go! I wonder if the goldfish will be distrubed if the pond suddenly slide to one side?

Maybe i will leave that one for next year!

Bryan

[fwm891]

There are piers that extend upwards from ground level to a few feet above ground (telescopic piers) not sure how good they are, probably pricey!

http://www.dd1us.de/Downloads/A%20telescopic%20column%20as%20a%20pier%20for%20your%20telescope%200v4.pdf

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4222563/Main/4222114

[Stargazer33]

Unless the swimming pool slides sideways and the palm trees bend to the side it really doesn't seem the same!

[toxic]

why not set up the pier permanently and put a square piece of wood on the top to make it look like a bird table then just swap the wood for your mount less lifting

[toxic]

sorry missed Anthony's post