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Pier cover or shed, please help


tramsden

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Hi

I've dug my hole in the garden and will soon fill with concrete, I have my threaded bolts ready to sink into before it sets. Onto the bolts I have a pier from epsilon telescope to mount.

After that I don't know what to do. Initially I was going to keep my HEQ5 mount inside and cover the pier with some sort of weatherproof cover, like a chimnea cover or similar. I'm now wondering wether I can leave the HEQ5 mount on the pier all the time.

Is this ok to do and is there a better way to protect it all from the elements, I would love to have a little obsy/shed around it but space is limited so would have to be compact.

Any suggestions welcome.

Tony

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If your not planning on leaving scopes attached to the mount then you can have a very small enclosure. Main thing is keeping things dry - avoid materials that are going to gather a lot of condensation

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A roll-off for pier and mount only could be very small. A roll off for pier, mount and scope has to be much larger, about 1.25 metres square and 2M high in my case. The height is surprising but can be reduced if you don't mind the risk of hitting the scope if it is not stored in the horizontal position.

Olly

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How about a Box structure that has a long piano type hinge down the middle of one side some clasps down the middle of the opposite side so you end up with a square wooden tube that goes around the pier and mount, then a top that fits over so there no water ingress, when you want to use the mount, remove the top, undo the clasps, open it up and place it to one side, its not going to be heavy and it will only take up enough room to fit around the mount so my NEQ6 would need a 16" square structure (internal) 56" high.

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I like the idea of a fixed structure around it with a hinged roof. I wont be leaving the scope attached so it can be a small fixture, not having to carry the mount in and out is a bonus as would wiring in electricity.

Is there any sites I can look at to give me ideas, maybe even buy it.

Tony

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Hi.

I have been down both routes - firstly with just the mount as shown in the pictures attached, later I upgraded to a roll off shed (4'x6') which could also house the scopes.

However just having the mount already set up is a major advantage IMO.

From the pictures you can see I used a round garden table with a hole cut out in the middle to place the water butt on top, the first pic shows how I put in the pier using sand as a base, then cover the legs over, very stable it turned out.

Pete

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post-2672-0-29603500-1350560035_thumb.jp

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Hi.

I have been down both routes - firstly with just the mount as shown in the pictures attached, later I upgraded to a roll off shed (4'x6') which could also house the scopes.

However just having the mount already set up is a major advantage IMO.

From the pictures you can see I used a round garden table with a hole cut out in the middle to place the water butt on top, the first pic shows how I put in the pier using sand as a base, then cover the legs over, very stable it turned out.

Pete

Thanks Pete that's a great bit of innovation. It's just the sort of idea I'm looking for, you mention the roll off shed, have you got info and pics on that.

Cheers Tony

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  • 2 years later...

Hi.

I have been down both routes - firstly with just the mount as shown in the pictures attached, later I upgraded to a roll off shed (4'x6') which could also house the scopes.

However just having the mount already set up is a major advantage IMO.

From the pictures you can see I used a round garden table with a hole cut out in the middle to place the water butt on top, the first pic shows how I put in the pier using sand as a base, then cover the legs over, very stable it turned out.

Pete

Hey Pete.

You leave the mount outside like that year in year out just covered (and not sealed) with the bin?

Will this not produce lots of trapped humidity inside & damage the mount?

I am in a similar situation currently, also thinking about fixed observatory place.

Regards, Graem

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No matter what cover you use, you are very likely to have condensation. I have used a pier with a AZ-EQ6 GT mount which I kept on the pier and used a cover (Green Witch Scope Cover) which was held in place with those car bungee cords. Before replacing the cover after a session I placed on the mount about four desiccant bags (0.5kg each): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171507572832. I found I had to regenerate them every 2 or three weeks (2 hours in an oven at 110 deg C poured out loose onto a backing tray. The bags have velcro to reseal. Once I left it too long and the amount of condensation on the pier top was rather alarming.

Mike

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Graem,

With my shed I just have it well ventilated and all the kit remains dry.

With my original "waterbutt" cover I did get a little amount of condensation (only on the mount - no scopes attached) I think mainly because there was not enough airflow in the system. You could add a close fitting plastic cover.....  

Pete

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Althouigh my mount is small it is inside a plastic cocoon.  40 watts of heating inside at the bottom keeps it

free from any damp or condensation. 

So much so, that I keep an expensive Canon  lens inside there as well.  Temp has never gone below 60 F.

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