A spot of gardening...

[GlassWalker]

Since the foundations went in last weekend, it's about time I stuck the pier on it. First problem was that although the concrete was levelled before the bolts were put in, putting in the bolts un-levelled it quite a bit. So balancing the pier as best I can, it's still got a noticeable lean. I didn't have a spirit level so had to use a tablet, which showed it was about 1 degree off vertical - the photo makes it look worse as the camera has quite some optical distortion to it. I'm thinking I could get some washers to pack under it to level it off? The instructions for this pier say it doesn't have to be perfectly level, since the levelling can be done on the top plate, but I want to do this for cosmetic reasons.

And here it is with the EQ6 stuck on it. According to the bubble there's a slight offset from level, but I'll do that more accurately later. I don't have a spanner big enough for the levelling nuts anyway so it's just finger tight for now.

Hopefully the few clouds will go soon, and I'll get it rough polar aligned and start imaging the moon...

[bingevader]

Oooh nice!

Best of luck!

It's still clear here at the mo!

Cheers

[Tinker1947]

Very nice pier, if you want it upright, then place a nut and washer under the pier on each stud, then another nut and washer when its back in place, use the lower nut to adjust untill your happy, a EQ mount doesn't need to be level to work properly....

[GlassWalker]

I know it doesn't need to be level, but it just looks wrong when it's tilting

Testing it out now. rough polar alignment was no problem. Managed a quick look at the moon, and it's visibly wobbling quite a bit even at low magnification so no point imaging yet. Will try imaging later once it passes a neighbour's tree and hopefully things would have stabilised a bit by then too. Until then, trying some visual for once. Found Albireo easily enough and saw the contrasting colours. Now I'm having trouble finding Almach... I think I got it in sight but it doesn't look like a double...

[perfrej]

That looks very sturdy, but why so long bolts? I have found that short bolts works wonders for stability. The NEQ6 bottom bolt that came with the mount can be ditched in favour of a short substitute with a normal head. That's what I did and that too worked!

/per

[GlassWalker]

I wonder how solid the upper bolts can be if I tighten them enough? Even at the maximum 2650mm focal length I was using last night, I did find that when I turned the focus on the scope there was tiny amount of wobble. Far far less than I saw on my previous mount, a camera tripod!

I'd like to keep the mount as high as possible really to gain me a little more viewing area over a tree to my south. Estimating from the moon's path last night, Orion's belt will be challenging and the M42 clear time will be severely limited. I'm now even wondering if a pier extension is worth getting... with hindsight I should have found a longer pier. As it is now, the pier is lower than the tripod that comes with the EQ6.

[martin_h]

I had the same problem with my pier(same as yours). I cast another concrete block on top of the mount foundations, leaving the epoxied bolts in place to anchor the extra lump. I have also extended the studs on the top plate (M16) and can see no wobble when tightened up properly.

[GlassWalker]

Ooh, I didn't think of putting another layer of concrete over it... I could try that on the weekend as I was a bit generous with the bolt protrusions anyway.

[earth titan]

That new sope will be fab on that their pier ;-)

[GlassWalker]

I'd imagine the way my neighbour's security light illuminates raindrops on it would make it very pretty

Forecasts suggest there might be a window of opportunity tonight but I'm not so optimistic...

[Tiki]

The pier looks a good job.

If you are considering adding to the concrete to level it up a bit you might consider using some form of self-levelling compound (ie something runny). Let gravity do the hard bit.

[martin_h]

Ooh, I didn't think of putting another layer of concrete over it... I could try that on the weekend as I was a bit generous with the bolt protrusions anyway.

Here is the "extra" bit I cast on top...the main lump is just below the floor level.