Neq6 pier

[Andyk93]

Hi, I am planning to make a pier for my neq6. I know a very good fabricator that could build one very easily but I am struggling to find a good design that will be strong enough. Here is my thinking. Square 200mm tube yet to be determined height. Bottom plate bolted to concrete pad with 6 m10 bolts. Top plate with 6 m10 bolts again and a pier adapter on top of that. I do have the drawing for the pier adapter so that's sorted. One problem I think might arise is would you closely polar align it before you bolted it down? And the thickness of the steel tube and plates? 

Thanks, Andy

[iapa]

Only comment I can suggest tis that you would dent o along the top plate to north as closely as you can - it would make polar ligament quicker as you will be closer to that mark all the time.

 

Re. materials.... sorry.

[bottletopburly]

tube doen`t need to be too thick 3mm-4mm  ,10mm plate ,height will depend on what sort of scope you use ,finished height same as you use on a tripod ,i `am going to hopefully make a wooden pillar in the summer using either Douglas fir or oak  7-8" dia  will only need to be approx 700mm above groung allowance for  +birdgage for a 8"newt 

[JohnC64]

Hi Andy,

Here are some pictures of the pier I had made. The pier itself is 1.2m high and has an 8" plate on the top and a 10" base plate.  The plate is 10mm thick top and bottom and the steel tube is 6mm thick.  I had an owl hole fitted so I could get access to under the top plate so i could bolt down the Mount.  Then had it sprayed at a local car repair place and they also sprayed wax oil on the inside to prevent rusting.

I bolted it down using chem-bolts and  roughly aligned it so that it was within the adjustment of the NEQ6 and then fine tuned the PA afterwards.

HTH John

 

[Davey-T]

Providing it's reasonably stable you can fit the mount and align it before you bolt it down, that's what I did with mine.

Dave

[Andyk93]

56 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

tube doen`t need to be too thick 3mm-4mm  ,10mm plate ,height will depend on what sort of scope you use ,finished height same as you use on a tripod ,i `am going to hopefully make a wooden pillar in the summer using either Douglas fir or oak  7-8" dia  will only need to be approx 700mm above groung allowance for  +birdgage for a 8"newt 

Thank you very much. Good luck with your project! 

[Andyk93]

57 minutes ago, JohnC64 said:

 

Hi John,

That's really helpful, thanks! Just what I was looking for. I will probably do without 2 top plates then and use an owl hole, looks a lot easier. Did you buy the pier adapter? 

[JohnC64]

Hi Andy,

I got mine from JTW Astronomy via Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skywatcher-EQ6-Mount-Pier-Adapter/dp/B00ZMDGTDC

They are currently out of stock but you may be able to contact them via their website http://www.jtwastronomy.com

There are other suppliers too
http://www.billetparts.co.uk/catalog/pier-adapter-p-136.html
http://www.green-witch.com/altair-astro-multi-mount-pier-adaptor-2679-p.asp

The other  option is to go DIY - I remember someone on here using a brake disk with great success.

John

[Andyk93]

22 minutes ago, JohnC64 said:

 

Thanks John. I do have the drawing to make one so depending on how much it will cost to make one out of aluminium at least I have a few options. 

This is the drawing I'm working off 

[speach]

On 2/5/2017 at 07:18, bottletopburly said:

tube doen`t need to be too thick 3mm-4mm  ,10mm plate ,height will depend on what sort of scope you use ,finished height same as you use on a tripod ,i `am going to hopefully make a wooden pillar in the summer using either Douglas fir or oak  7-8" dia  will only need to be approx 700mm above groung allowance for  +birdgage for a 8"newt 

 

Don't use timber, I had a 300mm  x 300mm hard wood pier concreted into the ground for 800mm the length above ground was 1200mm, it was isolated from the platform around it and it still vibrated. Made taking photos difficult  

[bottletopburly]

8 hours ago, speach said:

Don't use timber, I had a 300mm  x 300mm hard wood pier concreted into the ground for 800mm the length above ground was 1200mm, it was isolated from the platform around it and it still vibrated. Made taking photos difficult  

Thanks I was only  going to be 70mm above ground , will take that into consideration cheers 

[red dwalf]

you can buy a pre made pier adapter, saves a lot of work, altair astro sell them.