DIY Pier

[Mr niall]

Hello

has anyone had any experience with building their own permanant outdoor pier? Is it a project worth investing in e.g. In time saving stability terms? Those of you that know me also know that cost is a... well... consideration. I'm really more of a "filling a drainpipe with concrete" kind of guy rather than a "arguing with my local architect over the relative benefits of an Art Deco wrought iron pier over a post modernist titanium pier and whether it really is worth the extra 4 grand" kind of guy....

Also, im a big fan of detailed instructions, with lots of pictures - ideally to the level of "use this end of the screwdriver" and "pour concrete in here" sort of thing 

niall 

[jacksdad]

1 hour ago, Mr niall said:

Hello

has anyone had any experience with building their own permanant outdoor pier? Is it a project worth investing in e.g. In time saving stability terms?  

 

I haven't built one, but I have poured a fair bit of concrete and stuck lots of metal together over the years. From a stability viewpoint, I think it would be very difficult to make a pier that performs worse than a tripod plonked onto the grass/patio/tortoise/etc.

 

Time saving? Well that depends... It'll save time if you want/need accuracy of alignment, but if you're using (say) an alt/az or something else that doesn't care where it points then I honestly can't see much time being saved.

 

There's also the consideration that once it's there, it's there. You can't exactly take it to the other side of the garden if the neighbour's tree gets higher.

 

If you're happy to have a fixed viewing/imaging location and your current solution isn't doing it for you, then I reckon it's one of the technically simplest astro projects available.

[Chriske]

If you're using a mount(and astronomical projects) were the polar axis should be pointing very accurate to the celestial pole all the time, I should strongly recommend a permanent pier. It'll save you a lot of time.
And as Jacksdad said, think ahead were to make a concrete platform. Many years ago I poured a few(3) concrete pillars in my observatory, and now lots of neighboring trees are blocking my views. But there's a positive side to that : lightpolution is blocked out to.

If you're just stargazing with a Dob a few times a year,  it's not worth the effort.