Garden Pier ..

[Brian28]

30 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Hi Brian,

365 is 365 Astronomy and ENS is ENS OPtical, both have branded covers.
Be interested to see the pier when done.
You hit me as very brave to leave a Mesu mount out inside a bag, why not a push away small housing or similar?

 

Hi Alan , this will be smack bang in the middle of my garden , which isn’t very big and  any structure will be imposing , whereas a bagged pier and mount will be a lot less  .. from the other posts I’ve got some good ideas to keep the damp at bay..  so I’m confident now the mount will be ok .. though if I do find I have an issue , it will be removed faster than you can imagine 💥

[WanderingEye]

10 hours ago, Davey-T said:

As Carole said I have mine permanently outside with a pet warming blanket under the cover, this runs of a 12volt golf trolley battery that has a 25watt solar panel to charge it although it doesn't charge sufficiently in the short winter days so I have to put a charger on it.

Keeps it dew free under the cover which I had made by a company that make car covers.

Dave

Hello,

can I ask, do you leave the mat on during a session, to stop any frost or dew build up on the mount head, and if not what do you do about the moisture before you cover back up...?

[Davey-T]

1 minute ago, WanderingEye said:

can I ask, do you leave the mat on during a session, to stop any frost or dew build up on the mount head, and if not what do you do about the moisture before you cover back up...

No can't image with the mat on, usually give it a bit of a dry off if it's very wet, can't do much if it's thick frost though so just stick the mat  and cover on then if it's dry next morning I uncover it to air it.

Dave

[Jkulin]

9 hours ago, Brian28 said:

Hi John ,  what’s a 365 & ENS cover ? .... 

I am hoping to leave the mount outside , and after reading the comments received so far that all seems doable with out detrimental effect to the equipment .. I will leave the scopes set up if there are periods of clear skies forecast , otherwise I will remove and store back in my workshop ..  

 

Telegizmo 365 and ENS Breathable cover http://ensoptical.co.uk/telescope-covers/tempest-med-cover

My first 365 leaked like a sieve, so I always use two covers and never had a problem since.

[WanderingEye]

6 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

Telegizmo 365 and ENS Breathable cover http://ensoptical.co.uk/telescope-covers/tempest-med-cover

My first 365 leaked like a sieve, so I always use two covers and never had a problem since.

Hmmm, leaked..... that’s a worry...surely there must have been an issue with it, did you return...?

[Jkulin]

51 minutes ago, WanderingEye said:

Hmmm, leaked..... that’s a worry...surely there must have been an issue with it, did you return...?

Yes I did and FLO replaced it, my mount filled up with water, fortunately it dried out fine

[Ibbo!]

I put one of B&Q's finest buckets over the mount head and then the cover.

Next home made/sown mount cover I will get the wizard with the sewing  machine to try and sow in the bucket.

[WanderingEye]

8 hours ago, Jkulin said:

Yes I did and FLO replaced it, my mount filled up with water, fortunately it dried out fine

😮😮 glad you’re Mount was ok.... 👍

[WanderingEye]

8 hours ago, Ibbo! said:

I put one of B&Q's finest buckets over the mount head and then the cover.

Next home made/sown mount cover I will get the wizard with the sewing  machine to try and sow in the bucket.

I thought about an upside down water butt from Wilkinson, they were just £20 and would have been ideal with some vents in the sides, but the wife was not a fan of the idea..... 🤔

[bottletopburly]

Telegizmo cover a collapsible garden bin and currently in this weather two dew bands ticking over on low 

[laser_jock99]

My outside pier is covered with a selection of BBQ covers when not in use (as seen arrayed on the table to the right).

This rig has survied six Welsh Mountain winters so far.........

[WanderingEye]

3 hours ago, laser_jock99 said:

My outside pier is covered with a selection of BBQ covers when not in use (as seen arrayed on the table to the right).

This rig has survied six Welsh Mountain winters so far.........

Mount too..? Or just the pier.... as I leave mount attached to pier under covers...

[laser_jock99]

On 02/02/2020 at 22:34, WanderingEye said:

Mount too..? Or just the pier.... as I leave mount attached to pier under covers...

The EQ6 & counterweights stay on - but not any optics.

[BigMisterP]

On 24/01/2020 at 00:14, WanderingEye said:

Hmmm, leaked..... that’s a worry...surely there must have been an issue with it, did you return...?

I've had a 365 Telegizmo cover over my pier/mount for 3 yrs or so, no problems.

There is always change of a "bum" product unfortunately.

[souls33k3r]

18 minutes ago, BigMisterP said:

I've had a 365 Telegizmo cover over my pier/mount for 3 yrs or so, no problems.

There is always change of a "bum" product unfortunately.

I have recently bought a TG 365 cover as well but have not had the chance to even take it out of the packaging since I'm recovering from wrist issues. 

[spillage]

On 02/02/2020 at 18:51, laser_jock99 said:

My outside pier is covered with a selection of BBQ covers

You seem to have left one of your scopes on the roof 🤣

[Brian28]

Been a while so I thought I would do an update ..  

well we all know the weather has been rubbish , ( trying to be polite ) ..  the pier arrived , and I have also brought a tripier so I can be a little more mobile ..

the Tripier needed a few modifications, just to make it more user friendly..  

mounting the pier in the garden has been on hold ..I dug a 2’ deep hole approx 18” square , but it just keeps filling with water as the garden is saturated..   ..

so I set the pier up in my workshop .. just to play around with everything ..

[BigMisterP]

Curious as to what the benefits of the pier design are?

Additional welds, to me, is an addition point of failure