Easier to get pier up garden on wheelbarrow. It would need 3 people to carry it! The bottom is 18" round. The height just over 39"
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Pier-on-wheelbarrow.jpg)
Safely upright!
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Pier-upright.jpg)
Mount Seating
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Mount-Seating.jpg)
Mount in position. Also got a round shelf that will be handy, but wonder if the Orion will bang into it when pointing at the zenith.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Mount-on-pier.jpg)
Started off looking like V2, with it's fins, It could be a nice sundial or bird table!!
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Position-of-Pier-in-Garden.jpg)
Crikey Fay, that's a whoppa!!! It doesn't look like it'll need the concrete...
nice sundial, what was the time?
A heavy whoppa!!!!!
Some big tent pegs and your fixed! Now you just have to dig up the lawn and plant the cables back to the nice warm house...
Can't push my luck, Duncan, afraid I will still be out in the frost & cold!!!!
Just hoping all goes well.....would not like to have to dig it up again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Going to do hole & hopefully fill it in, this week. Depends on how much influence I have!!!!
Where did you get the pier from Fay?
thats a large black ribbed one :o
Chris....behave and take Frodo for a walk!
Mike, Pulsar Optical
I want one!............I also want your garden to go with it!
Daniel, do not know whether to dig a hole for it or launch it!
Fay.
now you have positioned your new pier, it looks like the next project is converting the house into a bungalow to get a lovely Southernly view. ;)
Tony G
What a good idea, Tony!!!!!!
I have had a really bad day! Below is the ballast for "the hole" 2 more bags were bought.
We have had a lot of words about size & my requirements, but John was adamant it only needs to be 2' and no more. I read out the rules, that if it is a failure, he will have to kanga it up & start again!! I wanted 3-4' deep with a flare at the bottom.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/ballast.jpg)
So 2' it is then, I was not a happy bunny, it was a hectic day anyway.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/shovel-in-hole.jpg)
It is 2" above the ground
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/half-done.jpg)
I got up this morning & cleaned the living room, 8.30 hairdresser arrived, 10.30 Jeff, from the club arrived. Jeff is the man with glasses & a beard, he has already put the same pier into his observatory, so would have a few tips, being that no directions came with it. He was briefed on the situation at the front door. He came over with some helpful materials but...........too late, the hole lwas already being filled. eff had done a 4' one, & related the tale, that he could not climb out of it. His neighbour was on holiday for the week & there was no one else around. I said he could have ended up as his own hardcore :lol: he got his shovel & made a mound of earth which he stood on to get out. After that he took a ladder down!
Anyway, as he arrived, Nat west rang to update me on the fact that they, or Nationwide, have lost my ISA transfer cheque, this has gone on for 2 weeks. Nationwide would not discuss it with Natwest, so I had to do act as mediator, as I have done since it happened.
The car had gone in for a £500 service....phone call to say it would be more & ended up £800!!
Matt came over fresh from Cyprus, & went on & on about how we were ripped off for the service, quoting itemised jobs on list such as, "tested seat belt" & " checked light came on at back" he said those 2 things would have cost £50 to do on their own. This went on for about 2 hours!!
He would have been good in the gestapo!!
Anyway, it is finished and I can only hope this is the end of it, John said it is the worst job he has done, but it would not have been like that if he had done what I said!
Please God, it is ok & I align it ok, & it does not move, & does not tip up....................................... & IT TURNS OUT DEEP ENOUGH!
ps.
yesterday i rang the sign shop in New Eltham to see if he was there, as I wanted a piece of perspex, he said he would be there at 11.30. Went down there....not there...rang him..had to go out, would be back by 2pm. Rang him around 2, he was there, went down, parked on slope outside shop & got perspex, went to go, reversed & car stalled, so tried to restart & would not start. Seemed like same problem as last week when battery would not hold charge.
Ended up half way across the road, called AA, came in 30 mins, everything that was big, was trying to get around the corner, I was blocking.
Ali, in the perspex shop, came out with a chair.........no way I was sitting on that........would I like a cup of tea... :lol: :lol:. I was not exactly traumatised, (that was going to happen the next day.)
AA came, & felt a bit of a prat, as it was my fault..................not sure what happened, but could not get keys out, should have realised car not in P. I think I must have been halfway between N & R, as it was completely dead on startup......................
Sounds like you're making a mountain out of a molehole ;)
The ultimate pier mount would be a hole dug to the core of the earth then filled in with a gazillion tons of concrete.
However you choose to mount a pier, it will generally be an improvement over a mere tripod.
I would be interested to see a real direct comparison between a tripod image and a pier mounted image. I suspect us mere mortals will not be able to distinguish
Fay,
You must be bringing your car to the same garage as me? ;)
By the way, if John is looking for any work, I could get him into a groundworks gang, but he would have to be a bit more sloppy with his workmanship, as that is the neatest hole I have ever seen in nearly 30 years on the building sites.
Tony G
My pier is on a 1.5 meter square bit of concrete, is that enough?
Also Fay, get some self levelling floor cement to flatten the top works a treat.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2225907774_b9c4b48c3a_o.jpg)
QuoteWe have had a lot of words about size & my requirements, but John was adamant it only needs to be 2' and no more.
:o
DING DONG.
Looks good though.
How did you manage to dig a nice round hole.
Mine ended up square.
Anyway
Just a quick question chris.
is the base of your pier isolated from the floor?
Just curious regarding the vibration from walking on the concrete will cause the pier to vibrate.
yup 1" gap all the way around, but to be honest the pier is 75kg and its bolted to the floor, I have kicked it and there is no movement...
Wow - exciting stuff Fay!
Bet you are looking forward to using it.
Mark
QuoteI would be interested to see a real direct comparison between a tripod image and a pier mounted image. I suspect us mere mortals will not be able to distinguish
Mick - big advantage of pier is that you can accurately polar align/ drift align it & it will stay there & of course don't need to drag mount in & out every night after imaging..
Fay - Are you planning on leaving your scopes out all the time? Have you thought about covers etc.?
John
John,
I will only leave the mount out. I left scopes out the other night, but in the morning ED80 was really misted over.
I will get a proper cover, they are very expensive, but wonder if any will prevent dew going up the bottom staying on the inside.
Do you think the whole pier should be covered, or only the mount & what is attached?
Fay,
With the amount of stuff that the foxes chew, nick and urinate on, I would take the pier in every night, not just the mount, and put a cover over the concrete base and cover that with bramble, as that seems the only plant you don't have in your garden, to disguise it from the foxes. ;)
Tony G
Know what you mean, Tony, he has already peed down the hole!!!!!!!! :lol:
Pier has been put temporarily on base & all is level. Perhaps next week the holes will be drilled for the bolts & the resin put in for the bolts to be screwed in to.
Just took this picture, base & top level with spirit level
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/pier-2.jpg)
Fay - that doesn't look level to me.......
Yes I agree John. Fay, you'd best check the base and pier with a spirit level.
Just done it again with spirit level, top & base, & all is level, must be the angle I have taken photo
Fay, I think your plants aren't growing straight. I'd check them with a spirit level if I were you...
Fay, having looked back through this post I think it's the photos, probably down to too much vino collapso. Either that or you need one of these http://www.redferret.net/?p=11678 (http://www.redferret.net/?p=11678)
How far does that go down? Looks rather small to me.
I can't believe no-one has posted this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq5pzufCZuY
I put the ED80 on it tonight & had a look around. Had to be a bit careful as not bolted down.
Mac, I must say your x4 Televue was great on the Moon!! It would be even better on the Orion.
Mike, 2' 2"
QuoteI will get a proper cover, they are very expensive, but wonder if any will prevent dew going up the bottom staying on the inside.
Go to your garden center and get a large water butt. £25
(http://www.macrhon.co.uk/website/gallery/album/astronomy/Building%20the%20pier/slides/IMG_0907.JPG)
and then cover it with a tarp, or in my case a £5 Bar-B-Q cover.
(http://www.macrhon.co.uk/website/gallery/album/astronomy/Building%20the%20pier/slides/IMG_0906.JPG)
The water butt is completly water proof. and the cover should stop birds. :oops: if you tie it tight.
All i do is to leave the filter on and the scope is sealed. in water ingress, if it does the the hot summers days all 3 of them will dry it out.
Failing that use the desiccant packs.
You pier is definately not level....
Looks like the garden is on a steep incline.
Mark
Well, Mark, been fine tuning today, & it is level, top & bottom. I am going out tonight but will come back & polar align again take a picture of Moon hopefully. I only have ed80 on there as pier not bolted down yet.
Mac, that is a good idea for your cover, very man like(water butt)but it is not a woman's idea!!!! It would be like wearing yellow shoes & a red frock! :lol:
John, yep sorry you're right, for some reason alignment didn't occur to me.
Plonker :roll:
Mmmmmm yellow shoes and red frock :oops:
Oi Fay, wot you got against Minnie Mouse :D
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Seriously, for such a small base is 2 foot depth enough? Surely that is going to move around with all that weight on top?
will soon see Mike! Hope I don't hear a thud & look around to see it all on it's side :o
Will have to be done again then!
Bolt holes drilled & hoovered out
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/hoovered-holes.jpg)
Holes drilled then made sure lined up with base
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Drilled-bolt-holes.jpg)
a resin stuff is squirted into the holes & then the bolts are screws down into it. Problem was, the paste sets rock hard in about a minute. John noticed the colour of the resin in two of the holes, was a different colour to the othertwo & thaought that the hardener was probably not the right mix, so had to get it out quickly & clean 2 bolts off. When he finally had done all four he put the pier on quickley as one of the bolts did not look straight, so got it on while going was good!
Tape made sure it was in correct position. Difficult to manouvre something resembling a torpedo.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/Alignment-tape--one-bolt-t.jpg)
Finally finished, test setup, still loads of cables to figure out, but all seems really firm.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/ed80-wo66--on-pier.jpg)
Handy shelf, I bought as well. Pleased with final result.
(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww124/virginiafay/ED80-WO66-setup.jpg)
so how easy is it to align your pier north?
does the whole of the top swivel?
well I aligned it before bolts went in, & we got the base in the best position, the steel top has three positions where the, can't think of name, bit of metal that you move the head around against via the two black knobs can go. When you loosen the bolt that goes into the bottom of the head, then you can move position.
Quotethe steel top has three positions where the, can't think of name, bit of metal that you move the head around against via the two black knobs can go. When you loosen the bolt that goes into the bottom of the head, then you can move position.
Fay if I didn't now what you were talking abut I would have said you had lost it... :-) I'm guessing explaining things was never your strong point... :-) :-) :-)
Do you know, I really could not think of how to explain it!!!!!
Well I'd say that was a perfectly normal non technical description, not a gangly pin or frip sprocket in sight :o
Looks like you've done a really good job there Fay (John!) I hope it's pointing due north. Mind you if it isn't then you could always twist the concrete base around till it was ;)
Fay,
That is one really impressive cloud generator. The effect has been dramatic!
Mark
I'm pretty certain since you added all that weight that it has started to lean slightly. There is a subtle tilt there.
Nothing to do with piers, though it is a very nice one, It's all Ians fault, nearly pissed myself when i saw this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIXByCAIzos&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIXByCAIzos&feature=related)
Darn! It's usualy our job to persuade Fay to go out and buy stuff... I've been looking at these piers for a while now, and to see Fay's whopper in the garden she had gone and done it to me this time. Order placed for an AE pier. Just hope I can dig the pit without going thru our pipe that feeds the septic tank.
Woohoo!! :D
Paul, make sure it's level won't you. Don't want it to end up like Fay's :o
Gotta love those Lego animations. A project for next DSC do you think? A bit of stop motion animation?
One of the piers on the South Coast wasn`t level and look what happened to that !!! Or am I thinking of Donald Peers???? :-?
Quote from: Ian on Jul 15, 2009, 10:09:42...Don't want it to end up like Fay's :o...
Good point. Fay will realise her mistake when she tries to take images with this set-up. Make sure you don't do the same Paul.
Will sort you lot out when I come home.....just going to have a beer in The Irma, Cody, great atmosphere bikers haunt, just noticed a full sized bull over the road, a live one!!!!!! Must be advertising the rodeo tonight!!!!!
Chris you were right about those straps.....................they make the bulls & horses buck!!!!!!!!
on second thoughts... :police:
:o
Where did you get the plate to mount your eq6 on?
Only im thinking of scrapping the LX200, removing the OTA and just using it with the EQ6.
So there might be a Meade Mega wedge for sale soon (Duncan)
Might strip out the GPS unit though and mod the EQ6 with it.