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pubquiz
sage
Reged: 10/07/04
Posts: 483
Loc: Lancashire England
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Hi All
I constructed my concrete pier in my observatory to fit my last scope...a 12" LX200 GPSon a wedge.
I made it so the roll off roof just cleared the scope when parked.
However I now have a Losmandy G11 with 8" Celestron SCT and WO Megrez 72 side by side.
This set up is much lower than the LX and in some positions the scope/s are blanked by the walls.
I could raise the whole mount about 18" and still clear the roof with the scopes at their lowest and they would actually clear the walls while in most viewing positions.
So...I am thinking of having an 18" extension made and wondered which would be better ..tubular or square section steel?
Or would it it not make much difference?
What would be a minimum wall thickness and would filling it with concrete be benificial.
Have posted a pic of the existing setup
Tom
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Losmandy G11 with Celestron 8" SCT & William Optics Megrez 72 side by side with Argo Navis
Pier mounted in observatory.
Strathspey 20x90 Binos, Vixen Ark 20x80 Binos
Virgo Novamount parrallelogram mount
Meade Mysky, Meade DSI Pro, Meade LPI, Canon 450D un modded (for now), QHY5 Autoguider
Bahtinov Masks
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rsbfoto
sage
Reged: 06/10/06
Posts: 365
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Hi,
I would say tubular. The heavier the better. No concrete filling necessary. Make something like this.
Just one piece. I have two there because I had to go up twice 
Look here my latest arrangement also carrying a Losmandy G11.
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regards Rainer
Edited by rsbfoto (02/25/09 04:35 PM)
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pubquiz
sage
Reged: 10/07/04
Posts: 483
Loc: Lancashire England
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Hi Rainer
Thanks for that. Nice set up you have in that last pic...lovely TAK  .
In the 1st pic I have seen a few mounts like this with the top plate raised on 4 bolts and have often wondered if you got flex like this
I have always tried to bolt things down to solid flat surfaces and always thought that with it raised quite high in 'mid air' ,so to speak on, 4 level adjustment bolts that it would not be fully stiff...even with thick hefty bolts...I see your current mount doesn't use these and wondered if you had any opinions on them?
Tom
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Losmandy G11 with Celestron 8" SCT & William Optics Megrez 72 side by side with Argo Navis
Pier mounted in observatory.
Strathspey 20x90 Binos, Vixen Ark 20x80 Binos
Virgo Novamount parrallelogram mount
Meade Mysky, Meade DSI Pro, Meade LPI, Canon 450D un modded (for now), QHY5 Autoguider
Bahtinov Masks
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rsbfoto
sage
Reged: 06/10/06
Posts: 365
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Hi Tom,
I have always done it like that and noticed 0 zero flexure.
Those are 7/16" threaded bars. These are screwed into 2" long threaded anchors and fixed with a counternut. Then comes all the extension. Big advantage is that you can nicely level your whole setup on it. In the Obs I have two piers with the same setup.
As you can see both of my G11 carry a load of about 55 pounds equipment + the same amount in counterweights.
Here you can see an unguided 240s image of IC434 taken with a Mewlon 250S f12 (3000mm focal length).
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regards Rainer
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Pedestal
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/11/06
Posts: 3995
Loc: Smoggy Bottom, Baytown,Texas
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Round or square would make no appreciable difference, BUT, in general round pipe is cheaper/easier to find.
Hubert
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Hubert
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www.smoggybottom.org
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pubquiz
sage
Reged: 10/07/04
Posts: 483
Loc: Lancashire England
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Ok thanks for that guys.....good 4 min tracking there Rainer
Will go for the round....it looks nicer as well 
Tom
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Losmandy G11 with Celestron 8" SCT & William Optics Megrez 72 side by side with Argo Navis
Pier mounted in observatory.
Strathspey 20x90 Binos, Vixen Ark 20x80 Binos
Virgo Novamount parrallelogram mount
Meade Mysky, Meade DSI Pro, Meade LPI, Canon 450D un modded (for now), QHY5 Autoguider
Bahtinov Masks
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Starman27
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 718
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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I'm in the process of rebuilding both of my steel piers for a new observatory configuration. This has been an informative discussion. Thanks.
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Enjoy the dark,
Herman
Meade
14 LX200 GPS SMT
12 LX200 GPS
7 LX200 Maksutov
ETX 125
TAK FS128 NSV
Sky 90II
Lunt LS60ThaDS BF1200
Canon 5D Mark II
Illinois
Iowa
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pubquiz
sage
Reged: 10/07/04
Posts: 483
Loc: Lancashire England
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Hi Herman
Yes I think the best way is a solid concrete pier for the main height then a smaller steel top. That way you can alter heights in the future.
I made the mistake of mouinting my 1st scope on a long 'I' beam steel girder which I thought would be solid but vibrated like a tuning fork.
I altered it to concrete alot cheaper than having a tall steel pier made.
Here is the thread http://tinyurl.com/bxay6x
You can see in the pic at the bottom the original totally unsuitable pier...there is also a link in the penultimate post to my original observatory construction thread
Tom
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Losmandy G11 with Celestron 8" SCT & William Optics Megrez 72 side by side with Argo Navis
Pier mounted in observatory.
Strathspey 20x90 Binos, Vixen Ark 20x80 Binos
Virgo Novamount parrallelogram mount
Meade Mysky, Meade DSI Pro, Meade LPI, Canon 450D un modded (for now), QHY5 Autoguider
Bahtinov Masks
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