Budget DIY Piers for astrophotography 

"I'm not looking for perfect. I'm looking for a vast improvement." That's the motto of a lifetime.

I used a 6”x6” pressure treated post buried in concrete. I bought a brake disk with a 65mm centre hole $30.00, cut circle out on sheet metal the same size, welded in four 6”x3/4” reddy rod on the plate, drilled the holes through the disk, 8 3/4” nuts. Drilled in a bolt on the north side to complete the rat trap, my EQ6r pro fits perfect. No issues, no movement, no flex, no vibration, perfect. Total cost ~$100 (polar aligned all the time)

Great run through of different pier options. I went with 8" plastic pipe filled with concrete, sunk ~0.8m into the ground, and a baader short pier head and adapter plate for the mount.

The non-permanent options are awesome! Would love to see more like this for sure

I think we all forget about renters. So your thoughts and ideas are superb for them. I think there needs to be more content for that market. Well done

Good ideas! I read where that someone used a pipe driven in ground and filled with sand as a damping material instead of concrete. That way it can be lightened up for portability later in case it needs to be moved. I really like the above ground solutions though. I own a house, but there's really nowhere that I'd want a pier permanently installed (unless I had about 4 different locations to better access different parts of the sky, but who wants a bunch of piers sticking up everywhere?). Keep it up! 👍👍

Well done Nugsy, some excellent ideas and advice on different ways to affordably build a pier. I love it when people get creative and saw that bird bath video some time back. As you say if you cannot dig down it doesn't mean you cannot have a pier. Great idea using the tyre. Thanks for the mentions and glad the footage was useful for your first video. Look forward to your future content. Clear skies and best of luck

I can tell you put a lot of work into this video Nugsy, and it was well worth it; a must watch for anyone thinking about a DIY pier!

I used a truck tire on a rim. I'd welded a 4" wide well casing pipe onto it, worked like a charm with an 8" newtonian and a modified webcam for photography. Now that I own my own property I'm looking into pouring a concrete pier and building a small observatory around it. It's not about "I have the best", it's about what works for you.

Great start Nugsy… some cool ideas there… one day I’m gonna have a go myself

Nice video Nugsy really like the tyre idea for the semi-permanent piers, keep the videos coming

We have just bought a property and this is top of my list! Well timed video!

some great ideas there!!

Great video full of useful tips. I followed Astrobloke’s pier build and its been fantastic. Looking forward to more content 👍

Nice one, I love the peir, and the fact it was free is fantastic looking forward to your next video

Great video! Just getting started in astronomy and this looks like a practical pier solution.

You don't need fancy isolation, you need thick and HEAVY with it being wider at the bottom so it doesn't sink easy. You need leveling at the top to compensate for settling. I move around too much so I'm just going to make a very durable tripod, sure it will be heavy but who cares I won't be hiking with it.

Excellent video I do love a budget build & you've put in some great ideas to, look forward to viewing more.

Great and very informative video. You offered many great ideas.

I built my own late last year. I bought a 6 inch aluminium tube, with a wall thickness of 3mm. I buried one end into a cube of concrete 4ft x 4ft x 3 ft. I then filled the tube with concrete. The pier adaptor i made myself, but unlike the rats nest style i cut a small oval into the side of the tube. On to sits an EQ6R and even when i max out the weight with a 12" sct, i have no isuues.

Oh the truck tire is a good idea. I have been considering building a todmorton pier, but I rent as well and really don't want to have to go about getting permission to dig a big hole so I had thought of using a 5 gallon bucket and filling that with concrete, but I think the tire is a better idea because you get more surface area touching the ground. With the todmorton pier I could sink threaded rod into the concrete which would allow me to remove the pier and then (with a lot of help) roll that tire onto a trailer when I move and then build a new pier on top of it or just take it off to the dump when I'm done with it if I ever get to build a proper observatory. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Well done mate top vid looking forward to your next one

Brill. Being from Wigan I am as tight as cramp. Will consider all of your idea's.

Great first video, welcome to the madhouse🤣 Was talking to Glenn and he mentioned you, just subbed to your channel, some great low price ideas! Clear skies

Great ideas!

Great video! Keep it up, really informative and some really good ideas.

I want to make a decorative looking pier that has a removable bird table top. That way, I've not just got this big pole standing in the middle of the garden.

Thank you.

I have a well in the middle of otherwise municipality suplied city water. I'm thinking of bolting a 9 inch steel pipe to the existing 1/2 inch thick steel well casing that extends at least 20 feet into the ground.

I only got literally 1 second into the video and subscribed because of the channel name.

Documenting your builds is key for more attention to your work, keep going tho

Interesting stuff, but please can you learn to shoot in focus.