I've always liked creativity and innovation. This is how new things are created and accomplished. I'm presently solving the issue of using the iPolar Polar Alignment scope/camera on my Star Adventurer tracker. No one makes an adapter to mount a polar alignment camera to the Star Adventurer. Until now... I've done it!
Love it mate. We inherited a small vacation cottage just far enough from the city that the sky is dark there but its not too expensive to drive there and I thought about building a piere there and possibly building a shed around it later on. Then I looked at the prices of those pier adapters and those adapters cost like half of what I paid for my entire mount. like 100-200 quid or even more for like 2 pieces of aluminium. screw that. Glad I found out about using the brake disc
@@astromadness I was able to throw together a video of the shots I took during the building of the adapter. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_t9kgC8zu_k.html
I also liked your video . I have an HEQ5PRO mount and I placed it on a concrete permanent pier and while the top portion of the pier was still wet concrete it had cut of my tripod legs leaving about 8 inches of leg and the tripod head and then sank the legs into the concrete well balance for level. And then waited 3 days for the concrete to cure. At that time I placed the mount on the tripod head and had enough room to use the long bolt that went thru the tripod into the mount bottom to firmly attach the mount to the tripod head. Yes I have ruined a perfectly good tripod but it was cheaper than ordering a pier head for the mount.
I think you did a lot of research and made an really good job with the mount interface. But then to use a wooden pillar? I'd suggest that you make a substantial concrete one instead.
The wooden pillar for me was more affordable at the time and worked perfectly well. Since then, I have moved house. I now have a steel pillar on a concrete base in my observatory. All good and viable options to suit different needs and budgets 🙂👍
Hi, I was planning on doing this very thing and happened across your video. What car did the rotor come from? I know a 1983 Volkswagen Scirocco front rotor will work on these mounts also. Might have to do minor dremel work to make fit properly.
Hi Kevin. I can't remember off the top of my head. It might have been an Audi A2 or similar, possibly a VW golf, but I can't remember now. I have also searched my emails, but can't find the receipt for the original order now. Thanks. Tony
Hi, some Gr8 ideas in the video. I am in Australia. Is your mount mainly for visual observing, as for Astrophotography if the wooden post warps, expands, ages etc it would affect a perfect polar alignment. Would have thought a metal post like steam pipe would be the go. Also the mount is rather high above the pier which could cause some minor flex when wind gusts occurs on the scope causing imaging issues. Your thoughts.... Cheers Mike
Hi Mike. Thanks for your comment, and for taking the time to view the video. I made this pier a few years ago now. Since making this video, I have moved house and now have a permanent observatory with a steel pier bolted into a concrete 1m cubed base. I understand fully your thoughts on the wooden pier idea though. At that time, it was a case of making a pier to a budget for as little as possible, and to be honest, I think it totally worked. I never left my mount in situ, so when it come to polar alignment etc, then I always needed to re-polar align when I set up my kit anyway. Don't get me wrong, the wooden pier did have a little bit of movement, but it was functional. Originally, I used it with a lighter Celestron AVX mount and a SkyWatcher 150p reflector and to be honest, I did end up using it more for observing than for imaging. Again though, it served a purpose and I'm really glad I built it and got use out of it. In different climates, you're right, I think it could of given me a few more issues over time with hot and cold weather extremes. Generally though, in the UK, the weather is crap most of the time :-) so we don't have to worry about it too much. If I wanted a pier purely for visual, I would probably use wood again to be honest, but once I got my observatory, I was only ever going to build a steel pier. However, I have used the same brake disc idea for a pier adapter on the steel pier too. When we left our old place, I left the wooden pier in situ and I believe it is now enjoying it's new life as a bird bath now! :-) I wrote a blog post on building my pier. Link here www.astromadness.co.uk/2020/02/diy-steel-observatory-pier.html All the very best, and clear skies, Tony
I purchased a disk brake with 65mm diameter center hole as you did and mentioned in your video. However my EQ6r seems not to fit perfectly. (It wong go all the way through) Probably 66mm would have worked. Did you incurred same issue? Did you have to trim/shave the hole a bit? By the way, excellent video and inspiring instructions. Thanks for sharing your experience with the comunity!
Hi Sebastiano, Thanks for your kind comments. For me, the size was spot on. Once I put the mount into the hole, there was no movement from side to side, but it was loose enough to rotate with relative ease for polar alignment. I don't know much about engineering tolerances but I guess either the disc or the mount only need to be a mm or so different for there to be a little bit of play. Best of luck with your project 👍 Tony
@@astromadness Hi Tony, thanks for the quick reply. I measured the hole diameter of the plate and the protrusion of the mount and they are both 65 mm spot on so maybe it is a mater of tapping and "force" the install. Probably both pieces are in their lower tolerance but i feel I can make it work with extra elbow grease work!
Hi, and thanks for this. I know it's 5 years since you posted it, but hope you still answer questions! What is the function of the middle plate - as you have bolted/welded a plate under the disc brake, why couldn't you fix it directly to the plate on top of your pier? Secondly, with a wooden pier, have you had any vibration issues? It'll be easier for me to set up a wooden one than a poured cement, so would appreciate your input! Thanks...
Hi there!. I'm still around and still astronomise but just don't have the time to do anything for YT. But I'm glad people like yourself are still finding it useful ☺️. So, the middle plate. I was very much thinking on my feet and thought the middle plate would add a bit of rigidity. I think after doing it this way, and seeing how others have used similar ideas, I could probably come up with some modifications. Now though, I have a permanent pier in an observatory. Kind of based on the wooden version in this video but made from steel. And as for the wooden pier itself, well it was a success while I used it. I since moved house and there was no way I was going to dig down and break the concrete to get it out the ground 😂. So, it became a garden birdbath for the next occupants of our old house. Of course, there was vibration, but providing it wasn't touched while imaging, for me it was pretty solid. And definitely good enough for visual. But the question is, would I do it again? Well, on a budget, yes. All the convenience of a permanent set up/location saves a huge amount of time. But by saving and waiting it out until I could afford a concrete base and steel pier, it is obviously the better option. I have also heard about other people using railway sleepers for piers, that it can also depend on your soil and proximity to main roads. If your soil is stoney, then apparently there is less dampening of vibrations from your surroundings. I've also read of people witnessing vibrations from passing HGVs etc. though that was never going to be a problem for me. I hope that at least partly answers your questions. 👍
@astromadness thanks for the fast answer. In that case, I think I will continue with a poured pier, as it will also be in an observatory I am hoping to build this summer. 61 deg North, so permafrost will be an issue...
Love it, I am looking to do something very similar with a disc brake. Can I just ask, why use an additional third plate to attach the disc brake to and why not just connect it to the second leveling plate?
Hi there!. Thanks for your comment and question. So, the bottom steel plate was just to be able to bolt down the metal work to the top of the wooden pier. (Since this video, I have moved house and have an observatory, so it is now welded to the top of my steel pier.) The middle plate has a small hole in the middle of it, large enough to take the bolt which screws up under the mount. The bolt head pushes against it as the threaded end of the bolt screws into the mount, securing it into place. And then the top plate is just used to bolt the adapted disc to. Hopefully that answers your question :-) Clear skies!
Hi.. The car is important because I would like to build one myself.. exactly what care was it from please ? Or do you have a link from where you purchased it from. I would be grateful for your help.. Thanks, G
Hi, I'm really sorry for the late response, but I can't find the details of the order I placed, despite looking through all my emails. However, the way I did it was to search online for a brake disc catalogue. They have all the dimensions in there, including the hole diameter, the height of the disk etc. I measured the top of the tripod which came with the mount to get the dimensions, and then just searched for a brake disc of an appropriate size. That's what I would have to do again if I needed to repeat the process. Thanks. Tony
Hi there. The thought had crossed my mind, but I wanted to retain my tripod in one piece so I still have the option of taking my mount to star parties. 🙂
Yes you could tripod top to a plate, but where to you put the through bolt to firmly attach the mount to the plate. I solved this with a concrete pier and the top portion of my tripod with mount head set in the concrete at the top of the pier. I cut all 3 tripod legs leaving about 8 to 10 inches to set into the concrete pier as it dried. Now I had room to use the threaded rod up into the mount base.
