Telescope Pier Coming Together
When I run out of building supplies for the bear-proof trash shed, I turn to some smaller projects like the telescope pier. This telescope pier project is much less taxing on my health than some of our larger home projects so it is a nice project to fall back on when necessary to keep me feeling at least semi-productive.
The grass is now coming up nicely around the telescope pier. I wrote previously about digging a hole... building a wood timber pier... installing it in concrete... but now I also installed some of the top of the pier where some adjustments can be made.
Looking at the pier from the side, you can see two lag bolts on each side. These lags bolts run through elongated holes for leveling the top of the pier. I can slide each of these sides to the correct height to level it. The telescope mount must be leveled perfectly to track the stars for long periods of time.
Looking at the pier from the top, you can notice a few things. First, the lines through the circle in the center are lines for true north and magnetic north. The telescopes must be aligned to true north and the celestial north pole and the bolts on each side allow me to turn this wooden mount clockwise or counter-clockwise by quite a few degrees so I can get the mount pointed accurately in the right direction...
On top of the wooden telescope pier is a metal mounting adapter that I fabricated out of two automobile brake rotors. At the moment, I am painting this metal part. This part will be bolted to the wood top...
Here is a view from the side. There are four bolts missing from this photo though. Each of the brake rotors will be separated by about four inches being held apart securely by 1/2" bolts. I had to fabricate the entire pier including a bunch of metalwork. This involved drilling and tapping holes for various parts. I also needed to order a whole lot of stainless steel hardware!
Once I get the trash shed completed, then I will focus entirely on finishing this telescope pier. Next to this pier will be a small shed (up against the house) that will be used as an observatory while in use and a storage shed for all my telescope stuff when not in use. The shed will be on one side of the pier and then there will be a fence on three sides around the pier. This will also keep bears out. Being out there alone in the dark has proven to be a bit too dangerous so I'm looking forward to getting this little area completed too.
The grass is now coming up nicely around the telescope pier. I wrote previously about digging a hole... building a wood timber pier... installing it in concrete... but now I also installed some of the top of the pier where some adjustments can be made.
Looking at the pier from the side, you can see two lag bolts on each side. These lags bolts run through elongated holes for leveling the top of the pier. I can slide each of these sides to the correct height to level it. The telescope mount must be leveled perfectly to track the stars for long periods of time.
Looking at the pier from the top, you can notice a few things. First, the lines through the circle in the center are lines for true north and magnetic north. The telescopes must be aligned to true north and the celestial north pole and the bolts on each side allow me to turn this wooden mount clockwise or counter-clockwise by quite a few degrees so I can get the mount pointed accurately in the right direction...
On top of the wooden telescope pier is a metal mounting adapter that I fabricated out of two automobile brake rotors. At the moment, I am painting this metal part. This part will be bolted to the wood top...
Here is a view from the side. There are four bolts missing from this photo though. Each of the brake rotors will be separated by about four inches being held apart securely by 1/2" bolts. I had to fabricate the entire pier including a bunch of metalwork. This involved drilling and tapping holes for various parts. I also needed to order a whole lot of stainless steel hardware!
Once I get the trash shed completed, then I will focus entirely on finishing this telescope pier. Next to this pier will be a small shed (up against the house) that will be used as an observatory while in use and a storage shed for all my telescope stuff when not in use. The shed will be on one side of the pier and then there will be a fence on three sides around the pier. This will also keep bears out. Being out there alone in the dark has proven to be a bit too dangerous so I'm looking forward to getting this little area completed too.
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