New Astro Pier in the Backyard

October 25, 2020

I'm upgrading the "pier" that I have right off the back deck.

What's interesting is I set that up as a temporary solution for winter imaging. We can get a lot of snow. That was 2 1/2 years ago or so, and having a semi-permanent platform for imaging made things so easy--with fast setup because it was always close to polar aligned. That's also when I started using this generic 6x8 inch aluminum plate for connecting my mounts. This temporary pier was so easy in fact that I continued to use it for the next couple years.

So, I have finally started the upgrade. I'm also using 4x4 treated lumber for this, although 4 4x4s bound together with lag bolts. It's basically a solid block of hard wood that's weather treated.

I have also upgraded the mounting plate. The old one is just connected to the post with 3" deck screws. It's solid for a smaller mount like the iOptron CEM25P. I cut several pieces of 80/20 extruded aluminum for the new mounting plate, and this is perfect for larger mounts like the SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro.

So, this is what it looks like with one bag of Quikrete, just about to add the second: