Hi Don, My engineering background reminds me of these pitfalls as well, and it is a concern at the back of my mind, but I still wonder how much stiffness in this application, is really enough.

Hi Joe, I really don't think PVC pipe buried in the soil is going to be a very good pier. The ringing that you mention is a high frequency tone, that the PVC pipe wouldn't have compared to a metal

Hi All, While waiting for my new mount to get finished, I am thinking about the portable pier height. Currently mine is about 38" and the 1200 mount is 2" taller, so if I had a 36" tall AP pier it

Hi, The other benefit, I was considering, is that it can be sawn to length, with some work. However, you can do a deal with a contractor doing road work, and he will cut one evenly, to your

I went with a portable pier from Particle Wave Technologies for my Mach1GTO/TEC-140 combo, the Monolith LT with 12" extension. The LT heritage from the flagship Monolith pier is unmistakable, as is

The bending can be captured using strain guages (gages for US speakers) Would anyone be prepared to give all of this a go ? I liked the idea of the 10" concrete drain pipe - I cannot see that

You are trying to measure the motion of the pier. Use an accelerometer, not a microphone. a mic to port.

Can anyone tell me if version 4.12 of the GTO Keypad firmware is still shipping with the current Mach1GTO mount or has there been an update released? I read somewhere that it is to be updated soon.

Todd, See my answer on the ap-ug site. Larry power to

I'll be listening closely to this one as my Mach1 mount will be delivered shortly too. I just dont have the scope or camera you have so I may opt for the aluminum tripod. Todd

Larry, What are you putting you mount on? What tripod? Todd wrote: volts DC supply be

I'm trying to decide what is the best solution for portable imaging with my upcoming Mach1GTO mount. My primary imaging scope is an SV 130 F/6 refractor with STL11K. The imaging train gets rather

I question the "Petri method" as I don't think it for sure can discriminate between the bell like oscillations (which we don't care about) and the bending oscillations. (Or can it? The frequency of

Jeff: Of course Don is right, when he argues for as low mass as possible at the top of the pier. That is also the part of the pier where I would expect almost no bending to take place. For that

Joseph Zeglinski wrote: Joe, No thanks .... There are too many variables that would skew the results using a microphone not the least of which is the frequency response and how are you going to

Hi all, Just thought I'd chime in and clarify our voltage recommendations. The electronics are designed to withstand voltage supplies up to 22-24 volts as stated. However, that high a voltage

Hi, I have been thinking about putting a temporary pier in the ground, to see how the back yard observing spot works out. I don't want to commit to heavy steel posts and concrete bunker

Hi, If the Petrie dish has value, then it is far simpler to attach a mic to the side of a pier, and plug the mic output into your laptop audio port. The waveform can be captured and displayed,

Murray -- I went through all these arguments when I built my pier. Each side seemed to have logic (and expertise) in their favor. Finally, I just experimented. I have a 10" diameter, 50" tall

Murray Hammick wrote: A few years ago I was in New Mexico visiting Andy Homeyer and he described how he dampened his piers and it made sense. He drilled a hole near the top and mounted the mount, OTA