Greetings from a new member of the group. I’m a longtime AP user, having owned a 155EDF on a 600E GEM since new probably 25 years ago. I apologize for the length of the post, but I need a couple of qu

I’ll do that, thanks. Howard

Thanks for your suggestions, Mike. As for leaving electronics out in the observatory in all weather, I wasn’t planning to do that. However, what I didn’t mention is that my “observatory” is going to b

Clever idea, Jack, thanks! Howard

Looks like an excellent idea, too, Brian. Thanks! Howard

That’s very helpful, Chip, thanks. Certainly, casting the pier as an extension of the foundation pillar would be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying the ATS aluminum pier. I appreciate the reference t

Thanks, Mike, that’s all very encouraging. But I had a look at the AP website and could not find a mount adapter for the 1600, although there was one for the 900. Could you have a look at the AP websi

OK, and it looks like that in turn takes a socket-type adapter for the 1600. They’re sold as a combination: https://www.astro-physics.com/1612fsa-fp The 1612FP would bolt to threaded holes in the top

Go to the source: george@.... He’s a fount of information and leans toward the conservative. —howard

That wouldn’t be a Motel-o’Scope, it’d be the Waldorf Astoria Hotel-o’Scope!

I want to put my upcoming AP 1600GTO on a concrete pier. My plan is to dig a 24” circular pit a foot deep, auger a 12” hole 3-4’ deep in the middle of this, put a 7-8’ Sonotube down to the bottom, pou

That’s encouraging, Steve, thanks.

OK, that’s another idea to put in the mix. Advanced Telescope Systems wants over $2600 for a painted and overcoated aluminum pipe with a gusseted baseplate and hundreds more for the J-bolts and mount

Thanks for the additional info, Mike. I had already adopted your idea from your previous response of sinking the allthread rods after tapping threaded holes in their ends and screwing them to the AP m

Thanks, Bob. More appealing ideas to think about. For one, I hadn’t considered the effects of the hydraulic pressure exerted by hundreds of pounds of wet concrete on freestanding Sonotube. I wonder if

You mean for use as the pier? I’d think, for one thing, that the pole would have poor resistance to flexion and torsion, and be very susceptible to vibration, actually resonant. Do you know of any exp

Thanks for the report of your experience, Clif. It certainly supports Nick Iversen’s suggestion of a wooden pier, and would greatly simplify things as well as drastically lower the cost. A wooden pier

Well done, Michael! And if your Mach 1 is handling that size scope and the massive counterweight, it’s definitely The Little Mount That Could! Nice to see another AP user with his mount on a Berlebach

I have been hoping to put my 1600GTO mount, due in February, on a pedestal in my side yard. This is looking like it may not be feasible, and I’m thinking again of the idea of tripod mounting. I have a

Thanks, Roland. I had been looking at the Eagle portable pier, but the listing doesn’t mention the 1600GTO. Are the two adaptable to each other and play nicely together? By the way, my 25-year-old 155