Well, I won't mention the 110! That catalogue is a reminder that Astro-Physics has a past much different to today. All things evolve and fortunately A-P really has outperformed most (all) of its peers

Rich, Here is a link to an eBook that deals with this topic. I find it has good info and should give you a lot of guidance. It will cost a few $ but so will your pier! https://telescopepiers.com/diy-d

Karen et al, History I would also remind everyone of the vintage A-P 706 mount from the mid 80's. It was painted black. My unit which was purchased new has been in continuous use until last month when

Todd, your comparison photos are great reminder to us all that lucky imaging only really works when one is lucky enough to have steady skies. I know I have had a lot of disappointment getting images l

I would like to make a comment re wind barrier and effectiveness. With a impervious barrier such as a metal fence or tarp, there can be quite high forces applied to the structure and a lot of turbulen

Shailesh, I have had the same issue. In my observatory I had a pier 68" high, 1200GTO and 7"f9 Starfire. 3 decades or so ago I was happy enough to climb a step ladder whilst cradling the scope in both

"It looks like the sides were rolled to produce the shape." Don, yes/no. I had a boiler-maker make it but there was no roller. A press was used to progressively make small bends to form the shape. I m

#Guiding

Embedded or bolt attached pipe piers are commonly and successfully used, but they have an inherent tendency to resonate vibration. Filling with sand or concrete changes the frequency and maybe amplitu

#Guiding

Jeff, On my Mach I, with my case, I needed to bring the the saddle plate under but it was interfering with the altitude knob as you have experienced. I decided to modify the saddle plate by cutting a

Bob, I have the RAPAS and have used it in Mount Isa and S-E Qld areas (dark skies). Sig Oct is hard to identify unless you have studied the star patterns well, and is faint enough that the reticule (a

Liam et al, Re Dome heat plumes. I tried A/C in my domed obs and I was not very satisfied with the result. It seemed the cold air inside the dome still was interacting with the external air causing is

Joe & Tom, I understand the concern, but provided there is a positive length location (registering to surface of Chuck) AND the cutting gear train is kept engaged (so nothing can move independently( =

Tom, "I might as well get some use on my new mini lathe. I'm thinking of delrin or brass." For your adapter use brass or aluminium, Threads in delrin are harder to do than expected unless everything i

Your problem may be more than this can solve, but there are anti vibration pads which could help: https://tripodpads.com I have them for my Eagle and the AP portable pier, although I got them primaril

Since the dome mounting is coupled to the concrete base which the scope sits on, isolation may be difficult. Remounting the dome track on rubber blocks might work, but before investing so much effort,

Stainless steel stains less than steel! But it is not perfect as has been noted. There are numerous grades of stainless steel and they all have some potential for rust and other oxides. Where even sli

General discussion of pier design takes me back to prior experiences. I have built a few piers over the years. The most stable is this in ap-ug: Len Album: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ap-ug/ph

Chris, For quite a while I use the control box focus output. I also found it was too fast. I simply put a variable resistor in line with it and tweaked the setting to get a suitable speed. I am sure t

The usual batteries are lead acid types and to achieve a reasonable working life (if they are deep cycle types) should not be discharged more than about 50%. Regular deeper discharges will shorten the

Suresh et al, This is only expected to be true if the mount is truly level as the ALT adjustment is at right angles to the mount base and will tilt to the same degree that the mount is out of level. Y