CG5 @ 1° N

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:46 am

Hi guys,

Someone brought up to me the possibility that the pier (as fabricated by Mr Khoo) needs some extension to avoid the counterweight hitting the tripod leg.

My original design was for a 6" pier but Mr Khoo reduced it to 4" to save on weight and material (even aluminum is quite heavy given there's a lot of it!)

Anyway here is a photo of the worst-case scenario: counterweight at the bottom, leg pointing north for improved stability, and thumbscrew on the weight facing inward:

As anyone can see, the screw clears the tripod leg (by a small margin). So the 4" pier is good enough.

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 4:31 pm

Such a big mount for such a small scope....... You NEED a C14....... *grin*

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 6:28 pm

kevin, even the c11 is considered too much scope for the CGEM (for AP)...

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:29 pm

Erm, a bigger mount then? Your pier might still work on a Losmandy Titan or adapted for an AP Mach1 GTO.....

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:54 pm

A-P actually makes a low-latitude wedge for their mounts, the 900WDG, for the A-P 900. It costs $210 (or $295 for the 900WDGA). That's where I got the idea, actually.

http://www.astro-physics.com/index.htm? ... 00upgrades

That's close enough to the price of the fabricated wedge that nobody would go for the non-approved-by-Uncle-Rollo version. :-)

kingkong · Post by **kingkong** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:16 pm

wow a 4" solid pier... can double as counterweight? ;-)

i envy your access to an CNC expert and facility like that.... Mr. Khoo when come KK must contact me, I bring you makan seafood ;-)

kaomoo · Post by **kaomoo** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:02 pm

orly_andico wrote:A-P actually makes a low-latitude wedge for their mounts, the 900WDG, for the A-P 900. It costs $210 (or $295 for the 900WDGA). That's where I got the idea, actually.

http://www.astro-physics.com/index.htm? ... 00upgrades

That's close enough to the price of the fabricated wedge that nobody would go for the non-approved-by-Uncle-Rollo version. :-)

who is uncle rollo?

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:16 pm

Uncle Rollo is Roland Christensen, probably the highest regarded refractor maker in the world, founder of Astro-Physics and about the only company whose clients happily wait 6-10 years for a product and which are sellable for easily a 33% markup on the initial order price should one decide to make a profit instead of use it.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:02 pm

Christen. :-)

I don't expect to get my magic email anytime soon. Although there is one on the mart right now for $8K. If I was gonna blow that much cash right NOW I'd rather get rlow's 6" TMB LZOS for less moolah...