A Fourth Column?! The 'Why' Behind My Design

Pier Pressure: Adding a Fourth Column to the Observatory!

During our 9th week under the stars, my Spanish friends and I took the opportunity to dig the foundations for a fourth pier, right behind the observatory! You might be wondering, why so many piers? Well, the two piers inside the observatory house our remote imaging setups. The third one, outside, holds a fixed EQ6 mount, perfect for visual observations, solar viewing, and more.

But a recent Newtonian purchase, combined with an N-EQ6 mount gathering dust, spurred me to build this new pier. The thing with Newtonians is, you either need to be a giant or have a really low pier to comfortably use them…

Huge thanks to Julio and Mikel for helping me dig and pour the foundations. And a special shout-out to my dad for helping fill the pier, and especially for the surprise plastering and paint job!

A quick dry run to check the final pier height:

Temporary plate to hold the threaded rods in place:

Pier poured and painted:

The temporary wooden plate:

Plate in place, and a bit of electrical work:

Fold-down shelf installed (perfect for eyepieces, laptop, etc.):

The shelf folded down:

Detail of the electrical panel. 10A circuit breaker, outlet, and 12V 2A power supply:

Double protection: A thick rubble bag covered with a waterproof BBQ cover:

Polar alignment in the next episode!