W7MEV

I did my own pier simply and cheaply. I (with a helpful grandson!) dug a hole about 3 feet deep, 2 feet square , put in a cage of rebar with 4 vertical rebars coming up from the bottom of the hole up to about waist level. Poured concrete up to a little below ground level then slipped an 8" diameter concrete form tube over the rebar. I cut a 2"x4" vertical hole in the tube about 2" down from the top of the tube and placed a piece of wooden 2x4 into the hole going in about an inch past the center of the tube. I then filled the form with concrete. When it was all set up I cut the tube away to expose my nice concrete pillar. I dug out the piece of 2x4 which left a nice rectangular hole from the outside into concrete pillar. Hard work is now done!

I got a 1/4" thick aluminum circle 8" in diameter. I drilled 3 holes at 120 degree spacing around the edge of the aluminum plate and threaded them for 10x24 bolts and then a 1/2" hole through the center. I then covered the top of the pier with a thick layer of industrial grade epoxy (similar to JBWeld, but a different brand. Don't remember which). I set the aluminum plate into the epoxy and used 3 10-24 bolts to VERY CAREFULLY level the surface of the plate and left it alone til the epoxy cured.

I then drilled through the center hole in the aluminum plate through the concrete into the rectangular hole I had left in the pillar. The result was a flat, level mounting surface for the telescope mount which I had removed from its tripod and a hole through the concrete into the rectangular "box" for the base mounting bolt.

My original mount was Celestron's CG-5 mount with their 10" Newt, but I have since upgraded to the Celestron CGX mount. My pillar has been rock solid and completely level for several years. Took a little work, but didn't cost much. When I built the floor for the dome I left several inches of empty air space around the pillar so floor vibration does not reach the scope.