Telescope Pier Construction
The southwest corner of our backyard provides great views of the North, South, East, and West skies. It blocks a lot of stray light that I was dealing with in the north-eastern area of the backyard.
At 25 ft. from the patio door, I'm able to remotely run the imaging session with a wireless display, keyboard, and mouse from inside the house.
The foundation is 2 ft. x 2 ft. x 3.5 ft. deep. The base is 30" x 30" x 7" above the ground which makes it over 4 ft. deep. A 3" lip above the ground reduced any ground sinking.
Started on Nov. 6, 2020 and finished on Feb. 23, 2021 after over 3-1/2 months.
February 23, 2021
Bolted the Celestron polar wedge to the Celestron adapter on the pier, aligned and leveled the base, so it is ready for the telescope mounting.
Brightology remote controlled red solar lights help with lighting at night.
Polar aligned the wedge March 23, 2021 and rechecked on Nov. 6, 2021.
December 12, 2020
Added a 4" x 8" custom made bronze plaque that weights 2.3 lbs. and will last forever on the pier.
On January 9, 2021 the Celestron Edge HD 11 telescope was ordered and is due for delivery in late June 2021 after I was not able to get the Meade 12" LX90 that I had ordered back in October 2020.
But on January 27, 2021 I finally found a Celestron GPS 800 that was in stock. While overall telescope sales have increased during COVID-19,
most deliveries have been severely delayed.
The telescope was delivered the week of February 22, 2021.
December 4, 2020
Removed the concrete forms from the 1.7 ton re-enforced foundation, it's my biggest yard project to date, and I still feel it in my arms...but I thank Jake Shockley for helping make this project happen.
I'll resurface the center with some Re-Cap concrete to level out the top.
November 27, 2020
Needed 2 bags to level it off with the top of the forms. I'll let it cure for 7 days before removing the forms. Covered it with blankets and a tarp that evening as rain was expected Saturday, and temperatures will be dropping.
The end of the 3 week project! 15 hrs. to remove 1,100 lbs. of clay soil, and then 6 hrs. to build the rebar, and 5 hrs. to mix & pour 54 bags of 50 lb. concrete (2,700 lbs.).
November 27, 2020
Mixed and poured 32 bags of 50 lb. concrete (1,600 lbs.) in a 3 hr. marathon with nice cool temperatures. What a great workout for a 60 yr. old!
This is my pour of the 1,000th lb. of concrete into the foundation.
November 25, 2020
Template for the 8 ea. - 1/2" x 10" concrete anchor bolts.
November 23, 2020
Just a beautiful NexDome pier for the Celestron 11" CPC Deluxe 1100 HD scope.
The Telescope Pier has a 360 degree rotating top base, the baseplates are 5/16" thick. The central tube is 1/4" thick steel and is 8.75" in diameter.
There are 6 separate 1/2" leveling bolts, it is 37" tall with 15 3/4" rigid & wide support base which weights 120 lbs.
The pier and wedge adapter were both manufactured in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
November 23, 2020
DHL delivered the pier after clearing customs in Cincinnati, Ohio and with a delivery route thru DFW Airport to our front door this afternoon.
The base plywood that was used to secure the pier during shipment will be used for the 8 ea. 1/2" x 10" concrete bolt template.
November 21, 2020
Jake Shockley and I mixed and poured 22 bags of 50 lb. concrete. The 1,100 lbs. of concrete filled about 22" of the hole. We did 100 lb. mix increments to make it easier to pour and move.
I'll let it cure for 6 days. Home Depot will deliver the remaining 30 bags needed to finish the foundation. The total fill for the foundation will be about 2,600 lbs. of concrete.
November 18, 2020
My nephew Jake Shockley and I will mix and pour the foundation on Saturday Nov. 21 ourselves. Companies want a flat concrete delivery rate of 108 cubic feet of concrete, which is over 6 times the 16 cubic feet needed.
November 16, 2020
Rebar placed in hole and forms in place for the concrete fill. The foundation height is 7" above the ground with a 3" lip around the hole to reduce sinking.
November 16, 2020
The 48" x 24" rebar matrix using 1/4" and 3/8" round rebar. None of the rebar will touch the soil, the feet are on plastic spacers. It is probably overkill, but it will be strong.
November 14 , 2020
After 2.5 hours finished the hole at 42" deep hitting soil again with no clay in the last few inches. Took about 15 hours to finish the foundation dig.
So it is ready for the rebar matrix to be installed. Contracted a company to remove 1,100 lbs. of soil and taking quotes from companies to deliver 2 separate loads of 8 cubic feet of concrete over the next week or so.
November 12 , 2020
After 2 hours only got 2" deeper. Some good soil is being seen mixed in with the clay. Digging is easier, but it seems like it is taking longer than ever, about 37" deep now.
November 10 , 2020
After 7 long hours, dug about 14" deep. It was all clay, but it is 35" deep.
November 8, 2020
Dug about 7" after 2 hours. Mostly clay, just chipping away at 1" at a time, it is now 21" deep, hit some ground water today, but are halfway there.
November 6, 2020
We dug about 14" after 1.5 hours. Hitting clay at about 7", hopefully we hit some dirt before we reach the 3.5 foot level or it will be a long dig...