The Melbourne Binocular and Telescope Shop – SIDEREAL
Product has been added to your cart.

Modifying the Early Model Sky-Watcher Pier Extension

Pier Extension
Paul

The 20cm Saxon / Sky-Watcher NEQ6/AZ-EQ6 pier extension is a great way to gain the extra height needed to prevent long focal length OTA’s from colliding with the tripod legs. The extension is attached to the tripod using the standard central bolt. Even if the central bolt is tightened as much as possible, it doesn’t take much force to rotate the pier. This can be very annoying if you have carefully polar aligned the mount and it accidentally rotates while you are loosening or tightening the clutches on the AZ-EQ6.

This problem is easy to fix. Luckily the pier base plate is made of aluminium and is very easy to drill. The solution is to drill a 4mm hole very close to edge of the plate and tap it out to 5mm. You can then use an M5 socket head bolt to provide a locking post. The head of the bolt fits nicely into the original post hole on the tripod plate.

Pier plate with M5 tapped hole
Pier plate with M5 tapped hole
Pier plate with post bolt
Pier plate with post bolt
Pier plate with post bolt
Pier plate with post bolt
Pier Extension
Modified Pier Extension
Pier Extension
Pier Extension attached to tripod

With the central bolt tightened it is now impossible for the pier to accidentally rotate.

Browse all Sidereal Articles

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletters and Tutorials

Recent Articles

Move-Shoot-Move Tridaptor phone holder

A brief look at the Move-Shoot-Move Phone Adapter

The Move-Shoot-Move Tridaptor phone holder is an all-metal holder which is adjustable in three axes. We tested some eyepieces with the holder and discussed some of the criteria you should use when deciding which one of the many phone holders you should choose.

Read more
Infinity corrected objectives

What’s an infinity corrected objective, and why use it in macrophotography?

An infinity corrected objective is a lens used for macrophotography. It looks very much like a microscope lens, and when you pair it with a tube lens it has quite a few advantages over more traditional macro lenses.

Read more
ScopePix on a 909

How to attach your phone to a telescope using a saxon ScopePix

Having a telescope is awesome. You can look at all manner of things astronomical and wonder. For many people, though, just seeing the Moon isn’t enough. To quote my millennial daughter, “if there aren’t photos, it didn’t happen”. So how do you get a photo through a telescope (without breaking the budget)? Everybody has a…

Read more