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My Backyard Astro Imaging Platform

Base: 3' x 3' x 3'
Column: 10''
Concrete: In all, thirty five 80lb bags of concrete mix where used to pour the base and column.
Steel: As seen in the photos a lot of steel and wire was used, easily to the point of overkill.
Power: Power is underground and goes to the wooden pier first and is then distributed underground to the concrete pier.
Concrete: 3 Cat6e cables go to the wooden pier - 1 is used for a dedicated network connection and the other 2 are used to extend a USB connection from the office computer out to the wooden pier. To observe I only need to pull the cover off the scope. If I need to work at the scope then I will bring a laptop outside and remote to the indoor workstation that is permanently connected to the scope; this is a completely opposite configuration from how most people use remote desktop software.
USB Connections: USB connections are extend across CAT6e Cable for about 120ft. At the scope each USB connection is two a high power industrial strength 4 port USB hub. These hubs are directly powered to 12V DC and have no problem providing as much power as any device can consume. This eliminates any USB  problems with power, speed, protocol, and can withstand colder temperature much better than a typical hub.
RS232: To eliminate the problems of COM port re-assignment I use a USB-to-RS232 adapter that retains the com port permanently. As I do not use a hand control and only use EQ Mod to control the mount it is important to retain the com number otherwise anytime the adapter is moved in position on the USB hub a new number will be assigned and the EQ MOD connection settings would otherwise have to be changed.
Trey: For a trey I used a 2" deep 18" in diameter round cake pan.
Vibration Reduction: I used a 1/4” of vibration damping material between the MMAB (Mount Mate Adapter Base) and the Pier. It was cut from a sheet of High-Capacity Vibration Damping Fiber-Reinforced Neoprene. It has a 1500 PSI Max Load for each of the three mounting bolts. The Durometer rating is 80A which is consider just under extra hard and comparable to some shoe heals. It works quite well and has no noticeable flexure.
MMAB: The Mount Mate Adapter Base allows you to quickly place the mount on/off the pier. Because you can buy different adapters based on you mount type this means that any of your mounts regardless of manufacture or model can be placed on the pier. The base also has an indexing system so that alignment is always retained when switching out mounts or just removing the mount and placing it back on the pier.
Base Extension: Between the MMAB and the mount is an 8" extension that lifts the mount above the pier to accommodate refractors. To reduce vibrations and prevent flexure the extension has been filled with concrete.