Part 1 Observatory Build. How I Built My DIY Telescope Pier

[@matforsbon]

Black and red Scope white Mount and blue and red Pier, beautiful rig.

[@user-dr8ug3gs3c]

I'm really impressed. That is a solid build. You can image during an earthquake and have pinpoint stars. Great Job.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Haha, That would be impressive. Thank you very much for your great comment J. Glad you liked the build.

[@davidrousseau8066]

All your comments really helped during my own built! Especially the use of the "stick method" was crucial as my cell phone was indeed way off! :) Thanks a lot!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

HI EVERYONE !!!!! MAKING A LITTLE EDIT HERE !!!!! JUST REALISED THAT I MENTION USING M20 RODS....THIS I NOT THE CASE, IT WAS M12 RODS THAT I USED! APPOLOGISE FOR ANY CONFUSION. I WILL MAKE FURTHER UPDATES IF I NOTICE ANYTHING ELSE.

[@Astrobloke]

Sorry to say Ben that unless you dug down to Magma it might not be deep enough mate.......LMAO That is an excellent job mate and I love the paint job. Jeez the pier adapter alone looks sturdy enough if you just pushed it into the grass it'd do. Great video mate and I am really looking forward to seeing it all finished with the Obsy too. Clear skies

[@CosmuzzAstro]

lol I just nearly fell off my chair!!! Cheers mate! yeh it is a good chunk of metal. Don't put ideas in my head, I will end up doing a video with that plonked in the lawn. Just had 20 bags of cement dropped off there to go with the 2 tonne of ballast so any look will start the platform by the end of the week. Take it easy buddy!

[@stevenjewell460]

I'd be very proud of that kind of professional work. It looks much better in blue and red rather than pink. Job done right, Ben !

[@timkipimaging]

That is a beautiful looking build. Clear skies!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you!!!

[@woody5109]

Very nice sir, tip - leave that bottom nut snug but not tight. Makes polar alignment easier. Great job.

[@kerihazelton5785]

That’s fantastic! I love seeing different ways of doing things because there are a lot of videos out there that are very informative but don’t really break any new ground. I think you’ve done a really great job. This was the first video of yours that I’ve seen, but I can’t wait to see more!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank You very much! Appreciate the kind feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@tamrich7762]

A Labour of love Ben! Well done 👍looks good.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much Tam. It's was a nice sense of achievement to see that mount on top.

[@owenjones-wells9395]

Nice pier, looking forward to watching the rest of your videos. When I built my garden Observatory last year, I thought I should put a cube of concrete in the ground 1m cubed. I decided this was ridiculous and overkill and reduced it to 1m Square but only 0.4m deep. Saved a lot of work. I then built a concrete block foundation 1m tall, to mount a steel pier on top, as the floor of my observatory is raised off the ground.

[@theNikonGuy]

No complaints from me, it looks excellent mate. Well done.

[@VK-wu2bt]

Wow. Super helpful walkthrough!!!

[@lukomatico]

That was brilliant Ben!! - I really enjoyed seeing how this beast of a pier got built mate, Thank you so much for turning this process into a video and sharing it with us all! 😀 Got to say, I'd 100% trust that thing with any mount and telescope going! Really great job!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Cheers Luke! I supose time will tell as I load more and bigger on to it. It is a solid thing to be fair and well happy with the finished result. Can't wait to see how your current plans turn out on your oby build. It's coming on great. Thanks for watching mate and for the support. Speak soon no doubt!

[@stevenickolls8016]

A breath of fresh air on this topic-thanks. You design and build smarter and can cut down on the spade work.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much Steve. Kind words!

[@SimonsAstro]

Hi Ben, mate, thats a pier to be proud of! I hope mine comes out looking like that! great job. I like your belt and braces approach, just like me, if a job is worth doing, then do it right!! Youve done a great job! Clear skies Ben!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thanks a lot Simon. Im always giving things a go my self....I love it. Im very proud of it to be fair. Just to let you know Part 3 of the Oby build will be out tonight at 1900. Thanks for your support mate and clear skies!

[@SimonsAstro]

@@CosmuzzAstro hey mate, did you put that out yesterday then take it down? I watched part 3 I thought last night, went to comment on it and it disappeared!! Or am I going mad😜?

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Yeh I wasn't happy with part of it, so I re-rendered the video. I'm confused though as it wasn't public. I did notice it had an hour watch time on it which give me a scratchy head moment.... I must have screwed up there, It's me going mad not you I think. Appologies for that......Part 3.1 will be out then.....Hope you enjoyed the sneak preview!!!!

[@SimonsAstro]

@@CosmuzzAstro I’ll watch it again but I saw all of it! Was fine to me😀saw the bit where you said you screwed up by cutting the post short and joined then back with metal strips! Interested to see what you’ve changed 🤣 Clear skies!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

I think it was some green flickering on parts of the video that sent me on an OCD mission. If you want to watch it again that's great but don't feel you have to go through it a second time as I don't think there is anything extra in it and wouldn't want you to waste your time. Take it easy mate!

[@Crimitube]

Nice one Ben, is really helpful more muppets like me thinking about doing this soon. Cheers :)

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thanks for watching. A lot of work but I found it's worth it and a great sense of pride of what was achieved as well. All the best!

[@avt_astro206]

Great Video Ben, Nice To see Your Observatory in Progress!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you Avanteesh. A good start. Can't wait to start the platform to build the rest of it!

[@compubyte2010]

WOW .. fantastic job my man !! great work !! If your ever over in the states .. let me know.. I'll let you build me one LOL

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Ha Ha! I will give you a shout. Thank you very much!!!

[@condensermike]

Looks really sharp!

[@DSOImager]

Awesome pier Ben! Looks like it should just be enough to handle that redcat :) CS!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much James! HaHa! Yeh, I will have to keep an eye on it, as that RedCat rig is starting to gain some weight with the extras I put on. Take it easy mate and Clear Skies!

[@808musicman808]

Awesome diy build!

[@dogdronesearchdd3782]

Cool looks like it’s solid.

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

Excellent. can't see anything wrong with that pier at all.

[@OldfieldSo]

Share your joy and I am planning mine

[@Phillyo118]

Great build, looks 'fairly' sturdy haha. I keep seeing people making these piers and spending a lot of time and energy ensuring that it is perfectly level and I never understand why. I get that it looks nicer, but 'close enough' is...well, close enough. You don't need the pier to be level, not even close. Again though, great build and a very good watch!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thanks for the comment Philip. Haha! Yeh, it is a solid lump. That is very true. Can't argue with that, and the pole direction doesn't need to be totaly smack on either as it can all be adjusted later on. Thanks for watching and clear skies!

[@neiltonks]

Nice idea. I'm just about to start making mine. I'm going to be using a length of aluminium pipe. It's 150mm dia with a 3mm wall thickness. All being well it should be at the same height as the tripod, but I do have an extension for the tripod that I may use to lower the pier height (less so the wife won't moan). I realize that aluminium and concrete don't mix, but I plan on sealing the 800mm that's going to be in the concrete and on the inside of the tube, which will also be filled.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hi Neil. Thank you. Sound good. I hope it goes well for you.... I'm sure it will as you seem to have give it some thought. How I like to approach most stuff is with, what's the worse that could happen in mind and it usualy ends up ok haha. All the best!

[@joypanell3522]

I am Giving you two thumbs up, an awesome, one marvelous, one fantastic and three wow’s. Great job!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Brilliant, Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@KopLamp]

Very jealous of your pier. I'll want to build one too one day, but my garden is a bit of a postage stamp really. For now I'll have to stick with my semi-permanent mounts. My next video will be about it. It would've been done and public already if I wasn't watching so much videos ;)

[@CosmuzzAstro]

There is nothing wrong with a tripod Martin. I decided on this as I wont be going anywhere for a long time, so it sort of made sense to me to go fixed and permanent. I have been playing catch up with everyones videos over the last couple of days. Very hard to find the time with everything going on lately. Thanks for stopping by and watching mine........Now stop watching videos and get back to putting your video together : ) Look forward to seeing it. Clear Skies Buddy!

[@Paul-of3ut]

Great job and thanks for the video it really helped me build my pier.

[@robertoler3795]

well done

[@frosthastrophotography]

Thank you for the video and good luck!

[@donvito7050]

Great job.

[@HogarthsAstrophotography]

Top work Ben. I can barely drill a hole in a wall. Very impressed

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hey Nigel. Thank you mate. It was a bit of graft and a few occasions thought I had screwed up, but that final bit when the mount went on made it all worth the work!

[@Tony-Elliott]

Great looking pier, looking forward to seeing your finished observatory,

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Cheers Anthony. I can't wait my self to get it all done. Happy so far. Thank you very much for watching and Clear Skies!

[@sevenskiesastro]

Well done Ben. Lot of hard work mixing concrete in a barrow. The peir is substantial and will need a bulldozer to dismantle if you ever do lol. Build is coming along great and as long as your happy I wouldn't worry to much. Glad to see you well after your bout of covid. Keep up the good work and clear skies.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

It was Rob. I usualy borrow a mixer but it was too short notice. It feels solid and I am really happy how it turned out. Oby Floor hopefully will get layed this weekend if the weather is ok, no rush though. Thank you very much for your support mate. Clear Skies!

[@OlliesSpace]

That's looking great Ben, super start to your observatory. 👍

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Cheers Ollie. Yeh Im very happy so far. Hope to start the oby platform this weekend if the weather plays ball. Thanks for watching mate!

[@DrNat1]

Looks awesome dude 👍🏼👍🏼

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much and thanks for watching!

[@OhanSmit]

Dude, thanks for the video, its amazing to see how many people are making these wonderfully informative videos, thanks for adding to them :)

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Many thanks Ohan. Glad you liked it. There are so many ways to build these and as you pointed out, so many sharing there great versions. Clear Skies!

[@DavesAstrophotography]

Excellent! I just dug the hole today for retrofitting a pier into my obo.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Cheers Dave. Wow your oby is quite high off the ground as well. Bet that will be a fun build. Can't wait to see it mate.

[@DavesAstrophotography]

@@CosmuzzAstro Yeh, the decking is about 1.15m off the ground to help clear all the tall bushes around the garden perimeter.

[@AmyAstro]

Well done!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you Amy!

[@astronomyphotography6380]

Great instructive video, love your enthusiasm.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much. A few people have said about the enthusiasm. I'm glad I come across that way. Thanks for watching and Clear Skies!

[@djphild]

Looking good. Congratulations, mate! Good luck with its inaugural session. Do share the results. :)

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you Philip. Already tested it out. No spoilers, but it was all good. There should be a small video at some point.

[@trigbagger]

Super cool vid. Really nice to see someone else making their own pier and figuring out how to align. I built mine about 4 year ago and had similar issues and nights awake trying to solve problems. My roof currently slides inside my working office area but about to change that within the next week. Keep it up.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much. The whole build in general has been a great experience and so glad I chose to give it a go my self. I know the feeling of not being able to switch off. Many mistakes along the way but this is how we learn I suppose. Sounds like you will be busy soon. Hope it goes well for you.

[@JoesAstrophoto]

Awesome pier build Ben! Wish I had done a tube for the cables on mine like you did, great idea!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hey Joe. Hope all is well. Think it would have been better if it was a little wider but it's not going to have much running through it. It was Glenn that I got the idea from to be honest. I have done the same on another part of the Oby build which I will be sharing in a video update this week hopefully.

[@yvonne766]

Great job!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much!

[@MyNikonian]

Great looking pier Ben 👍

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much. Im very happy with it! Thanks for watching!

[@MyNikonian]

@@CosmuzzAstro couple of questions if you don’t mind, what diameter duct have you used and what brand of brake disk for the top plate, cheers Ben,

[@CosmuzzAstro]

No Problem. I didn't get time to put it in the description last night as had to run off to work. Im going to amend that today. I used 1.5m long 280mm diameter Duct and the disk was febi bilstein which have an outer diameter of 286mm. The holes I drilled were border line on the edge due to the sloped shape of the inner circle. The links of where I got the stuff from are below but you may find it cheaper at other places. The disks have doubled in price since I bought them though. Disks- www.amazon.co.uk/febi-bilstein-24382-brake-disc/dp/B006DHTRNU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YB9DKDL9BT92&keywords=febi+bilstein+24382&qid=1653473528&s=automotive&sprefix=febi+bilstein+24382%2Cautomotive%2C40&sr=1-1 Duct- www.lbfans.co.uk/product/spiral-tube-duct-1-5m-lengths-280mm-diameter/ I am going to start putting the full list in the video description now. Feel free to ask anything else and if I can help, I will do my best!

[@MyNikonian]

@@CosmuzzAstro thanks Ben 👍

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hi Just number crunched there the total for everything including cement, wood etc...was £252. But I bought all new and some stuff in bulk. I have updated the description now with further details. Nearly everything has had a price jump. Hope it halps anyway!

[@LogansAstro]

Excellent video Ben. Very professional looking pier and it looks solid as.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Glad you liked it Logan. It is very solid and I am very happy with how it turned out! Thanks for watching mate and Clear Skies!

[@AstroPixUK]

Nice one Ben, looks great. I don’t think it will move anywhere anytime soon!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Cheers Jim. I don't either. It's a right solid lump! Thanks for watching and Clear Skies mate!

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Looking good Ben I wish I'd built my own pier now especially as yours has somewhere where the cables can go, I had a mate make up the pier another friend of mine & myself dug a 1 meter square hole & filled it with concrete, some threaded bar was put it & the pier was just bolted to it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build I bet you can't wait to get imaging again, clear skies 😊

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hey, Thanks for watching. That is a lot of dirt. I bet that was a slog. It is a lot simpler to do the way you did yours. I have seen so many ways that people have built their piers it was great for ideas, The cable management was a big one for me and it is something that is going to be part of the oby floor build as well. As long as you are happy with your build and it works then how I see it, theres no problem. Take it easy and thanks for your support! Clear Skies!

[@charlespeters9626]

Well done Ben. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us all.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much Charles. I enjoy it very much. Thanks for the comment and your support! Clear Skies!

[@stephencox3446]

Well done Ben, great presentation, quality finish. Thanks for sharing.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much Stephen. Glad you liked it!

[@jimmazing]

Lovely work! Some day I'll have a pier and it'll likely be relatively similar to yours.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you It's a solid thing I have to say. Glad you like it and hope it is not too long before you build one your self.

[@sky-watcher]

Excellent job Ben!

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you very much Dinos!

[@short6691]

Hmmm…. While I commend your industry and have no doubt the pier will be awesome, I suggest others may wish to review some KZbin videos on mixing concrete for strength. I think you made your mix a bit soupy. For greater strength a dryer mix is recommended.

[@arnsteindale5531]

Great video Ben. I`m about building my own opsy and got some ideas from this video. I`m interested in where you got the reducers from M12 to M8 - The link below doesn`t seem to work.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Thank you. Apologies the link didn't work for you I got the reducers from Amazon. All the best on your build!

[@jesuspineiro1622]

Very nice pier!!! Maybe it's a bit high if you plan to mount a large telescope like a C-11. I really like the design, the finish and the colors

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hi Jesus. Thank you! It does look quite high at the moment but once the observatory floor has been layed it will bring that height down a lot. Glad you like the design, It does stand out with the colour.

[@lameaxe]

Is there and ideal-compromise height from ground? Very interesting topic to me. Tahnks

[@CosmuzzAstro]

I will be honest, and probably not the answer you are expecting. I just roughly went off the fully extended hight of my tripod and went from there. I did take into account my surroundings, such as houses and trees and where to build as I knew I was going to build an Observatory around it. I think there are calculations and a way to build a pier for optimal hight, but I certainly didn't look into it too much. I mainly just did what felt right to me.

[@lameaxe]

@@CosmuzzAstro that makes perfect sense. Thanks again.

[@lameaxe]

Thanks so much for this video- what would be minimum square size you’d recommend for surrounding platform? I’d like to hear from your experience - mad respect!!! I’m thinking 8 feet x 8 feet area with pier in center. Thanks for doing this mate. Clear skies from Florida

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Glad you like the video and thank you for watching. Sounds like you have big plans! I went with a 9x8 so my platform area ended up being 10mm extra on each side creating a lip. As for the gap from the pier to the main foundation, I just went for a good seperation. I have seen those gaps much smaller. Hope that answered your question and made sense. Any more feel free to ask, I am more than happy to try and help. Clear Skies!

[@redphenix1033]

Great vid! Appreciated. What is the music you used? Thanks

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hi, many thanks for watching. Appologies for the delay in getting back to you. All the music I use in my videos are from Epidemic Sound. The more upbeat one I used was called I Found You by Daxten and the mellow one at the end of the video was Particle Emission by Silver Maple.

[@knightclan4]

There are those astrophotographers that breakdance and those that don't.

[@tomreid7]

That looks the bees knees mate, well done, i hope you didn't use a Vauxhall disc?, they rust like funk🤣

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Haha, Lets hope this one is ok and the mount doesn't drop off. That would be fun mid image session. Thanks alot mate, glad you like it!

[@stefandrost7823]

Great video! What was the total cost?

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Hi Stefan. Thank You! It was around £200. The cost of everything has gone up but still cheaper than a steel, purpose made pier.

[@PeterRowe-k1o]

Funny, the video starts out with a bit of a crazy man, surrounded by junk and debris. Then he builds the most gorgeous pier.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Just had a good chuckle there. It does look that way doesn't it lol.

[@anata5127]

Fri*** h***! This will handle 2 tons heavy mount. 😂 EQ6R? It is insult for this pear.

[@CosmuzzAstro]

Haha! I definitely future proofed it I think. Thank you for watching Ana!

[@fredmercury1314]

Well you've done that all wrong. No high-vis jacket, no hardhat, no thermos, no union rep... amateur...

[@gwthomas52]

Well done!