Advanced Telescope Systems Permanent Pier

5.0 ATS permanent pier

ATS support is as good as the quality of their products.

Have to wait for the pier to be built, but it is worth the wait.

First, the quality and workmanship of my 10 inch permanent pier is excellent. I had many discussions/emails with Rob during the process of determining the right pier height and adapters. I find ATS most helpful when you are trying to get the right configuration down. They shipped the L-bolt and template early so I could get it installed in the concrete (in my case, concrete pier since the observatory is on the second floor). The L-bolt/template assembly was a dream to install, no problems. The permanent pier has a flange at the base with slots for the bolts so that you have 15 degrees of rotation to get it aligned to north. I was only 1 degree off north, so there was plenty of margin for error.

On the 10” pier I have an AP1200GTO mount and a C14 OTA. The combination is rock stable. Induced vibrations dampen in less that one second. If you accidentally bump the mount, pier or telescope, I have never seen any displacement in the eyepiece, only the vibration damping.

I had difficulty determining the best height to make the pier, since the observatory was not yet built. ATS worked with me and I ultimately choose a 42 inch high 10 inch diameter pier. Even when I had a medical problem and had to delay the pier order, ATS gave me the time to recover and then completed the order.

ATS is a great company to work with and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

Roy Jenevein