Altair Skyshed 8" column (heavy duty with anti-vibration fins)

These unique structural and ergonomic features solve the most common column installation problems, distinguishing it from all other telescoping columns.

The features of the SkyShed column also make it the world's best-selling column of all time. The design is the work of Wayne Parker of SkyShed Inc, the world's most prolific observatory manufacturer, and is often purchased with SkyShed POD domes and roll-off observatories. The "metric" version of the column is manufactured by Altair Astro in the UK, but using slightly oversized metric steel and hardware.

A super-easy installation process, and the included FREE attachment kit, make the Altair SkyShed column a compelling choice for any observatory, or stand-alone telescope project. What's more, you can take your column with you if you move house. Simply unscrew it, cut the uprights, and you're ready to go.

Altair's SkyShed column is made of solid 8" (203 mm) diameter, 6 mm thick steel tubing with zinc anti-corrosion coating + powder coating, and is 36 inches tall (with the ability to adjust the height a couple of inches). The use of laser cut steel gives a nice professional finish to the product.

Unique Features of the Altair SkyShed 8" Column

• Can be adjusted in leveling and rotation AFTER installation, for a perfect job.
• The 225 mm diameter (8 3/4 inch) steel tube with 6 mm thick walls and 6 mm thick steel support fins make it the stiffest dock of its size. More metal for your money.
• A strong product, but with a low enough weight (45 kg) to make it easy to set up and move.
• Adjustable in height from 36-38 inches (the optimum size range for small or large SCTs and refractors on an EQ mount).
• Custom lengths or extensions available - please inquire.
• 32 mm diameter center through hole in the base and intermediate plate, allowing power and communications cables to be routed through the base to the top plate. Easy cable routing: simply remove the top cover, route the cables, and replace the top cover. No more frustration searching for cables to run through.
• FREE FASTENING kit, choose "L-Bolts" if you are pouring concrete, or "Straight Bolts" if you want to drill holes in an existing surface, such as a concrete pad, to glue the threaded rods with chemfix.
• Corrosion treatment. The spring is shot blasted and then sprayed with a metallic zinc coating for better protection than normal galvanizing. This product has marine durability. Our contractors use the same treatment for boat components. Even if the powder coating comes off, the zinc anti-corrosion coating fuses with the steel. Your dock will last many decades without corrosion.
• Large, flat 320 mm / 13" diameter base plate for easy access to base bolts, with four welded perimeter fins.
• 4 massive 16mm bolts support the upper spring plate cable supporting over 1000kg in compression.
• Pre-drilled hole pattern for various spring adapters (see list below) as well as classic fork mounts Meade and Celestron.
• Adapters available for most mounts (see compatibility list below).
• Perfect for any observatory or roll-off dome, including the Skyshed range.
• Easily shortened if needed - just cut off the top of the tube with a band saw or plasma cutter. Your local metal store or even an auto shop can do it in a matter of minutes. You can also special order from us - changed your mind and need more height? We make custom extensions for a reasonable price: contact us.

More reasons to use a SkyShed column:

Early DIY pier designs were based on concrete usually poured inside a tube, which is not only very difficult to move or disassemble if you change locations, but also requires an adjustable top platform to level them if they are slightly out of true. The Altair SkyShed dock has a cleverly designed steel top plate and cap, which are adjustable in both leveling and rotation, and then locked with four 100 mm, 16 mm diameter high-strength steel threaded rods.

The cross-section of each of the four steel rods (201mm2 x4) provides greater strength than the abutment tube itself, and immense stability, given their spacing. Leveling the top of the abutment takes care of the first step in the assembly manual of your GOTO telescope, and compensates for any tilting of the surface on which the abutment is mounted. Unlike other designs, if the concrete base is slightly uneven, or is installed on an existing hard surface that is normally slightly sloped for drainage, there is no need to add shims or washers under the pillar to compensate, and you will always have good, solid contact between the large base and the surface, with a professional looking installation, no matter how uneven the base surface is. Although equatorial mounts do not need to be strictly level to follow the Polar, GOTO accuracy is a concern, as is precision polar alignment. Consider, that if your pillar is not level, an altitude adjustment will make a small change in azimuth, and vice versa, due to tilt, so for every adjustment in altitude, you would need to make a compensating one in azimuth to get accurate polar alignment.

Infinitely adjustable and rigid: The large 320 mm steel base plate is welded to an 8" diameter steel center column. Four large "fins" are welded to both the base plate and center column, reducing flex and vibration to undetectable levels. This pier easily supports mount/telescope combinations weighing about 120 kg. The top plate of the pier can be easily leveled with four (yes, four!) 16 mm (2/3") diameter solid steel threaded rods placed at each corner. Once you have run the wires through the center holes provided, simply level and tighten the dock cover. Perfect leveling aids in GOTO accuracy and eliminates polar field rotation with respect to the horizon. The spring cap can be rotated 350 degrees, making the process of pointing your mount North for perfect polar alignment quick and easy. Once pointed North, the dock cap locks in place with four 12mm bolts.

In addition to adjustability and ease of installation, the material thickness, tube size and marine-spec anti-corrosion measures make it a compelling choice for a pier.

The SkyShed/Altair pier is not only the best-selling pier design in the world, but also in the UK. Over 20 years in production, much imitated, never equaled.

Mount Attachment: The Altair SkyShed pier cap has a variety of holes to accept most Meade wedges, as well as the Skywatcher EQ8 mount directly. For mounts that require a countersunk hole, the Altair Multi Mount dock adapter (which supports most popular Chinese mounts), can be clamped in place with the supplied screws. Celestron AVX, Paramount MX and special extra soft adapters for EQ8 are also available. You are not limited to one type of mount, because the top plate is large and flat, so you can attach virtually anything to the Altair SkyShed Pier. For more information on the adapters, see the respective product pages.

Leveling and rotation are important for a good GOTO and easier and more accurate polar alignment: All major mount manufacturers recommend installing an Equatorial or Alt Azimuth mount as level as possible, and aligned with the North/South axis. The only way to ensure that your mount is perfectly level is with the four 16mm thick steel threaded adjustment rods, which allow for small incremental adjustments with a wrench once your scope is mounted. When the abutment cap is tightened, the leveling rods keep the top of the abutment perfectly level, even when testing with large scopes and mounts totaling over 100kg in total weight. Now your mount is well balanced causing negligible torque. Don't be fooled by cheaper designs that do not allow rotation or rely on "shims" (basically washers) for precise leveling. It is not possible to perfectly level anything with shims because they are a certain thickness and it would be a very time consuming process. The reason these designs are cheaper is that shortcuts have been used to reduce fabrication and coating costs. When you get that dream observatory or rolling dome built, or make your own, this is the only solution to get it 100% right designed by astronomers. We have replaced many third-party pillars that have suffered from a variety of problems, from corrosion to a frustrating inability to level or turn them in azimuth.

Precision materials and zinc plating for longer life: No other abutment comes close in quality of materials and anti-corrosion plating. The pier components are laser cut from sheet steel, then the base plate and anti-bending fins are welded to the 8" diameter steel column in a jig for perfect alignment. The result is a column that is as light as possible for ease of installation, but extremely rigid. The columns are then sandblasted to prepare the surface and sprayed with zinc. At the time of writing, no other pillar product has this expensive coating process, which is better than galvanizing and is often used for industrial marine and military applications where a professional finish is required. Once the flame spraying process is complete, the piers are placed in an industrial oven and powder coated with RAL9000 matte black. This creates an extremely resistant coating that not only gives the product a perfect finish, but also protects it against shocks and wear. Even if the powder coating chips, the zinc undercoating prevents corrosion. This two-layer coating technology is far superior to painting processes, and provides the ultimate in durability for many years.

Compatibility with the Altair SkyShed 8" adjustable steel pillar mount:

(Dock adapters attach to the top plate of the dock using 4x M8 socket head cap screws, secured with nuts underneath).

• iOptron CEM60 & CEM60-EC (requires PAD-MULTI adapter)
• iOptron iEQ45 (PAD-MULTI adapter required)
• Skywatcher EQ6 & Celestron CGEM (requires PAD-MULTI adapter)
• Skywatcher EQ8 (PAD-EQ8 adapter recommended)*.
• Skywatcher/Celestron HEQ5, EQ5, CG5 (requires PAD-MULTI adapter)
• Paramount MX (PAD-PMX adapter recommended)
• Paramount My-T (requires PAD-PMX adapter)
• 10 Micron GM1000 (requires PAD-EQ8 adapter)
• Celestron AXV (requires PAD-AVX adapter)

* For visual observation with the 8" adjustable steel abutment, it is possible to mount the EQ8 and Paramount MX directly on the top of the abutment and secure the bolts with nuts on the bottom, however the machined aluminum PAD-EQ8 and PAD-PMX spring adapters provide a much smoother surface for easier polar alignment.