More photos availible in the build album for this project - which can be found at :
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmPZU7ZaI am now using two scopes at the same time to do my Astrophotography. This means two rigs that have to be hauled out to the driveway, assembled, leveled, balanced and aligned for each evening session - and then have to be taken down again at the end of the night. I was looking to simplify this. I talked to an old Astro-enthusiast friend Rick Albrecht, about ways to make life simpler. Rick is a gifted mechanical engineer and has a history of building really neat astronomical equipment. Since I am using the same tri-pier on each scope he suggested building as scope lifter! You simply move the lifter under the scope, strap the pier to the lifter cradle and then use a drill to turn a jack screw to lift the heavy scope a few inches off the ground - now move it to the magical pre-marked spots on the driveway and gently lower them into position. I thought it was a brilliant plan and using his design concept and engineering assistance I just finished building the lifter. Right now it is dry fit together (i.e. no glue yet) as I wanted to test the fit and functionality). It worked great and can easily handle the necessary loads. I will now save a lot of time (and my back) when setting things up!
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