Some mounts require a special adapter in order to be attached to our pier plate. If your mount has a flat bottom and requires only one or more bolts to be attached to the pier, you don’t need an adapter. We’ll custom-drill our pier plate to match the hole pattern on the bottom of your mount. If those bolts are provided with your mount (as they are with the ZWO mounts), send them along and we’ll use them.
If the bottom of your mount isn’t flat, you’ll need to provide a pier adapter. Any pier adapter will work as long as it meets the following requirements:
It needs to have a flat bottom.
Your pier adapter needs to be able to sit flat against our pier plates. An easy rule of thumb: if your pier adapter can sit flush on your kitchen table, it’ll work with our plates. We’ll custom drill our pier plate to match the hole pattern on your adapter, so you don’t need to worry about the specific bolt pattern. Again, if those bolts came with your mount or with the pier adapter, send them to us with the pier adapter and we’ll use them to attach to our pier plate.It needs to be less than 6” tall.
As long as your adapter is under 6” tall, you’re good to go. If it’s taller than 6”, just check with us before sending it out so we can make sure it’ll work with your setup.
Common Pier Adapters
Below is a list of many of the most commonly used pier adapters. This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you’d like to use a different adapter, that’s totally fine! Just make sure it meets the requirements above.
If you’re ever unsure whether an adapter will work, please open a support ticket and we’ll be happy to verify it before you purchase or send anything out.
One important thing to remember: always send any posts or hardware that belong to your pier adapter, whether that’s a center post, azimuth posts, or both.
Your mount and pier adapter should include all of the necessary bolts and hardware to connect them to each other. We’ll take care of the bolts, drilling, and any special machining needed to attach your pier adapter to our flat pier plate.
Basically, you provide everything needed to connect your mount to your adapter, and we’ll handle everything needed to connect your adapter to our pier.
Sky-Watcher NEQ6, HEQ5, AZEQ6 Mounts
iOptron Tri-Pier Adapter for Takahashi/SkyWatcher NEQ6, HEQ5, AZEQ6 Mounts
iOptron CEM60, CEM60-EC, iEQ45/iEQ45 Pro, CEM40, GEM45, HAE43, HEM44, iEQ30, iEQ30 Pro.
iOptron 6" Pier Top Plate with MiniTower & AZ Mount Pro Hardware
AstroPhysics 1600GTO, 1200
Flat Surface Pier Adapter to attach 1600GTO, 1200 Pier Adapters or Wedge to a flat surface (1612FSA)
AstroPhysics 400, 600E, Mach1 and Mach2
Flat Surface Tripod Adapter - attach 400, 600E, Mach1 and Mach2 to a flat surface (ADATRI)
AstroPhysics 1150 or 1100
Software Bisque Paramount MyT
