Top Pier Plate

Here is a sketch of the top plate of my two-plate system. The bottom plate is identical in size and thickness (either ½ inch or ¾ inch aluminum will do). The bottom plate has the same four corner holes as the top plate and the two plates are connected via four ¾ inch all-thread studs that are about 10 inches long but should be cut to suit the height of your setup. In addition the bottom plate has three ¾ inch holes for the “J-bolts” used to fasten the bottom plate to the concrete pier. The holes for these 3 J-bolts can be placed anywhere inside the four corners where they won’t interfere with the four corner bolts and their washers and nuts.  

Be sure to lay out the base of the wedge on the aluminum plate before drilling any of the wedge holes (pivot center, A, B, C, and azimuth slot) so that everything will fit properly within the four corners. The washers I have under the nuts on the corner bolts (#1-4) are about 1.5 inches in diameter, so you should allow that much space around each of the corner holes. My Meade Superwedge as well as a Milburn heavy-duty wedge fit comfortably within this space. The dimension “D” for the distance between the center pivot point of the wedge and the azimuth adjusting slot is 4 ¹³/₁₆ inches on my setup  

When mounting the wedge on my pier I put a short ½ inch stud into the ½-13 threaded center pivot hole, which provides a smoother azimuth motion when cranking the azimuth adjustment. Not absolutely necessary, but I think it helps.  

Let me know if you need anything else: mailto:katzung1@attbi.com

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