AVX Pier Extension

Pier Extension for Celestron AVX:
Super easy and super cheap home made version.
I’m relatively new to Astrophotography and my biggest

frustration by far has been my telescope and camera
running into the tripod after spending significant time on
alignment set up. After some research, I decided what I
needed to do was to get were riser blocks and a extension
pier. The riser blocks where easy. I purchase them from
Stellarview along with a vixen plate. The extension pier was
another issue as there are not any available for purchase. I
found, on Cloudy Nights forum, an ingenious solution using
PVC piping. Since this works so well for me I decided to
post some more detailed instructions with the simplifying
modifications.
I decided to use ABS instead of PVC since is suppose to be stronger, especially in

extreme cold. It is also already black and easier to cut and glue. These instructions are
for a 10inch/250mm pier extension. This acts as a very sturdy corrosion proof spacer
which is firmly held in place by the pressure between tripod and the AVX head by a
threaded rod extension.
Materials List:
I. One 2 ft section of 4” ABS pipe.
II. Two 4” ABS couplers.
III. One 4” ABS end cap.
IV. One 5” wide by 1/4” by at least 5” long board.
V. Can of ABS cement/glue.
VI. Tube of silicon sealer.
VII. Black spray paint.
VIII.One 10mm 1.5 nut.
IX. One 10mm 1.5 coupler nut.
X. One 250mm long 10mm 1.5 stainless steel threaded rod.
I believe I was able to get all of this at Lowe's except the threaded rod which I had to
order from eBay. Obviously, the spray paint is optional. I honestly think the ABS cement
and silicone sealer are optional, but I didn't want to risk it.
Tools:
I. One 8mm 1.25 tap (this was the only tool I had to
buy).
II. One 2.5inch whole cut saw for your drill (you can
use a jig saw instead but it won't look pretty).
III. Drill.
IV. Small adjustable crescent wrench.
V. A drill bit a few mm wider than than 11mm. I ended up using a 1/2” bit.
VI. Saw or router to cut a circle from board (I used a jig saw).
VII. Fine and coarse sand paper.
VIII.Saw to cut 4” ABS pipe (I used my chop saw).
IX. Some sort of vise to hold things in place when cutting.
Instructions:
• Trace outer diameter of ABS pipe on to board and cut out

this circle and sand edges to get it to fit into ABS coupler
(a belt sander is a real time saver here).
• Drill ~ 1/2” whole in very center of this circle.
• Cut 2.5” hole in center of ABS end cap.
• Cut two 3” sections from 2 foot length of ABS pipe (these

do not have to be exact at or straight).
• Tap a threaded 8mm 1.25 threaded hole in end cap

approximately 4mm from the edge.
• Put pier together in the following order: ABS end cap, first
3” pipe section, first ABS coupler, wood circle , second 3”
pipe section, second ABS coupler.
• Remove polar alignment stud from trip from tripod with

crescent wrench and gently but snugly put it into 8mm
threaded hole in end cap.
You are essentially done if don't want to glue, sand, or paint.
• You just need to put the 10mm 1.5 coupler about half way down it's
length on the center rod on the tripod.
• Put the 10mm 1.5 nut about 1 to 2” down the 250mm 10mm 1.5
threaded rod.
• Thread this rod into the coupler until it stops then tighten down the nut
to keep this rod snugly in place.
• Put the new pier extension on top of the tripod with the polar alignment
stud to the north.
• Put the AVX head on top of the pier and thread the rod into it until the
pier extension is snugly compressed between the tripod and the base.
If you want glue, sand and paint do all of the above first to make sure it all works first.
• Take it back apart.
• I painted the board but just for a bit of moisture protection then sealed it to
the first ABS coupler with the silicon seal.
• After that put everything back together in the same order with ABS cement
on both ends of the pipe 3” section of the 4” ABS pipe. You don't need a
lot of cement and work quickly because it locks things in place very quickly.
• Sand and paint next for purely aesthetic reasons. Black satin spray paint
gives a very good match to the AVX.
Learn from my mistakes: The wood circle really helps line up the threaded rod with
the AVX head so don't leave it out. Also make sure you drill the hole in the very center
or it actually impedes this process. As you can see from this picks above my drill bit
slipped a bit do I didn't get it centered correctly. So I had to redo my wood circle.

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Pier Extension for Celestron AVX:

Super easy and super cheap home made version.

I’m relatively new to Astrophotography and my biggest

I decided to use ABS instead of PVC since is suppose to be stronger, especially in

I. One 2 ft section of 4” ABS pipe.

II. Two 4” ABS couplers.

III. One 4” ABS end cap.

IV. One 5” wide by 1/4” by at least 5” long board.

V. Can of ABS cement/glue.

VI. Tube of silicon sealer.

VII. Black spray paint.

VIII.One 10mm 1.5 nut.

IX. One 10mm 1.5 coupler nut.

X. One 250mm long 10mm 1.5 stainless steel threaded rod.

IV. Small adjustable crescent wrench.

VII. Fine and coarse sand paper.

VIII.Saw to cut 4” ABS pipe (I used my chop saw).

IX. Some sort of vise to hold things in place when cutting.

• Trace outer diameter of ABS pipe on to board and cut out

• Drill ~ 1/2” whole in very center of this circle.

• Cut 2.5” hole in center of ABS end cap.

• Cut two 3” sections from 2 foot length of ABS pipe (these

• Tap a threaded 8mm 1.25 threaded hole in end cap

• Remove polar alignment stud from trip from tripod with

You are essentially done if don't want to glue, sand, or paint.

• Take it back apart.

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