It’s bolted down and cables routed. It started raining so I had to stop and close up but it’s nearly ready for use. Anyone wanting to install one of these things onto a pier should know two things. First: it is MUCH easier to manage with that huge saddleplate removed (especially if your observatory is on the second floor!). You need to pull that plate anyway to run cables through the mount. Cables with larger connectors (such
as Robofocus motor cables or USB cables) can’t come out the exposed opening unless you take more things apart. There’s a hole at the front for the declination motor cable, though, and that can be used to get those cables at least partially inside. Second: all that is required is a flat plate on the pier top with an accessible 1/2″ hole. A 1/2″ X 13tpi bolt goes up into the base and that’s what holds the mount.
I saw that some folks were mounting smallish refractors to the Starlock saddle and was hoping to cheat the FSQ-106N the same way, as I use a smaller-diameter OTA than they do. Sadly, there’s not enough room. The FSQ will have to go on top and that means the mount will get a real test. That’s a lot of weight to mount so far from the axis. Requires disproportionately more counterweight, too. Fortunately, I bought three extra counterweights ahead of time, just in case…
I found the 26 pound counterweights harder to thread onto the C/W shaft than the 14 pound Takahashi weights but no real problem there.