ToupTek EP200 Pier Extension

The ToupTek EP200 is a 200 mm aluminium pier extension. It fits between the mount and the tripod and lifts the mount 200 mm higher. It’s made for the ATLAS SH20 and suits other strain wave and small equatorial mounts too.

The extra height lets a long refractor, or a camera and filter wheel on the back of the telescope, clear the tripod legs when it points high in the sky. Without it, a long setup can hit a leg near the zenith or during a meridian flip.

It is 129 mm across, 200 mm tall and weighs 1.6 kg. Need less height? The EP160 is 160 mm tall.

Fitting the mount

• Three M6 screws: the ATLAS SH20 and most strain wave mounts fix to the quick mounting plate with three M6 screws on a 60 mm circle. This is the stiffest fixing. Some mounts allow only a short screw depth (Proxisky mounts, for example, need under 8 mm), so check yours.
• 3/8″ centre bolt: other mounts fix through the 3/8″-16 thread of the dual-purpose centre bolt.

ToupTek lists these mounts as compatible:

• With three M6 screws: ToupTek ATLAS SH20; WarpAstron WD-17, WD-20 and WD-20P; Proxisky Ragdoll 17/20 (including the 2025 and Pro versions) and UMI 17X, 17S and 20S; ZWO AM3, AM5, AM5N and AM7; Sky-Watcher Wave 100i and 150i; ClearSky ST-14, ST-17 and ST-20; MLAstro SAL-33.
• With the centre bolt: most of the above, plus iOptron HAE16, HAE18, HAZ31, HAZ46 and HAZ71; RainbowAstro RST-135, RST-135E and RST-150; AstroFrog FG-17 and FT-17; Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi and SA-GTi.

Fitting the tripod

The base fixes to the tripod in one of three ways: with the quick-release mounting plate, with the tripod adapter ring, or with hex socket screws straight into the tripod head. It fits the ToupTek T-Forty and ZWO TC-40 carbon fibre tripods, the iOptron and Sky-Watcher 1.75″ and 2″ steel tripods, the Celestron AVX 2″ steel tripod, and other tripods with the same fixings.

Buy it on its own if you already have a tripod, or with the T-Forty as a package for £10 less than buying the two separately. Not sure it fits your mount? Tell us the mount and tripod and we’ll check.