Cement pier

Hey Friends,
I have a an obeservatory now but I want to add a cement pier. (My tripod takes a lot of room.) Now if I decide to do this, is it better square or round? and what about the mount hardware since it is a permanent thing I can make the mount for my C8 at 30 degrees Or am I missing something?
Any ideas? I like to keep it simple.
Clear skies ~~ Sonya~~

If you already have a cement floor, addinga pier is going to be something of a problem as you are going to have to do some drilling. However, if you do not havea cement floor you will be able to do pretty much whatever you want. When I built the observatory here, I used a 36" diameter piece of Sonotube (the cardboard like tube they use to make concrete piers with) sunk about 6' in the ground. Inside of this I placed a rebar reinforcing cage with additional piece of rebar "floated" vertically. When the concrete was setting I placed the four 1" "J" bolts 16" into the concrete. I had a form that matched the pier base so the bolts would line up correctly. Around the pier top, prior to the floor being poured I rolled some "sill sealer" that you use between the bottom plate of framing and the floor. This isolates the pier from vibrations from the floor. I used to have a 22" f/5 Newtonian in there but the telescope was useless so now have a pier with an AP1200/C-14 on it. The actual telescope pier is a 10" diameter piece of pipe welded to a 3/4" thick piece of flat steel, which bolts to the floor. There are braces and such on this bottom piece. The pier is filled with about 250# of sand and is VERY stable. Top of pier has the AP adapter plate and the mount attaches to this.

Mike