back garden observatories

[quimby44]

hi i just been surfing the net and found the pulsar observatory has any body got one was wondering if there ok for a urban garden or would it be a waste of money buying one they do look the business cheers stephen

[Charic]

Hi quimby44.......having a small roof- slit aperture can only be a benefit to averting stray street and neighbouring lights directly to the eyes. I use a cheapish utility tent to obtain the same result, although the light that gets through the materials is still too bright, unless I drape over another cover.

That observatory will / should offer good light and weather protection, and possibly security too with a padlock. It may draw attention to your hobby?

[pmlogg]

I have a 2.7m Pulsar dome.  It was their demonstrator at one point.  It's not the newest model, which has had some improvements, especially concerning the ability to motorise it - should you want to do that.

I've found mine to be very good; completely waterproof and blocks the wind effectively too.  Mine is also in a back garden but I'd describe our location as suburban rather than urban;  not really dark skies but where located it is out of line of all street lighting.  The dome of course blocks most stray light.

You do of course lose sight of the sky outside of the slit so the experience is different from a roll-off observatory.

The door lock on the dome is pretty good and Pulsar sells brackets that lock down the dome to the base.  I keep the slit padlocked shut from the inside so with the whole thing bolted to a concrete base it is pretty secure other than from a determined thief.

There are quite a few topics here that cover domes including piers, flooring, electrics, dehumidifying etc. so you might want to have a look at those too. 

In my case I planned out the electrics and built the mountings for them (a bit more complicated with a circular building) but had them put in by a professional - mains power from underground into the house.  I used IP boxes and sockets throughout as I was worried about damp or leaks.  A local welder fabricated the pier for me from steel pipe. I then had it powder coated.

I floored it with wooden decking - which I like.  It feels warm in the coldest of weather, and being raised off the floor it allows cabling to run from the wall to the pier without a trip hazard.  One plank is hinged for access to the cables but I've never needed to access them.  The support at the wall for the electrics also supports a small table surface for the laptop. 

I boxed in the pier with plywood, for the electrics but at the same time made a small hexagonal work top, big enough for small items.

So, in all, no regrets. I can't really imagine going back to setting up and tearing down every session.

One other thing though, is that I find having a permanent set up discourages me from moving the kit elsewhere. So if you find that yourself, you could end up feeling the need for a portable set-up; and that of course is additional cost.

[quimby44]

 pmlogg cheers for the advice will keep it in mind

[quimby44]

Hi quimby44.......having a small roof- slit aperture can only be a benefit to averting stray street and neighbouring lights directly to the eyes. I use a cheapish utility tent to obtain the same result, although the light that gets through the materials is still too bright, unless I drape over another cover.

That observatory will / should offer good light and weather protection, and possibly security too with a padlock. It may draw attention to your hobby?

hi charic i never thought about a tent it sounds like a good cheep portable thing to have 

[Charic]

This daylight shot clearly shows the light penetration through the back wall, but only the top of the tent gets illuminated by street lights at night. An additional black ground sheet over the tent allows for a much darker environment, in fact so dark I need a red light, which I really prefer not to use?

The only disadvantage to this tent for me is that it only zippers from the top down to close the door. I wish I could unzip the door at both ends, therefore leaving just the bottom half of the door closed, and leaving  a small opening at the top for the telescope, and covering the telescope with an extra groundsheet is easy enough due to the outer skeletal construction, but this still needs an aperture slit to get my Skyliner telescope though and its finder scopes?

It is at the end of the day, designed as a toilet tent, with two inbuilt shelves for your toilet paper/ eye-pieces, strapping for  a towel / hang your torch?

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-utility-tent-p148806

[Astro Imp]

That looks brilliant Charic, will have to give something similar serious thought.

[jambouk]

Or build your own:

http://nottinghamastro.org.uk/?page_id=1201

James

[Fish]

You will find so many ideas on this forum it will spoil you for choice, my roll off roof obsy is just about at the end of its first year and It has surpassed everything I expected. It is made from a ketter plastic shed, pictures in the link in my signature.

[nytecam]

Just love my DIY home dome to snap the sky

[damnut]

There are some superb home built obsys,from the simple to the complex with pods my hat off to all of you.

[steppenwolf]

I have an original Pulsar Dome Observatory and am just about to upgrade it to the latest version with full automation. The original one transformed my enjoyment of astronomy in its many forms so I can only say that it was a very successful purchase for me and highly recommended.

If I wasn't going for a fully robotic imaging system now, I'd be keeping my existing observatory for life!

[Joseki]

  

would it be a waste of money buying one

I think it depends on why you're buying one.  The main benefit as far as I can tell (I don't have one) is greatly reduced setup time.  Open the hatch, power up the gear and off you go - 5 minute job and 5 minutes to pack up at the end of the night.  Plus maybe if you have a neighbour with a security light that illuminates your garden it would help block that out.

The downside is you could spend the cash on other stuff, it's not mobile and if you decide to quit stargazing they're hard to sell (tough if you move house too I suppose).

p.s. I've just been out this evening to polar align my mount & marked points on paving slabs so I can be roughly aligned within minutes.  - free to do and a big time saver.  

[nytecam]

An obsy is a big commitment and depends on many factors.  I'm long retired in the same house a "stones throw" literally from London so light pollution [LP] is severe. The Milky Way has long disappeared but I refuse to be driven out from home to observe the sky.    I haven't eyeballed stuff for a decade as my little Lodestar camera in a few seconds exposure does the business going much much deeper than visual and in colour as the Ring and Bowtie PNe pics above. 

I favour a dome [built 6 over time but never a RoR] as it gives complete protection from wind, dew and local LP for you and the scope etc.   IMHO a roll-off-roof obsy is daft [unless you're in a favoured warm climate] with no protection and is little better than observing from an open patio with zero set-up time - WOW !   

[Fish]

 IMHO a roll-off-roof obsy is daft [unless you're in a favoured warm climate] with no protection and is little better than observing from an open patio with zero set-up time - WOW !

That statement is not true, I dont want to start a this v that debate here you can find lots of info on dome v ror . 4 walls of a roll off roof offer great protection compared with standing on a patio, trust me I have spent enough time on a patio in sub zero temperatures . Another aspect of a dome is that it cuts you off from the one thing that you want and that is to see the sky , I have used both and I prefer to not be isolated from the sky, the extra protection a dome gives, imho is not enough to warrent missing the things you see while waiting for the scope to slew.

Any type of permanent set-up which gets your feet off the ground and keeps the draught off you is a massive bonus in this game .

[Astro Imp]

The problem with any form of permanent set up is that you are restricted to one position for observing. I need to be flexible in this regards depending on the area of sky I wish to cover, which is one of the reasons I'm considering Charics suggestion above.

[quimby44]

I have an original Pulsar Dome Observatory and am just about to upgrade it to the latest version with full automation. The original one transformed my enjoyment of astronomy in its many forms so I can only say that it was a very successful purchase for me and highly recommended.

If I wasn't going for a fully robotic imaging system now, I'd be keeping my existing observatory for life!

So would you suggest me waiting untill i can afford a upgraded one to fully auto than a standard 2.2 manual

[DaveS]

I too am investigating obsys, but mine will have to go an a patio rather than the usual concrete base, though I am planning a cubic metre of concrete as foundation for a pier. A slight complication is the space, I *may* have room for a 2.2 metre dome, but a 6'x6'  or 6x7 RoR may be more likely. I'll also need it to be readily dismantled again when I do move on retirement.

As I'm an imager a RoR has the advantage of an open view, a dome will require automation, adding considerable cost. I'll probably control things from my lounge, rather than freeze at a laptop in the obsy.

[Macavity]

There is an irony... after spending time / money fitting out an observatory,

I now control it all remotely from indoors. Worth pondering, if you might just

end up (video) imaging only. A smaller (lower!) structure might suffice. 

P.S. http://www.365astronomy.com/Observatory-Domes/ (Interesting idea, anyway?)

[DeanSL]

Though I doubt I'll be making one, there is something very appealing about a homebuilt dome, they are very pretty.

[nytecam]

....trust me I have spent enough time on a patio in sub zero temperatures . .....

Yep - been there done that for the first 30yrs in the hobby and slightly less under the complete protection of domes. Agreed the sky view is restricted with a dome but I can always step outside for the big view.

Once had a mate around for his Messier list and dome was in a flat spin jumping all over the sky ! You need a plan with a dome - the other night I shot 6 Messiers in the Plough plus 2 quasars >7BLY and lesser gx via Hicks on 50 /Abell gx cluster @ 2 BLY without hardly shifting the dome. There is so much to find in a tiny area of sky if you know what to look for :-)

[CSM]

I have a 2.2m Pulsar observatory and despite a few problems with the rain here in sunny South Wales (marvellous Solar Eclipse) it means that I can get out viewing or images in a matter of minutes.  Also nice and cosy inside - never liked the wind when observing.  So over the years it will save you many hours of observing time or be the difference between doing it or not doing it.  With the hibernate facility on my scope it is a simple matter of entering time and date and away.

[damnut]

@csm, never a truer word, ski boots and salopettes a must here!!

[tteedd]

Hi

I have just bought an old 2.7m Pulsar observatory.

It came with a BC&F dome controller and servo motors installed to rotate the dome.

I would appreciate it if anyone has any tech info on this.

I'm also interested in automating the shutter.

Appreciate any help.

Ted