Bukko

The Scopedome is only 5 panels and the bigger ones took two to carry and three to fit (at only 800mm off the ground). I really would not fancy lifting the bigger panels as high as you have built. Even though I would expect the Pulsar panels to be lighter, one-man build is not really a good idea. As you have a lot of the structure in place, could you install a lifting rig with a pulley to bring the panels up? Also, what working room do you have around the exterior? As to the delivery charge, I also bought mine through the Germaan distributor and the delivery was significant. The online charge was low, but on application, jumped a lot. When you ask, expect it to be closer to a thousand Euros.. Gordon

Just picked up on this tread and me being quoted. The decision to go with the Scopedoome was a close one, but on reflection, I think it was right for me. My rationale behind going for the Scopedome instead of the Pulsar was more to do with my application. I installed a .4m OO ODK and when I did the numbers, the shutter width on the Pulsar was very tight - 0.7m vs 1.0m Probably OK with an alt-az mount, but with an ME2, when slewed round, the shutter width was too tight. I also wanted to mount it at elevation and if I used the Pulsar half height only, I would need to add a lot more brickss (and therefore thermal mass) to the installations. But when looking at the full height dome from Pulsar, including the motors, etc. the difference was not that much. Then it would need to be transported to France and the shipping costs are high (crossing the channel with a truck is expensive) The Scopedome is a three metre sphere, so quite a lot bigger than the Pulsar 2.7m. Yes, the whole dome rotates, instead of just the top as in the Pulsar. Having a long refractor might actually suit the Scopedome more but if you are seriousy considering one of these domes as your solution, research them both carefully. Oh, being GRP, I do get some condensation build up and use a de-humidifier to keep it under control. If you think I can help further, I promise an impartial response, based on my own research and experience. Gordon

So sorry to hear of the damage and how lucky you were to have emptied it beforehand. Hoping you can make a strong repair to the fibreglass and you have no more trouble. It is difficult to believe the UK and France shared the same administration and the common human rights laws. For me here in rural France, I am surrounded by farmers and they all have guns. I guess thieves also know this so hoping I will not have a problem. We are plagued with wildlife from rabbits and hares, to deer and wild boar. To protect the boundary, it is very common to have electric fencing with just a few small warning notices. I spoke to the guy in the shop and to deter animals (including the two legged variety) he suggested I fit an electric fence around the observatory and the best one has 13,500 volts... I am assured it will not harm anyone. Apparantly, the boar recognise the cables and will just leave rather than take it on. Hoping the same for other lower lifeforms... Gordon.

It might flip but I didn't try. Only took 5 mins to sort it out. I was so surprised to see a snail there, here in France, they might have evolved to hide... haha Gordon.

Swapped out the NEQ6 with a HEQ5 and changed the 12" OOUK for the WO 110FLT to get some wider FOV targets. The baseplate on the HEQ5 is a bit smaller and took a little bit of fettling to make it fit. Well noticed ! Gordon.

Checking over my scope and noticed something on the window of the WO finder. It took me a minute to realise a snail had climbed up and made it its home... I am impressed. The snail must have somehow climbed into the dome , climbed up the pier, up the mount, onto the scope and then up to the finder. Unless it climbed to the top and abseiled down or something... Gordon.

OK, found it. It's pretty buried, but here goes. I guess you will need to be in Administrator account to make the change. Windows - Windows System. - Control Panel - Power Options Change Plan Settings (It does not matter what you have here, even high performance euspends the USB's) - Advanced Power Settings USB settings - USB Selective Suspend Setting Setting: Enabled. Click on Enabled, change to Disabled and Apply, the OK. Simple, eh? Hopefully when you restart, it will find the hardware and you can make progress. Good luck, Gordon.

Windows 10 has a really stupid power option where it turns off USB ports. If I guess, it might be this.. I am on a Windows 7 laptop (the last decent version of Windows !!) so will need to power up one of the win 10 units and if you can't find it, I will screen capture it for you. (Win 10 Pro) HTH. Gordon.

Hi and welcome to the forum. It is not a silly question, but the idea of counterweights is to balance the load on the mount - just like a see-saw. Big heavy person on one end needs the same weight on the other (2 lightweight ones?). Do you have the az-gti? have never used one, but it looks like it does not need counterweights. It can cope with a load up to 5kg so you SHOULD be OK but this really depends on exactly what scope you are going to fit. Hope this helps and good luck. Gordon.

From memory, the "P" is for Parabolic. The P version is better for imaging. I have a P version on the 200p Dob, purely for visual but the back focus distance is a pain, as I need to use an extension tube with an ep to get focus. It is possible it is aa "P" version, as Craig says, the N probably just means it is a Newtonian. Other versions of Newt include suffixes like "PDS". This will be a Parabolic mirror and dual speed focuser. Hope it helps. Gordon.

The next steps are to get the coma corrector installed and test the results. Plus use a focus mask just to make sure. Then add some flats to compensate for vignetting. Hopefully this will all go well, then look for another challenge. And I am sure there will be some hardware upgrades to make you poor !! Well done on the captures. Gordon.

I only said it to try and lighten the tone of the thread.... G.

I think we might have scared the OP away... Hopefully not, but as Marvin highlights the original request, price is a factor. Both the Celestron and HEQ5 are 1000 Euro mounts for a 200mm SW reflector. I agree the other two would not be good choices for the scope, but an option to at least try and shave some of the cost would be to consider the iOptron CEM25P. Over a hundred Euros cheaper, includes GPS for portable setting up, the worm engagement is better than the SW clutch system, is belt driven and the sprung loaded worm will also improve on backlash. I have both the CEM25P and the HEQ5 and I feel the CEM25P would do the job well. I know the CEM25P does not quite have the same payload capacity as the HEQ5, but overall, I think it better. Mods, please don't ban me !!! Gordon.

If you are really going to leave the mount for only a few days, I have found wrapping the pier and mount with a cotton bedsheet is effective at soaking up any moisture that forms. Every few days, take it off and allow fresh air to circulate (And dry the sheet, of course.) Before I built my observatory, I had a pier and mount fitted to the base and used a sheet with a plastic bin bag over it to keep it safe. Worked really well. Long term, of course you need something better but this is pretty much instant. HTH. Gordon.

Hello Vern, Andrew is right. If you have two weights, then go with that option. The shorter the distance between the weights and the mount the better. Depending on your seeing conditions, you might not notice much difference in guiding, but rest assured you are being kinder to the motors and if you upgrade the scope to something bigger, the basic principle will help a lot... Gordon.

I think aperture fever can also be applied to chainsaws; I was happy with my original electric one until I got a petrol one.. Now I htink I need a bigger one... Is there no end to this sickness??? Gordon.

Yes, this is the "little" one. There is a set of three round files that come in a set and each tooth needs to be sharpened. You are spot on about the small narrow chains not lasting, but when I bought it, it was for cutting Laurel branches, not big trees. If I asked, there is probably a neighbour who has a big saw who would come round and cut them down.

Mine is a Stihl, only small with a 40cm blade. The stumps are probably 60cm in diameter and so far since before Xmas I have cut up about 4 tonnes of wood. (not including the branches..) It starts no problem and eats through the trunk unti lit finds mud and stones embedded. TCT tips would have been great. I also have a Bosch mains powered chainsaw, it is OK but not as powerful as the Stihl. I did think about getting a bigger one, but didn't think I needed it, as I did not forsee losing so many big trees at once. Also the bigger chainsaws would carry so much more energy and I would then need to seriously upgrade the protective clothing so a couple of hundred more on the chainsaw would have to include a couple of hundred more on protective clothing too. For what it's worth, I did try and burn some of the branches but it was so difficult to light fresh wood that I gave up and take it all to the recycling centre. The idea of buring it as an easy option was because I was simply getting overloaded with work to do, in addition to the scope/mount/dome issues I was having... Gordon.

Hi Richard, The vagaries of French house insurance... I do have a VERY expensive house insurance, costing around 100 euros a MONTH. But since taking out the insurance, I needed to keep them up to speed with everything built. My mistake was thinking of UK insurance policies. I have loads of value insured but they expected an inventory. The schedule says NO to outbuildings, which was true at the time I opended the policy. So when I asked, I have a problem. The building was not itemised and it was bolted down. They see this as more permanent so should have been itemised. As it is not, sorry they say, but no deal. If it was not secured, it would be covered. I guess everything downwind of over a tonne of materials that would be airbourne would also be covered too... I am in the process of finding analternative insurance company There is a Brit that lives near me and close to Chateau Buzet is a roofer and has been around helping (well, he builds the roof and I help him...) replace it. There are some substantial internal 9x2" planks of wood adding strength and the overhang is halved too. Gone is the pretty pitched roof and replaced with a pent style. I am waiting for the EPDM to arrive and we will finish the roof when it gets here. I am still cutting up the trees that fell, I wish I had got a much bigger chainsaw than the one I got. It does OK until it hits some dirt caught up in the trunk, then the chain is blunted. It would be OK if I didn't also have mount problems with both the ME2 and the NEQ6. And I have not even got to integrating the Scopedome drivers into The SkyX yet... And one of the Lenovo pc's I bought for dome/mount/camera control has already packed up. Looks like a mobo issue. As Win10 pro licence is linked to the mobo, I see a waste of money. And people complain when they retire they have nothing to do... haha Gordon.

Thanks Gina, Sorry to hear you suffered a similar fate, I am hoping it looks worse than it is. The shed was a very good one, as the Mayor asked me to start a club when up and running, then admitted she was only joking. If it is unrepairable, I will get a much smaller and cheaper shed to replace it. I really only need somewhere to store some bits and manage the power and signal cables... I had to cut up the tree blocking the road as the first priority after getting the computers safe, of course. Oh, well. Gordon.

Thank you. I think the domes have nothing for the wind to get hold of so HOPEFULLY they are OK. Bigger concern would have been the roof flew off and hit them. It is very heavy and as you say, the wind does carry a lot of power. Add the rain and htis would make it worse. So I consider myself quite lucky. I have been thinking for a while it would be a good idea to double up on the fixings and have some lengths of 2x2 I was planning on screwing into each corner. My son will be down in a few days and it was on the worklist. Worried about having nothing to do when you retire? I was, but not now. Gordon

Thanks Alan, I know I am not the first to suffer from this, luckily, the scopes are not inside. My internet connection is from there and it was working at 07:00 and stopped arund 07:20 Looking outside it was still dark, but a torch showed me I had a problem, so got the PC's and stuff out pretty quickly. Hoping they are all OK, the repairs will only cost me some time and a few bottles of my finest single malts for the help. Yes, the trees are pretty big, the "good news" is the one on the road was directly south of the does, so I have a clearer view now !! Gordon.

Bit of a shock when it happened - When it was buit, every log was hammered into place tight and there is also a load of screws holding it down inside the joins. We can't do much for a few days until the wind drops off, then I am hoping my neighbours can turn it over and re-fit it. For sure, the plan is to secure it down better. I did not realise we would suffer from high winds, but this morning, the wind turned to a westerly and gusted pretty high. Always something to do... Gordon.

More damage from the wind included my clubhouse holding the pc's and my house 4G internet connection. Luckily, the domes were undamaged, but I have more unexpected work to get one with. The wind caught under the roof and lifted it straight off and flipped it over. It weighs the best part of 300kg and when lifted, tore out the screws holding the bits together, shearing others around the door frame. Its been built for almost exactly a year and has coped well with high winds and rain all year. This one must have been serious. My neighbour is a farmer and he is getting one of his buddies round in a few days, when the wind stops to lift it all back, He has one of those big all terrain telescopic forklifts, so hopefully there will not be much damage and it goess back on OK. Again, a couple of pix. Gordon.

So. Another couple of updates... The weather here continues to prevent progress and first light still eludes me. This morning before sunrise (Friday 13th) I was woken up really early with high wind and heavy rain. When I got out to see what had happened, tow of the big trees were down. They looked in good condition before the wind got them, so I guess it's difficult to work out the condition. So glad I got a decent petrol chainsaw as they will take some cutting up and disposal. Anyway, obligatory pictures.