old_eyes

Fabulous and detailed advice William. Thanks very much. Your experience with the SkyPod is alarming and the point about condensation soaking hte timbers one I had not considered. It does seem concrete with a floor covering is more practical. Time to think further. As you have much experience in the challange of home observatories, could I ask how you supply power to the dome? I want to have a mini-consumer unit in the dome and I was wondering how to place/fix it to the curving wall.

Of course! I missed it was the QSI 683. I am jealous!

Thanks for the advice. How are you guiding? OAG or guidescope? My main imaging scope is an 80ED, so with a similar guidescope there should be plenty of room with a smallish side by side bar. old_eyes

Not truly a post on DIY observatories, but I did not know where else to put it. I am considering a Pulsar full-height dome. Most installations I have seen on the web use a concrete base. I would have thought this large thermal mass would get in the way of cooling down and getting rid of air currents. Would it not be better to mount the dome on a wooden decking platform? Is there any reason why this is a bad idea? Second question - I currently use a side by side imaging and guide scope rig. When thinking about such a rig and the slot size on a dome, do you assume is is equivalent to an OTA with the same diameter as the distance across the two scopes? Newbie questions for observatory owners, and I am hoping someone can answer. Thanks.