Rusted

There are retailers in the UK who have paid a large fortune in fines over the years for having different prices in the shops from those advertised. Huge fines for repeatedly having different prices on the checkouts from those marked on the shelves. My fuzzy understanding is that they have to sell at the marked price. Why bother with a "pretend" calculator when it is meaningless nonsense? Why choose €70? Why not €7 or €7k? Click bait? Because €70 sounds "friendly?" So, once you express an interest you feel under pressure to continue regardless of their demands? The price you pay for any item inevitably includes the delivery charge. Sales often hinge on the TOTAL asking price. People pick and choose from eBay dealers depending entirely on the TOTAL price. They aren't idiots. £1 for the goods + £100 for P&P? Good luck with that as a business model!

The "universe" and Bresser are out to get me! They admitted the €70 delivery charge was a fiction! I can feel a missive to Margrethe Westager in the offing! Bresser muttered something about needing police outriders for the two, heavy transport, low loaders. I don't care how much practice they've had with wind turbine blades.. they'll never get those down our drive! More later.

I had holes drilled in my brake levers until I hit a security gate at work. Ouch! Relevance? Probably nil. But read on: What about bunging the guts from the Tak in another tube to be amply drilled to taste? Mr Drew Esq. could probably whip up something in a nice bit of 6" grey PVC drainpipe. Might even do it in "ally" if you have the necessary funds. 😱 Suits you sir!

That were me m'Lud. Guilty as charged. I regularly use my 2" Lacerta as a finder simply by watching the sun's huge image fill the heat sink through the window in the bottom. As the sun rises higher in summer it can be difficult to get behind or below the Lacerta for visual or binoviewing. The Brewster Angle is not as comfortable as the usual 90° jobbies in that respect. If you are using a camera then you won't care. The rotating top section of the Lacerta is handy for housing a single polarizing filter for dimming to taste and/or needs.

Thanks Gordon. Why worry?

I have a 10" f/8 1/30th wave mirror from a famous US mirror maker. Even when it was badly colimated it could show Plato craterlets without even trying. I tried to be clever in an OTA duplex beam design, but it never worked successfully. Torsion resistance was very poor on an equatorial. Just reaching the eyepiece needed a ladder. The mirror has never found its way into a "proper" tube to prove its true abilities. I made a cardboard tube and it weighed a ton and sagged. Dowels in rings were even worse! I used big saucepans for the cells. The "prop" is just a measuring stick. The 'tiny' mounting underneath is a Fullerscopes MkIV.

Thanks Gordon. I look straight across at the dome from my upstairs computer window. Sadly, the dome is looking less than smart since the paint started peeling. The birch plywood surface is getting very rough in places from water penetration. A hired, telescopic lift would get it back down for a fibreglass overcoat on the ground. The work involved just does not appeal at all. It had its chance and it simply failed to last. Time to move on without regret. It was enjoyable and demanding work to build. So it owes me nothing but fond memories of a successful project which still fills me with pride and little awe. Those who consider a plywood dome should factor in the fibreglass coating as vital to longevity. It completely revolutionised my observing and now I am imaging quite successfully after decades in the doldrums. Those without an observatory cannot possibly imagine the value a dome brings to observing and imaging. I can be imaging in a couple of minutes from scratch and walk away knowing it will come to no harm. I go indoors for meals and it will all be there, ready and without any delay, when I return. This is invaluable in cloudy weather because I can sit and browse in comfort until the sun reappears. Whole days pass as I quietly capture videos and images without ever leaving home. That is absolutely priceless to someone who is retired. It gives real meaning to my life and I am always within earshot of my wife. An ROR would need constant supervision in changeable weather and provide absolutely no shelter from the burning sun.

Thanks Gordon. You will be the first to know the truth once I hear from Bresser. As will everybody else here of course. The price for a fully automated Scopedome is indeed very close to a Pulsar with all "the hidden extras." The Scopedome just doesn't appeal for my unique situation. I would have to rebuild the entire structure from the ground up to make it fit. The Pulsar is a simple, flip-top head job for my particular build. I get to keep my building with everything I have tailored and improved since I built it. Security, access, monitor and electronics, Wifi, swivel chair and imaging desk wrapped around the isolated pier. Nothing changes except I will no longer need a bathing cap.

Thanks Gordon. We shall see what they say when Bresser are back in the office. They surely can't claim a few days to deliver if they have no stock? That would be called false advertising. Likewise, the delivery fee. It would have to be "ballpark" or it would be false advertising. Or click bait. There are national and European laws covering false advertising. Not to mention the bad press on the specialist astro forums. That's an extremely narrow customer base to be messing about. Absolutely no plans for automating the dome at that price! Besides, I only need a nudge now and then for solar imaging. I have all the lifting equipment I need from the last build. Chain hoists, boat winches and several yachting block and tackle sets. My dome is 3m Ø. So the 2.7m would, probably just about fit inside. I need a slightly smaller base ring to support the Pulsar rotation ring properly. Other than that and careful levelling I see no real problems on a still day.

I should have added that a stumpy tine, fork mount would add useful headroom for a longer OTA. Without the present considerable GEM offset I'd then have room to spare. Some completely unnecessary illustrations of the original build and my techniques for working alone up high:

Thanks Gordon. The 2.7m Pulsar drop-on lid suits me just fine. I wanted one when I first started my build. At that time I was still using my 7" f/12 as a straight tube and it was tight fit even in my larger dome. Bresser-De are the European distributors for Pulsar now. Very short delivery times are promised. I'm looking at €70 [website auto-quote] for home delivery from Germany to Denmark. The bank holiday weekend has intervened in ordering progress. PULSAR 2.7 METRE OBSERVATORY SHORT HEIGHT | Bresser I'm hoping I can build the dome in place like I did my own ply and timber dome. Failing that I can hire a telescopic lift for the whole dome. [Prefer not to.] I built my own dome "upstairs" in segments using braced, builders stepladders. So I think I can manage the 2.7m on a still day. Pulsar really ought to provide individual panel weights on their website, but don't. Customers could then judge how much voluntary help they need on the big day. Has anybody actually weighed their 2.7m bits and bobs prior to or during assembly? Any opinions on a one man band build 14' off the ground?

Thanks Dave. Though I fear you underestimate the problem. After some early imaging, this morning, the sky turned dark and started tipping down. To the thunder of wind-driven rain on plywood, I could add the steady plops of water. Dripping into large containers arranged on the floor. Which already have an inch of water from yesterday's deluge. If it gets any worse I shall become a poor imitation of an aquarist. Rather than a poor imitation of an amateur astronomer. I am committed to fitting a plastic lid on my octagon. Life is indeed far too short to be wasted on precious, summer months of sanding and painting. Only for it to be required all over again next year. The cost of replacing all my kit after a single drenching would soon exceed that of a new dome. The trapezoidal dome was great fun to build but has proved that GRP is vital to waterproofing ply. Now I shall cut out the middle man and go straight to the finished GRP jobby. Any Dane who wants a free 3m dome, to fibreglass themselves at ground level, can take it away. It will be in segments on the ground [for a while] to be quickly removed by those who want it. NO time wasters! I built it that way so it would always come apart. Hundreds of hex socket stainless steel, machine screws and SS washers hold the ribs together. With the Pulsar I gain thermally on better seeing, ease of use, waterproofing and improved user comfort. A replacement base ring is all I need to support the new dome's low, rotation wall at the existing sill level. I can retain everything I have built so far with only the loss of about a foot on diameter at base ring level. My ply dome has deeper ribs so the difference in useful diameter isn't really that great.

Thanks to all. It's gone dark grey overcast here.

Clear start with steady seeing. Became cloudy and breezy.

Now that is quality imaging!

Thanks. No chance today. Gales and showers and clouds.

Thanks Dave. The sophistication of the Scopedome does seem to match its higher asking price. Almost double that of the Pulsar short wall. The Scope-dome's low rotation ring and low threshold better suits Newts. My long refractors are well above head height when parked E-W. I can't even see out of the slit without a step-up. The relative lightness, size and simplicity of the Pulsar short wall suits a one-man build 14' off the ground. I seriously doubt anybody sensible would quote for installation on my raised level without danger money. Are you suggesting, in roundabout sort of way, that I should seriously consider an alternative? Should we take this conversation to private messaging?

Yes. Thanks Dave. From diminished memory I thought they were far more expensive than Pulsar. Weren't they floor level rotation rings too?

In that case, forget everything I have said so far on buried concrete blocks. Barring earthquakes of course.

Hi Dave, Thanks for the swift reply. That is really great news for solar imagers like myself.

There was mention of the green Pulsar getting rather warm in sunshine. How does the white one do in hot summer sunshine?

Thanks for all your very thorough and useful replies. It rained hard while I was tidying up my imaging kit to go back indoors. So it was literally dripping inside the dome as I hurriedly packed my carrying case for the dash to the house. My precious, plywood, DIY dome suddenly felt horribly weak and vulnerable! So now I am seriously considering a Pulsar 2.7m dome replacement. No more "high altitude" ongoing, maintenance problems on dangerous, ladder, lash ups. I'm close to my mid 70s and getting no younger. I'd quite probably gain a huge improvement thermally for my solar imaging. The narrower, up and over shutter could be half opened to reduce wind loading on the scopes. That would also shield me from the high summer sun. Far better than my present over the zenith, bi-parting shutters! My huge, DIY GEM already has serious offset issues with my long refractors. If I do downsize the dome I'd lose about a foot on inside diameter at [inside] base ring height. So I'd build a specialist short, equatorial fork mounted on the existing, massive polar axis and pier. I don't need whole sky coverage for the sun and only occasional lunar imaging. A Pulsar dome would need a waterproof apron to sit on and to throw rainwater outside the existing octagonal building. That could easily be built off the top of the existing base ring. The existing, octagonal building would continue largely unchanged except for the new plastic "lid."

Going back to the GRP option: How many layers and of what? CSM + polyester resin? Finish off with a coloured gel coat?

I make a habit of rising from the last step, up into my dome, only to crack my head on my telescopes or the counterweights. Don't ever have a trapdoor into an observatory! Not with 7' long refractors weighing 40lbs hanging over your head! Then there was the time I absent mindedly removed the 7" refractor from its rings before securing the counterweights. Boy can can 25kg of weights move quickly when given their freedom! The huge saddle whizzed around my side just as quickly. "Pit and the pendulum" style. I thought I'd be batted out of the observation slit with the 7" still cradled in my arms! It was that close!

Well done Pete! You caught a nice lot of detail there!