Dome, Pod, ROR pros and cons?

[skippyinspace]

All,

I'm trying to make a decsion on my Observatory for an 8" Newtonian, I have about £3K available.

Looking at what people have out there I would like to know from owners / users what they have found to be the Positive and development needs of the following.

Skyshed POD

Pulasr 2.2m Dome (full observatory, not the kits)

Alexanders Roll on roll off shed

My location is VERY WINDY and when it rains it certainly rains hard and being Northern Scotland will have more snow than those down south.

I'm not handy so the DIY route is out of the question.

I pretty much want the least hassle possible.

Regards and looking forward to the responses

Ian

[Carbon Brush]

Hi Ian.

My 2p worth for what it is.

Check out the many build threads on SGL for ideas on what will suit you.

See if anyone will offer you a 'tour' of their shed/dome.

Failing a tour, any photos of good/bad ideas and features, and mistakes.

Go larger rather than smaller.

Alexanders will build you what size/shape/style you ask for.

Dome/pod signal 'expensive stuff - please steal' to the villains.

A shed signals lawnmower/bike/spade just like anyone else has.

[skippyinspace]

I for one would rather steel a bike lawn mower than a telescope as they are eaisier to move on

Being burgled recently conservatory window smashed and tv taken the purps didn't even take the cover of the telescope mount that was on the ped in the garden scope was locked in a shed

Yes a dome will attract unwanted attention in a poorer area but in an area where you are targeted due to postcode will it make a difference

Probably a question for the security forum

Is it fact or falacy that an observatory gets broken into more than a shed

Ian

[Bukko]

Ian,

I have a POD, had it for a couple of years.

Good bits.

Easy to assemble.

The clamshell opens up to give a great vista for the observer.

When surveying the skies, the "window" makes it easy to see the whole sky, even with a big scope there.

Bad bits.

My scope is pier mounted. The clamshell does not open far enough for me to get views overhead. (Above 65 degrees is impossible, so I lose the "best part of the sky)

2YO and it has started to leak. I need to disassemble and make off all the roof joints again.

It is not that big inside. The walls are really thick. The star patterns built into the dome are pretty childish, unless you have to appeal to kids.

The plastic is not maintenance free. My white dome reflects any light back into the scope tube.

What would I do now?

I would look at the Pulsar, I do like the clamshell, so the Baader version would get a serious look, but I am not sure of the price, though.

Would I buy another POD? Probably not, mainly because of the lack of overhead view. (With a tripod, you could relocate it to different regions in the dome, depending on your targets)

Hope this helps.

Gordon.

[ollypenrice]

I'd consider designing your own and getting someone handy to build it. You'd only need to rough out the design. Any handy soul can finalize and build it. I'm a dead loss at DIY but I've made several. My latest one is breeze block with full height (I'm small!) warm room and half height walls for the scope area. The steel framed roof and upper sides roll back over the warm room. I feel the Alexander design crops too much from the horizons. Rolling back over the warm room saves space. We too can get big winds and had a whopper recently but the obsy shrugged it off.

I feel small domes restrict internal size for no particularly logical reason. Howver they do protect from the wind during observations.

This cost me around £!500, is 2.4 by 4.5 metres in footprint and is seen here in not quite finished form but it now houses a 14 inch ODK very comfortably...

Olly

[Earl]

I converted a 8 x 10 argos steel shed and it does the job, i have poor DIY skills but it worked out ok

[yeti monster]

My dome observatory has a 16" wide opening through which to aim the scope. This allows observations during the foulest of weather, should there be a gap in the clouds to aim at. A skypod type hatch leaves the observer very exposed.

The only real drawback I have found is that sometime there is very little room between the inside of the dome and the back of my head whilst at the eye piece, especially if using the 28mm UWAn or 40mm Omni.

[malc-c]

Have a look at the stick post on some of the recent build threads http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-observatories/146475-best-observatories-build-progress-threads.html this could do with some updating as there has been a few more since Helen uploaded the post.

There are lots of pros and cons for each design - One of the main reasons people opt for the roll-off-roof shed design, be that scratch built or a converted shed (wood or metal) is that it doesn't raise suspicion as to what it contains. A dome on the other hand shouts out what it is and raise curiosity. The advantages of the dome are well documented in the threads in the observatory section, but mainly it's the fact that you can be up and running with little or no effort by the purchaser.

If you want a shed like building but want something delivered and erected rather than scratch built then Alexanders Observatories have offerings within your 3K budget. However they have of late received a fair bit of negative publicity over long (as in 4 - 5 months) delivery times, and poor customer service when it came to communications - but those who saw it through to completion were very satisfied with the product.

My self build has withstood 45mph winds, rain and direct summer sunshine.

Total cost incl fitting out the warm room (recommended for these cold nights ) and hire costs was just over £2.2K - Whilst the offerings from Alexanders, and the Pods are nice, there is nothing like the satisfaction you get from a self build. Everyday I open our bedroom curtains, and look at my observatory, and feel proud and say to my self "I built that"

[Gasman]

Hi Ian

I have a Pulsar domed observatory. I used to observe fully open to the elements and liked the `openness` of it but jeeez the wind etc. Now I get in my obs and totally protected from the weather and also stray neighbours lighting but it took some getting used to looking at the sky through a 16" slit, wouldn`t do without it now!

HTH

Steve

[skippyinspace]

some good comments, unfortunatly the self build isnt going to happen, had a good look at that in the summer and the list of jobs the wife has for me would mean that the self build would take close to 10 years.

Alexanders have been in touch with me recently regarding an email I sent to them. Which implies that last years issues are behind them.

Anything bought will be green.

have approched some local shed builders with skyshed plans and had no response, Local timber merchants were quoting close to £1.5k for wood alone! So I have eleminated this route.

Also anything purchased would have to look pretty as it can be seen from the conservatory.

But this is starting to digress from the pros and cons list.

Keep them comming

Ian

[malc-c]

have approched some local shed builders with skyshed plans and had no response, Local timber merchants were quoting close to £1.5k for wood alone! So I have eleminated this route.

Ian

Ian, that would be about right. The timber cost for my build was £1200 of which £400 was the shiplap alone - 110 lengths of studwork, 4 x 8x4 sheets of 18mm exterior ply, 4 x 8x4 sheets of OSB ply, and around 10 x 8x4 sheets of 6mm ply - not to mention £130 for the joists alone - soon adds up

Glad to hear alexanders have resolved their issues.

[Gina]

I agree with Malcolm. My costs were similar - slightly less on the shiplap. It was a BIG job for me - a lot of hard work but very rewarding. But you do need DIY skills IMO so to take a design and get Alexanders to build it for you would seem to be the way to go. Personally I can say I find my design - similar to Olly's and Darrens to be just what I wanted and very satisfactory. Having roll off walls gives a better low angle view over a wide area. I'll be interested to see what Alexander's quote for the price - there is a lot of work involved but OTOH they have all the equipment and manpower to make things quicker and easier. Also they can doubtless source the timber at lower prices due to the larger quantities.

Good luck and please keep us informed on progress

[pmlogg]

I have a Pulsar 2.7m dome and am very happy with it. It has a pair of latches to hold the top down and I have a lock on the inside of the shutter. I'm not that far from Edinburgh where the over 100mph winds were experienced recently and had no wind issues; neither any leaks. Condensation has to be considered but other threads discuss dehumidifiers.

Even with a pre-fab dome some DIY and/or contractor help is still needed for the base, the pier foundations, the electrics and lighting, flooring (raised decking gives clearance for underfloor cabling), and some sort of table or other surface to hold a laptop etc. Round buildings make things a bit more complicated but not insurmountable.

I would think carefully about the diameter. The 2.7m dome has around 20 sq ft more floor space in it than the 2.2m dome and more room for longer refractors, newtonians and counterweight shafts. I think that I would miss that spare room when trying to move around the mount in the dark.

I've not tried to motorise the dome - the observatory section has a good bit from one user who appears to have cracked most of the problems. Pulsar do a system but it adds to the cost and is not computer linked. I don't find hand moving it a problem and the aperature is wide enough not to require constant rotation.

[Electron]

I have just ordered a Skyshed Pod XL3, from Altair Astro.

I choose this because it looks the easiest to assemble - dis-assemble and move somewhere else.

I live in Spain and have no plans to move but.....

Yes they are expensive and have a delivery wait.

Delivery can be expensive, if you are along way from the supplier.

So I am picking mine up, hopefully in March, while over on holiday,

but had to buy a trailer so even more cost but cheaper

than the £1500 delivery cost to southern Spain.

Where I have to put it means I will not have west view or anything past directly overhead,

but I think careful positioning will allow sone zenith view.

I plan to use the CGEM tripod at first and see how it goes,

don't really want to dig up the tiles it will be on for a pier, Yet ...