Dome Siting

[OzDave]

Ok, so now I'm trying to work out the best placement for my dome. The land I have available is shown below in two plots. The plots are different altitudes by about 1.5m due to the estate being on a gradient sloping diwn from right to left as shown in the first image.

It is most likely that I will site the dome in the first photo (the upper plot of land) right at the back near the wall. There are clear horizons all around except for to the northwest which is obscured by a neighbouring house. There is also a power line or maybe telephone running overhead outside the property boundary but there are no street lights.

I'm thinking the powerline likely wont be a problem although it would obscure a sliver of eastern horizon.

Also, if I were going to put a street light in to improve lighting in the area, I'd install it right on the corner of my property boundary.

Here is the northerly horizon to see things.

The wife wants a BBQ and seating area in the lower plot so that is probably out for "building permission" and also the neighbouring house would obscure the entire north west nearly to zenith.

The top plot is about 4.5m wide and so I am thinking of using say 2-3 metres of that for the dome. I'd like to keep it as small as possible so that the rest of the neighbourhood and family do not regard it as a monstrosity. But of course it has to be large enough to be practical.

Can anyone see any issues with my proposed siting?

David

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[OzDave]

I'm a bit worried about the power line running by the proposed site. Does anyone have the same kind of problem?

I am thinking it should be ok since it doesn't actually occupy much sky. If I'm imaging something exactly in line with the wire, I'll have a few ruined subs. Maybe more than a few. I'm not entirely sure.

Maybe if I view the wire through the scope, it will cut off much more of the FOV than I think.

Anyone have any experience with this?

David

[Bizibilder]

Try taking a daytime shot say every minute with the camera/scope set up and tracking on the mount - just count the frames with the wire in them. It will be far less of an obstruction than a tree and it should be possible to work around it most times anyway.

[pete_l]

I'm a bit worried about the power line running by the proposed site. Does anyone have the same kind of problem?

Yes, I've got one, it's not that big a deal.

If you're a visual observer then it's only an issue at low magnification (large FoV) and you won't have to wait long for the few "unlucky" targets to clear it.

If you're an imager, you can treat it just like having a satellite fly through an image. It's easily processed out as the obstruction will appear in different places in subsequent sub's.

[OzDave]

Try taking a daytime shot say every minute with the camera/scope set up and tracking on the mount - just count the frames with the wire in them. It will be far less of an obstruction than a tree and it should be possible to work around it most times anyway.

I could maybe do it with a DSLR, but I currently use a CCD and that doesn't like daytime imaging at all. I just get white. I've archived the DSLR, but I'll see if I can scrounge enough bits to make it work.

I expect you're right about it not being a problem, but would be good to quantify. Especially as it spans the eastern horizon at maybe 45 degrees altitude. I probably shouldn't be imaging down there anyway.

David

[OzDave]

Yes, I've got one, it's not that big a deal.

If you're a visual observer then it's only an issue at low magnification (large FoV) and you won't have to wait long for the few "unlucky" targets to clear it.

If you're an imager, you can treat it just like having a satellite fly through an image. It's easily processed out as the obstruction will appear in different places in subsequent sub's.

I'm an imager. I think I'm just going to have to try some images to feel ok about how much of a non-problem it is going to be. But reassuring to know that you have the same problem and find it workable.