Skyshed Pod - opinions?

[lukebl]

Hi folks,

I've just moved to a new place out in the country, and I need to get myself a new observatory.

I don't think I've got the time or patience to build mysef a new one, and was thinking about getting a Skyshed Pod. One of these:

What's the view on these? Are they any good, and what about availability in the UK? I notice that Altair Astro has a 'notify me when in stock' message, so I assume there's a long wait time?

[Pan Euro]

I have one and given my time over again i would not buy one. Despite my best efforts it leaks at the bolt hinge points in heavy rain. To open the shell requires effort which as i get older is more of a problem and as far as i can work out it cannot be automated although i have seen some one motorise the complete shell so that it rotates like a tank turret. Also vewing the zenith is also a problem and requires further items to allow the whole shell to be moved backwards.

They are built in batches in Canada and wait times can be quite long i waited 3 months for mine which at the time was not a problem as i had only just moved into our new home.

if you cant or wont build a roll off shed then pay someone to do it, you will not regret it in the long term.

Ed.

[Physopto]

Pulsar Dome instead?

Derek

 

[steppenwolf]

33 minutes ago, Physopto said:

Pulsar Dome instead?

Derek

No contest, chalk and cheese spring to mind! A dome isn't for everyone and a ROR also isn't for everyone (me for example) - the Pod is a cross-breed with the disadvantages of both types ..... If a dome appeals, the Pulsar dome is hard to beat

Usual caveats apply, I simply speak as a satisfied user (two times round)!

[Sam]

I've got a skyshed pod and I've never had any problems with it leaking and it's easy to open and operate. The thing I don't like about it is that the zenith is not visible - but if you offset the pier from the centre of the obs you can get around this, which is what I'm going to do for my rebuild in a few months. The dome is manually operated so you have to lift it to open. I'm 6ft so I have no problem with opening it, I would imagine if someone was closer to 5ft it would be much harder to open. The weight of the dome is quite heavy so if you struggle lugging an 8" reflector, the roof might be a bit much. It's very easy to rotate and accommodates a 10" reflector easily.

[Physopto]

I do not have an observatory. I desperately need one but have put it off until moved house etc,. I have seen several home built types. One friend has a roll off roof. He made an excellent job of it. The roof rolls smoothly and with little effort. It is generally water proof (one small leak which I will help him with).

I was up at the Scottish observatory some time ago in very poor weather. The professionally installed Australian made dome leaked like a sieve around the retractable hatch. The high winds were blowing the rain up and under the hatch and the hatch was rattling like it was about to give way and fly off. It was not well designed, especially for Scottish weather and the high winds. Mind you, it is very exposed up there. So if the Sky Shed Pod type is relatively heavy maybe that is a boon. It depends upon you circumstances. 

Derek

[Sam]

7 hours ago, Physopto said:

I do not have an observatory. I desperately need one but have put it off until moved house etc,. I have seen several home built types. One friend has a roll off roof. He made an excellent job of it. The roof rolls smoothly and with little effort. It is generally water proof (one small leak which I will help him with).

I was up at the Scottish observatory some time ago in very poor weather. The professionally installed Australian made dome leaked like a sieve around the retractable hatch. The high winds were blowing the rain up and under the hatch and the hatch was rattling like it was about to give way and fly off. It was not well designed, especially for Scottish weather and the high winds. Mind you, it is very exposed up there. So if the Sky Shed Pod type is relatively heavy maybe that is a boon. It depends upon you circumstances. 

Derek

I know my skyshed can handle 158km/h winds if that's any help. You put them together yourself and there's quite a bit of messing around with the seals. I can see where those can be troublesome if the installation doesn't go exactly right, and certainly don't spare the sealant especially if you're expecting blown rain from all directions.

[lukebl]

Thanks folks. Lots to think about. Need to hack down a load of trees and evergreen shrubs first!

[michael8554]

Some more questions you should ask yourself:

Are you imaging or observing? 
If observing, a Pulsar is cosier than a Pod on a cold night.
If imaging, are you planning a separate warm room? If yes, then the POD opening will allow you to image for ages without having to go out and move the dome round.
If no warm room, then the cosy Pulsar again, as you will be in there when the dome move becomes necessary. 
Which scope and mount? Fork mounted SCT's will fit either dome nicely. I wouldn't know how tight it becomes observing with a long refractor or Newtonian on an EQ mount.
Even with the mount offset, pointing through the Pulsar slit at the zenith, or low Alt to East or West, can be difficult with a "wide" or "tall" mainscope/guidescope setup. 

You can ask yourself similar questions for assembled-on-site ROR observatories, with and without warm rooms.

Michael
Pulsar 2.1M & 8" LX200GPS

[joecoyle]

Hi

im looking at a skyshed too. Opinions seem mixed but any suggestions from people would be appreciated. 

Mine would be used for imaging and I control everything remotely so no need for a warm room.

 

I hope leaks aren't a major problem! 

Price wise from £2000 they are a bargain. As much as I love the pulsar it totals nearly £4000! 

Cheers

Joe

[Pan Euro]

18 hours ago, joecoyle said:

Hi

im looking at a skyshed too. Opinions seem mixed but any suggestions from people would be appreciated. 

Mine would be used for imaging and I control everything remotely so no need for a warm room.

 

I hope leaks aren't a major problem! 

Price wise from £2000 they are a bargain. As much as I love the pulsar it totals nearly £4000! 

Cheers

Joe

Leaks are an irritation more then anything else and i will get around to sorting mine out when and if it ever stops raining. I use mine remotely its 30m from the house and i run everythin over cat 6 cabling. only thing i do is open it up, power up, check it for focus then go indoors. It will take a 14 inch sct as well although it is a little bit tight. 

[joecoyle]

Yeah mine is only a 6inch SCT so no problem size wise. I'm thinking of buying one, but no response from Altair Astro yet.  

I watched the 9 part building video on YT, and i hardly see how anyone could do it in 2 hours! But if I take my time, hope to avoid / minimise leaks. Is it easy to lift the lid? I'm only 5'3" haha.

Joe

[Pan Euro]

The lid is a two person job but not that hard to do. 2 hours is possible but only if you rush it. You also need to buy the Lexel sealant it really is the only sealer that works.

it is best to phone Altair Asro.

[carastro]

I have a Skyshed POD and whilst there are a lot of features I love about it, there is one feature that drove me to distraction, and that is the dome obscures the Zenith.  

If you're an imager then that means you can't image some higher objects for a huge chunk of the night.  In the end I built myself a PodZenith table to slide the dome onto, and whilst this works, it is a bit of a faff in the early hours especially if you're trying not to wake the neighbours getting it all back on and secured.  

It does leak at the pivots, one side is not too bad but the other side I stick a bucket underneath and go out and empty it after a big downpour. 

Good features:  

It's nice and comfortable giving you half the dome for weather protection/stray light.  You don't have to rotate the dome at regular intervals or motorise it as half the sky is revealed at a time. 

I like the bays, and with a table top inside, it gives protection from the dew for the laptop.  Also good storage space for kit you are not using.

It won't rot.

Having said all that  I think if I ever started again, I would go for a ROR with some provision for a seated and covered area at one end, mainly because of the Zenith problem.

Although the dome is heavy, I can manage it OK opening and shutting, you just have to be careful to make sure you let it down gently otherwise it could slam down quickly and wake all the neighbours up.  

If you have a light coloured dome you can take your flat frames through the dome in the day time.  

Delivery times:

You asked about delivery times, well I don't know the up to date info as I bought mine in 2010.  I had to wait about 3 months for it, but this gave me time to clear the area, build the decking and do the pier before it arrived.  Best to talk to the supplier. 

Carole 

 

 

[carastro]

Just reading through the posts above.

Quote

Is it easy to lift the lid? I'm only 5'3" haha.

I think the reply above was referring to needing two people when constructing the POD, once constructed it is a one person job to open and shut.  I am female and 5'7", I lift from one side walk to the opposite side and then "catch" the dome as it is starting to pass the point of balance.  It is more difficult navigating around your kit as you do this if you have a long scope and camera sticking out of the back, than actually opening and closing the dome.  

I am going to have another "go" at putting a new seal at the leaky pivot when the weather warms up, it got torn when I tried to change the pivot bolts once (when I was removing the visor (to sell it), and I am sure this is why mine leaks worse at that point. 

Constructing the POD itself can't possibly only take a couple of hours as advertised by Altair Astro as you have to put Lexel sealant onto the dome joints and wait for it to dry before continuing with the job.  This took overnight.

(You could possibly do it in a couple of hours if you had done a few like they have and were not bothering with all the fiddly bits and having to refer to instructions which are on a DVD which doesn't always stop and start in the relevant place).  It took me and my son-in-law best part of a weekend to do it, but that was stopping to read the instructions all the way through and it was a very hot weekend.  

Carole 

[joecoyle]

Thanks Carole

[ollypenrice]

If you haven't seen one in the flesh you should do so before deciding. It is about the biggest piece of 'very plastic' plastic you are ever likely to see and is, to my eye, staggeringly intrusive, visually. You have to crawl under the rim to get in and out and this gets old. (I have to do this to service our remote sheds and, even then (rather than nighly) it grew very old very quickly. I know several owners and none is really happy.

I incline to agree with Steve that it's a hybrid featuring the less appealing sides of both alternatives.

What about a full sentry box roll off using a proprietoy shed mounted on a rolling ply base? It becomes your warm room when rolled off. Dead easy to make.

Olly

[joecoyle]

Will you build it for me then? Ha! I have no idea about DIY! I don't need a warm room particularly. Remote access through team viewer makes things very easy from the lounge!

 

I think I might go for a pulsar. Just need to save up a bit more

Joe

[beamer3.6m]

You have no DIY skills like me but I managed an imaging set up quite easily.

An observatory does not need to be a super structure.

Search box observatory to see my very simple design.

[chouet]

I went for a Skyshed Pod in 2011 and love it. I considered a roll-off roof, but didn't really have space and my wife didn't want another wooden structure next to my workshop shed. I considered the pulsar, but didn't want to have to tackle motorising the dome for imaging. 

I had a good look at another Pod owner's setup which helped make the decision. It's so fast to get up and running, and everything stays clean and dry in the plastic environment. I have 4 storage bays, which works well (though I haven't quite figured how to best store all the scope and camera cases). For most imaging sessions, I just need to go out and move the dome round every hour or two. Interestingly, I've never had a dew problem either (all my dew heaters are still unused).

Imaging at the zenith is a problem, so I added a zenith table last year but have only needed to use it a couple of times. I don't find it too noisy to slide on and off. I am conscious of noise as our gardens are small - I did change my mount to reduce noise!

I'm in the Cambridge area if anyone wants to view a Pod.

 

Nick

[theastrodragon]

I have a POD, and I've had no problems with it leaking in rain - sometimes some condensation, but I've seen that in a dome too. The top is really easy to lift up, and its stable under some pretty severe winds.

My only proviso is that while its fine for imaging, there isn't much space inside. This doesn't matter for imaging, as once I set things going I can just leave it. Visual is OK with a refractor, but really there isn't enough space for a Newtonian or similar which ends up with the eyepiece in odd positions.

[lukebl]

Thanks for all the input folks. A lot of ideas there.

Going back to the idea of a roll-off shed concept, much as I admire the workmanship of custom-made roll-off versions, they still just look like boring wooden sheds. It would be nice to have a slightly more interesting design in the garden. For instance, has anyone ever tried adapting any of the curved-roof sheds like this one. With a bit of ingenuity you could strengthen the roof and have it roll off on runners?

[Starlight 1]

That a easy one to do  its only a shed , now I one you can just see at the back 2 floors warm room with Scope in the top one would be fun Luke.

[theastrodragon]

I agree the missing Zenith is a problem, but it can be reduced by placing the centre of the mount as far as possible to the south of centre. This gives you a bit more accessabilty - exactly how much will vary.

But compared to having to continually move a dome, its so much easier. And the one huge advantage, in the UK, is that there is nothing in the pod to rot or rust.

[kirkster501]

8 hours ago, lukebl said:

Thanks for all the input folks. A lot of ideas there.

Going back to the idea of a roll-off shed concept, much as I admire the workmanship of custom-made roll-off versions, they still just look like boring wooden sheds. It would be nice to have a slightly more interesting design in the garden. For instance, has anyone ever tried adapting any of the curved-roof sheds like this one. With a bit of ingenuity you could strengthen the roof and have it roll off on runners?

I looked into this and mocked up a prototype even.  It ended in tears..... The issue with converting sheds is that much of the structural strength of a shed comes from the roof keeping the four sides together- just like a playing card house is much stronger and more stable when a card is placed on top.  Take the roof off a shed and it becomes a flimsy, rickety structure indeed, floppier than Bugs Bunny's ears.....

To  convert a shed into an obs you'll need so much internal bracing and strengthening that it is as easy to just build from scratch by the time you're done.