14" scope in a 2.2m pulsar dome

[Darryl]

I recently upgraded to a 14" OTA (my forever scope) to go with my recent 'forever mount' purchase. Unfortunately I think I might have 'over scoped' for the dome..

Despite measuring up in advance and coming to the conclusion that it would all fit in my 2.2m pulsar dome, in reality it all seems a bit tight when it's all together. Everythng clears but there's not much wriggle room.

I'd rather not have to change the dome too, but it so happens that in a month or so we are supposed to be moving house, which would provide an opportunity to go to a larger dome if needed.

So, does anyone on here make a 14" work in a 2.2m pulsar or has 'apperture fever' got the better of me this time?

 

Darryl

[andrew s]

If everything clears and the slit alignment/ width ok then why worry?

Regards 

Edited June 27, 2020 by andrew s

[alan potts]

 I feel it will just be a case of getting use to it seems a huge outlay to buy another dome, they don't exactly come free with Cornflakes. I would try and live with it Darryl.

Alan 

[Gasman]

Many moons ago when I got my Pulsar dome I did wonder about the aperture of the dome slit. At the time I had an 8" Celestron and a 80mm scope piggy backed on top and very occasionally I did seem to struggle getting both visible through the slit. They were mounted on an EQ6. I`m not sure without measuring mine but you might be ok with a 14" but might struggle with a finder scope especially with the contortions you (or at least I did) end up in!.

Steve

Edited June 27, 2020 by Gasman

[tomato]

I have two 6” F7 refractors mounted side by side in a 2.2 m Pulsar Dome, and they just clear in every direction.

They are only used for imaging so I have an adjacent shed to house the laptops and myself. It works fine, but wouldn’t be any good for visual though.

[Xsubmariner]

I used my ODK14” in the 2.2M dome. It was fine although there were a couple of positions where I noticed the slot was slightly misaligned and the scope partially shaded, not too much that it spoilt the session. Just couldn’t fit the dew shield.

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by Xsubmariner
Correction

[tooth_dr]

1 minute ago, Xsubmariner said:

I used my ODK14” in my 2.2M dome. It was fine although there were a couple of positions where I noticed the slot was slightly misaligned and the scope partially shaded, not too much that it spoilt the session.

 

Hi Martin, that is nice

 @Jkulin  John is trying to configure his 120 to a new 2.2m dome, and maybe you could point him in the right direction?

 

 

Adam.

[MCinAZ]

14 hours ago, Darryl said:

So, does anyone on here make a 14" work in a 2.2m pulsar or has 'apperture fever' got the better of me this time?

An important question, alluded to by others, concerns your intended use of the telescope. If you will primarily be imaging, you will likely have enough room. For visual observing, it may be tight. Some scale drawings ought to help you see how things might fit.

If things are a bit close up top, it may be advisable to lower the mount a bit. At worst this might cost you access to the horizon, though that's generally a simpler trade-off than going into a larger dome.

[Darryl]

Thanks all for the comments. So it seems people do make it work with larger instruments.

I'm entirely imaging so the added complication of access to an eyepiece is not an issue.

With my previous set-up the pier was fairly long, so the OTA was high enough to allow access pretty much down to the horizon. To clear the dome at zenith with the new OTA i'm going to have to shorten the pier which will limit access to the lower part of the sky. But as i'm at a UK sea-level location its barely ever worth going down there anyway.

Looking forward to getting the house move done now so I can get things back up and running when Autumn darkness returns!

Cheers,

Darryl