Small Dome Observatory Plans Cheshire

[Astropedro]

Astroshop just got back to me......

 

Hello Pete,

the next delivery date for the NexDome is mid of March 2022.

You can order now and pay when the goods are ready to ship - we will inform you.

The NexDome is sent on a normal EURO palette. Shipment to UK can be around 400 EURO.

 

Decisions decisions decisions.............

[Astropedro]

I went with a dome in the end guys.  There was only one deciding factor really......wind.  Well......2........I really wanted to see if I could build one as I've built countless sheds as I used to be in the industry years ago.  I laid the foundation on new years eve last year and finished construction mid February as work was a bit busy and time was short. Will post some photos.

Now I'm battling new equipment, software, settings, drivers........its endless. 😪😪

[Astropedro]

[Astropedro]

Thanks for all the great advice and help guys.  As I say,  the strong winds where I live drove me to build a dome and I did enjoy building it.  No intentions of automating it anytime soon but I built it 2.2 metres in diameter so I could buy an off the shelf system if need be.

 

The dome is fibreglass (that was fun!) So water isn't a problem.  Lovely and dry inside.  Will post some interior pics when I get a chance.

 

Thanks again.

 

Pete

[Rusted]

Nice! An excellent idea to coat it in GRP.
My marine plywood dome leaked like a sieve after only a couple of years.
Too expensive and inaccessible for coating it once in place.

The colour is an interesting choice and suits the environment perfectly. Visually far better than white.
The only downside is likely to be daytime warmth, in summer sunshine, if you do any solar.

Side note: The long shanks padlock is wide open to crowbar attack. Discus?
Side note 2: Coach bolts on the door hinges will avoid easily removable wood screws.
Your back garden may be inaccessible to 2-legged vermin.

[Astropedro]

Well spotted re the bolt and padlock.  I just used what I had for the lock and the bolt did indeed come with bolts but I just threw it on with screws to save time with the thought of sorting it mañana.......(tomorrow lol).

 

Definitely needs a bigger padlock and I'll get those bolts in mate. 😊

[Nigella Bryant]

I agree with Rusted, you need to up the security, at the moment you're easily broken into with the exposed latch and padlock, even with bolts. I'm speaking from experience several years ago had my 12inch SCT stolen from my RoR. Never recovered, thankfully insured. Anyway I'd fit internal garage door lock's. Two of them one above and below your current padlock. 

[Astropedro]

On 29/03/2022 at 20:00, Nigella Bryant said:

I agree with Rusted, you need to up the security, at the moment you're easily broken into with the exposed latch and padlock, even with bolts. I'm speaking from experience several years ago had my 12inch SCT stolen from my RoR. Never recovered, thankfully insured. Anyway I'd fit internal garage door lock's. Two of them one above and below your current padlock. 

I'll look into some better security and insurance. 😊

[Horwig]

I'm with Nigella on price-point, last year I realised my home made fibreglass on ply dome was shot, and on the same day I decided it was not worth saving, Pulsar had a well used 2.7 m dome advertised for £1500.

Naturally, I was not going to pass on it, so here it is installed. And one year later, not a drop of moisture has entered:

 

Don't lose heart, good used Pulsar domes do come up fairly regularly, why not drop them a mail or phone call to enquire of any possible up-coming domes.

Personally, after ten years of trying to keep my home made dome watertight, I'm asking the inevitable question, why didn't I look for a used dome earlier, in materials alone, my effort was not that short of £1500.

Automation-wise, the older type domes have the motor mounted in the rotating dome, but not a major issue,  I've a LesveDome controlled motor with a 'virtualhere' wifi/usb controlling it from the obsy PC.

 

Huw

[Rusted]

Wise words indeed. The cost in time and materials for DIY plywood domes is terrifying.
 

 

[Astropedro]

On 29/03/2022 at 20:00, Nigella Bryant said:

18 hours ago, Horwig said:

I'm with Nigella on price-point, last year I realised my home made fibreglass on ply dome was shot, and on the same day I decided it was not worth saving, Pulsar had a well used 2.7 m dome advertised for £1500.

Naturally, I was not going to pass on it, so here it is installed. And one year later, not a drop of moisture has entered:

 

Don't lose heart, good used Pulsar domes do come up fairly regularly, why not drop them a mail or phone call to enquire of any possible up-coming domes.

Personally, after ten years of trying to keep my home made dome watertight, I'm asking the inevitable question, why didn't I look for a used dome earlier, in materials alone, my effort was not that short of £1500.

Automation-wise, the older type domes have the motor mounted in the rotating dome, but not a major issue,  I've a LesveDome controlled motor with a 'virtualhere' wifi/usb controlling it from the obsy PC.

 

Huw

Nice looking observatory Horwig.

I did look round for a used one a the time I built mine but there seemed to be nothing, especially locally.  My observatory dome  was built using 3 8x4  sheets of 3mm ply for the outer shell and 3 8x4 25mm ply for the arches to form the dome. This came to £180.  I then spent £170 on a fibreglass kit, including grey topcoat, that I knew was more than enough for the outer skin so I assumed there would be enough to at least fibreglass some of the joints on the inside to give it extra strength.  I assumed correctly.  At any point where 2 pieces of wood meet on the inside, I fibreglassed the area with thin strips and used a good coat of resin.  I figured if it was going to leak, this is where the problem areas would be.  So far it's not showing any sign of leaking and I doubt it will.

I guess another £50 covers the paint brushes, hinges, screws and nails etc that were used.  So apart from my time spent, my 2.2m dome cost me arround £400.  I already had most of the tongue and groove and framing timber left over from my shed and workshop build but I did spend arround another £100 on a bit  more tongue and groove and some 2x2.  Oh and the post brackets were £7 each of which there are 8.

 

In my case,  £550 covered the basic build.  I've since added a lino floor, painted the interior dome for even more water proofing, I've sealed every point of light i could see on the bottom structure, mainly to keep water and spiders out, and I've added lights and electric to power everything.   When I finally got my first decent image the other night after battling for 6 weeks or so with equipment, software and hardware, I was grinning like a child in that little observatory of mine.  I took a minute to just look arround and enjoy the feeling of pure accomplishment.......then I celebrated with a can of Spanish lager. 🙂 The image wasn't great, it was only arround an hour of data as it was late due to another night of frustration with settings, but it put a massive smile on my face.  I'll post below.