Dome or Roll-Off

While it's not a dome or a rolloff I've been keeping an eye on the Skyshed Pod. It's a nifty idea and Altair Astro are going to be distributors for Europe. Alot of the pros of a dome but with the added bonus of being portable if you decide to move and reasonably easy to setup. Should be available in the next few weeks in the US. www.skyshedpod.com/

It'll be interesting to see what the UK price will be though.

We'll probably end up in or around Clarinbridge (I hope). Its far enough away from the City not to have too much of an effect.

Cool! I went observing around Clarinbridge once and the skies are stupendous down there. Welcome to the westside Dave!

Trev

* Not having to move the dome AND the telescope each time you wanted to

Most times I want to look at I different object I have to move the telescope :lol:

As for security, if they see a shed, they'll break into that if they want, the real issue is to have an alarm which you and they can hear, so they'll run off before they loot the place.

Jeff - good points. Its not an easy decision for me. But I think a RORO might be at least an interim answer - a dome would be harder to move when we relocate - and that might be a year or two - who knows.

I could always sell the RORO (it'll be fully automated and aluminium) and get a dome later.

But then again...

By the way - hope the AP works out for you - I bet you were panicking - I would!

Dave L - surely a dome would be even more obvious! But then I suppose shed thieves are more opportunistic. Shame we have to consider security...

Trevor - the SkyShed Pod looks interesting. I'll also keep an eye on it.

Its still a tough choice but I really appreciate you folks elucidating your thoughts - its very helpful (as usual). If I do any visual observing, it'll be once in a Blue Moon (probably literally ). And the science I have to do is going to be above 30 degrees...

I'm not sure if that helps any more...

Cheers and thanks again

Dave

Dave --

...

By the way - hope the AP works out for you - I bet you were panicking - I would!

Wally (the mount guy at AP) is pretty sure it's just the shredded Y-cable. He seems to think all the other stuff is pretty robust. (Needless to say, I'm keeping my fingers crossed....)

...

If I do any visual observing, it'll be once in a Blue Moon (probably literally ). And the science I have to do is going to be above 30 degrees...

"95% imaging". . ., "automation". . ., "above 30 degrees". . ., . . . sounds like "RORO with separate warm room" to me. Reasonably high walls for wind protection, no rotating dome to automate, easier construction. And you could even add a fold-down wall to the south for the few times you did visual observation of lower targets.

Here's one more thought: if you have lots of space, and your walls can be a good distance from the scope, then they could even be as high as the scope and still provide a 30° horizon. I guess the roof would get pretty heavy then, though....

-- Jeff.

Jeff - we'll all keep our fingers crossed for you too. But that AP stuff is pretty bullet proof... And it sounds like at the worst its a new motor, but at best, just the Y-Cable...

I had the mount dive into the ground a year or so ago (the seemingly suble difference between synch and recal was lost on me :oops: ) and I tore the outer sheath of the Y-cable. It works fine so I haven't bothered replacing it. But I'd be interested if you wouldn;t mind sending on what it csost you, shipping and all (pm). If its cheap I might get one...

I can forgo the warm room (probably) or at least get a good roro for the OTA and a shed for me . I really intend to operate remotely (currently I operate from the study in the house - about 30m away) using a variety of gadgets. Certainly the RORO seems a lot easier to automate - with the dome you have to slave the OTA to the dome rotation. But it can be done.

The RORO I'm looking at has a safety device (light curtain) built in so it won't close if the OTA is in the way. With a DL Cloud Sensor and a bunch of other gear, I should be good to go.

I'll keep researching until I'm exhausted

Cheers

Dave

Hi guys, thinking about all this stuff: What is against a roll off roof with a dome on it?
A 2.5 m Exploradome costs you 800 EUro landed cost so for that extra you could make a roro with a dome. Then you have the best of both worlds.
You can choose to use the dome or the roll of depending on the weather.
I might change my plans at the eleventh hour.
What do you think?