Sky Shed Pod - gimmicky or not?

I would recommend a pillar irrespective of which dome you select. A tripod would take up waaaayyy too much space in a tight space like a dome. Allow a few hundred euro for a good quality pillar. You are fortunate that the price of steel has collapsed - about half what it was 18 months ago so you will save a nice few quid getting one now. My advice would be to get one made up from a local steel fabrication shop rather than any of the ones you see on the astronomical equipment retailers - they are usually overpriced. Aim for a circular pillar approx 200mm diameter made of 12mm thick steel. Will weigh a lot, but will be rock solid. I would highly recommend getting a steel pillar rather than casting a concrete one. When you pop down to my place, I'll run through this in more detail.

Anyway,the main issue here is the type of mount you have. As I understand, you have a CGE mount. The CGE is an equatorial mount - telescope on one side and counterweights on the other. An alt-az mount (fork mount) is the other type and is much more compact. If your scope was on a fork mount, you would be fine. However for the CGE mount with a 14" SCT, it might be a little tight. How tight for space, I can't say for sure. From talking to Altair Astro at Astrofest, the Skyshed POD has a yahoo group. You should join it and see if others there have the same setup. Nothing like other people's experience with the same scope, mount and dome. When I was talking to Altair Astro at Astrofest I think they mentioned that there is some software on the yahoo group website which allows you to input your telescope dimensions and it tells you how much clearance your scope has in the dome. Might be worth checking out.

The Skyshed POD is different to a traditional dome because it is a clamshell.
1 - Viewing at the zenith is restricted.
2 - The telescope is much more open to the wind, cold, light pollution, night sky etc
Now, it's either something you see as a positive or a negative - up to you really.
Valid arguments for and against the design - all down to personal preference.

In terms of construction quality though, it looked pretty good to me. I like they way you can get the optional bays etc with it. You can really customise it to your liking. Much more affordable than the other domes too. However, be careful that you don't skimp now and regret it in the longer run. If you decide to buy it, make sure you see it in person yourself first and make sure both the telescope and you can fit in the dome in comfort.

Hope this helps,

Michael.

This might be a useful document - written a good while ago by Dennis Persyk. Interesting qualitative data on pier design...


www.astroshack.net/download/Pier_Design.doc


Dave

Thanks for the good advice Michael.

I have plenty of space where I live (Wicklow mountains) but high winds can be a problem at night. With no trees surrounding me yet, an open clamshell like the pod is likely to suffer with these winds. I'm now thinking that it will be better in the long run to invest in a similar dome to what you have. That extra 1 foot doesn't sound like a lot, but I bet it is!!

Truth be told, I'm a bit away from changing my mount - it was the most expensive part of my telescope kit! A few years down the line perhaps as I have LOTS more to learn first.

Are you fully set up in your dome yet? Would love to take a look the next time that it suits you. Please PM me if you are still open to this.

Dave, thanks for pier design data, didn't think there was that much to it!

thanks
Keith

I'll let you know once it is up and running.
You're more than welcome to pop down and take a look at it then.

Michael.

Keith --

It'd be a bit more of a hike for you, but I have a 10' TI dome up here in Louth that you're welcome to come and see. It houses a 16" Mak mounted on a GEM, so it'd give you an idea of how much space is left.

Cheers,
-- Jeff.

Thanks Michael, look forward to it.

Thanks also Jeff, will look you up if I'm ever up your way.