Domes

Domes

My telescope are housed in three domes. The largest one on the left is 8ft wide and 8ft high from Sky Domes, the Green one in the middle is a SkyPod and the white one on the right is a 7ft Pulsar Dome, they all sit on concrete bases. Using a flat concrete pad is not a problem with regard to vibrations because they are operated remotely.

There is a wireless network to connect all of the domes, which is then connected to the house so that I can control the telescope from within the house. In the domes I run Windows 10 on laptops, and then use VNC  from my mac to remotely control the telescope from inside the house.

Dome #1 The 8′ dome from Sky Domes is supplied in pieces and must be assembled. If you are going to assemble it yourself which is what we did, be prepared to help the driver unload the dome. When it comes to assembly, we often needed three people and when it came to lifting the dome onto the structure, a minimum of 4 people is required.

The dome makes observing very easy. The shutter is easily pushed back with a boat hook (you need to replace the flimsy one that is supplied) Sometimes the dome can be a bit stiff to turn but its not that difficult.

There are three telescopes in the large dome, a 7″ TMB on a Paramount ME2, a Bresser 102 for guiding and Triplet 80mm refractor.

Dome #2 is a Skyshed POD which is a recent addition to the garden which houses a C11 on an NEQ6 for observations of the moon and planets.

Dome #3 is from Pulsar Optical and is 7ft. It is supplied complete and moves very easily. Inside is an Astro-Physics 4.75″ Refractor with  Coronado Solarmax90 for solar observing and a Skywatcher 80 with an Altair Astro Herschel Wedge for white light observing of the Sun. Sitting on a Skywatcher EQ8 mount.