I'm moving from the city to a "rural residential" area in the Sunshine Coast hinterlands (mountains). It should be a lot darker, although not perfect - compromise for work, etc.
Anyway, I've got a 3.5m Sirius Observatory Dome that I will be moving from my backyard to the new home. I'm in the process of scouting a suitable site on the new property. The greatest challenge is the slope - it's on the side of a hill.
My original thought was to level the area I want the dome, put in a slab like I have now and whack the dome back on top. And I may still do this, but I'm concerned about water flow from uphill and drainage, etc.
So now I'm considering a raised platform, with the pier isolated from the floor (and separate pillar into the ground). Which of course leads to a few interesting questions: what should I make the pier from? How big do I need to make it - especially if it comes up out of the ground? Concrete? or Concrete + Metal pole?
I'll also have to be extra careful to stop crawlies coming up through the floor and/or the gap to the pier isolation, etc.
Anyone done anything like this? Any pointers (I'm going to do some more googling later
)? Am I insane to consider this?