Which Astrodome

[cwjohn (Chris)]

Hi

I have been looking at Astrodomes and have deduced the following.

Sirius 2.3 too small
Sirius 3.5 Great but expensive
Scope Dome 3m Great but hugely expensive to ship from Victoria to Qld
Astrodome 2.9 - OK - Seems good value

There seems to be 2 problems with the Astrodome as compared to the Sirius 3.5. Firstly the whole assembly rotates which I do not see as much of a problem as the dome will be remote from office (about 30m). Secondly the slit height prevents any imaging at less than 35 degrees unless you raise the pier but then the advantage of a larger dome goes away.

In regard to manufacture I am told the glassing for both is done in the same factory now so theoretically no quality differences between them.

I would appreciate any feedback that anybody has in this regard.

Thanks
Chris

[lazjen (Chris)]

I personally dislike the idea of the door rotating around.

Also, for my current setup (Sirius 3.5m), a rotating door wouldn't work anyway. I've got my dome on a slightly raised platform, with a small "deck" outside the door and a ramp down from that.

Talk with the manufacturer regarding automation options for the Sirius. I have the Maxdome solution for rotation (because that's what it came with when I got it 2nd hand), but we're installing a different solution for the shutter control. The cost of the Maxdome stuff is a bit ridiculous I think.

[cwjohn (Chris)]

Yes, I see yours is on a hill. I will build a level platform on which the dome will sit.

New 3.5m Sirius with Maxdome rotation and shutter control is $27.5K and the Astrodome 2.9m with Maxdome rotation and shutter control is $24K. Sirius will also cost around $1K more for the platform.

3.5m is a nice dome if you have your office in the dome but otherwise too much wasted space IMO.


Chris

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

The astrodome is no good for me as I need to see close to the horizon on occasion for my scientific work. The principle advantage of the 3.5m Sirius over the 2.3 is the opening size. My 14" does manage to see through the rather shiny aperture of the 2.3, but not without some guide scope issues. The 3.5 would be perfect!

I got a great deal on a 2.3 fully automated, but I probably should have gone for the 3.5 - Ether way, it's fully remoted to my office (or anywhere in the world!) and I can think of nothing worse than sitting inside the thing

The scope dome looks great, but without side walls, its more difficult to install an air conditioner for pre-cooling the instruments in summer. It would be worth sinking some conduits through the foundation when pouring the slab...

[lazjen (Chris)]

Jonathan, do you use the A/C for just cooling or for dehumidifying as well?

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

I'm finding my dome to be a very dry environment. In the first few years it wasn't but that was my fault for not sealing the base properly. The de-humidifier was very handy back then!!!