AstroDomes and Sirius Domes, anyone had them?

[bluesilver]

Hi, I got this question in the right thread for once i think.

So AstroDomes and Sirius Domes,
Has anyone had one of these before?
I have looked at a few others, but keep coming back to these ones.

I am looking at the AstroDomes, they are made from Zincalume 1mm sheet and come flat packed from Queensland.
I am looking at either the 2.4 Meter version or the 3 Meter version, fully automated.
Base is 1800mm for the 2.4M AstroDome and 2800mm for the 3M AstroDome

They also manufacture the 2.3M Sirius Fiberglass dome as well.

I can get the 2.4Meter metal AstroDome for around $300 cheaper than the Sirius fiberglass dome.

Not having a dome before, I am thinking that the Metal dome would have to be the better choice, would this be correct?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[AstroApprentice]

Hi Peter,
I purchased an old Sirius dome in poor condition - some cracked panels, sagging sections etc. I restored it under the advice of Owen at Sirius and I’m very pleased with it. No water leaks, stays surprisingly cool even on hot days. No issue with occasional high winds. Automation with Maxdome works seamlessly. The dome has sort of faded into the background, which means it’s doing its job reliably.
I’ve always wondered how hot the Astrodome zincalume domes are in summer…

[bluesilver]

When i was talking to them, The back order time is almost a year on the domes now, so that is saying good things about them.
The Astrodome zincalume actually works out to be cheaper than the fiberglass according to their price list.
You can paint the zincalume with a heat reflective paint like solacoat and that helps repel the heat, you could also go to the extreme and do the same thing with powder coating.