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Hi Barry,
Have you thought about how your system will be protected from rain etc? I imagine the weather in Tassie can change very quickly. Once you get going with AP you'll want to take a nap while the AG is running, that nap will turn into deep sleep, to be hopefully woken by an alarm clock to drag yourself outside to close the roof. That's when you find out that clouds quickly rolled in and drenched everything...in addition to the dew that you get every night!
Roll-off obs are great for reaching thermal equilibrium very quickly, are cheaper to build and can house multiple OTAs pointed in different directions, but a dome can close with the telescope pointed in any direction, keeps everything inside fairly free of dew, and gives you much better horizons.
It's somewhat ironic that most professional sites could easily make due with a roll-off roof (very dry, rain is abnormal), but amateurs, who can least afford a dome, get the most benefits from it!?!
After having used a push-off dome for a few years (SkyShed POD + zenith table) to now using an automated 3m ScopeDome, the difference is night and day.
I don't think the size of the dome will be a big factor, you should be in there very rarely once all setup. I had a C14 side by side with a C11 on a PME in the POD, it was workable. But from what I've seen the complicated/expensive shutter motorization of the Sirius 2.3m is not ideal.
Best,
EB
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