OK, I've ordered a Skyshed POD.

[nightsky]

G'Day.
For anyone who is interested in buying a POD here is the price of the

STANDARD POD
1 dome, 5 walls panels, 1 door $3666

All that has to be added is the delivery cost to your door,and any extras you require.
Cheers
Arthur

[sheeny (Al)]

So Arthur,

What POD arrangement did you order?

I've ordered a POD with 3 bays, and 3 shelves.

Al.

[nightsky]

G'Day,
I just ordered
STANDARD POD 1 dome, 4 walls panels, 1 door
1 Bayl Black inside
Hadened foam insulation for walls
Hardened foam insulation for dome
That will suite me fine
Cheers
Arthur
Sorry for the delay in answering,but even when I sign out it shows me as still on ISS
thats the reason for the delay

[nightsky]

G'Day,
I forgot to mention the discount

There are also discounts applicable for the first container:

- first container load customers will receive a 5% discount on the current price list.
- first container load customers will receive a 5% discount on the delivery to their location.
- first container load customers will receive a further 3% discount due to the Australian Dollar staying stable, above 90 cents.

The above discounts will apply when the full balance is due.
Cheers
Arthur

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by nightsky

G'Day,
I just ordered
STANDARD POD 1 dome, 4 walls panels, 1 door
1 Bayl Black inside
Hadened foam insulation for walls
Hardened foam insulation for dome
That will suite me fine
Cheers
Arthur
Sorry for the delay in answering,but even when I sign out it shows me as still on ISS
thats the reason for the delay

Cool. I got the black lining in my bays too, but I didn't go for the insulation.

Al.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Thanks Arthur,
The Astrodomes are expensive but they do seem to have better low angle access than most. I live within a hour's drive on them and will slip up and have a look - being careful to leave the cheque book at home.

Peter

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Thanks Arthur,
The Astrodomes are expensive but they do seem to have better low angle access than most. I live within a hour's drive on them and will slip up and have a look - being careful to leave the cheque book at home.

Peter

G'Day peter,

That was my thoughts... but, just to throw another idea around, what about buying a Sirius dome only and just running that on a track on the ground or a short wall - say 1-3 ft tall?

Al.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Ah, it all became a bit academic a little while ago when I cooked the circuit board of my Mel Bartels stepper motor controller. Don't quite know how I managed that. I did say a few words at the time, as you can imagine.
Peter

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Ah, it all became a bit academic a little while ago when I cooked the circuit board of my Mel Bartels stepper motor controller. Don't quite know how I managed that. I did say a few words at the time, as you can imagine.
Peter

That's bad news, Peter. Sorry to hear that. I bet they were words like "Blessed art thou", "Goodness gracious!" and "Bless me!". I hope you get it all up and working again soon, so you can get back on track planning your obs!

Because I'm planning to put the POD on a slab, the pier won't be in the middle of the slab, so I've done a little drawing so I can get the slab in the right place around the pier, and I've also put in a few dimensions to help me get the length of some cast in conduits right so I can run cables under the floor.

I have also been giving some thought to providing power to the POD. I don't need power for my current setup, I can run it all from batteries, but I can see that eventually I may need to run a USB hub, which may require 240V power... Since I don't want to run permanent power to the POD, I'll probably opt to install a caravan socket on the outside, wired to a power point inside, then I can simply run a lead from the house when I need power in the POD.

Al.

[Tamtarn]

Interested to know if anyone has received their Skyshed POD yet ??

[nightsky]

G'Day,
Yes m8 should be arriving about 6 weeks I hope
Cheers
Arthur

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by nightsky

G'Day,
Yes m8 should be arriving about 6 weeks I hope
Cheers
Arthur

Yes. Hopefully before (and not during!) IISAC...

Al.

[bluescope]

Originally Posted by sheeny

I can't say I have, really. The closest I can think of that I've come across is an Astrodome:
http://www.astrodomes.com/

Al.

I got a quote on astrodome and they were around the $15,000 mark from memory ... not in my price range ... the skypods are much more affordable.

[deadsimple (Ash)]

Originally Posted by sheeny

The POD also offers excellent wind shielding, and the wide viewing aperture will allow my GPS unit to still communicate to maintain accurate time for the mount.

I would have thought the (relatively low-freq) GPS signals would pass straight through the structure anyway? Unless there's some metal in the pod that isn't shown in the photos or I'm looking at the wrong product?

Looks good though!

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by deadsimple

I would have thought the (relatively low-freq) GPS signals would pass straight through the structure anyway? Unless there's some metal in the pod that isn't shown in the photos or I'm looking at the wrong product?

Looks good though!

You could be right. The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak. A lot will depend on the sensitivity of the GPS receiver.

Al.

[nightsky]

G'Day All,
Just had a email from Matthew regarding the "POD" here is the message
"The shipment of Pods is at sea. A arrival date of the container being 9th November".
A bit longer than I thought it would be,but better late than never
Cheers
Arthur

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by nightsky

G'Day All,
Just had a email from Matthew regarding the "POD" here is the message
"The shipment of Pods is at sea. A arrival date of the container being 9th November".
A bit longer than I thought it would be,but better late than never
Cheers
Arthur

Yes... at least it won't arrive during IISAC!

Al.

[nightsky]

G'Day Al
I knew that news would make you happy
Cheers
Arthur