Advice?Posted By Chris Lasley |
I have both. My backyard observatory is a dome and my dark-sky observatory is a roll-off roof. Both have their pros and cons - I prefer the dome. The dome is much better at shielding stray light (as you’ve seen over the CCD Imaging forum) and wind.
The dome I’m using is an HD-6T from Home-Dome. It’s a self-contained 6’ dome with 45” walls and a small door. It works very well but has a few oddities. The door also serves as part of the dome rotation rail. This means in order to rotate the dome the door must be shut. This is a problem if you just started a long exposure and want to leave the dome! In my case I run the camera, mount, etc from in the house so it works fine.
The 6’ dome *barely* holds the AP155. It will soon be replaced with a 10” RCOS which will be snug as well. And there is precious little room for a person in the dome once you’re all rigged up.
If the 6’ dome matches your needs I would recommend getting the dome alone and build a small building underneath it. I would give you more wiggle room, cost less and get around the entry/exit problem while imaging.
Chris
The dome I’m using is an HD-6T from Home-Dome. It’s a self-contained 6’ dome with 45” walls and a small door. It works very well but has a few oddities. The door also serves as part of the dome rotation rail. This means in order to rotate the dome the door must be shut. This is a problem if you just started a long exposure and want to leave the dome! In my case I run the camera, mount, etc from in the house so it works fine.
The 6’ dome *barely* holds the AP155. It will soon be replaced with a 10” RCOS which will be snug as well. And there is precious little room for a person in the dome once you’re all rigged up.
If the 6’ dome matches your needs I would recommend getting the dome alone and build a small building underneath it. I would give you more wiggle room, cost less and get around the entry/exit problem while imaging.
Chris
