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Maximum dimensions of 8' round dome building with two bays

George Stallings
 

Hi all, 

I'm planning on designing a small deck for an 8' round building Exploradome. I was wondering what the maximum dimensions would be for the round building with two bays would be. I'm thinking a plafform of 125" square should be more than enough, but I can adjust as needed. 

Regards, 

George
Ted Blank
 

Hi George, I had Frank Lopez from Stellarvision in Tucson build me a 10x10 foot building 5 feet tall with some framing to hold up the 8 foot dome in the middle. I highly recommend this over the 8 foot circular building I used to have. I have corners! I don’t need bays because I have corners, four of them.  

ED provides the four pieces of roofing that shed rain from the center out to the edges. You can make the building shorter if you want it but I liked 5 feet.

The building is on a 10 ft.² concrete slab about 4 inches thick. The pier is dug first of course in the middle. 



Ted

On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 6:50 AM George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Hi all, 

I'm planning on designing a small deck for an 8' round building Exploradome. I was wondering what the maximum dimensions would be for the round building with two bays would be. I'm thinking a plafform of 125" square should be more than enough, but I can adjust as needed. 

Regards, 

George

George Stallings
 
Edited

That's absolutely beautiful, Ted! 

I made the mistake of showing my better half options when she finally acquiesced in her decision on the backyard observatory. I pushed, but not hard, for a square building precisely for the corners. A little nook for the laptop in one corner, room for a wheeled tool chest or standard cabinet in another corner - I had ideas. I had envisioned small angled shelves for another corner; however, she's set on a round building. I understand where she's coming from. There are hills to die on, but right now I'm calling the round building a victory and moving on. : ) 

George
Rudie Allison
 

Hi George,
     I built my 12' square building many years ago with a roll-off roof. When I finally wised up and got an 8' Exploradome (best thing I ever did) it was fairly easy to convert similar to the way Ted did his and beings as it was square it was also easy to add and additional "warm" room with climate control. Round would not have been so easy to add on to. Just something else to think about. Always good to consider the future. Good luck in whatever you do though.

Rudie

From: main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io <main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io> on behalf of George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin@...>
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2022 11:20 AM
To: main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io <main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [Exploradome-Observatories] Maximum dimensions of 8' round dome building with two bays
 

[Edited Message Follows]

That's absolutely beautiful, Ted! 

I made the mistake of showing my better half options when she finally acquiesced in her decision on the backyard observatory. I pushed, but not hard, for a square building precisely for the corners. A little nook for the laptop in one corner, room for a wheeled tool chest or standard cabinet in another corner - I had ideas. I had envisioned small angled shelves for another corner; however, she's set on a round building. I understand where she's coming from. There are hills to die on, but right now I'm calling the round building a victory and moving on. : ) 

George

Observatory.jpg

Paul Dawson
 

Slightly off-topic, but I thought it might be worth sharing, given the discussion of the use of corners..

I use an EDII to house my Dob. Being a Dob, it needs to be able to reach low down, so the EDII is mounted on a simple 16" high ring.

I had a table constructed and mounted to the dome opposite the opening. Thus, as I rotate the dome, the table rotates with it. It is always at 90° to the eyepiece and it is thus conveniently placed to make notes, consult documents, change eyepieces etc.

Rounded corners are an important aspect of the table design. Most of my observing is done solo, but when there are other people in the dome with me, if I rotate the dome thoughtlessly, there is the possibility of the table hitting someone. The rounded corners reduce the possibility of injury.

Per ardua ad astra

Paul

On Thursday, April 28, 2022, 09:20:58 AM PDT, George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin@...> wrote:


That's absolutely beautiful, Frank! 

I made the mistake of showing my better half options when she finally acquiesced in her decision on the backyard observatory. I pushed, but not hard, for a square building precisely for the corners. A little nook for the laptop in one corner, room for a wheeled tool chest or standard cabinet in another corner - I had ideas. I had envisioned small angled shelves for another corner; however, she's set on a round building. I understand where she's coming from. There are hills to die on, but right now I'm calling the round building a victory and moving on. : ) 

George

Bahtinov mask.JPG

Andrew J
 

On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 06:50 AM, George Stallings wrote:
I was wondering what the maximum dimensions would be for the round building with two bays would be.
Hi George. I have an 8' round ED with two bays centered on a 11' pad and it just fits.  In the center of the pad I have an isolated block 3'x3'x3' block that is isolated from the rest of the pad so that I don't get vibrations from the dome transferring to the pier. I live in Texas. If you live up north where you get frost your center block may need to go deeper. 



Hope this helps.

Andrew
George Stallings
 

Andrew, 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I was able to reach Exploradome and Dustin noted that the bays don't actually have to be supported by a deck/slab. They are self-supporting. When I asked about weight and sagging, he said they were only designed to support but so much weight and that it shouldn't be an issue. "You can place blocks underneath of them if you'd like." My thinking is that a 10' square deck would provide a space for partial support underneath the bays. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of just letting them float entirely off of the deck/slab without any support underneath of them. While I am not intending to use them store more than 50-100 lbs. of stuff each, I'd still like them to be at least partially supported from underneath. 

George
Ted Blank
 

There's another option, to build a 10x10 square building and use 4x4's to bridge the space to hold up the dome.  Then put the "shoulders" that ExploraDome sells.  The advantage of this for me is that I have corners and can put stuff like my computer and monitor on corner desks.  This was built for me by Frank Lopez of "Stellarvision" in Tucson.



On Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 12:48 PM George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Andrew, 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I was able to reach Exploradome and Dustin noted that the bays don't actually have to be supported by a deck/slab. They are self-supporting. When I asked about weight and sagging, he said they were only designed to support but so much weight and that it shouldn't be an issue. "You can place blocks underneath of them if you'd like." My thinking is that a 10' square deck would provide a space for partial support underneath the bays. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of just letting them float entirely off of the deck/slab without any support underneath of them. While I am not intending to use them store more than 50-100 lbs. of stuff each, I'd still like them to be at least partially supported from underneath. 

George

IMG_4353(Edited).jpg

IMG_4355(Edited).jpg

IMG_4354(Edited).jpg

IMG_4356(Edited).jpg

Kay Wyatt
 

That is the option that I have but it is 12' by 12'.  And it works perfect for me.  There is plenty of room for storage.  And room for visitors as well.  I also have a SkyShed Pod with three bays.  There is a world of difference in having room to maneuver in with the ExploraDome.  I have my solar scope in the old SkyShed Pod so I only work in the daylite in it which makes it easier to see to move around.  And we are far enough North so I don't need Zenith with the solar scope. 
 
Ted, where did you get your constellation "wall paper"?  And are the peppers out front to keep the evil spirits away?
 
Kay Wyatt
 

From: Ted Blank
Sent: Thursday, June 9, 2022 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Exploradome-Observatories] Maximum dimensions of 8' round dome building with two bays

There's another option, to build a 10x10 square building and use 4x4's to bridge the space to hold up the dome.  Then put the "shoulders" that ExploraDome sells.  The advantage of this for me is that I have corners and can put stuff like my computer and monitor on corner desks.  This was built for me by Frank Lopez of "Stellarvision" in Tucson.



On Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 12:48 PM George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Andrew, 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I was able to reach Exploradome and Dustin noted that the bays don't actually have to be supported by a deck/slab. They are self-supporting. When I asked about weight and sagging, he said they were only designed to support but so much weight and that it shouldn't be an issue. "You can place blocks underneath of them if you'd like." My thinking is that a 10' square deck would provide a space for partial support underneath the bays. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of just letting them float entirely off of the deck/slab without any support underneath of them. While I am not intending to use them store more than 50-100 lbs. of stuff each, I'd still like them to be at least partially supported from underneath. 

George

Ted Blank
 

Border wallpaper:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076MJBVND

The walls are insulated with 4" of fiberglass, covered with pegboard inside.

The dome is painted with this incredible heat-rejection paint that works fantastically in the desert sun.  It is called "sunshield" and you can get it from Home Depot.  I tinted it lightly so it would not be pure white.

12x12' would be awesome, but I'm ok with 10x10.

The peppers are just for fun.  :-)

Ted

On Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 2:50 PM Kay Wyatt <kwyatt@...> wrote:
That is the option that I have but it is 12' by 12'.  And it works perfect for me.  There is plenty of room for storage.  And room for visitors as well.  I also have a SkyShed Pod with three bays.  There is a world of difference in having room to maneuver in with the ExploraDome.  I have my solar scope in the old SkyShed Pod so I only work in the daylite in it which makes it easier to see to move around.  And we are far enough North so I don't need Zenith with the solar scope. 
 
Ted, where did you get your constellation "wall paper"?  And are the peppers out front to keep the evil spirits away?
 
Kay Wyatt
 

From: Ted Blank
Sent: Thursday, June 9, 2022 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Exploradome-Observatories] Maximum dimensions of 8' round dome building with two bays

There's another option, to build a 10x10 square building and use 4x4's to bridge the space to hold up the dome.  Then put the "shoulders" that ExploraDome sells.  The advantage of this for me is that I have corners and can put stuff like my computer and monitor on corner desks.  This was built for me by Frank Lopez of "Stellarvision" in Tucson.



On Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 12:48 PM George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Andrew, 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I was able to reach Exploradome and Dustin noted that the bays don't actually have to be supported by a deck/slab. They are self-supporting. When I asked about weight and sagging, he said they were only designed to support but so much weight and that it shouldn't be an issue. "You can place blocks underneath of them if you'd like." My thinking is that a 10' square deck would provide a space for partial support underneath the bays. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of just letting them float entirely off of the deck/slab without any support underneath of them. While I am not intending to use them store more than 50-100 lbs. of stuff each, I'd still like them to be at least partially supported from underneath. 

George

Michael
 

Great setup Ted.  I too chose a 10x10 building and have set it up where everything is turned on or off with smart plugs and it can be operated, comfortably, inside or from anywhere I have computer access.

 

Here’s mine…

 

http://madmanrc.com/Observatory.html

 

 

 

From: main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io <main@Exploradome-Observatories.groups.io> On Behalf Of Ted Blank
Sent: Thursday, June 9, 2022 5:29 PM
To: main@exploradome-observatories.groups.io
Subject: Re: [Exploradome-Observatories] Maximum dimensions of 8' round dome building with two bays

 

There's another option, to build a 10x10 square building and use 4x4's to bridge the space to hold up the dome.  Then put the "shoulders" that ExploraDome sells.  The advantage of this for me is that I have corners and can put stuff like my computer and monitor on corner desks.  This was built for me by Frank Lopez of "Stellarvision" in Tucson.

 

 

 

On Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 12:48 PM George Stallings via groups.io <gfstallin=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Andrew, 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I was able to reach Exploradome and Dustin noted that the bays don't actually have to be supported by a deck/slab. They are self-supporting. When I asked about weight and sagging, he said they were only designed to support but so much weight and that it shouldn't be an issue. "You can place blocks underneath of them if you'd like." My thinking is that a 10' square deck would provide a space for partial support underneath the bays. I still cannot wrap my head around the idea of just letting them float entirely off of the deck/slab without any support underneath of them. While I am not intending to use them store more than 50-100 lbs. of stuff each, I'd still like them to be at least partially supported from underneath. 

George

Pictor User
 

Ted, you have a beautiful observatory.  Thank you for the information about SunShield paint.  I have not heard of this before, but it sounds like an excellent solution to keeping the observatory cooler in the desert sun where I live also. 

What surface preparation did you have to do to get the paint to adhere to the dome?  Has it continued to adhere or have you had to repaint it?   I have seen remarks by other ED owners that paint would not stick to the dome material although I have not tried it.

And, lastly, did tinting the paint adversely affect its ability to reject heat loading? 

Thank you,
Manning B
Ted Blank
 

I had painted the dome with latex exterior house paint before, in a dark tan color.  That paint adhered perfectly.  So I just applied the SunShield over that, and it has adhered perfectly as well.

One thing - sunshield is heavy.  With two coats of it on the shutter, the motor actually cannot lift the shutter any more if I let it go past vertical.  So I just stop when it is at vertical.  If I were doing it again I would put only one lighter coat on the shutter.

Tinting the paint does reduce its ability to reflect heat.  I think it was about 20% reduction for me, but I had them put in a "lot" of brown tint, probably a full pint or more, before the color even slightly changed.  However it made my wife happy not to have it "glaring white" so I'm fine with it.  Happy wife, happy life, right?

Ted

On Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 4:20 PM Pictor User <pictor-mb@...> wrote:
Ted, you have a beautiful observatory.  Thank you for the information about SunShield paint.  I have not heard of this before, but it sounds like an excellent solution to keeping the observatory cooler in the desert sun where I live also. 

What surface preparation did you have to do to get the paint to adhere to the dome?  Has it continued to adhere or have you had to repaint it?   I have seen remarks by other ED owners that paint would not stick to the dome material although I have not tried it.

And, lastly, did tinting the paint adversely affect its ability to reject heat loading? 

Thank you,
Manning B

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