First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

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jrkirkham United States of America
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First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#1

Post by jrkirkham »


Since my POD is up and running I decided to break it in last night. I had a couple of strikes against me: 1) There was a bright moon. 2) It is in the middle of a work week.

I got to the POD and unloaded my gear about 7:00 (half hour before sunset). I didn't need to go early this time because the mount was already set up. I just opened the dome.

While unloading I noticed that I left the camera's mounting bracket at home, so I had to run back and get it. The dome is only 3.5 miles away, so that didn't take but about 15 minutes.

I didn't use a telescope last night. I just put my camera on the mount. I was shooting with a 144 mm focal length. My target was Venus nearing the Pleiades. I didn't bother to align the scope, I just took it out of park and had it swing over to Venus. I took a few snapshots and joined a teleconference with my family. I let the scope run for about an hour. It stayed right on the target.

By 9:00 Venus was getting low enough that it was entering into the evening haze. About 9:15 I parked the scope, loaded up my snacks and camera, and closed the dome. I made it home by 9:30.

That doesn't seem like a remarkable session, but it was for me. In the past I have not been able to go out on a week night. It takes so long to set everything up that I seldom have enough daylight, except in the summer. Then if the night turns hazy or cloudy I just have to sleep in the car because I don't want to take everything down in dark. All in all it was a successful trial run.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
Gulf Coast Guy
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Re: First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#2

Post by Gulf Coast Guy »


You're playing my tune. I'm working out my own OB plans for my up coming retirement now. A stroke back in Feb of '19 and it giving me a grand mal seizure in Feb of'20 made me tap the brakes but I'm back at it. Just got to keep up with my meds.
OTA's: 203mm f10 Meade SCT (LXD75); Antares 80mm Refractor w/William Optics APOGrade f6.9 objective; Orion Starseeker 80 f11.2 Refractor
Mount/tripod's: Meade LXD-75 EQ; Orion Starseeker IV ALT/AZ; Celestron Heavy Duty ALT/AZ Farpoint UBM (Universal Binocular Mount)
Eyepieces:Meade - 26mm plossl, 12mm Astrometric; GSO (OPT badge) 2" Superview 50mm & 30mm 1.25" 15mm; TMB Planetary Series 9mm, 6mm, & 4mm: 10mm & 23mm 60° that came with the 80mm f11.2
Barlows: Orion 2x Shorty; Meade 4000 Series 3x
Binoculars:Brunton 10x50 Celestron Skymaster 15x70 Oberwerk 25x100 IF delux
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Congratulations on the first night in the dome :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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dagadget United States of America
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Re: First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#4

Post by dagadget »


Thank you for the information, I have a Skyshed Pod XL3 on order and I expect that I will probably get the pier and do a separate wooden deck to keep things off the ground and dry. I also have another possible plan of getting a gravel bed tamped down then 2 inches of sand and 2 inch paving stones leveled off. Will mot need a pier if I do that. Someone else has one exactly like this. And this is the color scheme that I have selected as well. it should be here in time for Florida's observation season that starts in the fall. So please feel free to keep us updated on how you Pod is working out for you.
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tanandwhite1.jpg
Astro-Tech AT 152EDT Ioptron GEM 45 Mount AKA FracZilla
Celestron C11 Carbon Fiber CGEM II Mount AKA Cloudzilla
Sky Watcher Mak Cas 180 Ioptron IEQ 30 AKA MoonZilla
AT 92 on IEQ 30 Pro AKA ClusterZilla
Home Made 8 inch Newtonian Reflector on Rocker Box AKA Scopezilla
Celestron 4 1/2 114 mm Newtonian Telescope 910 F/L GT Mount AKA Frankenscope.


David
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dagadget United States of America
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Re: First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#5

Post by dagadget »


I was just in your old thread and posted there. Now that I see this I am glad that it is all working out.

Thanks

CS
Astro-Tech AT 152EDT Ioptron GEM 45 Mount AKA FracZilla
Celestron C11 Carbon Fiber CGEM II Mount AKA Cloudzilla
Sky Watcher Mak Cas 180 Ioptron IEQ 30 AKA MoonZilla
AT 92 on IEQ 30 Pro AKA ClusterZilla
Home Made 8 inch Newtonian Reflector on Rocker Box AKA Scopezilla
Celestron 4 1/2 114 mm Newtonian Telescope 910 F/L GT Mount AKA Frankenscope.


David
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dagadget United States of America
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Re: First Light for Skyshed POD XL3

#6

Post by dagadget »


box1.jpg
Working on my base for my sky shed pod. I am inclosing the bottom section with Plywood to keep from losing Shell Marl fill then leveling it off and placing 1 inch Lime Rock as a topper and tamping that in. Will almost be a hard as concrete when I am done. :observatory:
Astro-Tech AT 152EDT Ioptron GEM 45 Mount AKA FracZilla
Celestron C11 Carbon Fiber CGEM II Mount AKA Cloudzilla
Sky Watcher Mak Cas 180 Ioptron IEQ 30 AKA MoonZilla
AT 92 on IEQ 30 Pro AKA ClusterZilla
Home Made 8 inch Newtonian Reflector on Rocker Box AKA Scopezilla
Celestron 4 1/2 114 mm Newtonian Telescope 910 F/L GT Mount AKA Frankenscope.


David
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