About Dinium
Dinium Observatory is a private backyard observatory on Rennesøy (Isle of Rennes) in south-west Norway. It is constructed by R.W.Williams, a typical amateur astronomer (childhood interest in astronomy, mirror grinding as a teen, telescope diameter increase proportional to age ;-)
Dome
The dome is a ScopeDome, possibly the best value on the dome market. It's solid, stiff, dry, and it looks nice, like the three space pods on the Discovery in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Mount
The Astrosysteme Austria DDM 160 is pure spitzenklasse. Direct drive, no gears or belts. The only moving parts are the bearings. The drive is completely silent, which can be an HSE-problem during a fast slew ;-) Tracking and pointing accuracy are better than they need to be.
Truss tube
This was custom made by Astrosysteme Austria to the specifications for my optics. The tube is very stiff and well designed. It has a removable secondary which gives access to the f/3.4 prime focus, and the latter even has an integrated field flattener for a 65 mm diameter field.
Flat-field correctors
Prime focus and Cassegrain focus correctors are also custom made by ASA to the specifications of my optics.
Project status
Ground work began in 2012, dome construction in 2013. The project is now in its final phase: fine-grinding, polishing and figuring of the 62 cm (24 inch) f/3.4 parabolic primary mirror and the 20 cm (8 inch) convex hyperbolic secondary mirror which will produce an f/10.4 Cassegrain focus.
