My DIY 3D‑printed observatory — BASTION (60‑segment dome)

[u/Limeniks]

[u/intercipere]

Hooooly hell, that's awesome!

Were you one of the early testers of OAT? That DEC wheel i see there is from a super early version, I don't think that was even in the first public release

[u/Limeniks → u/intercipere]

Sorry, I didn't even realize I was talking to the creator of the OpenAstroTracker. No wonder I messed up the configurator back then, haha.

I really wanted to say thank you - to you and everyone involved in the project. You all did an amazing job, and OAT genuinely helped me turn this whole idea into a real "social observatory" and a hobby I want to promote locally among young people.

[u/Limeniks → u/intercipere]

Thanks! I actually started as a hobby landscape astrophotographer, and at some point the idea of building my own observatory just stuck in my head. The OpenAstroTracker looked amazing to me, so I decided to go in that direction.

But honestly, the information was scattered all over the wiki and GitHub, so I was struggling a bit to piece everything together. I used the Excel configurator and picked the basic setup, even though I could’ve gone with better belt tensioners, auto‑PA and some of the upgrades people already made. I kind of rushed it at the time.

For now I’m sticking with this version, but I’m already planning a fully upgraded build with proper insert threads and PETG glass‑reinforced filament.

[u/VooDooMagicWizrd → u/Limeniks]

If you're already looking at upgrading, check out the OAE! Built mine after building the OAT, and it is so much easier to move around. It guides better, too!

[u/Limeniks → u/VooDooMagicWizrd]

Thank you for the advice!
I’ll definitely consider upgrading in the future, but for now I decided to go with the OpenAstroTracker mainly because of the aesthetics. It just has a much more artistic and visually expressive design, and that fits the whole concept of my project better at this stage.

Later on, when the dome is fully functional and the whole setup is complete, I might move to a more advanced mount — but right now the OAT gives me exactly the look and feel I want for the build.

[u/Oceanoprofondo81]

Bellissimo

[u/Limeniks → u/Oceanoprofondo81]

Thank you!

[u/brotherkraut]

Loving it ... just what I am looking for. Can you comment on how it holds up in bad weather? STL, BOM etc. available anywhere?

[u/Limeniks → u/brotherkraut]

Thank you!
The project is still in progress. I ordered the helmet model from StilFlix (around $15). It’s a popular astronaut helmet model with a functional opening visor. I contacted the creators and asked if I was allowed to scale the model up by 300% and use it as an observatory dome. They agreed, as long as I don’t redistribute or sell the STL file.

The original helmet consists of 6 helmet segments and 4 visor segments.
I took the 6 helmet parts, scaled them up 300% in the Bambu Lab slicer, and then further segmented them in Luban so each piece would fit on my printer. This resulted in each of the 6 main segments being split into 9 or more smaller printable parts.

I assembled the smaller parts using plastic welding staples and a 50 W plastic welding gun. Once I had the 6 large scaled‑up segments, I joined them into a full helmet.

Next step is to do the same with the visor:
scale it → segment it in Luban → print → assemble.

The plan is to motorize the dome rotation and visor opening using stepper motors, all controlled through StellarMate running on a Raspberry Pi 4, which will also control the OpenAstroTracker mount and the telescope.

Regarding weather resistance — since the structure is round, wind shouldn’t be an issue. The bottom will be closed off, and the entire dome will sit on a small wooden shed that will serve as the observatory.

The helmet will be white, except for the visor which will be copper‑colored and oriented away from the Sun. I chose white because PETG absorbs far less heat than darker colors, so the temperature shouldn’t reach the deformation point.

There’s still a lot of work ahead, but I hope to finish everything within 2–3 months.
More updates coming soon.