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Thank you. Much appreciated!

Good tip on airing everything out @bosun21 - i'm exceptionally fussy about that myself. Keeping EPs under cover while using them in a session but they're not the one in the scope at that moment is also important (IMHO) to prevent them getting too damp in the first place. Sounds like a good run out @LondonNeil - like you one of my regualr observing spots is a few hundred meters from my home and i walk up to it - my tip - keep it simple. Simple gear (not everything out all at once and not everything at every session) and everything organised (sounds like you have already cracked that with the tool box and ruck sack). If your gear is a bit unwieldy/heavy you could resort to a small sack truck available in DIY super stores. I personally wouldn't jolt my scope around on one but you could bungee your tripod, a stool, and maybe a boxed or bagged mount to one and take the weight out of your hands. 🙂

Please don’t forget that nerds can be found in all social classes, and if you’re a nerd like me I couldn’t care less about so called social classes anyway😊

I really like the dramatic feel of the sketch. It captures the mood of the moon for me.

It could evolve into a a giant hand drawn M37 wall mural. Could be spectacular.

The past forums are a mine of useful information that cover a range of issues. Responses to queries/problems are generally rapid and helpful. There are members on here who regularly go the extra mile for the community.

I'm extremely thankful that the rules prohibit the usual topics that cause so much bile out there. This really is an oasis in that regard. I have no social media footprint whatsoever for that very reason. Keep up the good work, all that maintain this site...👍

Something quite simple, have you let another another astronomer look through the starfield. Or someone with decent to good eyesight. If they see what your seeing, get it back to the seller. If not, get new eyeballs. lol. No need for rocket science.

It can be externally controlled via ASCOM / Alpaca over WiFi.

Thanks for that, WIm. Much appreciated. We still have some astro dark left so if the clouds clear I'll use a freshly made mask (with all the slots cut out this time!) and see how my in-focus and defocussed spikes look. I'm strictly a manual focusser using a conventional Bahtinov and APT's Bahtinov assistant. My collimation is done by eye with Concenter and Cheshire, so it will be interesting to see what the tri-Bahtinov makes of this.

I have thought exactly this for a long time, maybe we should exchange forum names?

Yes, eyeglass cleaner is fine and safe to use. Only spray it onto the tissue and nor directly onto the lens just in case it seeps between the elements.

Absolutely right @josefk! I like coming on this side of the forum and getting inspired by what other people are doing. For me, it makes it feel like more of a community, if that makes sense - we exchange views and reports in a way that wouldn't be fully possible without sketching. Although the M44 you posted yesterday was from another universe (in terms of quality at least)

Nice. I recognise those stars 🙂. The beauty of this game is it does feel like these wonderful things are committed to memory better.

This won't last... 58 N is a terrible latitude to be doing astronomy during summer... 🥲

Telescope Live replied. They said no to EAA style scheduling.

Glad you had a chance to get out and view something.

Another point that Cuiv made was that the camera does not seem to have an output usb, which - if true - will not allow the owners of this camera to use it with other acquisition software; making it a rather very expensive item.

Thanks a lot for your kind words! Cheers Göran

Looks like an interesting scope for Astrophotography, optics designed by Licktener Optics.

Forgot to update this.. went with the TS Flat2 in the end. Works well with the 533 sensor, not tried APSC yet. Flat field, nice stars. There's significant backfocus with this, around 120mm or thereabouts, so I needed an extension tube and a spacer between flattener and camera. Getting the right backspacing is a case of trial and error with APSC, from what I have read

Glad to hear that. Would enjoy having a look at some of your reviews if you'd like to share any.

one last go from me. its not as good as alacants and took me slightly longer than 5 minutes but its not a bad effort. i did a gentle sharpening in astro sharp just as a test. alacant got more detail out of the fatter sprial arms, but im not a million miles away.

It wasn’t there. I asked, they said it is still in the design and development stage so not ready for reveal. HTH

Final process, I promise! Given that it's a very recent image, I decided to give this the PI and XT treatment now that I'm full on learning this software. Noise has gone, tidal tail from NGC 3628 more visible and, to my eye, a better colour balance. Comments welcome as always 🙂