Gina

Very interesting Dave

Does the difference between 1/10 wavelength over 1/8 really make that much difference?

Just the bare board. I can power it from an ATX PSU and 3D print a case or include it with other things in a case.

Ordered a RPI 3 model B from Amazon UK - arriving tomorrow. Checked prices from other suppliers but this was the cheapest including VAT and free delivery.

Great stuff I'm planning on getting the trail version of PixInsight and seeing how I get on with it. Must remember that this is bound to be a steep learning curve as it was with Photoshop so can't expect to get to grips with it straight away. I also know that there are numerous tutorials and that should help I also plan to get RPi 3 with WiFi maybe more than one as I have plans for two or more imaging systems running at the same time eventually. In particular main imaging plus all sky.

Thank you Damian I've worked a bit with aluminium with regard to sawing and drilling.

Wonderful I'm none to good with metal and don't do welding though I did try it once (electric) - could it be made in wood? I wouldn't mind having a go later on

Just noticed this thread needs a reply - sorry for the delay. The Esprit is the best scope I've got though the MN190 comes very close Superb resolution and flat field. I can thoroughly reccommend it - especially purchased from FLO who give absolutely outstanding service I hope to be trying it with the ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool USB 3.0 Mono Camera (which has a larger sensor and smaller pixels than my current Atik 460EX) in the autumn. I'm afraid I forget which sort of ADM dovetail I used for it.

I've had that problem Had to run some odd code to clear out the assignments! Can't remember what it was now but I think I found it by Googling the problem. Unplugging and replugging seems to be needed a fair bit in Win 7 Not a happy situation for a remote system!!! I was hoping to avoid that with Linux.

That's good I'm planning to use a Linux box rather than VM anyway so looking good

I use the serial numbers to identify my Atik cameras in the software.

I've been using WiFi to connect to my observatory laptop all along with no problem - the distance is only around 20m or so. OTOH I have had problems with rats chewing the cables where I have run cable.

Using an RPi at my pierhear/scope/multi-imaging rig would be great IMO. Could be fine for DSO imaging but too slow for planetary that will need USB3. Should be fine for all sky cam too. Pi 3 has wifi I gather In which case the ASC would require just a 12v power cable only

Looks good

Thanks My setting was "Check for updates and let me choose... " so I've now set it not to check for updates - Win 7 was not amused

I'll check my update settings - thank you

I found the same thing when I was developing software. Luckily I had a friend who was reasonably computer savvy but not very technical. I would run my documentation past her to see if it was understandable. Also, in the early days of Ubuntu I ran a documentation and beginners guide to Ubuntu web site and explained Linux in terms a Windows user could understand. Writing documentation that was dumbed down from the very technical language that I was used to both in my career and later, used to be my forte. Around the turn of this century I gave classes to our local Women's Institute on starting to use computers. Personally I think documentation is a very important part of any software but can easily be forgotten in the drive to develop Open Source software.

After using various other distros including Debian and OpenSusie (or however it's spelt) and several others the release of Ubuntu was a breath of fresh air - just install and go - it just worked

That sounds brilliant

Unfortunately looks like Inkscape can't export STL files. But there are other CAD softwares that can and I might investigate those. OTOH I'm used to SketchUp and I'll probably try it it WINE first.

Ah - there's more software I shall need to look into eg. SketchUp - there isn't a Linux version but sems it might work in WINE. I need SketchUp for my 3D printing design. Hope I'm not going off-topic - I guess this thread is for astro imaging.

I reckon I could use the GIMP for tittivating my photos and PI for astro images. My Win 7 machine seems to be getting slower and slower and I can't work out why. This could be a whole new project for me to get my teeth into I shall need to sort out my hardware...

I see there's a free trial so I'll get that once I'm ready - I know lots of imagers swear by PI

Yes, I know I'm considering buying it.

This is looking better and better Thank you everyone I have Linux Mint on one of my laptops. Also on my no.2 desktop (home built). I really need to look into image processing software for Linux so that I can avoid using Photoshop. I've used the GIMP in the past - must check up on latest version - have they upgraded to 64bit yet, for instance?