Stargazer33

Nice image and processing! Well done for getting Aldebaran without it being swamped by the Moon.

Wasn't it also Voyager 4? A fictitious probe in the Voyager program.

I wish we could find tradespeople like that in the UK!

That might be a project for next year. Although I only have limited views due North and due South, I think my next project is going to be trying to figure out how I can wangle an obsy! It will probably take a while as on limited funds I will have to buy bits each month!

I just accessed the website through my android tablet.

Finished re-wiring the power box tonight. It doesn't look too pretty, but it works! Still a bit of tidying up to do and I need to get another mini toggle switch to isolate the power to the heater tape buck. It's then a case of mounting it on my 'scope and measuring how long I need to cut all of my feed cables; fitting the aircraft plugs to these leads and then waiting for a clear night! After removing most of the previous wiring and soldering the power feed wires to the toggle switches. After rewiring.

If you haven't already, download the manual from here. It's only 1.1Mb in size.

I'm just in the process of building a new power distribution box and I'm going to be running my mount from a 13.8v linear power supply. I have a Celestron CGEM mount. Can you check that your power supply is putting out 12v when it is under load, i.e. when the mount is slewing in Dec and RA? If it is; the manual for this mount states 12v as the power requirements; then you may have a binding or over tightened gear mesh or a short somewhere in the wiring! Hope you get it sorted.

I managed to braze the broken switch back together at work and reassembled it before wiring it into the focuser circuit. I also put in the missing LED on the focuser circuit. Now the bad news. Looking at the wiring again after the test powering up, I've realized that I've wired up all the buck converters so they are permanently live! I've wired the isolation switch on the output side of the buck! This then goes through the fuse to the socket. So not only is the buck permanently live, it is also not protected by the fuse! The only circuit that is wired correctly is the Arduino based focuser circuit. So I'm going to have to undo most of my wiring and start again! (Please refer to my signature tag line!)

I would imagine as long as you have enough of a gap between the panel and your diffuser, be it white paper, acrylic or even a T-shirt, then any pattern should be negated.

Yes, you're correct. Just my opinion, as I've done exactly the same thing with some of my images trying to squeeze out too much detail. It's still a great image, especially for only 8" subs!

I like the colours in the second one, but the nebula looks over cooked to me. It's better than the 'no stars' nebula, but still looks pushed too far.

Kev, if you're worried about the anti-thrust plate being an advertisement for valuables inside; could you not paint it to match the door? If you use a thin steel bar then it probably wouldn't even show from a distance. On the cladding damage, wood filler would hide the hole before you repaint. Or are you intending to 'distress' the whole obsy to camouflage it as in Gina's post!

Probably won't be a problem with that much concrete, but normally the pier foundation is isolated from the main floor to stop vibrations as you walk around.

This is by far the most impressive build I have seen in a long time! Enjoy the fruits of your labour.