CraigT82

That is some serious image scale... What a scope! You might even have got some detail on the moon (Ganymede??) Did you process the video at all?

This one is about 8.75", I measured the primary at 220mm and it's got a fl of 1621mm so F7.4 ish. That's just a battery pack and cable for the fan I've got mounted behind the primary. The best mod for this scope is the motor focus which you can also see in the picture... really makes focusing a much less shaky affair!

An old non goto EQ6, tatty but solid and a steal at £200 on ukabs. Ye old fullerscope is much steadier on this compared to it's old mk3 mounting... now a proper lunar weapon!

Well done all.... smartphones continue their relentless march to world domination!

This was my first DSO image, I don't really do it anymore due to not having the time or dark skies (or money!) The heart and soul nebs and double cluster. Shot with 50mm f1.8 on modded 700D on star adventurer.

Some shots from yesterday evening at approx 9pm: Piccolomini, Posidonius, Theophilius and Jansen. Using my galaxy S8 afocally through a barlowed 8mm BST in 8.5" F7.5 newt, giving x405. Using celestron NeXYZ holder. Cropped and tweaked on phone in snapseed.

Nice job! Could use a flap wheel in a drill to smooth out the top hand hold?

I really like the design which puts the motors on the dec axis opposite the scope which means much less C/W to lug around.... also less cables too. Really well thought out mount I think. Only slightly bigger than a GP but feels like it could take longer/bulkier scopes than a GP could

Have just taken ownership of a used sphinx sxw, bought by previous owner 4 years a ago who then never used it..... the mount was in it's original packaging and the controller, c/w, cables etc were are still in their sealed cellophane wrapping. Great build quality and so far I really like the starbook though not used in anger yet. Think I might need to get the half pillar though (it ain't cheap!)

Well, not strictly delivered by the postman but delivered by a nice chap called Lee.... a Vixen Sphinx SXW mount in unused as new condition. Bought as my AZ4 proved to bit a bit to feeble to hold the long frac still at higher power, and also because I fancied something which will track nicely and allow me to concentrate properly on the view. The Goto is a welcome bonus via the starbook controller (AKA the gameboy) which is really nice and intuitive to use.

Here's mine, cut from 18mm birch ply

I'm also a little bit in love with my new 102mm f11(starwave). Only had it out once so far and it served up lovely crisp views of Mars in less than ideal conditions. Yesterday I checked focuser alignment with a laser and it was dead on using my HG parallizer (though slightly skewed with standard adaptor). Also checked objective alignment with Cheshire and again dead on. Very well made these scopes are! The AR coatings are first rate too. How do you find it on the AYO without counterweights? I've got it on an AZ4 which is fine in still conditions but a bit of wind makes the image tremble. Will be upgrading to giro type mount I think.

For my upcoming refractor pyrchase..... Brand new 1.25" Takahasi prism. Irritantingly didn't come supplied with caps

Shorter threads may be suitable to hold a camera but not for a mount and scope. Anyway it would still be too long... trust me I've been down this route with my eq5 and SA.

If you're thinking of these type ones (image) they don't work.... add too much length to the bolt. At least, that was the problem when I was trying to fit my star adventure to an eq5 tripod. Ended up buying the bullet and buying the berlebach one.

The EQ5 tripod uses an M10 bolt to attach the mount, whilst the AZ5 head takes a 3/8" bolt that you normally get on photo tripods. You an get a really nice M10 to 3/8 adaptor from Berlebach but it aint cheap.

Sounds like a plan. Tough to do it by eye though... Don't suppose you could substitute in a colour camera to set the Adc (using the Adc tool in firecapture or similar) then switch over to mono for capture?

Only thing I can think of is to leave one position in the FW clear and use that to set the adc? Maybe not very helpful Sorry!

I wouldn't have thought you'd need a adc with a mono camera? As you'd refocus for each filter the align in post process??

Heads up for any Fullercopes fasn in Scotland... https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fullerscopes-telescope/1290837361?utm_source=savedsearches&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GT.TRIGGER.SA&utm_content=none

If refractors could be made with 2m+ apertures they would use those I think. I follow quite a few professional astronomers on twitter and I've sen them complain - more than once - of getting around to their precious alloted scope time only to find that their intended subject is obscured by a bleedin' great diff spike!

Congrats! Nice to see these instruments being passed from one loving enthusiast to another to be enjoyed... maybe one day it will end up in my hands (fat chance!!)

As to the why.... I believe it makes sense in that it makes diagnosing tracking errors easier if you know which way things are moving in your image

Superb Catluc! Does your Dobsoniam have motorised tracking or a EQ platform?

Very nice! I'm planning on trying something like this myself with my mak, your info on gain and exposure will come in very handy so thanks very much!