DaveS

I think that qualifies as a "Shed load of kit"

The sky's still clouded, though CO says 14% obscured, yeah right. Looks like the cloud base is lifting to the west as I'm seeing more of the Bridport glow. Will have to make a decision soon. Give it til 10.30, as I think it won't be worth opening up after that. Bet I'll get up to clear blue sky tomorrow.

Looking good Gina I'm seeing a few stars here and there, but the cloud is low and dark. Where I am high cloud catches the LP from Bridport and Weymouth / Dorchester and is bright but low cloud is dark.

Still heavy low cloud here but looks bright to the west. If it's not clearing by 10 o/c I won't bother.

Shows how dopey I am. Yes, had a thick head all day, and a bit sniffly. Will make a decision about 10 o/c or so. Good luck with your imaging.

Hope your headache clears soon Gina. Looking outside I'm seeing bright sky to the far west, heading your way but It's still thick dank cloud here. Keeping an eye out but will wait a while before opening up.

Stopped raining here too, but you've got more green showing than I have, mine's only showing 3 hours. TBH I'm not sure, I've had a headache all day, hope I'm not brewing anything.

If you plan multi minute (I think you should plan for multi-hour) exposures then you will need *very* stable tracking on both axes. Do you have anyone who can make Direct Drive motors? I have seen it done for "amateur" telescopes but it takes serious skill. What about bearings, again for both axes. Forget about the usual dob bearings, they're ok for mere visual, but imaging is a whole different level. What about field rotation? Big field de-rotators are expensive, and you will want a big aperture to pass the light cone. How about cameras? For something at this level I'd be looking at a 16803 camera, or even a FLI Kepler 4040. Not cheap. Plus, of course you're putting all this stuff on the end of the truss tubes (Another reason why big 'scopes in the 800mm and up class go for Nasmyth systems. Guiding? I assume an OAG since encoder guiding will be even more expensive and you could end up with something like This.

Raining now. Edit: CO is still saying three hours of green tonight.

Yours is looking quite a bit better than mine, I've only got 3 hours green, but orange from about 10 o/c so maybe. Sunday is looking quite a bit better, but not making any plans this far ahead.

OK, focal length? What camera are you planning? Pixel scale? Have you got an image rotator planned? They tend to be pricey. I would agree with Vlaiv that a Nasmyth focus would be best for mounting equipment. It also gives the possibility of, for instance having an imaging camera on one side and a spectrograph on the other.

No rain here yet, but the clouds are building. Hopefully the sky will get a wash and blow dry.

Yeah, I've got something similar. Got the 'scope set up and pointing in the general direction of the Deer Lick and Stephan's Quintet, but more in hope than expectation. Not cooling the camera yet.

I'm only about half your elevation at 90m (According to OS). MW clear down to the horizon. Been sweeping with the bins, picking up M8 and M20 plus star clouds.

Sorry to hear that Gina, it's pretty good over here, if not spectacular. Certainly the MW is showing good detail to my mk1 eyeballs.

That too.

And the farmers around here have started harvesting their grain, so there's a lot of dust from that in the air. I'm not complaining, it's just that time of year.

Haha, yes same here. Dare I cross fingers for tonight? don't know. Looking across the fields I'm seeing quite a bit of haze. How is it where you are?

Had a look out, and there are more stars visible but not enough to be considered a clear night. Hoping it's clearing more for you Gina and James too. Turning in now.

I went out a few minutes ago but could only see Vega through a hole in the cloud. My Netweather radar was showing odd patches of rain so didn't leave the 'scope open. May have a look in an hour or so but not hopeful.

I've had the 'scope open at odd times today trying to sort out yet another software issue with damn useless Sequence. I was going to try a live run tonight but with the cloud I've closed up.

Well that's it I think, trying to capture [SII] through high cloud isn't much cop. Think I will jack it in for the night. Good luck Gina and James with your imaging.

Not sure about the moon, but there's a lot of mottling from high cloud. Dunno.

Cloud's pretty well cleared here but I'm not sure about the overall transparency, the milky way isn't as detailed as it was earlier.

Yep, a couple or three autofocus units are on the cards. Now trying a quick and very dirty run on Mel 15, just for fun, 30 mins each S, H, O in 10 min subs no refocus and hope my TS triplet apo, really is apo.