DaveS

ST80 plus your choice of camera is pretty popular and won't break the bank.

Waiting now on some settled dry weather to screw the sole plate down to the base. I have the anchors and a suitable SDS drill bit, but my SDS is mains powered so need a spell of dry weather to use it. The sole plate is leveled with wooden wedges, once I have the plate screwed down I will force mortar in to give a solid bed before screwing down fully.

The only reason for wanting / needing fast slewing is for tracking satellites. In which case you need something like This. I think my DDM 60 does 10 deg/sec, and the DDM85 I'm commissioning will do 20.

I have more difficulty seeing faint stars than the milky way, so my star count would be unreliable.

Well, you've certainly picked up mases of detail there, one could spend ages just exporting the Bok globules alone.

Agree with the others, galaxies are LRGB targets, perhaps with H-alpha to pick up the HII regions, and not really doable under full moon.

Two pairs of 300 kg rated toggles for when I get the obsy roof built.

This is a spare ASA saddle, with knurled and socketed knobs

At the risk of a broadside from Olly, if you get AstroArt 7 for your stacking and calibration you can also get started on post. Being a lazy cheapskate it's the only software I use. For results see my thread in the 2019 showcase, and my year at a dark site threads in Imaging > Deep Sky. Although I'm mainly a 'frac guy, I would have to say that a 130P-DS on an HEQ5 is a pretty good starting setup, but allow funds for a coma-corrector, the Baader MPCC mk3 is well regarded.

I had an idea it might have been, thanks for confirming it. It's on my hit-list for "Galaxy Season" though the most I can get is the main chain and M87.

That's a pretty wide angle image, what 'scope and camera? You've managed to keep better colour than I have on that target.

He's forgotten the four elephants and the turtle.

This morning Tufnels delivered 4 lengths of V track and V-groove wheels from F C Brundles for the obsy, then DPD delivered a TG cover and Baader H-alpha filter from FLO. The TG cover is for when I'm setting up the new 'scope and mount, likely before the obsy is finished. In the context of £20k worth of kit, £150 for a cover is chicken feed.

Wow, whata lota images! I thought I did well to get eight, but your haul is something else.

Thanks for the reminder. Just checked under the TG cover over the 130mm 'frac, and it's warm and dry thanks to the electric pet-bed. The ends of the draw string are low enough that I can trap them under a heavy paving slab. The TG over my HEQ5 (No 'scope mounted) can hook round one of the tripod screws.

"Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain"

I had power taken out to my imaging platform when I had the garage rewired. 40A cable to a small consumer unit with RCD in the garage, then two runs out, one to the platform, the other unconnected as yet, but will power the obsy when it's built. The platform has a pair of twin IP66 13A sockets like the one Ahmed linked to.

Many thanks for the vote of confidence Olly. I'll have another look at M27 and M33, though I *may* hold off doing anything drastic until I have more data, M27 in particular is a very thin data set.

The problem is the Monkey Brain. As soon as the light goes it runs around in little circles gibbering about leopards.

Nope. Never mind telescopes, you know you're done for when you end up buying a new house . Seriously though, I have a pet-bed plugged into one of the exterior sockets by the telescope. Keeping it on low is usually enough, but like Dave above, on sunny days I open everything up, including the computer cabinet for a good airing.

Had thought of it, but the ASI1600 is on the 130 f/7 Apo ready for galaxies, and I don't have another one. I did notice, when I was putting the set together, how much brighter Betelgeuse was compared to now, very noticeable.

With that image scale I'd be looking at the Owl, though all look interesting, especially the Rosette Bok globules.

Time helps, but you run into diminishing returns eventually, plus the quality of the photons also helps, a dark sky gets the quality fast. I think I may leave Deer and Stephan for now, since to get noticeable improvement I'll probably have to double the integration time, so another 17 1/2 hours. I think I may well have a go at getting another 10 hours on M33 though, as that's likely to be more doable. M27 is also on the hit list for more photons.

Thanks Bryan. I agree, the Deer Lick and Stephan's Quintet is the one that I'm most happy with.

Indeed it does Dave, had to remind myself it was late 2018 (!) when I moved here. I'm more than a little surprised that I managed 8 halfway decent images, what with the upheavals of moving house and settling in, getting the platform built for the telescope, and fighting seemingly endless battles with recalcitrant hardware and software. Plus, of course, the largely rubbish weather we've had recently and losing three of the clearest, darkest nights in December with being immobile with a trapped nerve. Ouch! Ah well, onwards and upwards, to infinity and beyond!