Alien 13

Cheating for me but so is using anything above a 3 inch frac or a 6 inch newt, I would however embrace all the new tech. Alan

Nice result, I find I revisit images many times and save various versions before I am happy. Alan

I still use a few diy lanyards on my mount made from things I find in the "pound shop" and of course the bolt on the dovetail. Alan

Had a quick try with the autosave file just using the sliders in DSS and saving with settings applied, bit aggressive but shows whats in there. Alan

Looks good to me Alan

The problem with spacecraft it that by the time they launch the tech could easily be 5 years out of date and if you factor in the journey time then its ancient so I would not be surprised if an amature cant do at least as good on some targets.. Alan

I have always wondered this too, love Maks btw. Alan

Yikes but I do wonder whats the point of it, you must be nudging it every few seconds with the risk of falling off and instant death, It would be far better on an EQ mount with a camera attached.. Alan

I think thats probably correct which is exactly what you need for military applications if trying to see in near darkness. Alan

I dont know but from experience you can stick your eye almost anywhere and see the image, I have had a few combinations with some scopes of having to hover around to even see a glimpse of light and it would vanish a few mm in either direction. Alan

I did mean 20 mm and its not uncommon in certain applications. Alan

There has to be an advantage with large exit pupils most if not all military kit from tank sights, missile trackers, spotters, rifle scopes to periscopes use them. Alan

It would be interesting to find out the role of a big objective when the exit pupil might be 20 mm or so, my thoughts are that all of the objective is still used for example you could have a big hole in any part or the middle like a Mak and still produce a complete image. Alan

I do like the CO2 fire extinguisher approach to cleaning mirrors, a few big scopes do this.. Alan

With lenses the odd mark and light dust has little effect, I however inspect them regularly and clean them if any residue or other organic contaminants are found, nothing worse than coating/glass eating critters. Alan