Skipper Billy

N.ow I.nstall N.ice A.lternative

PS - I should counsel that chucking money at it is no guarantee of success. Maybe the best £20 you could spend right now would be on this..... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

I would suggest having a look at the Mesu mount - without wishing to sound like a 'fan boy' its probably one of the best mounts for the money available. Without going into silly money for mounts like the 10Micron range that don't need guiding its a great mount. Scope wise - it depends what you want to look at/ image. I don't know which country you are in but if its the UK the stockist of Mesu is Bernard Karpinski at Modern Astronomy https://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/mounts/mesu-optics-mounts/mesu-mount-200/ That accounts for about a third of your budget but by the time you have added in a suitable imaging scope, decent camera, filter wheel and set of good quality filters your 20k will have gone!

Just a wee update. I have had numerous messages (not from this site but via ABS and various FaceBook groups) offering used scopes at very close and in some cases higher than new prices. I know that most suppliers don't have any stock at the moment but just for the sake of clarity....... I am an astroimager at heart - patience is in my DNA I am not in any massive hurry If you are skelping you wont get a reply. I wont pay more than about 65% of the new price.

WANTED - Big Dob. Something like a Skywatcher 200 - 300 dob ideally a flextube to save space. Bonus points for upgraded focuser and light shroud. Doesn't have to be perfect as long as the mirrors are A1. Cash waiting - will collect from anywhere in Scotland.

During a recent check up at the quacks I mentioned to him that I was into astronomy and he said well Mercury is in Uranus, I said NO! that's Astrology!! He said no, the thermometer has broken..... In the last 7 years the winter weather has got noticeably worse here (NW Scottish Highlands) but the summers have got better. Bad for astronomy but great for a seasonal leisure business like mine It enables me to buy all manner of nice things to not use over the winter!!!

Yep - just do what you can to minimise any flexing.

Reasonably close is usually more than adequate. A good solid flex free mount rather than rings is a great move.

This what happens when first connected so it doesn't appear to be an ASCOM or driver issue - the value in the ASCOM box of 825 is correct and is the value picked up by NINA upon reconnection.

In the second photo it correctly reports the target as being the same as the current position and doesn't move which is correct. In the first photo it reports everything as 5000 (which isn't even possible with my focuser) and if I press any button to move the focuser it charges off towards 5000 hits the stops and stalls the motor. Something very wrong - I have reported it to the developer. The weird thing is it always gets it wrong on first connection and always gets it right when disconnected then reconnected. It is 100% repeatable too!

I am using the latest build of N.I.N.A. and I have the very latest version of ASCOM and Lakeside drivers installed. The issue is that every time I connect my Lakeside focuser NINA reports the position and 'move to' target as 5000 - this drives the rack and pinion focuser hard against the stops and stalls the motor - not good for any of the parts involved. Strangely enough if I disconnect then reconnect it always reports the correct position and 'move to'. This is reliably repeatable. See attached images of first connection and second connection - particularly the numbers highlighted in yellow. Any ideas ???

07967 376 336 is the mobile number of the guy who owns the company.

I did exactly what DaveS did and it works superbly and does not require expensive laptops out in the damp and cold. It works flawlessly. If I need a screen at the mount for polar alignment etc I just use RDP from the laptop to the mount and take the laptop to the mount. I use a NUC and it is just velcroed to a bracket on the scope. You don't need a rocket ship PC to run everything at the mount. There are some photos here if it helps https://www.davidbanksastro.com/equipment

Thanks for the suggestion Olly. I do really want to stick with my existing camera (Atik 16200) for the moment. I will have a look at the Edge but I think I will be shelving the idea for now. All the best.

Thanks for the suggestion Andrew - I have done this with my current scope (see attached photo) but the 10" RC is just to big in every way. Its a really small obsy. MkII obsy will be bigger!!