oldannie

I've never looked back since starting to use Polemaster - brilliant bit of software - easy to use, just follow the directions on screen. Annie

Thanks Joe and thanks Kinch. Have looked at the link and note the need for precise back focus. Haven't yet looked to see how my imaging will be affected but will do and as you say it could give me a nice option. Annie

I made a mistake when I bought the Takahashi focal extender for my 106ed as am no longer interested in increasing my focal length. I don't want to make another expensive mistake but would like to do some wider field imaging and am wondering whether anyone knows if the Takahashi reducer works well before I shell out even more money? Annie

Hopefully someone will be cherishing it Marv! Annie

That's a very impressive Thor's Helmut and ditto about thinking of what many Australians are going through! Annie

Your welcome Rob!

Since starting deep sky imaging I have been so preoccupied with getting my equipment to work and learning how to process I've never really got round to learning much about astronomy. However after seeing that Katrina Raynor Evans is giving a talk this year on Astro Philately to my local Astronomy Society - Newtown, Powys I've started collecting space stamps! On Katrina's recommendation I've bought a book ''Stamping Through Astronomy' by Renato Ducati and can highly recommend it. Brilliantly illustrated throughout and a great way of learning about the history of astronomy. Hope I've posted this in the right place! Annie

They're now only £100 cheaper than the Astrodon's and more like thirteen hundred for two!! Annie

Chroma filters arrived - very excited. Will be even m ore excited when/if we ever get another clear night! Bought from Bernard at Modern Astronomy with the usual good service. Very grateful for the good advice from this forum! Annie

That's very encouraging - thanks. Annie

Going to order the two Chroma filters tomorrow and install them in my Atik EFW2. I guess a bit of experimentation will be needed to get the best out of them with my setup. Mind you a clear night or two would help!! Annie

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments, they're much appreciated! I'm particularly interested in the comments about Chroma and quite persuaded. Thanks again Annie

All in all I will feel safer buying in the UK. Have bought from Ian King before so may well go in that direction. Otherwise I suspect I probably would pay VAT and possibly import duties. Thanks for the responses. Annie

I thought that might be the case Dave - do you happen to know when VAT is applied as I put it in my cart as though I was going to buy and only the postage is calculated and shown at that point?

Am thinking about buying a 3nm Astrodon filter, Ha, 36mm unmounted and have been looking at where to buy from. There are outlets in the UK where the price would be around £750. If I buy from Farpoint (the company that has taken over Astrodon) in the USA the price including postage via UPS to the UK would be around £666. That's quite a saving! I'm wondering if there are any hidden charges or any other catches that I haven't thought about. Am nervous enough about spending so much on one filter!