AKB

Certainly does... I think I am at about a factor of x5 of my original ‘budget.’ Thing is, that, in the hands of an expert, the cost is probably justified by the results (although it’s always diminishing returns.) For a beginner, though, it’s not, because you don’t have the skills to use it. The question is, of course, how to gather the knowledge you’ll eventually need whilst at the same time minimising the cost... ...I’ve no idea! Although other posts above are a good start. It’s also a continuing journey. You’ll need to plan a cash flow to feed it. Some manage to arrive at an optimum, but you need to have some constraints. My best advice is not to go for any piece of equipment that you can’t lift. Tony

That is a really good way of approaching it! 😃

If you think that’s where financial support for your children stops, you are SO wrong ... 😮

I absolutely second that. My M-Uno is super. What’s not to like about a mount with essentially zero backlash, no need for a meridian flip, and beautifully made?

Love it! ...was the crane really necessary?

A common question, much discussed. If you search “signal stack noise” here on the forum you will get some interesting threads. Recent similar discussion here... Cue response from @vlaiv ... Tony

Oh! That’s really beautiful.

Yes, I’ve had that too, although in my case it does sometimes happen in PHD2. This is for an old USB2 ASI120.

Very good it is, too. Terrific work on the documentation, as well as the application itself!

I used small plastic trunking for my RGBW LED strips in the observatory (and only wired up the red and the white!)

This really isn't as bad as it sounds. 8.5cm diameter (57 cm^2 area) with 20.0 cm diameter (314 cm^2 area) gives an unobstructed area of 257 cm^2, which is what you would get from a 18.1 cm unobstructed diameter. Of course, there are other optical factors at play other than simply light-gathering area.

“Heavy” ?

Absolutely! I control/monitor my Eagle2 with RDP from both a Mac and an iPad.

Well, yes. Here's what it looks like on the mount... This is its planetary configuration with a flip mirror for photography, where atmospheric disturbance is really more of an issue than mount tracking. I've also used it with a Hyperstar configuration, so, again, tracking less of an issue, but actually it worked very well. This is with a Rowan belt mod, which I'd deem essential.

Yes, the force is different. But what you see when you drop something is the effect of acceleration, and f = m * a So a = f / m The force is higher, but the mass is too, so the acceleration (hence rate of falling) is the same.

Love the way the raised bed is incorporated! Enjoy!