Stub Mandrel

There are often one or two in the classified ads in good condition.

Nicely done. Not sure if the 450D has a different sensor arrangement, but I had to push my cold finger between the sensor and a PCB above it. Don't be depresses if the EXIF shows only a small temperature reduction - the image sensor is well away from the temperature sensor. I covered all my electronics in hot melt to prevent moisture getting in and add a bit of insulation. Any insulation you can add to the uncooled parts of the cold finger will help a lot. I used a 3D printed cover for the back of the coldfinger, filled with foam. I had to fit a nichrome wire around my sensor cover glass to stop it getting condensation/icing up.

LOL! This new invention bears an uncanny resemblance to how things were done for a couple of centuries up to about fifty years ago... The only downside is thAt it keeps announcing "ACTION mAN IS IN CONTROL!"

Using an OVL flattener I'm creeping up on the right size spacer, but the results in CCD Inspector seemed to be heavily influenced by how well focused I was as well a the actual curvature. Looking at the subs seems to tell a more intuitive story than CCD I. I've 3D printed my MK4 spacer at 2mm and hoping that will be the one. Check out the inside/outside diagrams and advice in this thread to see if you actually need to add or subtract spacer. From my experience I'd expect a much bigger change than 4.6% with 1.5mm of spacer. You may have gone past the 'sweet spot' with 1.5mm so I'd try 1mm or 0.5mm next.

A two by six foot sheet of OSB has appeared on our dining table with no explanation. I was beginning to think it was yours, James.

Sometimes I need to set out a problem to someone else before I can figure it out for myself.

You didn't mention setting the date? Or you could have miscalcuated lat/long or still be using summer time?

I have a secret weapon, a 12x Mobile Telephone Lens ?

Drum him out, he's taking this far too seriously ?

That's great does it mean @Littleguy80 and me share it ?

@Stu Congratulations to Helen and John, but I'm worried that the standard on entries is getting far too high. Please accept an advanced entry for tomorrow's StuPod. Not the incredible array of DSOs that are invisible in this image - M31, M32, M33, the double cluster, heart and Soul Nebulas, Pacman nebula. Innumerable open and globular clusters. Its perfection is only slightly blemished by the presence of a few recognisable stars... Hand held with my Moto G5 with no cheating processing at all ?

Nice round stars, but looks like they would help - dark smudges and those little trails of red, green and blue hot pixels will be zapped by using darks and flats.

Last night the sky was visibly a deep blue several hours after sunset. Edit - Congratulations!

You can use it with an EQ3, I did for quite along time, but in the end got an HEQ5. The HEQ5 is a step up, but the EQ3 is a lot better than it's given credit for.

A bit late for you, but just for the record last night I used the Sharpcap Polar align and my ~5' 'good' alignment went to 14" 'excellent' in no more than two minutes. I can get 5-minute subs on the HEQ5 without guiding at focal lengths up to about 300mm - I know because my computer has shut down twice - once for an update and last night because I didn't plug the charger lead in properly - and both times I didn't actually lose any subs!

I bet it's fixable. Those resistors are just 0R links and the caps should have survived. That corrosion needs cleaning off though. I bet the transistor is all that needs replacing at most.

Ahh... that was with a ZWO 120MC

Cripes, I've only just discovered this thread. Well done James!

Glow in the dark?

If you want to live stack, DSS can do that, but Sharpcap is very good. This is a live stack of 16 second frames produced in Sharpcap, then tweaked later:

No shame - I've seen pics similar to that in books from the 70s!

I doubt it was expected to be used with cameras bigger than a guidescope chip. You won't be able to fit the OVL in as it adds 2" top the train.

Oh, sorry, just noticed this. Technically I didn't lose any focal distance as I designed the scope around the lens/flattener combo. The field flattener doesn't affect FL noticeably (I checked). The body length is pretty much dead on 2" (50.4mm). I assume they expect you not to use it for visual, and use it in the place of a 2" diagonal for photography. You may need to add a couple of mm for spacers (still experimenting).

Excellent. I'll drag mine out for a photo soon.

Try 'ironing' of top surface. It's experimental and not as good as it will be, in my view.