Stub Mandrel

I was looking at that thing "that''s not the veil and not his usual quality..." then I scrolled down and saw the scope.

If you use Cura try entering a negative number (say about -0.2 to start) for initial layer expansion. After tuning will get rid of that 'flange' on the bottom layer.

The clutch shouldn't have any effect, it may be that the belt tension was too high.

Loveley!

How about putting a slight lift on the bottom end of the red channel's tone curve?

I find Paint Shop Pro knocks the spots of my old version of photoshop, except it has a few annoying quirks. The problem is I still ahven't got my plugins to work (they should) and also I can't use Noel's actions ?

I think your data is OK, but IMHO you have overdone the stretching so the background it too dark (clipped) and the highlights are burnt out. A more subtle processing will look a lot less harsh and more 'natural'. Your stars are nice and round and the colour is good.

Only enough to feel I didn't get on with it, I'm afraid.

Well done. I think it would be beyond my welding skills. I think it must have been the original Dark Star nbuilders's strong suites! I think my scope is sorted, at least until I have some practical experience with it.

I can understand specialist suppliers bumping up the price because for holding stock of little-wanted spare parts. But when they don't actually hold them in stock, and it's a readily available off the shelf item, that's poor.

Don't worry, tomorrow is New Moon ?

There are plenty, you just happened to list the ones I've lost for this year ? Shame is only one of my four sessions on the Veil counts (October)!

Curses! They've all disappeared behind the Evil Tree ® © TM already! (Except M1!)

I swapped my t-adapter. and went back to the thin spacer. The star elongation got worse but the tilt and collimation error virtually disappeared (I can live with a 9 pixel collimation error!) This means some of my problem was a loose bayonet fitting. So, I've gone back to the ticker spacer and wait to try again. At least none of the practice runs are write-offs, they all are usable with a bit of cropping.

Thanks both, I've often wondered what that object in Stellarium is, and if it's worth imaging - clearly it is!

I set an alarm (idiot....) and watched it quietly on my phone!

Good start! Keep going, the propeller is starting to emerge, stack 50 and it will be there.

Looks meteoric to me.

Master of understatement ?

The ZWO cameras are designed so that adding your own cooling at a later date is practical, although unlikely to be as elegant as the all-in one designs.

iMax B6 and clones are ideal and have the advantage of charging other chemistries. The downside is they need an external supply. I put some very old (>20 years) nicads through multiple cycles on it and it brought most back to full or near full capacity

? I've attached my counterweight magnet. i shoudl have done it before fitting the mirror cell. I had to blu tac a nut on the end of a bit of wood, poke it round the mirror and line it up with the far hole. Holds an 8oz weight nicely, I wonder if anyone will notice if I nab the 1lb and 2lb from the kitchen scales...?

Vacuum Coated Scientific Mirrors did my 10" and secondary very reasonable cost. That included stripping it twice trying to remove the marks. Sheesh! Those finders are a joke - bits of broken binoculars and some waste pipe, no crosshairs and super wobbly supports! At least I got a proper R&P focuser with mine. Try a wanted ad here on SGL you may be able to get a skywatcher or similar crayford at a decent price where someone has upgraded. Is that a tool rack I see? I've got a slightly shorter one ready to fit.

Ah, your mirror has the same wriggly marks as mine, but mine doesn't have clips. My cell is MDF not Hollywood and the screws had split it, I glued teh splits shut and fitted flatpack barrel nuts instead. Your base is virtually compost!

I use a 7aH sealed lead acid battery for my HEQ5. It runs the mount for 6-7 hours and the voltage is still above 12V, but i don't do a huge number of slews (I'm usually imaging). Make sure you use a decent supplier and ask for one suitable for traction purposes (like stairlifts, electric golf bags etc.) not the cheapest burglar alarm/fire alarm standby battery type.