adyj1

Are all your scopes called Eric? 😉 (you don't want to be tarred with the epithet 'loony', now, do you?)

+1 for platesolving to save frustration. In my simplest (non-goto) setup I have taken the sd card from my dslr to my laptop to check the location of the exposure on astrometry.net. I did this with the back eye galaxy, with some (beginner's) success. My problem was finding the target through the EP, but then having to do a bright star focus when I switch to the dslr... Platesolving meant not changing the image train. As to your frustration at missed nights because of new tech teething problems, I get that at every upgrade and think it is par of the process - if it was easy, we'd get bored 😉 If you've bought kit that you know will produce improvements, keep trying - it will come (probably following some sage advice from the forum 😁) . Good luck. I have to say I'm at the budget end of the spectrum, so my motto is 'Build your own. One of them has got to work eventually 😉'

Thanks for the tip, Gina - we're heading to Sidmouth in the summer and I didn't think to check for an observatory.

Rory, a very entertaining video :-)

I've got a 3-yr old low spec mini PC with 2GB RAM & 32G SSD https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-M1601-Nettop-Celeron-1-6GHz/dp/B01CNVAFIU Runs APT, Cdc, PHD2, Sharpcap, TeamViewer, EQMod, all on Windows 10, without complaining (although due to its age it is a low-powered Celeron CPU, so if it did complain, it would do it quite slowly 😉). Haven't had to resort to an SD card as I've still got space on the SSD... Ady

That's a fair point - when I said budget, I guess meant shoestring; I really do have to get the cheapest of everything... I've just built an AstroEQ to convert my 2nd-hand EQ5 to goto, and was lucky enough to find the old 2-cpu miniPC I had was just about man enough for the job of controlling it. I'm using a USB hub out of necessity... Here's to the eventual return of a Clear Sky 😉 Ady

If you are on a budget, a 2-cpu version of what you are using should be enough (for the hardware control side of things - we're not talking picture processing 😉), and only £90 on Amazon at the moment: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Alfawise-advanced-X5-Z8350-processor/dp/B0772TN1ZY I use something like this (much, much older though) and offload the photos via WiFi. Ady

As it is £999 on FLO, should we assume £649?

+1 and very happy with the service.

Pm sent Ady

Very nice. A real "who's who" of galaxy types! Ady

Does anyone have an example of a non-tracking widefield photos using a kit lens which will give the OP some idea of what is possible? I know there will be some great ones out there, I just don't know how to find them… :-(

Your list makes sense to me. The list of things the OP can't afford that have been mentioned so far include; A- a full frame camera B- a prime widefield lens

Those Samyang lenses are really nice, and a good suggestion for a non-tracking mount. I'd love one myself but even second hand they are still £100+. 😔

Nice work ☺