Craney

Looks like it has a decent focuser to begin with rather than the having to buy one after market. Why do the Celestron SCTs and Meade SCTs of this world ( and RC designs) use the 'moving primary mirror method' and all the associated flop issues ? Is it because it gives a wider focus range for terrestrial targets etc ??

Great start Adam. Lovely cloud detail in the mid-frame. I do miss the 'wide-field' of my Canon, but then again the Moon would have put the Hoodoo of any attempts over the last few nights. What scope / lens did you use ? For me, getting those 'ripple' shock wave structures inside the crescent was the big Wow!! moment on first light with my mono. I would usually have to wait for 2-3 hours of DSLR imaging (under excellent conditions) before they showed up. The ATIK brought them out in minutes. At the moment I am going around the popular classics, a few frames of each filter, and enjoying the compositional side of putting the frames together. It is quite exciting to see the final image emerge from the mono. Are you using any type of plate-solving to get future frames aligned ?? (it is something I will have to comtem "plate" ). I feel I will have to raise my level of computerisation to take full advantage of the 'mono' mind set. Looking forward to the next step..... (sans blu-tack). oooooooh!!..... and we have more clear nights coming up. As exciting as a penalty shoot-out.