Hi James,
Thank you for your detailed explanation! My thought process was that averaging a number of frames would help with the noise, but now I realise that the moving average taken of each value performs the same function. It is obviously better to do it the way you have so as not to "hide" any results. It is very impressive that you have detected the drop in magnitude for such a faint star with relatively modest equipment! This bodes well for me when I start to look into variable star photometry with a camera.
I am submitting my observations to the BAA VSS database, I'm currently looking at binocular variables and submitting those with help from one of the BAA members.
I do have a camera (Canon 7d) and a lens (150-600mm) so in principle I could start using that (with my un-tracked tripod) with some of the brighter variables. I then will think about what direction I take, be it mount first to use with the camera/lens combination, then a small refractor or newtonian for use with the 7d (or Fuji X-T1), before investing in a CCD, or another route. I want to first have some experience with visual variable stars first - starting with binoculars and maybe also looking at a few telescope objects (to look at with my 200mm dob).
In the meantime I find posts like yours very interesting, so thank you! I love a bit of data analysis (and stats) so appreciate all this info!
Best wishes,
Dave