scitmon

I find the key to an accurate star mask is to get the shadows and midtone values right. Aim the shadows to be a touch above your background value and midtones should be something a touch over the values of the edge for your stars.

The Moon!

Taken with a Modded Canon 700D on a Skywatcher 80ED DS-Pro on October 6th. Processed with Pixinsight. Full res: https://astrob.in/full/371796/D/

Amazon informed me that delivery of the 2nd addition has been unexpectedly delayed. Contemplating cancellation and getting the kindle edition instead.

Was the power light flashing? I think that indicates low voltage.

Does this book cater for what I would describe as an intermediate user? i.e. Someone who knows how to do the basic stuff like removing background gradients and doing curve and histogram transformations etc, but wants to learn the more nitty gritty stuff like how to do star masks correctly and how to do deconvolution correctly? I'm kind of at this level and I feel like I'm just doing time consuming trial and error until something looks ok and I want to make the next step.

Are your powering your setup from a battery or the mains? If the latter then you might consider using a powerline ethernet adapter instead of a Cat5 cable. As far as Windows goes, I don't see a reason why Pro would be needed of Home edition. Once setup properly, your miniPc can just be powered on, then you log onto it from a pc in your home using Remote Desktop Connection or a 3rd Party alternative.

M45 - Pleiades

That's really down to personal choice and budget. For just observing, an AltAz mount would be easier to use, then you have to consider if you want a mount that locates and tracks objects for you? Again, if its just for planets which are easy to locate, then tracking mounts are probably an unnecessary cost. Examples of both: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az5-deluxe.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html As others have said, if you think you might want to look at fainter deep sky objects, then a larger aperture reflector would be a better all rounder. My recommendation was based purely on your desire to only look at planets. Also consider the portability of your options, the best telescope is the one you will use the most so if a large telescope may put you off getting out your telescope, it might not be the best option.

If its just the planets you are interested in, something with longer focal lengths will be better. Perhaps push your budget slightly to a https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-ota.html ?

I'm confused, why does the bandwidth of the remote desktop connection need to handle 4k? Are you not storing the subs on the Intel NUC? An average 16 megapixel RAW image is 50mb? You can transfer that over a wifi network no problem.

I just ordered https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078JTF5XB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for the job. Not set it up yet but should be more than good enough.

I do actually use them myself to stream video files from a computer in my office to a kodi box on my tv. Very reliable and more bandwidth than wifi.

Re: the mount for long exposure deep sky, I'm afraid you'll be needing something more heavy duty than a EQ5, especially for a 8 inch reflector. A widefield refractor/reflector with a HEQ5 is normally the goto for deep sky photography.

A set of powerline ethernet adapters could be the answer. For example https://www.amazon.co.uk/TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Configuration-Required-UK/dp/B01BECPIMC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540297714&sr=8-2