Rusted

I'd suggest you are off-band for H-alpha. [Tuning.] Or, the optics might be dewed from the cold. [Warm up] Or, the blocking filter is cloudy. Perhaps all, or some of the above. I have no experience with commercial H-alpha scopes. Only my own PST mods.

What a great set of images!

If JWST developed a serious problem it could officially commandeer the L2's invalid parking spot. Provided, of course, an ICE people carrier hasn't already double parked across two bays.

A "tame" gardener/tree surgeon to cut down all the unkempt hedges to my east and south. A crane: To lift my latest and bigger, home made dome to replace the last one. A decent, larger aperture, H-alpha etalon to replace my [very] secondhand PST etalon. A much larger aperture, H-alpha, Lunt blocking filter. A proper, Goto drive box, which actually works. To replace my AWR/ASCOM crap. Which hasn't managed a single Goto in three whole years from new.

Or not. Annual, minor iterations of styling have pushed phone prices beyond £1k. Yet they are mostly manufactured in PRC, or thereabouts, at suppressed wages relative to the West.

Two three four thoughts: Crookes Radiometer and a worm wheel reduction, Goto drive. and, I'll never believe another science fiction film which shows the craft bathed in light while traveling between the stars. Do rockets roar in the silence of a space vacuum? Now what was the question again?

I don't believe any of this nonsense about tensioning 5 fly sheets. It is hard enough to erect a tent on a sandy camping site. Are we supposed to believe they tensioned that lot using sky pegs? .

A nice, fat, down-filled jacket is your friend against the cold. I gathered a few together from charity shops years ago. It can cost hundreds to buy a proper, mountain climbing jacket. Back then I was only paying about a £fiver equivalent. Hand washed in the bath with proper down cleaner. Add a pair of salopettes for a whole day imaging in the cold. Kamik fur lined boots over thick, wool farmer's socks. A warm head adds greatly to your comfort. I like the GripGrab "Aviator" medieval cap under a fleece or trapper hat. Adjust to comfort levels. Double thickness, fleece gloves, with finger tips cut off, for the keyboard. With two jackets layered I was good down to -23C one night. Only for about five minutes. Before the eyepiece froze over from the moisture in my eye. I had already taught myself to always breath away from the 'scope. The main problem in winter is iron hard PVC cables. Particularly off an extension cable reel. I had a giant yellow "coil spring" running right across the lawn for a week after one hard frost. It only collapsed for safe handling after a thaw.

75, not out. Still building telescopes, mountings and observatories. I have a 4.3m [14'] GRP dome nearing completion in my usual parking spot. Almost ready to be lifted up onto my second floor, solo-self-built observatory. You can't imagine how much has changed since I built my first telescope at 14. From 60mm 1/2 diopter spectacle lens back in the 1950s. Simple, single eye lenses. I still have them in plastic tubs of stuff collected over a lifetime. No more Exchange & Mart and long out-of-date books in the library. The annual request, by post, for never-changing, printed catalogues. They might as well have been selling Lambos rather than telescopes. I made my own mirrors. lenses, mountings and telescopes. Simply because I couldn't afford commercial offerings. The Internet changed literally everything, but slowly at first. Abusenet, serial bullying and trolling by text only. Some real experts and probably some pros. NO moderation! Then Yahoo Groups serial posting. No parallel threading. SGL is a pleasant change from everything which went before. Friendly, with excellent image handling. It is still magical to be able to post seconds after capturing and processing a live image. Wide range of expertise. Tolerant of newbies. Enthusiastic atmosphere. Fun! I admire the subtle moderation here. Very unlike CN! Imaging the sun has become my main passion in the last few years. Much more fun than sitting in the cold and dark: Though I was imaging the sun at -6C the other day. Never learn! I am hugely lucky to remain fit enough to continue my lifetime obsession.

Guilt? They didn't want anybody to see their deliberate mistakes. Nor where the gaffer tape was already lifting. A live camera feed would be invaluable to see what went wrong at any stage and what might just fix it. The main problem might be relaying the imagery back to a rapidly receding Earth. Do you really want a dish dangling off your toy during deployment?

My ASI120 grew a permanent image mask like fine rain or condensation. It wasn't the protective "window" and there was no visible problem with the sensor.

Thanks. Unfortunately Brexit has made it all but impossible to deal with the UK from the EU. Even with forward VAT payment we recently ended up paying £40 extra on top of our £60 purchase + £25 for delivery.

Although the dealer ultimately has responsibility for quality issues it doesn't help if the distant manufacturer demands a return to base. I had a failed, completely unusable ZWO camera: The German dealer required the camera be sent back to China for analysis. Doesn't the dealer have any responsibility for obvious flaws within the nominal guarantee period? I would argue that such behaviour does not satisfy the spirit of EU/UK Consumer Law.

Rather spookily [?] YT recommended a couple of videos about irregular jerking of a harmonic drive mount. Dec first and then the RA. The mount was accepted back by the dealer after abut a year. [Lazy Astronomer channel?]

Are we likely to see any JWST solar or lunar transits?

Woah! I'd have given several spare arms to own such a telescope "when I were a lad." My first telescope was a 30x30 draw tube terrestrial which couldn't even hold 30x on the moon. I had to remove the erector lens assembly to get a tiny magnification and some sharpness. Enough to actually see stars. Hanging it from Mechano mountings with wormwheel slow motion drives started a lifetime obsession. I carried that tiny telescope with me everywhere and even used the eyepiece unit as a microscope. White light solar projection onto a card. The objective was used in my first, home-made spectroscope. I learned about mechanics, woodworking, optics and balance. All of which found me work and saved a fortune on home repairs and all my other hobbies. We all love to trash these sorts of instruments based on our experience of using far more expensive kit. Much of which leaves a great deal to be desired given the retail price! We should also consider the feelings of those who have bought the advertising hype and invested. How do you think they would feel at being trashed? No doubt some of them will upgrade. Or use the instrument in ways you will never imagine. Perhaps going onto careers or disrupting established industries. It would make a decent finder or guide scope for a larger telescope when the piggy bank has been smashed. Are there any "expert" reviews? Colour correction? Sharpness. Maximum [average] useful power? My Celestron CR150HD 6" f/8 wouldn't hold 120x most nights! Mounting such a nose heavy instrument was a pig! Most people complain about the Chinese "trash" mountings until they are fixed up or get a lucky one. Mountings costing many thousands struggle to perform as promised. Solar telescopes, filters and equipment are regularly returned to the dealer and bad mouthed on the forums. Is there a single instrument, or mounting, under £10K [each] which actually performs adequately out of the box?

Almost as much as Bruce Willis or Dwayne Johnson would earn. For chasing it down and hitting it with a large wrench in the middle an asteroid storm!

Struggling to focus H-alpha sharply enough. Tried white light with the Lacerta 2" wedge. Left the D-ERF in place. Not a great shot but at least it is a record of the AR2916 spot group. ZWO '174 with 2.6x GPC on the nose.

It is called "barrel distortion." The whole image shows it. No red "herrings" required.

Sorry, can't help you there.

Unless you are insistent on owning the genuine article, you can make your own. I cut off enough for my needs [adding GPCs] and smoothed the face of the shortened tube on sandpaper. I didn't bother to blacken the cut edge. It is always hidden by one of my GPCs. [Used as a Barlow.] EDIT: A search suggests that the genuine ZWO, low profile adapter, does NOT locate the ZWO's protective window/filter. My shortened adapter retains the protective window. Further searching suggests the low profile ZWO adapter is discontinued. Check FLO for an inexpensive T>1.25" adapter for you to chop off. Leave enough pipe for a firm grip in your focuser. I threw a wobbly when I discovered some GPCs weren't true 1.25" Ø! So I modified my focuser to have three radial thumbscrews for a firm grip.

Excellent image!

Observatory size is largely [sic] dictated by the instrument[s] it houses. Now and in the future. If greed wins, then you lose space. Less is more. More is less. More or less.

Grab and Heave?

That is/was a lot of telescope for not much money.