Alright, I decided to give it a go...

[Macavity]

Alright, I decided to give it a go... (basic) Imaging that is. I'm not even proposing (yet!) to take it very far - A "Logie Baird headshot" would impress me! And all that CMOS versus CCD and registax stuff has me intrigued. For the moment, I've just ordered an old(?) (Skywatcher) Acuter - I may regret this (over a Neximage, [un]available Toucams etc.) but this one seems to be cheap(!) and gives a single shot facility, if all else fails? I'm hoping to give "White light Solar" a go. (Have filter etc.)

Here's one BASIC (to initiates obvious?) question, to which I haven't yet found an answer. Can the "intelligence of stacking software" cope with drift of a large object such as the Sun (Moon) across frame? I've seen wiser heads decide that any attempt at Alt-Az photography e.g. with a Dobsonian is a short route to madness. But what of a focal-reduced short tube refractor with approx. one deg TFov? Of course, maybe [removed word]-eyed [edit: LOL!] optimism, or maybe I'll LEARN something? :mrgreen:

[Cloudwatcher]

I actually prefer the Acuter over the Neximage and the pushbutton single frame facility is very handy,I find.

Here are a couple of stills of the moon and Saturn taken with the Acuter using the ST102 and the Mak 127,scopes that we both have.

The small saturn image was at prime focus on the ST102 (March 2007) and the larger Saturn taken this year with the Mak 127 using a 3X Barlow. The Moon shots were,I believe,prime focus on the Mak. Apart from the second saturn shot these are as downloaded from the Acuter except that they have been converted from BMP format to Jpeg as the former exceeded the download limit.

Hope these will give you some idea what to expect and look forward to seeing your 'first light' images.

Cheers

CW

P.S. I'm sure I have processed shots somewhere but can't find them at the moment. Must get organised!.

(click as usual)

[Macavity]

Hi CW - Heheh - It was precisely some of YOUR stuff that intrigued me (as indeed our scope match!). But didn't want to necessarily single you out. I sensed, you may have preferred the Acuter. I also picked up on one article that found the Acuter "focal reducer" was a bit dodgy? (I see it has an integral IR filter though!) So, as a matter of interest, did you "dispose" of the Acuter's focal reducer, and make (buy) your own 1.25" adaptor? (I have an ATIK 0.5x focal reducer kicking it's heels) Not afraid of a bit of ersatz DIY here! Thanks indeed tho' - I am enthused to TRY, whatever the result!

[Cloudwatcher]

I was never happy with the reducer. It's a bit long and tended to increase the affects of any vibrations. Got better results just using the 1.25" adaptor that comes with the kit.

Cheers

CW