SPC900NC First Light

OK, a busy evening.
I fitted the lens adapter to the SPC900NC, removed the horrible white light LED by destroying it with a rotary tool and tried to fit the IR filter from the Panasonic. This involved reducing the size of the IR filter using the rotary tool again - No problem there. Fitted the filter into the adapter receptacle on the camera - tight against the CCD, and reassemled the unit. NEVER squash two pieces of glass together, the result is you get any dust or debris greatly magnified in your FOV, no amount of cleaning rectified the problem satisfactorily. Looks like I'll have to buy an IR filter after all.
This prime focus lark had me baffled initially, I fitted the camera to the scope inside and tried to focus on numerous items reasonably close-by but to no avail. I thought I had mucked it up. But --YES!!-- the skys were clear. So-- I set the scope up outside and tried a focus on the moon - GOT IT. It works!!! Seeing a live broadcast of the sky on your laptop has no equal.
Even without a 2X barlow there was no way the whole of the moon would fit in the FOV. So I thought I'd give Saturn a try. Here is my first image ever. I know it's crap, but it was done mainly to prove the working principle. Also I'll get better as I try different gain, shutter, etc. settings.
Anyway this is only about 10 frames captured and stacked using K3CCDTools 3.0, my first time using that. I used Registax later for processing and that's much more friendly. The only good thing about this image is you can see the shadow of the Planet on the rings.
Also focusing with this scope is a bitch. I have to get an electronic focuser soon, especially if I want to get serious about imaging.

[/img] www.irishastronomy.org/user_resources/fi...8-Saturn080406-4.jpg

Sorry about that the image didn't come up in the last post. Here it is:

well done john

lookingforward to seeing more

its a good start John, welcome to the long and sometimes expensive road of astrophotography.

Nice work John, its such a great feeling when you do a bit of work like that and get a result isnt it!

Nice work John, its such a great feeling when you do a bit of work like that and get a result isnt it!

Sure is Dave. I'll get better at the focusing and processing - don't worry about the crappy green planet.
By the way I brought a couple of 12V 17Ah SLAs to the last SDAS meeting hoping to run in to you. Give me a shout if you still want them, we can meet up at either the next IAS or SDAS meet.