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Sunday 2nd. 41-43F, heavy overcast with fleeting, weak sunshine. As I don't have the D-ERF and holder back I can't use the new 6" H-a 'scope in anger. So I decided to check the balance point of the OTA with the PST etalon & filter stack in place outside on a workbench. It was decidedly nose heavy and that is without the considerable weight of the D-ERF and its mounting adapter up front! 
Out of the four 2" extenders I own, I don't have one, or even a pair, which allows the correct distance. The clamping ring on the outside of the ply backplate worked perfectly. So, later in the afternoon I started a thick, aluminium backplate out of a 180mm Ø slice of round bar. [Image left.]The 6" f/8 had a 1.125 GPC fitted which allowed a different etalon spacing 160mm. Which I could manage with the spacers I had.
The alloy backplate is now bored for 2" push fit. Faced both sides and a step turned on one face to fit inside the main tube. I shall bolt the 2" clamping ring to the outer face once it is completed. The new backplate is much thicker than the plywood backplate. I wanted to add the missing focal distance and extra weight at the tail end. The plywood backplate was too soft and was damaged when I removed it from the main tube.
The other images show the new 6" H-a OTA on the old Fullerscopes MkIV mounting. It can probably cope well enough, but the new telescope will go on the big mounting. Up in the dome alongside the 7".
This is where I have the adjustable drive system, planetarium support and capture software, laptop computer and camera[s] during imaging sessions. Though it all goes back indoors afterwards to protect it from the cold and damp weather. The dome is deliberately well ventilated. So offers little protection except from the wind and direct rain when closed up. The great advantage of the dome is having the mounting already setup and aligned. With the telescopes already mounted and balanced. No carrying nor physical set-up required.
I place the laptop on the desk and then open the dome shutters for better light and to have a look at the sky. Now I connect the four cables which are pre-arranged in position. Then plug the camera into the eyepiece socket and connect its USB 3 cable. That's the physical side done. The AWR/ASCOM drives are already switched on, SharpCap and C-du-C/Skycharts are fired up. Slew to the sun, Sync and I can start capturing videos immediately.
Autostakkert [AS!2] is usually opened so I can process the best videos on the spot. Often while simultaneously capturing more. The wireless Internet is now fast and completely stable. So I can access Gong Ha to check for proms and surface features. I can open my blog and start sharing processed images within a minute of a quick tour through PhotoFiltre for the addition of colour.My [low reflection] monitor screen is safely shielded from sunshine by the darkness of the dome. So there is no squinting at a tiny laptop screen while struggling with confusing reflections. My desk is well shielded from sunlight by the telescope/mounting offset. Which means the observing slit is offset to one side of my seat. I am also shielded from the prevailing SW wind when I am imaging the morning sun in the SE.
The dome desktop also provides an enclosed workshop for fettling telescopes and their fittings. Or just browsing the astro forums during cloudy imaging sessions. Ten minutes from video capture, to sharing final images on the forums, is possible. No doubt the experts/artists in processing will raise their eyes at the speed I can put my images online. I readily admit my skills at image processing are
doubtful and inevitably slow to improve.
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