Very nice, M&T! Looks very sharp.
As a software developer, I'm super impressed by the fact that you guys have written all your own software. That's awesome.
I did notice that some stars seemed to be RGB, others NB and was a bit confused before I read your description.
I saw a method of creating synthetic RGB stars from NB data... if I recall correctly it's just using:
R = H
G = H * 0.65 + O * 0.35
B = O
I used it on
this image and think it worked really well there. Then again, sounds like you guys have RGB data anyway, so I suppose it's a moot point here!
I'm sure many will be philosophically opposed to such practices, but I'm a heathen, what can I say?
Am I right that you're imaging at about 0.4"/px? Is the image downsampled, or cropped (or both?)?
I certainly feel your pain regarding backlash / static friction. Even the Mach 1 has a small amount of backlash (I've seen Roland say 250-500ms) which can make Declination guiding challenging at times. I'm imaging at 0.5"/px so small amounts of backlash that wouldn't bother lots of people become problematic for me. High res encoders and/or backlash-free designs sound more attractive every day... unfortunately the current economic situation makes such things decidedly
less attractive.