Hi Matt,
I did try my best to take your advice. I started with 5fps and then 10fps but the seeing wouldn't support it. K3CCDTools kept dropping about 2/3 of the frames during capture and they all looked like the planet was swimming too much during each exposure
I tried to get the lowest frame rate I could which was 15fps. In hindsight, I should have tried 5fps again towards the end when Saturn was much higher and the ambient temperature dropped to around 23 degrees around 2:00am. My final two or three AVIs show very little disturbance of the image as the seeing and altitude were improving all the time.
Thanks for re-emphasising the importance of the low frame rate. Next time I'll try to keep pushing the frame rate down as the planet gets higher and the seeing improves.
I'm thinking of sticking with my current focusing system for the moment. I'll try to get the most out of my current equipment before buying more stuff. I might even attempt an image with the Lightbridge 12". Will be VERY hard on Dobsonian mount with no tracking but I'm keen to see if I can get some sort of result.
I did try to image Mars using a red Baader planetary filter. I could see some detail but the seeing was too bad in that part of the sky for me to get much of a result. I might leave Mars for the next opposition and focus on Saturn in preparation for Jupiter
Thanks again for looking and pointing out that I should drop the frame rate further.
Have fun,
Doug