Thanks for that synopsis, Matt. I was just wondering, you mentioned about keeping the Hyperstar on the mount lower on objects, what would be the maximum angle you could put the scope to without unduly stressing the corrector plate??. I would imagine most of the problems the users encountered were probably when they were fitting the lens assembly.
What would be the best thing, is if they designed a hyperstar system that could replace the secondary entirely and have the scope a dedicated F/1.5-2 imaging system...or design a new scope type that had a hyperstar as a secondary. Might mean making a far more robust corrector plate that was optically 100% clear, but they could do it.
You could have a SCT type of setup, except with a fixed primary and have the hyperstar on a system where it was focused by servos...like with the Meade RCX400, but have no tube out the back and no hole in the primary mirror. Food for thought
As you said, mightn't be any good with many PN's, but you're better off doing them with a slow scope anyway, for the smaller ones at least. Beasts like the Helix and Dumbell might be a different matter, being a decent size. Ultimately, you could stretch the exposure times of your system by sticking it on a GEM or fork mounted equ', and guide it, then with the hyperstar attached you could drastically lower the amount of time needed to take those "uber" piccies. Or, take those piccies to the next level in optimum seeing conditions.
More food for thought