Jason,
Thanks for your kind words.
As for the extender, I too had exactly the same problem. To fix this, I covered up the contacts with black PVC tape (just enough to cover up). The camera then doesn't know the extender is there so will do prime photos without any further attachments.
As for the aperture mask, this is more of a preferrence but a suggestion was made by a fellow member (Omaroo) and I found it gave me much better focussing and a slightly better depth of field. See this thread
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=64819
Putting the mask on doesn't change the resolving power but certainly dims it but crikey does it make a difference with focussing (esp as I have only a cheap Meade rack and pinion with a significant deadband in the gearing)
Anyway, have a go. I'm trying to get my head around the multitude of options just photographing the moon!!
Malcolm and Michael, thanks too for your comments. My gear is ordinary but trying some techniques gives the scope a new lease on life!!
And to Chi Sao, it took me a while to fine tune some skills. My scope is average but looking around on IIS will help point to some techniques to extract the most out of your gear until more $$$ come along.
Cheers,
Darrin...