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Doug,
These problems are primarily the bain of those doing astrophotography as opposed to visual.
But I do wonder if its a case of attempting to trivialise the entire process of connecting all sorts of different equpment made at different times, from different countries and manufacturers using various standards (Imperial, Metric, T-thread, SCT thread etc) across different types of scopes having a multitude of ideal or critical dimensions and back focus distances etc etc
And then using what are essentially quite complex image processing techniques to calibrate and process our data in a way that gives us our desired result.
Everybody is approaching their pursuit from a different angle - with widely differing budgets, different skill sets and different ideals, intents and standards.
Some people will use a camera and no filter wheel, some with, the next person will feel the need for a flattener or corrector the next not, electronic focusser or not, rotator or not, others will use whatever gear they had for visual observing rather than starting with AP suitable optics and then upgrade 3 times to get to where they want to go
The sheer number of permutations is astronomic !
How do you standardise that and still get the CCD chip spacing perfect - you cant.
Each bit of gear can have different apertures from 3" to 20" refractor to reflector and every type of design therein and therefore you will need smaller or larger adapters and approprate sized bits of gear having different corrections for different aberrations - you cant really standardise this.
An ED80 is different to a CDK17 and everything in between !
We now expect our systems to produce the sorts of results that once a took a multimillion dollar budget at a professional observatory, using a team of people (and professional consultants and graduates) to manage each aspect of an observatory that had been refined and developed over many, many years - and then we become disheartened if our results are not at this standard by doing it in our spare time with a minimal budget from our backyards with no professional experience in any of the different fields !
Often setting up each night to boot !
I think the real issue is one of expectation ?
Nobody should think that its just straight forward and easy thing to achieve - it is not.
But it is achieveable by anyone who wants to persevere and be prepared to learn at every step (and fail occasionally too)
Sure if you buy all new equipment with an unlimited budget, following the perfect OTA/Camera recipe (of course no such thing exists) and you get a professional to set it all up for you (How ?) - maybe then you may have a chance - but the reality is the processes are quite complex, time consuming and do require lots of skill and a lot of experience to master - which means invested time, frustration and worldly experience - successes, failures, experiments and continual improvement.
That characterises our hobby.
Then when we have mastered all of that its on to the next quest, next upgrade with all its new problems - that is human nature !
I do not think we could, nor should we try to standardise everything - it is not possible because we already have different sizes and types of scope . . . and different budgets.
But that is like saying lets draw a line in the sand for technological development - we will stop any future developments and we will all use T-thread adapters and limit our CCD size to 1/4" or stay with 35mm film.
Or maybe stick with 1.25" compresson adapters.
Every year cameras get better and often bigger (and heavier) - necessitating more stable attachment systems, larger image circles, bigger filters and filter wheels, bigger AO's and OAGs, larger aperture adapters, focussers and rotators etc etc
If we standardised to suit that and put it on an ED80 we would bend the OTA !
To blame the manufacturers for frustration is bit like cutting yourself with a sharp knife and blaming the knfe maker or maybe the person who last sharpened the knife !
There is now more product information available to us than ever before - PDF's, spec sheets, numerous reviews, forum posts, direct email/PM to known users, ability to contact the manufacturer direct etc so we are able to make a very careful selection process when we select and buy our chosen astro items.
You dont have to buy it, its your choice entirely but if you do its the full package - backfocus calculations, thread compatibility, custom adapters - one doesnt go without the other - why think otherwise.
Hang in there - we have all been through it - or still going through it !!
My 2c worth anyway
Cheers
Rally
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