He he cheers guys, thanks for the comments...yes, I'm certainly a fledgling DSLR'er...only my second astro type use of this new camera
Andrew - I am an imager you see, so my dark adaption isn't that important
..having said that, I have angled the garden spot lights down onto the path only and away from the imaging area so the lights are not directly visible when standing up at the scope, ony a glow, I just really need to be able to see the steps when I am carrying the $10K OTA and $10K camera up and down to the mount
....but I still may make them red as you say
Mike