There are a number of "heavy hitters" on IIS that put me to shame on the capital equipment list, so the point of pointing out I "use expensive gear" is a little lost on me. No silver spoons here...my first telescope was a Royal 2.5" refractor.
But, sure, the gear I currently use is not cheap...but nor are long focal length Canon L-lenses, a decent boat, up-market car or second wife
(I am blessed there ! ).
The up-side for me is: the running costs of my observatory, as opposed to most of the former, are effectively nil. Apart from the occasional clean plus evicting the occasional arachnid squatter, the equipment simply needs no attention.
I use top-shelf gear for two reasons.
Time: my imaging sessions are very limited so I want the stuff to work flawlessly, rather than have to fight it.
Specification: Companies like Asto-Physics build to a specification, rather than a price...and while this has a corresponding cost.... image perfection is guaranteed...the rest is up to the user.
You can get fantastic results with a less costly but well considered system. Indeed, Rolf Olsen is an excellent role model. While I've said it before, I'll say it again: spend-up big on the mount. The best optics on the planet will be useless on a mechanical bowl of jelly.
All the above notwithstanding, the best decision I've made to date was to get an observatory. It doesn't have to be a dome. A roll-off roof shed will do fine (that said my Observatory is now in its 25th year..i.e cost $280 per year)
A permanent mount makes so much of a difference!
You can be up-and-running in minutes, day or night. It's a no-brainer in my book.
.....sadly...while a new installment would be cool, the new-moon forecast for Sydney is 
Congrats on capturing such a superb view of this gorgeous nebula (that I looked at for the first time through my new APM 152 last Tuesday - it was razor sharp and exquisite, earning a few oohs and aahs).
Oh and don't mind the blue halos, hoping a blue filter which doesn't let quite so much UV light through will combat the 60%+ QE of the ICX694 
