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Hi all, I am a new member of the group and I know this question has been asked before. I have a Nexstar GPS 11” with a newer hand controller and the latest firmware. Is this scope capable of being adapted for the Starsense plate solve system? If not, can a piggybacked refractor and guide camera work? If so, what hardware/software coming would work? Clear Skies, Paul

Last year at this time I helped my friend Dave tear down and modify his Celestron 11" SCT. I videoed the entire process and posted 2 separate videos on my YouTube channel some time ago which I think I shared here. The first shows the step by step process to completely disassemble an SCT. If you ever want to disassemble you SCT, no matter which aperture, take a look at this video first. The second shows a problem with the Celestron supplied hardware for their motorized focuser. Dave discovered the problem during the tear down and the video not only shows the problem but provides two different approaches to fix the problem. If you use Celestron's motorized focuser you should take a look at this video, especially if you have experienced binding of the focus motor or had it run away during a focus. This week I returned to the remaining video footage to produce the last in the series. This video addresses the main purpose of the tear down - to make modifications to the OTA to improve its performance for astrophotography. These are the modifications performed: 1. Adding nylon screws to the baffle tubes to try and minimize mirror flop - this was the main reason for tearing down the OTA. 2. Adding internal fans and deflectors to direct the air flow over the front of the primary mirror to break up the air 3. Adding a temperature sensor on the back of the mirror 4. Replacing the stock grease with a much better Krytox lubricant 5. Flocking the inside of the tube Since Dave did this one year ago we included an update at the end of the video with Dave's assessment of the value of each of these modifications. We included one of Dave's latest images after all of the mods of the Orion nebula. Whether you own a 14" or even a 6" SCT I think all 3 of these videos would be of interest. Here is the latest video showing all the mods and Dave's summary of what he would and would not do again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E3pnjDp56E Here are the other two videos Teardown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJs4r5Oj58 Focuser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdADiHmGLpw ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJs4r5Oj58 )

I was amazed that with the overall poor seeing I experienced, I was able to get this much detail. This is a stack of 10 separate images, each with over 10K frames: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/828 Brian Combs

This first image was taken with the monochrome Saturn-M camera, the second with the color Uranus-C. Conditions were mostly poor but I managed to eke out quite a bit of detail anyway: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/826 http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/827 Brian Combs

I had average to good seeing last night when this image was taken: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/825 Brian Combs

Had a brief respite from the jet stream and I was able to capture some decent data for a change: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/821 Brian Combs

Mostly poor to at best average seeing prevailed but I was fortunate to get this: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/5/2022-11-26-0540_4-BC-L-Mars_lapl5_ap23-6-set_full.jpg Brian Combs

Another night of sub-par seeing but I managed to eke out some decent data anyway: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/818 Brian Combs

I took two images of Mars last night under mostly poor seeing. The first was taken with the Uranus-C color camera: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/817 This second image was taken with my Saturn-M monochrome camera: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/816 Brian Combs

My first Jupiter image taken with the Uranus-C color camera. Only average seeing with good transparency: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/815 Brian Combs

This is my first image of Mars taken with my new Uranus - C camera by Player One. Perhaps 7/10 seeing and good transparency: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/814 Brian Combs

This is my first image of Jupiter taken with a one shot color camera. See was maybe 6/10: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/5/2022-10-15-0333_4-BC-L-Jup_lapl5_ap87-3-set_full.jpg Brian Combs

Very good seeing when this image was taken: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/5/2022-10-07-0542_8-BC-RGB6-set_full.jpg Brian Combs

This is my first attempt using a ZWO ASI462MC color camera. Taken under average seeing: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/811 Brian Combs

Mostly average seeing and transparency when this image was taken: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/810 Brian Combs

I had mostly average seeing last night when I captured these three data sets: http://www.bcastropics.com/images/view/809 Brian Combs

A few years back I over tightened my hyperstar on my C14 and had to remove the corrector plate to get it off. But, I never personally completely disassembled an SCT. Last Christmas I helped my friend Dave tear down his Celestron C11 when he decided to make some modifications to his scope. He was mainly interested in reducing mirror flop and had read about a procedure to add some nylon screws to the outer baffle to take up some of the play between the outer and inner baffle tubes. He also took the opportunity to add a BT weather station inside, some fans to direct air flow across the primary mirror, regrease the baffle tubes and flock the inside of the Al tube. In the process Dave found a problem with the Celestron motorized focuser which likely leads to additional mirror flop, not shift, and fixed that. I checked my C11 (did not need to tear down the scope to do this) and found the same flaw which I also fixed in a different way from Dave. Others have reported this same flaw in the Celestron focuser hardware, but I have not seen anyone ascribing mirror flop to the problem before this. Regardless, the fix seems to have helped reduce image drift substantially in Dave's scope. While helping him I videoed the entire process and have created the first of three videos that I thought I would share. I broke this down into 3 videos because it would be too long as one big video and, there really are 3 different things going on here. The first video shows the process in detail for completely disassembling the SCT and also how to put it back together after. That one is already posted and you can find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJs4r5Oj58 Hopefully this will help anyone who needs to take their SCT apart, even if only to remove the corrector plate and not do a full disassembly. As soon as I get time, I will edit and post the video showing the problem we discovered with the Celestron focuser and the fixes we both used. And later, I can put together and post the final video which shows the main reason for opening up the SCT. I think you will find some of Dave's upgrades interesting. Best Regards, Curtis

I had moments of good seeing just days before opposition: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/5/2022-09-22-0602_4-BC-RGB3-set_full.jpg Brian Combs

Good seeing while I captured this transit of Europa and its moon: http://www.bcastropics.com/img/gallery/5/2022-09-14-0557_4-U-RGB4-set_full.jpg Brian Combs