[karlperera]

Hey HN, I wanted to share a video on three hardware modifications I made to my telescope that have made a night-and-day difference in my astrophotography. For a while, I felt like I'd hit a plateau with my image quality, and the issues weren't things I could fix in software. The video walks through the 'why' and 'how' of each mod: 3d printing a Bahtinov mask: To get much sharper, more consistent focus across the frame. Flocking the tube: To dramatically increase contrast by killing stray light reflections inside the scope. Adding light shield and baffle: To reduce stray light from entering my telescope and spoiling the images. I tried to show the real-world results with before-and-after image comparisons. These were all relatively low-cost, DIY-friendly projects that had a much bigger impact than I expected. Happy to answer any questions about the process or the gear here!"

[madaxe_again]

My first bahtinov mask I just made out of some scrap cardboard - worked a treat.

Now I just use an autofocuser (pegasusastro focuscube), which I find gives identical results, and didn’t cost the world either (€130) - plus has the benefit that as the scope cools down through the night I’m not constantly having to stop imaging to refocus.

[karlperera]

Good to know this as I use a bog standard very basic focuser and do it manually.

[hbrav]

I also did my first one out of cardboard!