First light for 200mm Littrow

Finally managed to the the 12" LX200 and the Littrow to actually image a star spectra ( Vega)
A series of 4 sec exposures as the drive was not working well ( see comments about balance below).
Found out quickly, even with the safety bracket in place that the metal dew shield ( 1200gms) at the front doesn't balance 1500gms of spectro hanging at the back!! The Dec bearings are so stiff ( the original nylon ones) it's very difficult to tell when the balance is correct. You only really find out when the Dec drive overloads and doesn't work!!

Must remember to re-set the grating micrometer to the ZERO position before trying to find a star image!! Must have wasted 15min before I realised the problem!

Also found difficulty in getting a focussed star image on the slit. I had the 32mm Pl in the beamsplitter with a diagonal; could n't get my head into position otherwise ( old age!) and found that when eventually I got a reasonably focussed image on the slit the eyepiece showed it well out of focus. Guessing an additional 25mm or so spacer needed between the beamsplitter and the spectro.
Two options:
Use the QHY5 guide camera only for aquisition and drop the diagonal. Need to try it out to see what the FOV is like. I did manage to position the star on the slit just by noting the star position on the finder cross wires, so may be doable.
Second option is to add a spacer in front of the Spectro to accommodate the diagonal distance. This would mean the spectro would sit even higher on the back end ( BTW at the moment it's impossible to use the guide scope; not enough clearance at the back; either remove it and rely on the beamsplitter ( good option!!?) or relocate it further towards the front end....balance issues?) and making up a new safety bracket ( no big deal)
I'll try the QHY5 first... see how we go.

It's also difficult to see where the star is relative to the slit.... need some sort of back lighting (??) to illuminate the slit edges, and then should be able to see where the star image is sitting, maybe a small red LED in the body of the spectro which can be switched on briefly....

Other than that, the Canon 350D seemed to record a spectrum in a 4 sec exposure!!
I got about 10 exposures; now need to figure out how to combine them before applying Vspec for analysis. Didn't have the neon connected for these trials. I'll wait until I get the 3V supply sorted out.

The dew shield and heater kept the front end about 1.5 deg above ambient and the corrector seemed to be clear ( total observing time about 2 hours); the benefits of the Argos TSO ( Tin Shed Observatory) were appreciated!!!!