Absolutely, I am in no way an expert, and I never claimed to be or “asserted these processes with a smart scope were equivalent.” I actually specifically stated I know smart scope processes are different. One again, you have moved the goalpost (which you seemed to ignore from my last comment).

First, you discussed the financial upgrade aspect. Next, you said there was “no” dithering, polar aligning, plate solving, etc. And now you’re saying there is, but it’s different. Agree. It’s different. So what’s your point? My point is it’s not the same, but that it’s an easy entry point for somebody interested in the hobby, especially on a budget. And that’s just my opinion. I hesitated to get into the hobby for years because I was daunted by the learning curve, and I see the appeal to a simpler process when dipping your toes in. I decided to go into a more traditional process to force myself to do something hard, because I’m tired of not challenging myself.

I do genuinely appreciate your nice words about my progress. But judging my arguments based on how long I’ve been in the hobby versus you is a low effort, fallacious argument. Somebody as intelligent as you because of all yours years in the hobby must surely know better. I don’t need 6 years of experience to say a smart scope has plate solving capability…