Astro: Milky Way

Hi all, my first actual image posting to this group!

This was taken using a Canon 450d, unmodified, with the 18-55mm stock
lens on a barn door mount, mid 2011. From memory it was several
exposures ranging from 1 minute to 5 minutes, total of about 15 minutes.
I've re-processed this set many times trying to extract detail - the
point at which I actually felt good about the results was after I had
learnt to use flats. It brought out more detail in the image, detail
that I had no idea was there.

Unfortunately I can't find any pictures of my barn door mount, but it's
a pretty basic one hinged design, using a stepper motor which rotates
360° every minute. I've got both the motor in the base and the nut in
the top arm hinged too, which reduces the tracking error. The timing of
the stepper is controlled using an Arduino.