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1st Tibbs1972 blog before new site.

Entries in this blog

Setting up a Webcam with Sharpcap

A while back I purchased a Philips SPC900NC Webcam and flashed it etc to use with Sharpcap Webcam imaging software. I then watched the astronomyshed tutorials on youtube to learn how to setup the camera. I downloaded the software from the link below. http://sites.google.com/site/rwgastro/sharpcap After messing around with the camera, all I managed to get was a flashing screen. I got frustrated and gave up and I still couldn't get the Philips camera working tonight. Yesterday, I thought I would h
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

8

Webcam Video Footage

Here's my attempt to capture Sirius on a cheap Webcam through my Telescope. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c_vbVHAPkU&feature=player_profilepage Here's my first ever attempt to video the moon, again with my webcam, unfortunately upside down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwQ3qD1FLQI&feature=player_detailpage Regards Neil
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Andromeda Finally Observed.

Something I've been trying to do for a while now. Thanks to two really clear nights this weekend, I finally managed to find Andromeda in the scope. Just a smudge, but it still feels like an achievement, as its the first Galaxy I've spotted through my scope. I realise I also need to be quick off the mark adjusting the focus for my camera, once i've spotted something with my 20mm lens. I've now marked the focuser with felt pen, which speeds up camera focusing immensly. Neil
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Cloudy Tonight

Cloudy & a full Moon tonight, what a mix. Still, sometimes it looks like the Moons at the end of a tunnel. Definitely worth taking an image. This image doesn't do it justice, I'm afraid.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Observing Pleiades

Had a look at Pleiades, managed to get 25 shots directly from my 18-55mm Camera lens on full zoom at F5.6, ISO 400. Not sure yet how I'm going to take similiar shots with the telescope as it zooms in too close using the prime focus method.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

Collimating

I've had a natural fear of collimating and thus far upto now have not tried. Tonight I watched a few videos on youtube and took a crack at it, one of which I've linked below. It's quite tricky holding the secondary mirror trying to align it with the focuser. The other problem on the secondary mirror, is that celestron have somehow cross-threaded one of the adjustment screws. This caused me no end of trouble. I pricked a hole in a black lens cap, which I then used to collimate. The main mirror
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

14th December Meteors

Now I can say I am officially chuffed. I've seen seven Meteors in half hour, thats broke my record. Thanks 3200 Phaethon Its a shame I have to put my head down, I have to be on the road at 6am. I hope its this good during Star Gazing Live 2 in January.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

1

Repair Job Complete

Somehow, I got a burst of enthusiasm today and decided to repair my EQ2 tripod this evening. After an hour and drilling and tapping, I managed to get it balanced. As it happened the clouds also cleared. I quickly setup the laptop and had another shot at using a Webcam. I managed to get about 30secs of footage before the clouds rolled in, so I didn't get a chance to practice focusing with the webcam. After downloading and using Virtual dub to splice the video and remove the rubbish frames of the
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

0

Scope setup for Sun Observing

Here's my scope and home made sun filter. I've been informed I'll get a better image if I set the exposure time to 1/500. I'll have another go when the clouds vanish again.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

New Mosaics 27th Jan 2012

Had a go at some panoramas this morning around my house. I've stiched them together with Microsoft ICE. Had excellent clear skies in the very early morning between 5 and 6am.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

3

The Moon chasing Jupiter

I popped my head out the back door tonight to see if it was clear. To my surprise, it was clear and the moon was rising over the village. I had an amazing view of The Moon chasing Jupiter. I thought to take a quick shot. It's a shame the moon has so much glare, the shot below doesn't justify the true view.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Too much time on my hands.

Thought I'd have a go at making a video from DSLR images, rather than a webcam. I took some shots of Orion early this morning, so I'm using these, only 24 shots for a first attempt, which I shrunk down to 25% of the origional size to reduce the file size. A stacked image can be seen below. Next I found a Freeware tool called ImageToAVI 1.0.0.5, which I used to stitch the images into an AVI file at 4 frames per second. I then used a program to convert these to MPEG II format. I've uploaded the
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

6

Amazing view of ISS

WOW ! Just caught the ISS going over the UK. Wasn't expecting it tonight, but saw it as I was just now watering the garden. I ran upstairs and leaned out of the window with my Minocular. As it's been such a beautiful clear day, I could see a bright shiny centre, and I believe I could make out the solar panels. Another amazing sighting for me. It lasted about 3 minutes. :) No clouds tonight, looking forward to the best couple of hours observing this month, I hope.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Further Moon image from Webcam 03rd Feb 2012

I had another go at the moon tonight with my Webcam. I manged to split the video with Virtual dub and Stack the frames with Registax. I also tried to get an image of jupiter, but it was too bright. No amount of adjustment of gamma or exposure setting would reduce the glare.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

7

25th Feb Venus and The Moon

I got home tonight and just had to grab a quick shot of the Moon and Venus together. I was amazed by the sight. I've never seen two bodies so close together. I used my Cannon Camera with a 2" Light Pollution filter blue tacked to the lens, as suggested by todd8137. I love the result, it almost looks Alien.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

0

October 16th DSLR camera shots.

I Started out well tonight, the third night in a row, a great weekend for observing, and then The Moon started to rise. Gradually, most of the stars faded out. I managed to stack 16 x 60sec exposures at ISO 400, F4.5. I was going to try for 100, better luck next time. At least there's a better chance of observing, now the nights are longer.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

3

Problems with Saturn.

Saturn is giving me some problems. For the last week, I've tried imaging with my DSLR camera to no avail. All I get is a white blob on the image. I know the telescope is ok, as through the 20mm and 15mm lenses I get a crystal clear image. I've tried every exposure time and ISO setting I can think off, but the prime focus direct mount method just doesn't work with planets. I decided to grab my old £30 webcam and tape it to the Cannon T-ring adapter. After finding some free webcam software, to my
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

ISS to pass over UK about 2212.

I'm going to try ang grab an image later. Probably widefield with a camera is best, as it's too fast for the scope. RE: The worst result possible. I panicked, as is obvious. Would have had more time if it hadn't ducked behind cloud. Oh well, better luck next time.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

4

Solar Filter

I've got some solar filter film coming this Week. I'll have a go with the Baadar ND 5.0 type first. Here's my idea for the filter and housing.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

2

Orion 12th Jan 2012

Great clear skies tonight. Managed to get my first clear shot of the Orion Nebula. Pretty chuffed I finally managed to get a shot.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

5

Jupiter Observation - Quick Sketch

I've never had much succes Photographing Jupiter, so tonight, I took the traditional approach of sketching my observation before the clouds rolled in. I suppose this sketech would be a good start for a log book, as the only record I have of my observations is this blog and various folders on my computer.
tibbs1972

tibbs1972

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