austen4

Ahh Stan thats a bummer. My southern horizon is quite good actually but my northern sky is appaling. I live south of London so thats the reason. I am limited to southern objects but hopefully when I go to France for holiday I can capture so amazing stuff. I have a skywatcher LPF which works great. I have no yellow glow on my pictures.

Has anyone got any advice on other filters for astrophotograhy?

Thanks

Hey QM,

I have set to 0.5s but still seem to be pretty grey . Oh well at least it guides, I cant complain as I have saved much money from it!

Thanks

EDIT: misread the brain setting and will try that. Thanks!

Went out tonight, just come in and left it all for exposures while I get on with coursework. I did this whole mod but used a Logitech Pro 9000 for guiding. It works fine and I am getting 10 minute exposures which nice pointy stars. The only problem is that the webcam feed on PHD is quite grey which maybe someone could me some advice on helping. I am so happy that it all works and cannot wait to image properly now. I would definitely recommend doing this. I will try some higher exposures tomorrow night as it seems to be clear aswell as tonight.

I would like to thank anyone who has helped in this mod even if they have not posted.

Thanks again everyone

Hello guys,

I recieved my GPUSB yesterday, i tryed some guiding last nights but the cloud ruined it. However I have got remove the LED in the webcam as it shines onto the sensor. Im hoping for a clear night to properly try it all again. Will give more updates soon.

hey all,

I have not posted for a bit but I would like to say that I bought the guide port mod and that was a doddle. I also bought a Logitech pro 9000 webcam and took the lens off it. I kept all the original case etc. on and the silver circle round where the lens would have sat but on the outside of the case is just the right size to thread it onto the finder ring on a skywatcher 9x50 finder scope. All you have to do is unscrew the eye-piece for it and just push and rotate the webcam until it becomes tight. TBH it is not the best attachment but I have tried it and it works. Focussing is easy and no mods are needed. Here are some pictures of the webcam and finderscope. I also found that this is quite useful and taking off the webcam and put on the eyepiece for it is simple so you can switch between to two for quickly finding your object and then just centre on the camera. As you can see from the picture, the webcam has no lens and the you can see the sensor. I do have a GPUSB on the way and will update once I have tested with it.

However, I do not think this is extremely reliable and there are better ways. This will do me for a bit until I do another mod to attach the webcam.

Hope this helps

Hello everyone,

Ordered the ST4 port mod for the hand controller. Also ordered a logitech hd 9000 webcam for £35. Will order the GPUSB on the weekend. Will hopefully ready for testing next Tuesday. Will keep update coming for quartermass. Hooefully it Will work for the heq5 and then we should have a good working mod that save alot of money.

Hi Austin the uk supplyer the higher price has the longer cable with it just order it from shoestring is easy enough. Not sure which web cam to go for at the moment. Im outside waiting for clouds to clear away

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

Thanks, think i will just buy a small one as I bought a big one for the ST4 port mod. I was thinking about getting a logitech or the philips but that is very expensive at the moment. I will do some research to find out. Hope it goes well tonight, are you testing anything?

Nice one quartermass, will order that this week. Did you say that this one came with the guideport cable?

Do you know the webcam you will be getting? I was wondering if a logitech 4000 would work?

Nice one everyone! All this advice is fantastic. The usb interface is going to save me some money. Would you say that the Orion guide scope is worth it or is the finder scope conversion quite simple? Will keep you updated. Im sure it wont be till next week on any changes or mods.

Thanks malc-c sorry I didnt see it.

I will Quartermass, just got to get some money sorted. Did you finally get your finder to work in the end? Sorry if it has been mentioned in the thread.

Quartermass thats a nice little conclusion of the thread. I will be hoping to do this next weekend when I order the parts. Thanks again for the thread, its great!

Hello all,

Has anyone expiremented with the mod? If so what sort of subs were you getting?

Thanks

Hello Stan,

I take it that most logitech webcams will work? Does PHD have a list or do they have to have certain requirements?

I think I am going to get the £80 USB one as my laptop is quite new.

That diagram is really useful. Bit off topic but its really quite accurate at how everything looks, well done .

Thanks

Hello Quartermass,

Would you be able to ask him as I am trying to save as money as possible? If its not to much to ask. One day you will my friend.

Thank you

Hi Austen

I think the problem is the LVI auto-guider not my modding the eq5 dual axis kit with the st4 port that work fine. I think from what Stan has done that using PHD on a laptop with a webcam on the finder guider would work but the LVI is far too fussy despite its cost glad it was a gift! It will work with the HEQ5 for sure though fat lot of good that is for me..

Any way must stay positive the mod is done and if it will work on phd laptop and webcam that's still got to be better Stans works so I dont see it not working for me and I have nothing to lose by trying as I want a webcam anyway and the adapter is not much.

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. The mod seems simple and as you said that wouldnt be the problem. What webcam does he use with his finder guider? I have seen some of the prices which on top of a goto has made me want to do the mod.

I hope you find a way to fix it. You have enlightened us all!

Thanks again

Its a shame quarter mass it does not work properly after all of that? I am going to try this with the HEQ5 with normal dual axis, I take it the guy off the other forum got it to work by doing everything you have done?

Thank you

BTW with regards to the HEQ5, I may be completely wrong here but the I think the *standard* HEQ5 has NO guide port interface. It just has a basic Dual axis controller similar to the EQ5. The Syntrek version have the ST4 port (i stand to be corrected).....

Stan

This is correct and therefore I should be able to solder the wires on. I have a few questions that if you have time to answer would be great :

1. Do many Guide camera's have a st4 port?

2. You talked about being precise, what would this include?

3. I take it the guiding software will adapt to the motor gearing?

Thank you very much for trying the mod, great money saver.

Great! well done. I am glad it works as I am going to try it with my HEQ5. Would you say it would be worth buying a proper guide scope or is the finder scope good enough for the job?

Well done again!

Looks good Quartermass. I will definitely be watching this thread as I need to get a guide scope and only yesterday I have seen this.

Hope it all goes well