SniffTheGlove

I've just set up a MILKY WAY Stargazers team if anyone would like to join!

The Stargazers Lounge

Cheers

Ant

Thanks Ant, just joined.

I've got a pc that is running 24/7 that has plenty of ticks spare if I knew what to do l0l

edit: sorted, BOINC d/loaded and installed and I think I set it all up correctly looks like I have a lot of catching up to do lol

You could look at running optimised clients to churn out more workunits.

You get the optimised client from the projects site usually in the forums and just swap the default installed client with the optimised and the whole lot runs the same but faster.

Optimised is optimised for your particular CPU.

SETI went all funny with their servers and I changed my ratios more to Milkyway and Enigma (for fun) to get around the issue of SETI servers being down for maintaince for 4-5 days a week now.

Just recently I hit the magic 1million cobblestones in a little over a year, that's not bad going even if i do say so myself.

regards.Rob

That's pretty good going. It was quite surprising when I put BOINC on my Son's Quad core PC and he did more processing in the first month on that PC than I had over the last 6 years on several PC's.

So getting 1million yourself is quite an achievement,

Thanks for all the help and info, i'm not done yet as I need to buy the filter and a lens cap, I won't risk damage to the CCD.

I would suggest got to Morgans for the IR/UV Filter. The morgan page does not mention (well did not the last time I looked) if the IR filter is UV as well but it does state so in the enclosed documentation.

If you want to spend a lot more money then look at SGL Sponsor FLO for the Baader

i would get an ir filter, i think its necessary for planetary imageing

plus a lens cap will protect things down in the camera

i got my adaptor and cap ftom billetparts

Billet Parts / Vintage & Classic Spares

i don't think he does ir filters though.

i think sharpcap does work on xp

here's a thread all about it, its even written by one of the members

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-discussion/112757-sharpcap-free-astro-webcam-capture-software.html

Yes, Sharpcap works on XP, also W2K, Vista and Win 7

hello all, this is my first post...

i got myself the philips webcam and did all the flashing etc

but i cant find a way of turning the light off on the webcam,

its only a small light but i bet its bright enough to ruin night vision,

perhaps a peoce of trusty old gaffa tape will surfice.

on another point i could not get k3ccd tools to work on my r2 unit (win7 64bit)

but sharpcap works perfect.

thanks for all the info.

paul

The LED does not effect the sensor so imaging is still OK, I used put a bit of black tape over it as you have already suggested. It works great

OK, give it ago Andrew.

Not sure what OS you were finally using but at least in XP goto Control Panel and select system then Hardware tab then Device Manager, find the camera in the list (the camera must be plugged in) then right click the camera and select uninstall, then afterwards remove camera and reboot.

If all goes well the next time you stick the camera in it will asked you to reinstall which will mean using the inf file.

Once installed then run a capture program like sharpcap etc and select the camera in the device settings. If you get a feed off the camera then keep it running and run WcRmac and in the DS insterface coose the camera and do a backup of the device, then do the firmware upload. That should be OK, then unplug and reboot and install the OS drivers for the 900NC. The camera should now be a 900NC and then you can run sharpcap and WcRmac again and do the OPTIMISED COLOR macro if you so wish (I then would do another camera firmware backup just so anything happens).

Hopefully this should get you sorted Andrew

Yep, I did a re-boot too. I'll try again tomorrow - after starting the flash, I just get the message "unable to download binary file". in the green box (or words to that effect).

Many thanks for your help. Regards, Andrew

Andrew, did you put the SPC900NC binary file into C:\Program Files\TWIRG\WcRmac\binary\8116 before trying to flash?

Thanks to Russ' heads-up, I've been trying to get my SPC880 to flash as a 900. I will be imaging on a Vista laptop but can make us of my wifes XP for the flashing.

I dowloaded the driver onto XP and kept the cam filming. I then dowloaded the WCRMAC program and added the binary file.

Did you reboot at this point? One you reboot you then load the 900NC drivers for you OS

Read Page 10 http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/113699-philips-spc880nc-now-10.html#post1570968 of this thread were I explain this is detail to some one ina similar position Andrew.

Glad it works for you Tony.

Can you use the Optimised macros in WcRmac to improve the image quality?

Hi Sean

I'm not flashing the 880 webcam at all.

I've got both my Vista 32bit laptop and Win7 64bit desktop computers to recognize and operate the 880nc webcam (from Morgans) as a 900nc unit WITHOUT going through the risky and non-reversible procedure of flashing new firmware.

The webcam hasd bene working on both computers for upwards of three weeks with a a vareity of software viz: IRIS, wxastrocapture, astra image, vlounge, and ANCap

regards

Tony

That's good Tony. How did you get it to recognise on Vista/Win7. From your original post you seem to be able to do it with just using the XP inf file of Morgans site. I have a firend which is about to purchase the SPC880 and he has Win7. I previous insturcted him to go through the entire procedure of flashing etc but if you have a simpler way that would be good for him as he is has no IT knowledge.

The 880 webcam and adapter from the Morgan sitre are good (financial) value . You do not need to flash the 880 to get the 900nc state. You can do this by using the downloaded inf file from the Morgan website and accessing it from your computer's inf subdirectory.

I've got this to work on both my Vista 32 bit and Win7 64 bit machiines

keep it simple

regards

Tony

Tony, the inf file is just the installation instructions for XP to load the drivers, in no way does it flash the webcam.

To flash you need a bin file (firmware) and software (WcRmac) that can upload the firmware to the cam.

Unless of course Tony I have mistaken your comments and you are describing something else and not flashing

Hi all sorry to be a PITA on this subject, but this thread is VERY long I haven't managed to read it all (skimmed over) We are just getting into astronomy and would love a webcam capable of not only showing us all what the scope is seeing but taking pics and movies and this cam seems to fit the bill. My question is, this cam (SPC900NC) is on ebay at a price of £22.95 +PnP or as a bundle of cam, adapter, IR filter for £49.95.....is that a good deal?

Thanks

This is the page on Morgans to look at

https://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/products2.asp?CategoryID=556

You can save a little if you flash the cam yourself on XP.

If you buy it flashed then you just need the 900NC drivers off http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?cat=PC_CAMERAS_CA&sct=WEBCAMS_SU&scy=GB&grp=MONITORS_PC_PERIPHERALS_GR&ctn=SPC900NC/00&slg=ENG&mid=Link_Software&hlt=Link_Software for your OS, then choose either Sharpcam or Craterlet as your capture software or any other software that takes your fancy or wallet.

huh, just tried and sharpcap wont load now, will try again tomorrow, thanks for the help

What about running it in explorer with the lens off? Did that work?

Try Craterlet instead if your PC is having issues with Sharpcap.

If i use cam with original lens fitted and go to my computer/double click on the webcam it runs fine

OK, run the cam in explorer, take the lens off, screw on the nosepiece and then put in you scope and focus. There is no reason why not and I just expect you are having an issue with Sharpcap.

Have you selected the the webcam under Device on the Sharpcam menu, perhaps you are defaulting to another USB camera or virtual camera and not the SPC880(900NC)

Yes i installed the drivers for the 900nc, and the cam works with the lens fitted, i sort of get an image if i open the programe for the webcam, but if i run sharpcap all i get is a solid black square, no variation, have unistalled and reinstalled sharpcap but same result

OK, what program did you use to view the cam image with when you have the original lens fitted?

really starting to think i got a dud 880 (flashed 900) just cannot get an image when mounted on the scope, only pointed it at house across road (sounds bad!! )

looks like i have wasted £30 ! any idea where i can get a driver for the standard 880 as i got a spare (non flashed)

I see that you ordered a pre-flashed 880 from Morgan's. It has to be working for the firmware to be flashed, so did you install the 900NC drivers on your PC.

Did you check the cam was working before stripping the lens off?

Have you tried it with the original lens screwed back on.

When it is plugged in and runing what do you see when you have some capture software running?

Does the image in the capture software change when you cover the camera over or shine a light at it.

If the images change then the camera should be fine and you just need to fine the focus point.

Screw you focuser right in without any EP's in and then just slowly move the camera back keeping it inline with the focuser until the image clears, it might require quite a long distance to focus.

Worse case senerio just speak to Morgans to complain and ask for a swap or refund. Your money is not wasted.

does anyone know where i can buy a ready flashed spc880 as i dont have a comp running windows xp ?.

Many thanks in advance.

What do you have? 98SE, W2k,Vista, Win7?

There are VM that will work as well, Win7 has one built in if it's the Biz version.

Unless you have already got them, get the nosepiece and IR/UV filter. Morgan's is the best place.

Now it`s recognised, do I need to do anything through WcrMac/ or am I `Fit to Go`?

Thanks again

Mark

First off..

Plug the camera in and run Craterlet od Sharpcap, then run WcRmac

Select the camvin in WcRmac then make a backup of the camera firmware.vSo if anything happens you can put it back to how it was. I have tried this one one of my cameras just to try and I have swapped arround a few times so it does work when restoring the firmware in WcRmac

Then if you want slightly better images run the WxRmac macro for Set OPTIMIZED COLOR (NON RAW) Mode. Read This

This will give some clearer imaging so I have read but still not tried the imaging yet as I still need to collimate my scope (talk to wife come up soon to spend more money)

Done this on both my SPC880-900NC cams.

Ok, Got to report a Failure:mad:

* Managed to install 880NC drivers, and XP recognised the Webcam

* Installed and ran WcrMac and located the Webcam

* Went to Binary (having located the bin file in the correct folder) and selected Bin File, then Send to Webcam

* WcrMac went away and did its thing, but then after what seemed a couple of minutes, reported `Failed to Send File`

Now the Webcam is not recognised by XP (as a webcam)

When `Found New Hardware Wizard` starts up and is pointed to the SPC880NC driver it reports that the correct driver could not be found.

If I open up WcrMac then it fails to find the Webcam:(

Looks like I have a `Duffer` unless anyone can point me in the right direction to sort it out?

Any thoughts ?

Thanks

Mark

Try Unplug, reboot, install 900NC drivers, then plug in webcam.

All the bin file is here http://home.versatel.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.bin

Y

It would be better if you could force BOINC to complete one or perhaps two tasks before starting others but I can't see any way to do it ....

Depends on your setup of your PC (Dual COre, Quad Core etc). Each core will work on one workunit for the prescribed time you have given in your settings.

If you only have one project then the resource share (BOINC Manager Advanced Projects Tab) will show 100%.

If you have 2 projects (SETI and another for example) and their Resource Share is both 100% then your PC will split the resource down into 50% each and then depends on your settings in Advance Menu |Preferences | Processor Usage you can change how long each between switching of applications (eg projects).

I have my set at 60mins then switch between SETI for 11%, Milkyway 44.44% and Enigma at 44,44% wihich works out as a resource share of (100%, 25% and 100%).

I know it sounds complicated at first but it gets easier.

If you want to keep the stats in the graphs in the BOINC for more than a month, then goto your BOINC data folder

in XP it's C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC

If you do not have a file called cc_config.xml then create one and put this data in

<cc_config>

<log_flags>

</log_flags>

<options>

<save_stats_days>3660</save_stats_days>

<http_1_0>1</http_1_0>

</options>

</cc_config>

and then save.

This will keep the data for 10 years, if you want a year then substitute 3660 to 365 or what ever days you want. Then reset the BOINC manager or restart your PC.

If you already have then cc_config.xml file then just add the

<save_stats_days>3660</save_stats_days>

To add my BOINC stats to my personal website and keep a seperate daily track I upload the client_state.xml file (located in the same directory) and extract the Totals and the RAC into my MySQL database using a php xml paraser. I can post all the code if anyone wishes to do the same.

The SETI@Home servers have been giving problems over the last couple of months. They tend to go down about 5pm each Tuesday and come back up about 5pm on each Friday.

These are not problems but scheduled timeouts that have been happening for months now, it's so the servers and equipment can process other tasks during that time slot and also some weekly maintenance is also carried out. It they could get lLOADS more cash then they would be able to purchase extra servers etc.

Everyone was encouraged at the time to set their collection rates to carry about 3 days of work unit for the each PC in their settings.

I have mine all set to carry at least 6 days of workunits to make sure I keep crunching during the plan downtimes.

To others out there, if you have a decent PC Dual-core upwards etc then you can also get optimised applications for projectsd which will greatly increase your workload and also increase your RAC.

For the SETI optimized apps goto Downloads

You will have to modify some files but it is so worth it. Any problem then just post back here.

There are also optimised apps for other project, to find these just logon to the project page and take a look inot the project forums.

I do SETI since 17th December 2001, but concentrate more on Milkyway (Building a 3D map of your galaxy) and also a little fun with Enigma cracking those old German encrypted messages.

Click on the graph in my signature to see my full stats and also how to create your own sig graph.

PS, Edit.... If you run GPU then you can also get the CUDA apps which are blisteringly fast compared to the normal SETI apps.

To also see the SGL stats visit http://boincstats.com/stats/boinc_user_stats.php?pr=bo&st=0&teamid=2ffce9724ee3740b01b0dedf47410a1a#1