SC1 or 1.5 Mod?

[blinky]

I have finally managed to pluck up enough courage to mod my ToUCam myself. I am wondering if it is worth going the extra bit and doing the 1.5 amp off mod? It seems like with the version 1 mod the max exposure is about 40seconds but with my Digicam I can get around 1-2 mins before the tracking starts to go off. I am wondering just how sensitive the ToUCam is compaired to a normal DSLR? Is 40seconds exposure going to enable me to get some decent detail in say M42?

Also when it is modded do I just fire up K3ccd tools and tell it to do long exposures or is there more to it than that? Also does K3CCD automatically create a dark frame and allow it to be subtracted or is that something I have to do manually? And lastly.....Does K3ccd give a live preview of a long exposure frame as it is building or only when the image has been taken?

[geppetto]

wondering if it is worth going the extra bit and doing the 1.5 amp off mod

Thing is, do the long exposure mod then do the amp off if it needs it.

The amp off mod can introduce noise (stripes) due to the sensitive cable runs.

Is 40seconds exposure going to enable me to get some decent detail in say M42?

Very much so, with my 8" F6, m42 burns out at anything more than 30 seconds

Shorter exposures and lots of them is the trick.

do I just fire up K3ccd tools and tell it to do long exposures or is there more to it than that

Pretty much, you still have to set the gain and brightness to suite and then just tell K3CCDtools how long

you want the exposure to last and how many exposures.

Does K3ccd give a live preview of a long exposure frame as it is building

Not really, it gives you the resulting image after the exposure has ended then it moves onto the next take.

[blinky]

Well thanks for a pretty comprehensive reply, answered all of my questions.

[geppetto]

Blinky

Best of luck with it.. 8)

[blinky]

Lets hope I dont break it

You can bet if it works I will hve some piccies up here pronto!