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Disappointed with DSO views? I have the answer!


Bazzaar

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Sounds excellent guys, thanks for the heads up on this.

Thats what I love about this hobby, always someone somewhere doing something new and cool like this :)

I'll investigate further.

Cheers

Ian

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Yes I guess I did Chris, I have thought it odd there is not more discussion about video astronomy, and it turn out there is, I just missed it.

It 'cos I'm always out with the scopes, ahem, my story, sticking to it.

Barry

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I was asking for a general idea if this is the type of item to go for or avoid, not guarantees that this will specifically work.

Maybe someone else has bought one of these type of ebay specials and it has been a poor item. Maybe the speed of the capture would not suit video astronomy. As you implied yourself video astronomy is not something that is discussed very often, many people may not have experience with these video cameras.

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Quick question, I take it you don't need a lens installed on the cam (some places are selling it as an optional extra), just the c-adaptor then focus on the ccd? I have had problems bringing to focus some webcams without a lens or barlow in the past although I suspect I would be using a barlow anyway.

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I was asking for a general idea if this is the type of item to go for or avoid, not guarantees that this will specifically work!.....

I thought it a fair question as well, especially as the OP seems to have a fair level of knowledge of this area. Much more than mine at any rate :)

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Very interesting, I noted that PHD does frame integration for my webcam so doesn't need the long exposure mod enabled to see deeper so this all makes sense.

I would imagine that image drift for non-tracking set ups would cause some distortion.

mindburner, I agree I thought your question was not so product specific but just seeking clarification on typical conversion gear.

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but I thought I was supposed to be a smart ****? oh you retracted that, good, because that certainly is out of order, but maybe you are half right. I was smart enough to read the advert that says SEVERAL times "PC/laptop" or "desktop/laptop" and smart enough NOT to ask "will this work with a laptop?":eek:

So EXCUSE ME if I condescend.

Cool it please - the question Mindburner asked was perfectly resonable and your reponse could have been a lot politer, even if you did not know the answer.

It's an interesting thread - lets not spoil it with bickering :)

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As you say John lets not spoil it, leave here where I have apologised and mindburner has hurled insults, fair enough.

I'll remember to tolerate mind numbingly stupid questions better in future. Sorry

Barry

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The generic USB video (s-video|composite) capture cards generally generally acceptable results as long as the drivers are present for the system. Most video capture programs should be able to interface with the driver to save/display the data coming from the usb device.

Things to watch out for are to see what format the USB stream is packaged in, as this may limit what software you can use to save the data to the harddrive, and what quality it is available to display in - no point in capturing all those lovely photons if the display program mungs it up or over-compresses the data.

I've done security camera streaming to the web via PC with internal basic pci tv-capture cards, but not for astro purposes. Only to monitor who kept nicking my gf's car....

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That's great info, many thanks. I did a bit of research and win7 drivers (although basic) seem to be available from another card vendor, which uses the same generic chip. I think I will order a similar card, I can try it with my old analogue video camera, if quality/resolution is any good perhaps try a decent security cam.

cheers

The generic USB video (s-video|composite) capture cards generally generally acceptable results as long as the drivers are present for the system. Most video capture programs should be able to interface with the driver to save/display the data coming from the usb device.

Things to watch out for are to see what format the USB stream is packaged in, as this may limit what software you can use to save the data to the harddrive, and what quality it is available to display in - no point in capturing all those lovely photons if the display program mungs it up or over-compresses the data.

I've done security camera streaming to the web via PC with internal basic pci tv-capture cards, but not for astro purposes. Only to monitor who kept nicking my gf's car....

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are there any other types of CCTV cams that can do the same thing? id love to give this a go but atm the £80 is a little steep for me ;)

Yes, plenty - that's the good news.

The bad news is that they're all more expensive - or MUCH more expensive. Welcome to the world of imaging. :)

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id love to give this a go but atm the £80 is a little steep for me :(
As a "reluctant pensioner" <sigh> now, I can but hope for better things for you! Video imaging can be something of an (unreported) "revelation" to many of us though... ;)

Thanks OP for (More effectively! LOL) capturing the wider interest. While understanding the division of sub-forums on SGL, it would be nice to think that us... "video astronomers" could keep collectively informed of specific techniques / achievements. :)

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It works.

I have done a similar thing using a very cheap mini 'spy' camera for about £25 and an EZcap video capture dongle £18 into a laptop. The spy camera fits easily into a 35mm film case with the little lens removed by unscrewing it first. Drill a hole in the bottom of the case and then screw or stick the camera on. The camera even has a couple of screws in exactly the right place to do this.

This then slots into the 1 inch eyepiece of my static Dob and with the Arcsoft showbiz software that comes with the dongle will give a video image on screen that can be used to focus and then capture frames at 50/second. It only has a small field of view but can be lined up to record as the image moves across the frame for about 10 seconds. Haven't bothered connecting this to a TV monitor when on the scope, but it wil work that way to give a live image.

The resulting avi file is used by RegiStax.

The key idea is that it takes successive images very quickly (20nS each) so you get masses of them to stack, and even though the target sweeps across the picture Registax can deal with it.

Been a while since I messed around with it but it does work. I have achieved images of the Orion nebula that show the nebula well and some really good images of the moon - although the field of view shows about an eighth of the face.

It works. My reason for trying was that I believed there was another method to modifying webcams and all the hassle with changing electronics. This option works without any mods at all.

However I cannot vouch for the quality - never having seen webcam versions. The camera I use is quite basic, without all the extra features suggested in the Samsung. So that would be my next step. There was also a similar concept described in Astronomy Now a few months ago that involved a similar security camera which was improved by removing an IR (or other) filter.

Also, the back of the camera and the insides can be exposed when in use, so can be cooled to cut down noise - and could even be sprayed with freezer spray if you realy want to go to town.

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