Phillips SPC 880 questions

[Donkeiller]

Decided I fancied trying some lunar/planetary imaging so took advantage of a special offer and got a Phillips SPC 880, flashed to 900 spec with SPC880 1.25 inch webcam adapter.

Then went on holiday and now back and starting to scratch my head.

From reading various posts/primers/tutorials I know I need to get a 1.25" IR/UV filter (ordered) and take off the front lens- waiting till filter arrives.

Now the questions start.

Downloaded a ZIP file SPC 900 driver that doesn't "unzip" .

So what driver software (ideally free) and compatible with Windows XP is out there?

Is "Registax"OK for processing the images?

What other software will I need?

Sorry if this is basic stuff-all advice gratefully received

[Domis]

Here is a link to Phillips web page for the driver - Philips Support= just download and follow instructions to install.

Sharpcap would probably be the easiest capture program to use. Here is the link. Robin's Astro Pages - SharpCap

Registax is a fine program for aligning and stacking your captures and it has some basic editing and processing functions as well.

For post processing most use Photoshop,there are other freewares such as Gimp and Paint.net which are available on the net. These are more limited but will get you going. Some others here may be able to advise you on better post processing software.

Stellarium is a astronomical program which will help you to locate the objects you seek,also free and available on the net to download.

For most DSO's your cam would have to be modded for long exposures and at that time you would be better off to use Deep Sky Stacker for aligning and stacking,also free on the net.

Hope this helps you to get started.

[JamesF]

I'm surprised it doesn't install the drivers for you. I'm sure it did for me after I'd flashed the camera myself. I think what I did was:

Flash the camera with the SPC900 firmware

Unplug the camera and reboot

Remove any vestiges of the SPC880 config from the device manager

Reboot

Plug in the camera

ISTR that I had problems at one point with the machine still thinking the camera was an 880 even after the firmware update, hence the mucking about with reboots etc.

James