ChrisEdu Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I've been trying to grab some footage of the moon with my SPC900NC but am getting nowhere! I just get a screen of completely indiscernable garbage. What sort of setting should I be using? Where do I start? I also tried with Jupiter and got nowhere.Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelfixer Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 what capture software are you running.I use sharpcap with mine and the results are pretty good.graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 I've tried both SharpCap and Craterlet without any luck. I just can't get anything that resembles what I'm trying to capture. Could part of the problem be down to the focal length of the C11? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaMike Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Hi Chris,When you say you get garbage, what do you mean?Are you getting focus?I have used an f6.3 reducer in my C925 on the Moon, and that gives reasonable results, but was able to capture without it.Are you using anything to reduce the glare, I found I had to use a rotating polarizer at almost full whack to reduce the glare down to a point where I could make anything out. It just burned the image out without it.Capture parameters I used in SharpCap - using the F6.3 and a polarising filter were:-Resolution=640x480Frame Rate (fps)=30.00Colour Space / Compression=YUY2Exposure=-4Brightness=52Contrast=14Saturation=-60Gamma=21ColorEnable=255BacklightCompensation=0Gain=15May be worth a try? Let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PH-R Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Hi,Make sure your main scope and finder scope are properly aligned. This will make sure you have part of the moon in the FOV when your cam is attached. Try these settings: Shutter speed 1/2500 or 1/5000 and gain almost all the way to the left, roughly an inch in from the right. Those are roughly the settings I used the other night to test my kit.Best wishes,PH-REdit: Frame rate was set to 5 or 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 In terms of garbage, what I mean is that the image was either too bright or too dark, never just right and, when I tried Jupiter I was unable to get focus, despite it looking pin sharp in the EP. I also noticed that Jupiter, well the unfocussed blob on the screen did appear rather large. For the moon I had a moon filter fitted.My guess is I need to get a focus mask and focal reducer.Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 You don't need a focus mask or reducer. The problem is that with a big scope and long focal length, the seeing needs to be excellent to get good results. I had the same on Tuesday night, the moon looked great in the EP but the data I captured looked anything but. You can get a IR pass filter which can help with the effects of the seeing but I'n not sure how effective it is on colour cameras. IMO, what you need to ensure is that the scope is well collimated, cooled to ambient temperature and be patient. Seeing changes over the night so what may seem bad early in the night may improve later. Tony.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdstuart Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Point the scope at the pole star...It does not move..then use it to get as small a dot as you can..You might need the gain up to pick it up..Thats what I did and then moved to the moon or Jupiter after that..Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 You don't need a focus mask or reducer. The problem is that with a big scope and long focal length, the seeing needs to be excellent to get good results. I had the same on Tuesday night, the moon looked great in the EP but the data I captured looked anything but. You can get a IR pass filter which can help with the effects of the seeing but I'n not sure how effective it is on colour cameras. IMO, what you need to ensure is that the scope is well collimated, cooled to ambient temperature and be patient. Seeing changes over the night so what may seem bad early in the night may improve later. Tony..The camera has an IR/UV filter fitted, scope seems to be collimated fine and was certainly down to ambient temperature having been outside several hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd8137 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 wild stuff for the last few nights the moon as been soooooo bright i got some good video and some pics ,13 sept 2011 pictures by todd8137 - Photobucketstick at it the moon was boiling for me a had to wait till about 02:15 to get some decent video theres no point me tell in you what settings to go with as they change as the night goes on keeep every thing low to start with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 wild stuff for the last few nights the moon as been soooooo bright i got some good video and some pics ,13 sept 2011 pictures by todd8137 - Photobucketstick at it the moon was boiling for me a had to wait till about 02:15 to get some decent video theres no point me tell in you what settings to go with as they change as the night goes on keeep every thing low to start with.What were you using to capture those images? I couldn't get anywhere near to that last night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beamish Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Have to admit looking at Luna last night ( 1st light -another thread coming ) even in a mediocre 25mm 1.25" EP burned my retina scope had been cooling for 2hrs with a Lymax type blower and guess that helped, but never got around to shooting it did ge some data of Joop tho which looks half respectable again -another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaMike Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Nice images Pat,You've got some crisp focus there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd8137 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 What were you using to capture those images? I couldn't get anywhere near to that last night!spc900 and 12" reflector, neodymuim filter, red green and bluefps 25gain- 5gamma 0col/sat in the middlebright/contrast- low i got 10 x 20secand then stacked average of 250 frames then stacked the 10 pics again it took about 2 hours as the drift was not that good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd8137 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Nice images Pat,You've got some crisp focus there.yes things seemed to go well for a change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdstuart Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Todd..So do you mean you took ten videos each 20 secs of approximately the same bit of the moon and then joined these together as one video and stacked them???Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd8137 Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Todd..So do you mean you took ten videos each 20 secs of approximately the same bit of the moon and then joined these together as one video and stacked them???Markyes i do it all the time makes for better pics ,i think any way if i use the 90mm goto frac i can stay on one part of the moon and do about a minutes worth a 10/25 fps 10 or so a them the same give it a go a will try tonight but its looking grim here at the min cloudy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 The camera has an IR/UV filter fitted, scope seems to be collimated fine and was certainly down to ambient temperature having been outside several hours.An IR pass filter does the exact opposite of a IR cut filter, in that it only lets through the IR frequencies as opposed to cutting out the IR and UV frequencies and letting through the visual spectrum. Tony.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 OK - I have tried again tonight and again, complete abject failure! The closest I came to anything resembling the moon was when I held the camera to an eyepiece. This makes me wonder whether focus or focal length is an issue for some reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 Just been having a try on Jupiter and found the problem! I was right, it's the focus! It is miles out from what is in focus for viewing via the EP! Any ideas as to why and what could be done about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippy Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Just been having a try on Jupiter and found the problem! I was right, it's the focus! It is miles out from what is in focus for viewing via the EP! Any ideas as to why and what could be done about it?It normally is!Tony.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 It normally is!Tony..Well, I wish I'd known that before!If that is the case, I presume focus masks would be a complete waste of time with the webcam? So, is the only way to get focus is by trial and error, looking at the computer screen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beamish Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Well, I wish I'd known that before! So, is the only way to get focus is by trial and error, looking at the computer screen?well can't speak for others but you soon remember which way you need to turn the focus knob after moving from an EP to a cam and errr yes -the very best way of accessing focus would be via a screen ??????? The Focus mask would NOT be a waste of time, as you get closer to critical focus the mask would come into it's own and get it nice and sharp-tho TBH it tends to be far useful for DSO imaging rather than planetary.HTHKarlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carastro Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I find the best way to work out focus is by focussing on a distant land object during the day with an eyepiece and then swap to the webcam and see how much you need to alter the focus to get focus with the camera. This will tell you how much further you need to turn the knob and in which direction. It will also tell you whether you need to add an extension piece or barlow to get focus. It's much easier during the day with a stationery object to do this. then at night you can focus with the eyepiece and then you know how much further you need to turn the knob when you put the camera in. I have a buddy who has a C11 and used the same camera so focus should definitely be possible. If you like I could ask him whether he had to add anything. PM me if you want me to do this as I might miss your reply. Getting accurate focus is another issue, I find this tricky as the atmosphere is moving so much. Wish there was a quick fix like there is with a Bahtinov Mask for Deep sky imaging. Carole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisEdu Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 OK - now it's all starting to make sense! Should, in theory at least, the amount of refocus be the same each time, or as near as, when using the same eyepiece? I'm guessing it ought to be, in which case, I might add a couple of marks to my scope to give a rough focus calibtation point.Incidently, last night's 'success' was achieved using the cam on the 4SE (I didn't actually get the C11 out ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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