Philips SPC880 astro photography

[Jandy100]

I have read around that using Philips SPC 880 webcam is good beginner place for astro photography. Not sure if this is true or not.

However, having scanned around it would appear to be a relatively inexpensive way to try it before investing more monies.

If I understand correctly to use on my Evostar 120, I would need Philips SPC 880 web cam, Philips SPC880 1.25 inch webcam adapter, and will need to flash firmware to SPC900.

This where I need the help & guidance.... Have I listed all the equipment that will be needed, and how would i use the equipment?

I am a novice in this part so need as much help & advice that is possible....

Thanks

Andy, Milton Keynes

[Cornelius Varley]

The best place to start is to read this primer http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/40665-primer-planetary-imaging-toucam.html

Peter

[damp owl]

Andy,

You can pick up the SPC880 bundle from Morgan Computers for a very small cost. I have just ordered on, and waiting for it to be delivered. Sharpcap apparently is good software to control the camera - free download.

There's a picture taken with the SPC here http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/164021-peoples-jupiter-pics-18th-nov-2011-a.html which looks very impressive.

From one newbie SPC880 user, will be interested to see how you get on to compare notes!

Adam.

[Budgie]

Here's the link to the pre-flashed SPC880 kit with adaptor and filter from Morgan Computers.

Sharpcap is one piece of software that you can use to capture the video images, there's also wxAstroCapture and my preference, FireCapture.

Then you need something to stack the images and for this there's RegiStax.

Like everything else, there's a learning curve but follow some of the tutorials on here and soon gets easier.

I finished the attached this morning after running the stacking process a second time and got a little more details out of the image.

This is two images, one with the webcam settings so that I got the moons and Jupiter was just a white-out. The second was set to capture the detail on Jupiter. I then put both into Photoshop and replaced the white Jupiter with the detailed version.

[fbassett]

Hi Andy Just a quick word of warning about ordering from Morgan computers, it can take a while. See this thread - http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/163458-morgan-computers-philips-web-cam.html

[Jandy100]

Many thanks everyone for your advice and replies.

Andy, Milton Keynes