Xbox Livecam Mod (Cliff)

[autonm]

any tips of getting the front case off?

just wondering if through the 49 pages - theres any tips on this.

Im trying a flathead - 1.4mm up to 3.0mm screwdriver.... at this rate i'll have to chip away at the plastic to break any side clips.

thanks.

[Stargazing_Cliff]

any tips of getting the front case off?

just wondering if through the 49 pages - theres any tips on this.

Im trying a flathead - 1.4mm up to 3.0mm screwdriver.... at this rate i'll have to chip away at the plastic to break any side clips.

thanks.

Yes just use small flat head and gently slide it along edges and it soon come open.

[autonm]

hi guys...

xbox webcam converted etc etc.... night sky is 100% clear to me at the minute - and andromeda galaxy is looking like a grey smudge to me via my 200p Dob with my regular EP.

However when I hook up the webcam - i can see 'zip all'

Any tips for settings, focus, how far / close to sit the camera? - basically not getting anything at all. I know it may be a little tricky but any help - to sto pme kicking the webcam into next doors garden would be great

[Aenima]

hi guys...

xbox webcam converted etc etc.... night sky is 100% clear to me at the minute - and andromeda galaxy is looking like a grey smudge to me via my 200p Dob with my regular EP.

However when I hook up the webcam - i can see 'zip all'

Any tips for settings, focus, how far / close to sit the camera? - basically not getting anything at all. I know it may be a little tricky but any help - to sto pme kicking the webcam into next doors garden would be great

Hi autonm,

Sorry to say the webcam isn't really the type of camera for the faint objects, it sucks I know but you'd need something like a DSLR with longer exposure times for that stuff.

But try it on jupiter or the Moon and it'll give you better shots.

Regards

Aenima

ps. sorry I didnt actually ask if you were trying to aim for andromeda galaxy or not. The cam should slot into the ep and come to focus ok without having to use extra long tubes etc. it would need to be up on gain to find a planet - using a well aligned finderscope helps locate stuff. When you get the planet or moon on screen, its not easy but you'll get the hang of it - turn the gain back down so the object looks normal onscreen once you have found it.

HTH

[Apostate]

Hey guys

I'm having some trouble getting a decent image with the xbox cam.. It's either completely blown out (overexposed) or black and white and I'm not able to introduce and colour without serious noise issues.. - what settings are you using? What about you Aenima - some of your xbox cam shots are really good..

[Aenima]

Hey guys

I'm having some trouble getting a decent image with the xbox cam.. It's either completely blown out (overexposed) or black and white and I'm not able to introduce and colour without serious noise issues.. - what settings are you using? What about you Aenima - some of your xbox cam shots are really good..

Thanks Apostate,

Though be sure you check whether my shots are from the xbox or not, as I have been using a philips spc900 for imaging jupiter as well.

Apart from much time spent on the focus, I usually up the gain to find the object, then bring it right back down. The exposure up until the setting just before it goes too far, with very low gain the exp setting should go approx three quarters up the slider but not too far that it goes red or overexposes, there should be a balance with getting gain as low as you can before it actually makes the image dissappear. And exposure near, or at the highest it will go before blowing out the bright parts of the image, as well as the number not going red (the setting number turns red at a certain point) - brightness and contrast are pretty normal, not too bright. With colour, I find its never gonna be normal - with xbox - but there are a few things that may help.

Gamma can be very slightly tweaked a little higher than 'normal' default setting. And a little more with Saturation - it can be upped a little, though might need to compensate on the gain/exposure or brightness to allow for the increases in Saturation/gamma (not too much gamma, though, as I dont really know what it does or why/if it helps) I noticed jupiter has a tendency to go blue with the bands sometimes going brown especially if you tweak too much so try to keep it limited but without actually losing all the colour.

Next time I get clear night I'll check to see where the settings are and write down the numbers for you.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Aenima

EDIT: dont worry too much about grainy noise as this is easier to fix than not capturing enough data to begin with. Registax is good at removing noise.

[Stargazing_Cliff]

Hey guys

I'm having some trouble getting a decent image with the xbox cam.. It's either completely blown out (overexposed) or black and white and I'm not able to introduce and colour without serious noise issues.. - what settings are you using? What about you Aenima - some of your xbox cam shots are really good..

What i usually do with any cam attached to telescope is align the cam with your spotting scope viewer.

like by looking at lamp post thats close by get lamp post on screen and then move spotting scope so it's aligned. maybe thats whats up.

[Aenima]

Hey there Cliff,

Thats a good point, if your well aligned you can spend more time on how it looks rather than keeping it in frame.

Congrats on the sky at night pic, as well mate. I'll check it out when I go town next.

Aenima

[Apostate]

Thanks Aenima

I spent an hour messing with the exposure and gain in sharp cap trying to get something that looked decent.. but I'm afraid it could only be described a a "Fail".

I had similar trouble last weekend but put it down to having removed the IR filter so I modded another cam this week and tried again - and it was worse this week I'm afraid.. I must be going awry somewhere..

I'd be grateful if you could let me know what settings you have been using.. I know they'll vary from night to night, scope to scope, but a baseline to start from would be good. TVM

Thanks Cliff.. but I'd just been doing some subs of M31 and had my mount pretty well aligned.. I just clicked on Jupiter and, lo, she appeared.. No worries.. Ok she was not a majestic galleon of the heavens swathed in subtle shades... More a eye-aching ball of wildly uncontrolled overexposure.. But she was there and there she stayed. Finding? Niet problemski. Tracking? Sorted.. Imaging? Umm..

Cheers chaps..

Whats all this about TSAT, Cliff?

[Aenima]

Unfortunately the colour can be difficult with the xbox cam, as I said its a fine balance teetering on the verge of B/W - I always struggled to tweak some colour out of planets using it.

I found the images quite good and learned a few things about planetary imaging using the xbox-livecam, it was a good first time mod, but you have to keep in mind the price of the CCD dedicated cams or modded philips compared to the five or so quid the xbox costs - its yet another typical case of paying for the extra quality and extra details....

If you really want to get into imaging planets its unavoidable that the more expensive cams will be the commonly suggested solution.

Soz.

Regards

Aenima

[Apostate]

I'm actually more into the fuzzies.. but it would be nice to be able to do both.. and, yeah, I'm expecting quite a bit from a 50p purchase, but I'm still hopeful of some good shots.. I should buy a neximage or the ubiquitous SCP900NC but I really like the idea of the less trodden path.. My best image of Jupiter so far has been using my DSLR in video mode through a Baader Hyperion.. perhaps I ought to give the DSLR a bash though a 2" barlow.

But - trust me - I will get a decent image through my Xbox cam.. Oh yes.

[Aenima]

Hehe, yes. Determination will get you a long way, though its often a shame that it doesn't buy your equipment too.

Thats a great attitude and, from what I gather, a necassary one.

Truth is with the mount you have, half the battle should be behind you, those things are strong and stable - although it probably wont mean the other half will be easy.

I have seen excellent planetary shots from a dSLR In movie mode, its not a bad idea to try the barlow - I'm not sure but I believe the chips in webcams give a bigger image (a 5mm EP equivalent) than DSLR maybe its the size of the chips, but its definitely worth a go, I'm assuming the stacking and processing will be the same.

I only got hold of a dslr body a week or so back, but from seeing other peoples results they're just as good as a webcam for planets. Give it a shot.

Regards

Aenima

[Gina]

That's interesting I may have another go at planetary imaging - previous attempts have been dire. Mind you, the scope I've got is for DSOs and not very suitable for planets - only 600mm focal length. I've got Barlows though.

[Aenima]

Gina,

If you mean planets with a DSLR, you should check out some pics in Atlas's Gallery - mainly Jupiter - that he has taken with a canon in movie mode. I was well impressed.

Credited to Atlas.

This definitely seems worth a try.

All the best

Aenima

[Gina]

Yes, I meant planets with DSLR I'll check out Atlas's Gallery.

[Apostate]

Cheers Aenima..

Now that's a nice photo - well done that dude..

Yeah - I'm pretty sure the size of the chip in a dslr is a disadvantage for planets.. without any kind of lens between you and the mirror the image is tiny. I think eyepiece projection is the way to go, but a faff? Hell yeah. It explains why I have lots of anonymous black rings in my kit.. Getting focus can prove interesting..

Which is why I was exploring the webcam route..

As for the mount - it's new(ish).. secondhand.. and I was a bit worried that I'd bought a lemon, but it transpired that the fault was between my ears. Now I just need more cloud free darkness..

..and from what I gather, Gina, your refractor will have the benefit of contrast and colour correction (over an achromat - not us real apo reflectors) and you should deffo give the planets a go.. It's nice to rewire your brain and give something superfiicially similar but actually a bit different a bash..

Back to the Xbox cam - IR filter or no IR filter?

[Aenima]

Back to the Xbox cam - IR filter or no IR filter?

Yes to IR block - but better to take out the stock one from the cam, and replace it with a quality screw-on type onto the spc-nosepiece adapter which slots into the focuser.

Though if your projecting through an EP then yes to leaving the IR filter in, and using the original lens actually gives good sharp images when its screwed right in so the focus point is milimetres from the lens - when focused like this you can see fingerprint detail and its really quite interesting to see what else you might be able to capture that way....if you get the focus right it'd be good to see what you get -- in fact I had wanted to do it with a 25mm cos of its wide fov. in order to get a picture of pleiades - but gave up due to lack of proper length tubing and various other hassles.

Still might be possible, the webcam as it is wont pick up stars or anything faint, but through an eyepiece with the lens in it might pick more up.

Best of luck

Regards

Aenima

[Apostate]

Sounds like a plan.. It's a shame that the Hyperion I have connects directly to the camera - means there is no way I can think of to fit the webcam nosepiece to it.... But, yeah - I never thought of e.p. projection with a webcam.. I'll give it a go..

I'll experiment with some of my kit and see if I can get anything worth posting..

[Aenima]

Yeah, compared to a dslr direct or afocal or a decent webcam, the idea of ep projection with the xbox cam seems slightly strange. But with your rings and tubes and stuff, you might be able pull it off. I thought of it before I got the canon body, as a way of getting a brighter wider fov from a webcam - even through a 50mm finderscope/refractor - but now into trying the canon out. Been wanting to do that since first got my scope a year back.

Still, its worth a go if for no other reason than doing something different.....

Aenima

[Aenima]

[Video Camera ]

Resolution=640x480

Frame Rate (fps)=10.00

Colour Space / Compression=YUY2

Exposure=-7

Brightness=117

Contrast=52

Hue=3

Saturation=77

Sharpness=110

Gamma=191

WhiteBalance=5091

BacklightCompensation=0

Gain=18

I'd be grateful if you could let me know what settings you have been using.. I know they'll vary from night to night, scope to scope, but a baseline to start from would be good. TVM

I have not had anything like a clear sky for ages now so I came across these, remember though that the settings here are from a capture that has been a) deleted and likely to have been unsuccesful in the final image, colour wise.

So i'm just pre-warning you that they are an approximation of the settings, rather than the 'correct' ones. Don't worry though, I will still go ahead with capturing new avi's of jupiter when skies clear up here.

Regards

Aenima

[Boyleyuk]

I've just ordered all the bits I need to build this.... Many thanks for your guide its most helpful

[Stargazing_Cliff]

I've just ordered all the bits I need to build this.... Many thanks for your guide its most helpful

Middlesbrough cool where you from i'm from park end area boro

[Apostate]

Thank you very much for the settings, Aenima.. I shall put them to good use this weekend, provided the clouds stay away..

I've also picked up another Xbox cam (because I was walking past the shop and thought I'll just have a look..) and, having tested it, the image quality on this one seems better than my first.. I think what I will do is use it unmodified for eyepiece projection first time out and see how it goes..

Again - thank you very much - you're a gentleman, sir..

[Stargazing_Cliff]

Microsoft livecam vx-2000's are in morrisons for cheap i just got one for 6.98p

worth getting for that price so picked on up and i shall mod it.

will see what they like later on.

[heathenwoods]

This is a dodgy Jupiter from the wee hours of this morning - not very good but (a) seeing was terrible ( b focus was difficult (wine's fault), I somehow forget about my barlow (wine again) and (d) I was rushing around without really thinking about what I was doing BUT it was with an xbox camera!