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Xbox Livecam Mod (Cliff)

gdheib0430

By gdheib0430
in DIY Astronomer

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Aenima

Aenima

Posted
Posted

Right, I'm sold... especially for £3.69! I'm off to buy myself some test units! Thanks everyone... Quick question, I presume these are completely out for DSO's! I need to start another thread about options there, or possibly just use my Nikon D3100.

Yeeah, no.

DSO's wont be in reach with the webcams, except LX mod philips unfortunately. If you have a dSLR then you need an RA motor on an EQ mount and you'll be away.

Regards

Aenima

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Aenima

Aenima

Posted
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Nothing but cloud, but I keep setting my alarm in the vain hope of some clear sky in the morning so that I can catch Saturn :)

Oh yeah. Saturn is returning briefly, yay! Been waiting for it since first light with the xbox last year. Cheers for the reminder. :)

Regards

Aenima

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nephilim

nephilim

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Waiting for Saturn myself........As for he XBox cam, for the cost of it & the mod itself (I found it very easy considering anything electronic usually outwits me haha) It's a very worthwhile thing to do, they should come as an extra with all EQ mounted scopes as its got me well and truely hooked now. :grin:

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bomberbaz

bomberbaz

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Yeeah, no.

DSO's wont be in reach with the webcams, except LX mod philips unfortunately. If you have a dSLR then you need an RA motor on an EQ mount and you'll be away.

Regards

Aenima

Would you not get a half decent one of some on the larger DSO's such as andromeda or similar. I have an RA motor fitted to my scope so I was gna try. I am not expecting the world of course.

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Aenima

Aenima

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Would you not get a half decent one of some on the larger DSO's such as andromeda or similar. I have an RA motor fitted to my scope so I was gna try. I am not expecting the world of course.

Hehe, you'd easily get the world but andromeda and co will need long exposure, even using the tracking you'd still only get lots of short frames ie at least 5fps, which wont get nearly enough light on the CCD chip.

dSLR's are the usual things or dedicated CCD imagers, even the spc900nc with long exposure mods, but they will set you back over a hundred bucks ready to go - you can mod one yourself if your electrically minded enough.

Sorry, mate. Not the best news, i'm afraid. I too was hoping to find a way to use my webcam to capture the brighter DSO's - believe me if there was a way it'd be already in use by folks on this and other forums and we'd have heard about it.

However, with a little ingenuity and some more determination many things become possible.

This is a great example, though I wouldn't have a clue as to how to go about doing it.

http://stargazerslou...rion-nebulawip/ You may be good at stuff like that, it cant hurt to try. :)

I guess that is how these mods get established, by people finding clever ways around the usual limitations of various equipment.

My tech skill level kinda makes me the sort to jump the bandwagon once a smart person has sussed it out. :huh::grin:

Regards

Aenima

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DarrenG

DarrenG

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My Xbox Livecam arrived this morning along with the EP adapter from Billetparts. Took 10mins to open, kill the LEDS, remove the stand and re-assemble. Have left the iR filter in for now but have a 1.25" one on its way.

Quick test and all working in then daylight, just need some clear skies now to test it properly. But, for £15 all in, I'm delighted!

post-27472-0-85845100-1357566590_thumb.p

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Aenima

Aenima

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My Xbox Livecam arrived this morning along with the EP adapter from Billetparts. Took 10mins to open, kill the LEDS, remove the stand and re-assemble. Have left the iR filter in for now but have a 1.25" one on its way.

Quick test and all working in then daylight, just need some clear skies now to test it properly. But, for £15 all in, I'm delighted!

Excellent, yet another mod well done. :)

Aenima

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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This has given me an idea, could i leave the lens in place but kill the LED`s then fit an adaptor so it fits over an eyepiece to use it A-focal

decided only one way to find out, ordered a cam from ebay £2.99 post free, i will make an adaptor to mount the cam to an EP as i have seen this done before and the results were superb for Luna

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Aenima

Aenima

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I will be having an otehr go next week. New scope arriving and feel confident this will do the job for me with planetary. I shelved the idea of anything other that. DSO's imaging can be left to the big bucks boys...

Baz

Nice one, new scope on the way. :)

Sorry, not sure if you said, but which scope u getting?

Regards

Aenima

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Aenima

Aenima

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sorry, its the Nexstar 8SE. Should be perfect for simple planetary but also great for observing, nice all rounder

Man, yes that will do the trick!

VERY nice scope. You will really get great imaging and observing done with that. :)

8 Inches aperture is a little big when its a newtonian, but stick all that focal length in a schmidt-c and you'll be well away.

Congrats. :)

Regards

Aenima

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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I have modified the xbox camera, leaving the lens in place for A-focal, held it up to a 10mm and 18mm ep in the scope and it works, just need time to make the adaptor that will hold it snug to the eyepiece

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Aenima

Aenima

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I have modified the xbox camera, leaving the lens in place for A-focal, held it up to a 10mm and 18mm ep in the scope and it works, just need time to make the adaptor that will hold it snug to the eyepiece

Thats actually a mod I really would like to see the results of, if you dont mind posting back here after first light? - The lens seems like a good one and coupled to an ep there's - I believe - slightly more light, this made me think it would have a chance at capturing a star cluster (if it was a bright one), but never got round to trying it out...

I might be rather over optimistic with that idea but still interested in what happens.

If thats ok ?

Best luck

Regards

Aenima

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Aenima

Aenima

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Is there a similar thread to this one for the Phillips SPC900nc? I've had a good hunt, but can only really find one for the LX mod and I'm only really interested in planetary imaging.

Good point.

Being a better imaging cam by far, theres little about modding the spc900 - its obviously due to being 100 times harder to get hold of, mostly sold for stupid prices by sellers on ebay getting carried away by the demand, and forgeting its really still just a webcam, ( I saw a reserve for £150! not even modded for astro....) but the xbox thread is huge in comparison - maybe someone who knows how can stick a how-to somewhere, though i'd guess its no more difficult than the xbox, just less chance of finding one to mod.

They should remake them.

However, the minute they realised its potential to make a little extra money, the chip was likely cloned and stuck in a 200 quid dedicated imaging cam and newer philips webcams fitted with a less desirable sensor.

OK soz, rant over... :p

Apologies

Aenima

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Aenima

Aenima

Posted
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oops, maybe I have kinda strayed off topic :)

The thread has got quite big, but it was huge before I got here - but its a great place to discuss stuff without creating a new thread for every subject. :)

Oh well, glad its still going really, wouldnt know where else to chat hehe....(off to bed anyways. take care, nitenite)

Aenima

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Stargazing_Cliff

Stargazing_Cliff

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Do you guys know with xbox cam if u have recorded avi and it's quite noisey image

You can process

AVI TO RAW which will make fits images.

and then use Imageviewca and click process and callibrate

and once callibrated the fits you can then use create avi from fits from the cal directory.

on stretching method i use FIXBW slider black slider white.

and make new avi and you then can process bit more using

registax do more processing with your avi/image or virtual dub to extract images from avi.

works great if you took some pics of planets/ lunar

or even stars.

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inedible_hulk

inedible_hulk

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Good point.

Being a better imaging cam by far, theres little about modding the spc900 - its obviously due to being 100 times harder to get hold of, mostly sold for stupid prices by sellers on ebay getting carried away by the demand, and forgeting its really still just a webcam, ( I saw a reserve for £150! not even modded for astro....) but the xbox thread is huge in comparison - maybe someone who knows how can stick a how-to somewhere, though i'd guess its no more difficult than the xbox, just less chance of finding one to mod.

Spot on! The prices on eBay are really high, most of the ones I've watched or bid on have gone for over £70, which is too much for me. I suppose thats supply and demand for you. I took to watching the SGL classifieds and Astro Buy and Sell. They seem to come up now and again and the prices are much lower c.£40.

I've found a good guide for disassembly here:

http://home.zonnet.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.htm

It seemed a lot easier to disassemble than the Xbox cam.

The led can be removed in the same manner as is done for the Xbox cam. One problem I have found is that the adaptor I used for the Xbox cam hasn't a long enough nosepiece to get past the webcam housing. I've ordered a new one with a longer nose, but if that doesn't work, then I'll have to think about rehousing it.

Sorry if I've gone off thread, but there seems to be a good collection of web cam enthusiasts here, so I thought it would be a good place to ask.

Anyway back to Xbox mods...... :)

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