One step forward, two steps back....

[GazOC]

I've been selling some stuff (astro and non-astro) to fund a decent 2" eyepiece for my Dob, having nearly got to my target what did I do? Yep, I bought a Mintron camera on impulse....

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=13145

Back to the drawing baord.......

[Helen]

It'll be fun though! my watec is

Helen

[SteelRat]

Bit of a bargain there mate. Lookin forward to seein some results 8)

[Doc]

Gaz that sounds like a bargain.

Live TV now thats the way to go.

Can you capture still images onto your PC with this camera?

Mick

[geppetto]

This sounds interesting 8)

[GazOC]

Can you capture still images onto your PC with this camera?

Hi Mick,

You need either a video capture card for a desktop or a USB capture dongle for a laptop. I bought the latter off Ebay last night for £15 delivered, so I should be able to stack multiple images.

[Cloudgazer]

Looks interesting Gaz.. whats the intended target planets or DSO's?

Scott

[GazOC]

Just the trickier DSOs I reckon.....

[Cloudgazer]

Will it show live TV images of things like globs in greater detail than you would normally see through an eyepiece?

[GazOC]

Helen would have a better idea than me but I'd guess it would be better at showing extended, faint nebulosity and galaxies rather than in small, bright objects like globs.

[Helen]

Yes, it shows more detail all round. Basically you can set the watec to stack between 1 and 256 frames (equivalent to max 10.24 sec exposure) and then show this on screen. You can adjust gain etc as well. I like looking at clusters where you can start with a short stack and then up the length and watch more and more stars appear - its good fun! Its also great for DSOs eg crab nebula big and clear, ring nebula with central star, only seen Orion once, but filled the screen and was WOW. And then you can capture, stack and process. As a bonus, focusing is easy because it can be set to real-time, and its good for collimation too..

Helen

[Cloudgazer]

Thanks Helen, Think I'll have to give one of these cameras a try at some point if they'll help me see more from my badly light polluted skies.

Scott

[GazOC]

My new toy just arrived!! Blame me for the 2 weeks of clouds in the North West that we're bound to get.....