JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I was blessed with nice clear skies last night so took the mak out with the xbox cam and managed this image. Stacked from 60seconds of footage (500frames) I couldnt find saturn on the monitor with the 2x barlow so this was without it. I also managed the ring nebula (visual only) and had a satellite flash past!I think it was just afer 23:00, made me jump!Capture 16_05_2012 22_54_17.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjr Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 That's a very good image. Going to have to try this at some point with my Mak. Which stacking software did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I use sharpcap to capture and registax 6 but to be honest I don't have a clue how to process it properly. I ma enjoying learning though. It took me about half an hour to find saturn on the laptop but I found taking out the star diagnol out and putting the webcam straight in the back helped a lot. Im hoping I can use my barlow with the webcam at some point as the visual images through are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 I need to find a tutorial on how you actually do this, Ive got a Skywatcher 200P, I have a DSLR but obviously planets appear barely visable in it. Are there any tutorials on SGL that anyone knows of, or is this a google job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Hi Matt, if you use the search box on here you can have a look at the xbox webcam mod, that's what I used and I got my xbox cam from gamestaion in scunthorpe town centre for 99p!I may at some point look at upgrading the webcam to a better one but im having fun for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Shame that gamestation has probs closed down now? I wil have a look thanks, question though, do you have to have a laptop out with you as i only have a desk top pc in the bedroom upstairs, and that would be one hell of a long cable to get it outside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Yeah you do but I have broke my new laptop so im using my old 1.5ghz laptop with 1gb of ram and it works really well. Might be worth looking at an old one on ebay maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 We have an old one kicking around that i will try to use, if i start it up when i put the telescope out to cool down it might be ready to go by time i get out there . Are motors needed for planets if you take a lot of short exposure shots and stack them? otherwise i will need to save up for some drives first. Are you in Scunthorpe yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 That's a very good first attempt.Focus looks spot on and there's even a hint of Cassini when zoomed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I had an astromaster 130eq and took a few videos of saturn moving across the eyepiece and managed to get a few decent pics without even moving the scope. It is much better to have auto tracking with a webcam as you can get a lot of video without touching the scope. Yep im a scunny lad so unfortunately when they tip the slag at the steel works the sky is a useless orange glow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenmyers Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Gamestation is not closed. They were bailed out at the last minute.Need me an xbox cam to mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 That's a very good first attempt.Focus looks spot on and there's even a hint of Cassini when zoomed!Thanks Brent, im pleased with especially when you see the low quality original .avi it's from! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Not all the stores were bailed out as the one in Wakefield is closed, but i will go have a look on my dinner and see if i can pick one up, if i struggle to use it ill have to shadow jonny and see how the master does it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TycMozo Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 ...and had a satellite flash past!I think it was just afer 23:00, made me jump!I was viewing Saturn last night and at 23:31 saw a faint light move across my view i was shocked as i had a 10mm and a 2x Barlow so i loaded up Stellarium and wound back time, turned out to be satellite ERBS 1984-108B which is an earth radiation budget measuring satellite launched from space shuttle Challenger on mission six. It's the one which had to be 'shaken' with the robotic arm in order to get the solar array to extend properly.Just thought you might like the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I was viewing Saturn last night and at 23:31 saw a faint light move across my view i was shocked as i had a 10mm and a 2x Barlow so i loaded up Stellarium and wound back time, turned out to be satellite ERBS 1984-108B which is an earth radiation budget measuring satellite launched from space shuttle Challenger on mission six. It's the one which had to be 'shaken' with the robotic arm in order to get the solar array to extend properly.Just thought you might like the info Thanks for the info, it's the first time I have ever seen a satellite through a telescope (moves rather fast!) I didn't realise you could see satellites on stellarium!And trust me I am no master, just very lucky with this one I really have no clue what im doing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucjam Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Just FYI, X Box webcams are all over e bay for around £5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaser6 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 This is my xbox cam, cost less than a tenner all in lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 That looks like a very tidy job on the xbox mod!They are great little cameras for the money. Should of got two really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyK Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Just seen you have a SPC900 how does it compare to the xbox cam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaser6 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 To be fair I haven't had the chance to use it much but on initial trials it's not as good as the SPC but I need to mess with the settings more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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