DSO imaging with an LX-modded SPC900

[JamesF]

I'm going to have a play with my LX-modded SPC tonight. Am I right in assuming that SharpCap is still the tool for the job? Any hints on configuration etc. as regards output file format and so on? I'm a complete n00b as far as this is concerned and I don't see any obvious "idiots guide to DSO imaging with a webcam" type stickies in the imaging section, so all and any advice (save perhaps "don't do it!" will be gratefully received.

James

[The Sailor]

Same boat as you James, have had a look at the cam using Sharpcap but have not got a clue as to where to start, what to use, hopefully someone will come along soon .

Jim

[username]

Would this help??

[themos]

You might find this of interest

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/104220-measured-gain-of-spc900nc/

[JamesF]

Thank you both. I shall have a look at them shortly.

James

[Rihard]

I'm going to have a play with my LX-modded SPC tonight. Am I right in assuming that SharpCap is still the tool for the job? Any hints on configuration etc. as regards output file format and so on? I'm a complete n00b as far as this is concerned and I don't see any obvious "idiots guide to DSO imaging with a webcam" type stickies in the imaging section, so all and any advice (save perhaps "don't do it!" will be gratefully received.

James

I might not be the most indicated person to give tips on this as I haven't properly tried the SPC900NC at all (sky still looks disgusting at the moment -.- )

The only thing I can recall, you might find it a silly tip but it might get overlooked - is that Sharpcap has a menu where you will have to select your camera:

make sure to select the driver with the LX thing in the name otherwise it won't activate the serial commands and won't trigger the long exposure

and then... just set long exposure in the appropriate place and Snap!

I'm really interested to see some results as this LX mod seems to be kinda popular but I've never seen any worth results!

Would be lovely if you could catch Andromeda or M42 that I've read somewhere is coming back early in the morning?

Good Luck and looking forward to see how you get on with it

[The Sailor]

Thanks

Jim

[JamesF]

You really can't expect the same standard of results as you'd get with a "proper" camera, TziuRiky. It is, when all said and done, a webcam with a small sensor. Mostly I want to do it for a bit of fun. My intention is to use the camera as a guide camera eventually rather than an imaging camera (at least when it comes to DSO imaging), but as I'm going to be playing with it to check out the mod for the first time, I might as well do something interesting with it

James

[Rihard]

You really can't expect the same standard of results as you'd get with a "proper" camera, TziuRiky. It is, when all said and done, a webcam with a small sensor. Mostly I want to do it for a bit of fun. My intention is to use the camera as a guide camera eventually rather than an imaging camera (at least when it comes to DSO imaging), but as I'm going to be playing with it to check out the mod for the first time, I might as well do something interesting with it

James

Sure it won't give stunning results as proper cameras, but so far I almost haven't seen any results.

I think I've seen only seen a (decent) Ring Nebula taken with it.

So if people are doing this mod, it might give some kind of result, at least "for the record" (maybe poor but still...)

so I'm curious to see more people's experiences with it

Clear Skies

[themos]

The wizard of LX-modded webcams must be Rolf Olsen http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/astro_photography

[JamesF]

Sure it won't give stunning results as proper cameras, but so far I almost haven't seen any results.

I think I've seen only seen a (decent) Ring Nebula taken with it.

So if people are doing this mod, it might give some kind of result, at least "for the record" (maybe poor but still...)

so I'm curious to see more people's experiences with it

I've posted the first of my images here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/156974-my-first-ever-dso-images/

James

[Robertt]

Hi All

Not sure if Im in the right place I have a SPC900modded by Astronomiser  for BW LX  I have replaced the nose piece with the original lens and put it on a tripod outside I could quite clearly see the constellations and about down to Mag 6 when having the shutter open for 5/10 seconds but when I pointed the cam at M31 Nothing even with the shutter open for 30+seconds also Im using an old laptop with a printer port and at the moment WxCapture  Sharp cap I cannot get to work because I cant find the data settings when I try to set up LX mode parallel nothing seems to work so help in this would great. 

[JamesF]

Not something I've tried myself, but perhaps it's because the lens just doesn't have the aperture to pick up enough light from a  target as diffuse as M31, or needs much longer exposures.  Can you pick out stars from the Andromeda constellation in the same frame?

James

[Robertt]

Many thanks for the reply James.

Yes quite cleary I believe M31 is about half a degree and Mag 3.5 and Ive had the shutter open for 30 seconds just to see how much was visible and the view was full of stars but no nebula could the cam being B/W affect the imaging I wonder? Also as you have said the galaxy is very diffuse but sureley I should be able to pick out the bright center as a unfocussed star,

 as to the problem with the imaging software solved by using an older version and setting the data settings at Data one

Robert

[JamesF]

Do you have a sample image (or stacked image) to post as an example?

James

[Robertt]

Never done it before but I will try