Camera Upgrade

[JamesF]

It really depends on the camera in question.

With the SPC900 for example, it really is just a question of unscrewing the lens and screwing in the nosepiece. WIth the Xbox Live camera, it's also necessary to cut about 8mm off the end of the lens housing to allow the nosepiece to fit. If you're feeling really adventurous you could get one of the LIfecam Cinema or Lifecam Studio cameras and mod them, but you have to completely disassemble them and rebuild them in a 1.25" housing (I used an old 25mm Skywatcher eyepiece). I'd probably not recommend that for a first attempt though. Stick with ones you don't have to do much modification to for the time being.

James

[Ganymede12]

where can I get an SPC900?

[Stargazer Jack]

where can I get an SPC900?

Most likely eBay but you will be paying at least £100 which is way too much for one :/

[Ganymede12]

So what other recommended webcams will work with the adaptor?

Edit: BigMakStutov has one for sale Here

Would it be worth sending a PM?

[JamesF]

Are the SPC900's still fetching that much? I thought the going rate was much closer to £50 now.

The next easiest to mod is probably the Xbox Live webcam. I think they're only about £5 each.

James

[Ganymede12]

How are good are Xbox live cams optically?

[JamesF]

They're a little bit on the noisy side, but not hideously bad. I further modded mine to fit a small fan on the back, but you know how things have been this year. Unlike the clouds, opportunities for experimenting with kit haven't exactly been raining down on us.

I don't think you'll get anything close to the standard of the SPC900 this side of £100. Probably not this side of £150, to be honest. If you're desperate to get a reasonable quality camera at a relatively affordable price I'd say keep your eye on the classifieds and AB&S for an SPC880 or SPC900. By the looks of it £50 is nearer the mark these days for these cameras, but note that if you get an SPC880 that hasn't already been flashed with the SPC900 firmware then you'll need access to a Windows XP box to do that yourself. There is also the old Neximage camera that comes up occasionally. That's pretty much the SPC900 in a different case specifically design for imaging.

James

[Ganymede12]

So what about that classified I have linked in post #29? Is it worth investigating?

[JamesF]

Missed that earlier, sorry. I'd say that's a fair price, so yes.

James

[Stargazer Jack]

I didn't know they went for around £50 now. That's seems a lot more reasonable compared to what they were.

[Ganymede12]

That deal comes with the adaptor and a filter as well so I've sent a PM expressing my interest in the deal.

[Scott]

i think with the nose piece and a filter thats a very reasonable price

Scott

[Caelus]

For beer money I'd recommend trying a 360 camera. I don't even use a nosepiece; I cut the bottom off a 35mm film tub and glued that to the body of the camera after painting over the LEDs and removing the lens and IR filter. It's not pretty, but for about £3 I have something that last night gave me a recognisable Jupiter.

[nightfisher]

Just to throw another option in the mix, you have an A-focal camera adaptor, you could buy a cheap pentax optio on feebay, for under £30

used and do some half decent A-focal lunar work, here is an example of what can be done

[Ganymede12]

I have done plenty of work with my digital camera and afocal set up but Jupiter is too overexposed so I am hoping that a webcam will do the trick, for all planets.

[Ganymede12]

I'm having trouble finding a Phillips SPC900! My dad doesn't want to buy the second hand one on the classifieds because I wouldn't be able to have a look at it before I buy it.

Does anyone know where I can get a new one from?

[Gina]

You can't - that's why people are charging ridiculous prices for second hand ones!

[JamesF]

Yup, that's about it. It's second hand. or the next cheapest is probably the Modern Astronomy camera based on the same sensor, which is around £100. Sad as it is, I'd bet many that aren't already in the hands of astronomers are in landfill by now

James

[Ganymede12]

With the SPC900, will I have to do anything to get the exposure right?

[JamesF]

Exposure and gain are both configurable in SharpCap, so you'll probably have to do a few runs to get it right for your scope. But that's part of the learning process. Will you be able to sit out with the scope and laptop at home to practice?

James

[Ganymede12]

What do you mean? How would I practice when I haven't got it yet!

[Ant]

Ant, if you have decided that you want to go the planetary / webcam route, then the spc990 is the way to go. They are the best webcam for the price end off.

Second hand is also by far the best way to go, astronomers tend to look after their kit, the cost is going to be much less and if you decide that this is not for you and want to re-invest in a 1100d, you'll be able to sell it for almost as much money as you paid. But buying new you'll lose between a third and a half.

The only way you will find out how to do stuff is really by doing, I regularly get advice from people but it never really sinks in till I've done it myself a few times. Besides every night is different, setting that work one night will be completely wrong the next. Any advice you get in theory form from members here is really only a starting point.

You'll enjoy webcam imaging, it's a great way to get results every time you go out. The data can be captured in a short period of time, and then processed at home in the warm

Talk to your Dad, get him to read this thread and see if you can get him to agree to buying second hand. It really is the most cost effective way to do stuff. I know someone who buys all his kit second hand, has it for a few months uses it and then sells it to have a different scope. He almost never loses money (it does happen but not that often for more then a few quid).

Cheers

Ant

[Ganymede12]

Thanks Ant! My Dad's organising a Paypal account so I can get it! I can't wait to have a go at webcam imaging, though that won't be for many months because I am still saving for an equatorial platform.

[Ant]

You don't need an equatorial platform. It will help of course and it'll make life easier and enable you to get longer avi's. but webcam imaging can be done straight away.

Get the moon in the FOV, remove eyepiece and insert camera. Focus camera. This might take a few minutes of swapping ep/cam as the moon moves across the FOV, but each time the moon will get closer to focus and once focused you all set.

Then you can position the moon in the FOV, set the software to record and the resulting AVI of the moon crossing the FOV will get you something worth stacking. As you get more confident you can start manually tracking while recording, but get the basics sorted first.

Everything in astronomy costs money to acquire, but you can almost always work with what you have to get part of the way to your goal.

For webcam imaging you need, your Dob, a webcam, laptop or pc if you can set it up near the scope, capture software (k3ccd?), stacking software (registax, AVI stack). The software listed above is freeware.

Ant

[Ganymede12]

So I can do webcam imaging of the moon?

My intention is to, one day, get onto imaging the planets. Since The moon doesn't need tracking then what about the Sun? I presume I can film the sun through my Mercury707 just as I would the moon through my dob?