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web cam help

northwalesparry

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northwalesparry

northwalesparry

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Ive read a few post here about using a web cam with your scope , but i would like some advice please. What sort of web cam do i need (some posts say that they only payed £5 for one). what do i need to do to the web cam , how do i fix it to my scope, how do i focus with it, how do i capture images and finally do i need to download any software. Sorry for the stupid questions still a newbie. thanks Phil

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nephilim

nephilim

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I bought a £5 X-Box cam, u need to look at this thread to do the modifiying ( DONT take the IR filter off tho) then u need to download this http://www.sharpcap.co.uk/ to capture the image and this http://www.astronomie.be/registax/ to stack the avi's. to use the webcam u need to put it in the focuser and it'll act like a 5-6mm EP, find your object,say jupiter with an EP first then remove & replace with the cam. open sharpcap on the laptop & the view ur cam is seeing will be on the screen. You need to adjust all the settings to get a good image. Msg me if you need any help, it can be a bit tricky & I got alot of good advice from here. Btw focus as u would with an EP. :smiley:

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northwalesparry

northwalesparry

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I bought a £5 X-Box cam, u need to look at this thread http://stargazerslou...ms#entry1670585 to do the modifiying ( DONT take the IR filter off tho) then u need to download this http://www.sharpcap.co.uk/ to capture the image and this http://www.astronomie.be/registax/ to stack the avi's. to use the webcam u need to put it in the focuser and it'll act like a 5-6mm EP, find your object,say jupiter with an EP first then remove & replace with the cam. open sharpcap on the laptop & the view ur cam is seeing will be on the screen. You need to adjust all the settings to get a good image. Msg me if you need any help, it can be a bit tricky & I got alot of good advice from here. Btw focus as u would with an EP. :smiley:

Thank you mate i will do some homework.

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chrisfellows

chrisfellows

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I bought a £5 X-Box cam, u need to look at this thread http://stargazerslou...ms#entry1670585 to do the modifiying ( DONT take the IR filter off tho) then u need to download this http://www.sharpcap.co.uk/ to capture the image and this http://www.astronomie.be/registax/ to stack the avi's. to use the webcam u need to put it in the focuser and it'll act like a 5-6mm EP, find your object,say jupiter with an EP first then remove & replace with the cam. open sharpcap on the laptop & the view ur cam is seeing will be on the screen. You need to adjust all the settings to get a good image. Msg me if you need any help, it can be a bit tricky & I got alot of good advice from here. Btw focus as u would with an EP. :smiley:

Hey nephilim is wxastrocapture just the same as sharpcap? Im just asking as i currently have wxastrocapture and am hoping to start with my xbox cam in a couple of weeks.

Sorry Phil for asking a question in your thread :grin:

Great advice you've been given though....thats the thread i used for my xbox cam (haven't had chance to use it yet though :confused: )

Chris

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nephilim

nephilim

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Ahh I've just done some research and there was a thread on here asking my exact question.....the answer being SharpCap as the champion!!!

So....I'm going to uninstall wxastrocapture and download SharpCap.

Again, good luck modding :grin:

Chris

Hi, ive not used wxastrcapture, I chose Sharpcap as I heard it was the best & works for me. :smiley:
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nephilim

nephilim

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just ordered a xbox cam £3.69 delivered, not a great loss if i balls it up lol.

These are the Sharpcap setings I used for jupiter the other night, u can put them in & save them, then once u have ur cam in the focuser u just load the settings in & tweak as needed. [Video Camera ]

Resolution=640x480

Frame Rate (fps)=25.00

Colour Space / Compression=YUY2

Exposure=-7

Brightness=161

Contrast=72

Hue=16

Saturation=67

Sharpness=67

Gamma=187

WhiteBalance=3566

BacklightCompensation=0

Gain=112

Those settings gave me this image

Capture 12_9_2012 7_44_02 PM.bmp

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nephilim

nephilim

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These are the Sharpcap setings I used for jupiter the other night, u can put them in & save them, then once u have ur cam in the focuser u just load the settings in & tweak as needed. [Video Camera ]

Resolution=640x480

Frame Rate (fps)=25.00

Colour Space / Compression=YUY2

Exposure=-7

Brightness=161

Contrast=72

Hue=16

Saturation=67

Sharpness=67

Gamma=187

WhiteBalance=3566

BacklightCompensation=0

Gain=112

Those settings gave me this image

I forgot to say, for that image I used a 2xbarlow with the cam, i'm getting a 3x after xmas, apparently pushing ur scope's magnification when using a webcam is fine so u can take it past the recommended 260x max. Dont ask me why as I havnt a clue. :laugh:
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chrisfellows

chrisfellows

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Well I've had a look at sharpcap now and it does seem slightly easier to use I think but very similar indeed. Seems easy enough to use but we shall see when I finally get chance to use it after Christmas. They won't be amazing images with my 1145P but images nevertheless!

Thanks for getting back to me anyway :smiley:

Chris

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chrisfellows

chrisfellows

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SharpCap and wxAstroCapture are very similar. I found SharpCap slightly more intuitive so stuck with that. Which reminds me, I was going to email the author a feature request...

James

Would you car to share this feature your requesting?

I think I'm going to have to invest in some filters after Christmas as the area I live in has high LP and its only getting worse with a huge new car park being placed in close proximity to the back of my house! Not happy! ( although I did intend to get some filters and maybe EP's) I shall have to see what Santa brings haha.

Chris

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JamesF

JamesF

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Would you car to share this feature your requesting?

Well, now I have my mount aligned fairly well I tend to take sequences of captures. For instance, with Jupiter I might set it up to do five or more capture runs of three minutes each after which I'll check the focus and do another until cold or tiredness makes me give up. During the time it's capturing I quite often wander away from the laptop to use the bins or another scope and if I come back I can't immediately tell how far it has progressed through the capture run, so some sort of display of how far through the sequence you are would be quite handy.

James

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chrisfellows

chrisfellows

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I see what you mean....a bit like a progress bar or something along those lines. Sounds like a good idea to me, and something that I would think wouldn't be such a hard thing to put into the software (not knowing much about software and programme design :tongue: ). Good idea though!

Hope they can add the feature in for you, good luck!

Chris

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nephilim

nephilim

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Well, now I have my mount aligned fairly well I tend to take sequences of captures. For instance, with Jupiter I might set it up to do five or more capture runs of three minutes each after which I'll check the focus and do another until cold or tiredness makes me give up. During the time it's capturing I quite often wander away from the laptop to use the bins or another scope and if I come back I can't immediately tell how far it has progressed through the capture run, so some sort of display of how far through the sequence you are would be quite handy.

James

When I use Sharpcap, there's a frames left countdown box at the bootom right of my screen, or did u mean actual time left?
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nephilim

nephilim

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Wow thanks for the info! I get a x2 Barlow with my 1145P that I'm getting for Christmas so there's a bonus.

thanks again for the settings, I'll definitely use those as a starting point and see how it goes.

Cheers me dears!

Chris

You'll be very suprised with the size & quality of the image, even with a smaller scope, much bigger than you'll see thru the EP. :smiley:
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JamesF

JamesF

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When I use Sharpcap, there's a frames left countdown box at the bootom right of my screen, or did u mean actual time left?

That's only the frames in the current capture as far as I recall, not how far through the sequence of captures you are.

James

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chrisfellows

chrisfellows

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Great to hear, i look forward to giving it a whirl! Its torture having my new scope in the cupboard just waiting to be opened :BangHead: ARGH!!!

I've used an Astral 100 for the past 4 years with some success (even with its 60mm aperture), so i'm hoping there will be a noticeable difference.

Only 10 days! :icon_santa::icon_rendeer:

Chris

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