Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

modded video camera

shirva

By shirva
in EEVA - Reports

Recommended Posts

shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Be good if I could get it focussing right just bought a 0.6 focal reducer from the bay....need a right good night to play around wae it and get some images. ..prob gonna need a bit of help just to get over the hill a bit...got a wireless av reciever/transmitter kit for it to go wireless hopefully. ...will just be a velcro job attaching to side of camera posy and neg off camera and connect reciever to

video grabber powered from 12v adapter. .Davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 171
  • Created
  • Last Reply
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Wireless stage of mod is feasible I got 2.4 ghz wireless car camera kit and bench tested it an I produced a picture on my monitor after couple of minutes screen went blank the transmitter was cool but reciever was hot let it cool ...tested kit hard wired and its ok....looks like kit cheap junk 14 pounds worse off .....maplins do a kit that looks better and for cctv so saving pennies for that one...the wireless to a monitor will be feasible and will be an asset when resolved....eventually the scope ..mount...camera will be a self contained unit ideal for star camps ect.....focusser will be modded to a remote controlled 4x4 winch key fob control. Mount will be controlled by eqtooth mod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

still waiting on decent weather to test ,,bought a focal reducer to fit to a skywatcher barlow (lens removed) that fits to my camera c mount to t mount adapter more options the better when comes to the testing....can see this being a long waiting game with the weather...davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi Carl ...weather here goes from bad to worse not getting a chance to test yet...I can remove power feed from the fan easy enough as you have prob seen just took power from camera. ..I haven't the foggiest if it will work better with mod American chap done a more radical approach and looks a bit rougher than mine..its a ten pound mod mine if it worse better great...the specs I gathered trawling the web is that if you decrease camera temp by 6 percent it ruduces noise my half...the operating temp of camera is -10 to +50 I estimate it would be around 15 to 20 temp running long term viewing ...the heatsink inside case is about 10 mm away from main board hot air rises and hot is attracted to cold if I remember correct. ...so it will make a diff. ...could put another set up on the side fan working on reverse to make heatsink into a cold finger type cooler and would work as well don't want to introduce thermal shock to circuits.......I wonder how the circuits in an attik camera can take being cooled to -30.. Davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Carl Reade

Carl Reade

Posted
Posted

Ahh thanks I was wondering where the heatsink was! lol. What I was getting at in the last post was you could in therory take a dark shot as in have the camera on for say 10 mins with a lens cover on and see what the amp glow is then turn the fan on for a similar time with the cover on and look at the two dark shots, say a minute of each to see if there is a difference. You've got me thinking of ideas now. Heres one If the fan was suckig air from the cam if there were holes at the bottom of the casing with say a peice of hoover air filter material. This would stop any possible dust or partical intrusion inside the cam. I like the way you are going If a simple mod can improve things it saves a lot of money in this game.

As you say the biggest enemy of electronics is heat, radio astronomers cool their equipment with liquid nitrogen to cut out background noise.

Let me know what you think as I'm surprised more people dont try these cams. Cheers Carl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm with you on that. .why aren't they used more....kept camera closed to dust the way I converted mine... was going to blow cold air straight in but was worried about bringing dust in to camera and covering lens in dust...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Was going to use darks when I get up and running for use in dss or registax. .wasn't going to bother on mod on or off comparison but if folk want a rough idea check post Steve max127 put on earlier post on this modded camera post of mine. ..I've only tested camera on moon before mod on my st102 but mod test will be ed80 with c mount to t mount adapter and focus tube.....ed80 with Barlow lens removed and fitted with focal reducer ....and with star diagonal. ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi Carl..been thinking about your idea on sucking hot air out and making a filter...can get a 40 x 40 fan 5800 rpm 5.1 cfm.....was thinking kitchen type scourer as a heavy rough fiter so it won't get damp or restrict air flow but stop anything getting in..ordered fan guardslr from hk...done any modding to yours yet seen you have removed ir filter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Carl Reade

Carl Reade

Posted
Posted

Well the plan so far after a bit of research is to maybe do this. Drill a number of 2-3mm holes in a circle on the top of the casing then attach the fan sucking over these. I want the air to be flowing through the camera from the bottom so the flow or fan isnt dragging air in from the front were the chip is. The filtering would have to cover the bottom inlet holes to prevent dust getting in and hopefully condensation as this could be a problem on frosty nights.

Bearing in mind the camera should not pick up dust outside, I thought the ideal filter material which would be very cheap and effective would be the Air/dust type you get on vacum cleaners which have to work very well to stop dust blowing back into the room. This stuff can be cut into any shape.

This method wont drop the temp dramaticly but should keep the camera at a steady temp for longer use.

I noticed Maplin do a petier for £12 which runs off 4 x AA batteries. I may have a go at putting one with a heatsink, fan and a flat length of copper as a cold finger. I would have to test how well it would cool the strip before I would incorperate it into the camera to see if it is worth it.

If the test worked then all could sit on top of the camera then a slit where the copper strip could be bent downwards to hang inside the camera if that makes sense. I will have to post some diagram ideas.

Cheers Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yip sounds ok ..I just cut out a square on top case and epoxyed on the heatsink to under side of casing so the aluminium of heatsink was to fan..I had a peltier from hong Kong it never lasted jig it heated up and popped was rated 12v had heatsink and fan fitted and still popped...maybe maplins would be better had seen it but because it wasn't 12v I dismissed it..peltier should go to -30...Davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
Carl Reade

Carl Reade

Posted
Posted

Well finally got a fan mod done! I purchased one off Ebay 25mm x 25mm by 10mm and 12 Volts (£1.60). The fan easily fitted inside and is set to suck air out. There are three small holes at the bottom of each side panel which should allow air to flow from the bottom through. When I get a chance I will try a couple of dark shots, fan on and off and see if theres any difference.

post-30085-0-42092800-1368114940_thumb.j

post-30085-0-89285000-1368114959_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Update. .from carls testing of the mods he has made to his camera and his views I have had a rethink to the mod I have made..I removed fan from top casing and have tested direction of air flow and have now mounted the 40x40 fan internally facing on to the back of the ccd board its a braw fit I would say...ok it lies on top of ribbon cable and fits below front top casing screw...I have epoxy glued top of fan to front casing...heatsink will be removed from under top casing and another fan will be fitted to suck hot air out....Davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Update 2...fan tested ok no movement after epoxy glued in place. ..the fan sits on lower ribbon to ccd board and fits below front top casing screw...epoxy along top to alloy front casing...the auto iris cable has been removed for this mod ..the auto iris socket hole will have a rocker switch to control both fans..the top fan will be fitted as in Carlsbad mod (internally) and power will come from camera rear power connector through a drilled hole to the right edge...top fan hole will be covered with a chrome finger guard. ..will look bog standard apart from this.....Davy....many thanks to Carl in development of this mod and testing. ..

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Carl Reade

Carl Reade

Posted
Posted

LOL.... no probs Davy, I noticed that the air last night was also being drawn in from the front of the scope so looking at sealing off the CCD/C mount from the internal body, just in case it pulls something in on the sensor.

Cheers Carl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shirva

shirva

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I couldn't remove ir filter so I should be fine..the new fan I put in is directly behind ccd board sweet fit...was made for it.its blowing air directly on to that board. ..I'm just going to blow cold air on to main board same as your mod...Davy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.