Absolute newbie !

[Moz]

Had a pair of binoculars and now unsurprisingly bought a telescope...not arrived yet but can't wait..have gone for the skywatcher mak cass 127 with synscan a-z goto ..the question or questions I have are as follows .

Am I best to use a digital imager and registax to obtain half decent image of the planets or do I use a digital hd camera ( lumix tz) or do I take a series of stills with my Nikon dslr and use registax what would in the long run produce the best overall image ?

Saw a you tube vid of someone using registax and was impressed with the result given he was using a everyday webcam .

Look forward to you help.

[JamesF]

Some people use DSLRs, but it's tricky. The pixel size is really a bit small for the 127 Mak unless you've got a very bright target, I reckon.

I started with an SPC900 webcam (actually a reflashed SPC880). If you can find one of these second hand for around the £50 mark I'd say it's the best way to go initially. Anything comparable is going to cost more. There are some lower end dedicated planetary cameras for around the £100 mark, but I've not used them so I really can't offer an opinion. It's also possible to mod some of the cheaper webcams. You won't get results like the SPC900, but they'll be recognisable images. Then there are the more expensive cameras that start around £200 and finish when the bank manager won't lend you any more cash

I use AutoStakkert!2 for stacking planetary images now, then just use Registax for the post-processing.

James

[Moz]

Thx for that ...I'll have look at those on line . What about the mid one I have a digiscope adaptor to attach my lumix tz10 which has hd vid and other formats depending on how you want to process would this be worth a punt ?

[JamesF]

You could give it a go, but I'm not sure how well it would work. I've never done any afocal imaging, so I can't really offer much of an opinion I'm afraid.

The problem with many non-dedicated cameras is that they are designed to work in conditions where the lighting is good and often have very small pixel sizes. For imaging you really want some that that doesn't have a very small pixel size and is ideally very sensitive to low light levels.

James

[Moz]

Got ya .. Looks like ill be modding a web cam then thanks for advice

[lensman57]

Got ya .. Looks like ill be modding a web cam then thanks for advice

Hi,

I started about 3 months ago with the same scope and mount as yours. It will be a steep learning curve but enjoyable. My advice is to either start with a webcam, X box 360 is about £5.00 on the Ebay. There are tutorials on the net to convert it , and it is not difficult. Your probem will be that it is not very sensitive, perhaps fine for Jupiter and the Moon , Jupiter is now well past its best and is getting very low in the sky for imaging even with dedicated planetary cameras. Moon is always a good subject to practice on and I advise you do so and get used to the very narrow FOV of the webcam, forget Barlows and filters now untill you have learned what to do. Once you have convinced yourself that you can image with a webcam then budget for a dedicated planetary camera. The 127 Mak has a very long focal length (F12 - 1500mm ) and 5" is not much of an aperture for planetary imaging with an insensitive camera, therfore start saving your pennies as the ones with sensitive chips are expensive but nothing compared to the CCD cameras for DSO imaging,LOL. The other way is to just go ahead and buy a PL camera. As James mentioned there are some for about £100.00 with the same sensor as the SPC 900. These are fine for a start but you will soon out grow them particularly with the MAK, the others start from about £200.00 and end up around £450.00 depending on the chip, size and the make. You can send me a private message if you want further advice.

Regards,

A.G

[Astrosurf]

Here's an Xbox Livecam mod tutorial.

All the best of luck!

Alexxx

[Moz]

Thx for that and the link ...telescope arrived today it's assembled and now steep learning curve starts lol..please correct me on the following , which is my understanding of what I need to do and what i actually have..

1 align star finder in day time on a distant object such as church tower so that the scope and finder are looking at same thing.

Now do I do that with the 10mm 25mm or add the x2 Barlow and the 10 or 25mm ..no reference in manual on this

Am I right in assuming the lower the number the greater the magnification ie 25mm wide without Barlow is the lowest mag on this scope which I think is 60x with Barlow 120x and the 25mm on own is 150x and likewise with Barlow 300x is this right ?

Is there a adopter adjustment like I have on the binoculars or is it just focus in eyepiece as I'm only using one eye.

Powertank is on charge so it will be tomorrow at earliest before I can mess with hand control to move scope from its current elevation ect.

Thanks for the help in advance

Moz

[Moz]

Xbox live web cam ordered £3.89 inc postage so will be looking at the mod post closely . Forgive my ignorance but does it connect via USB ?

I trawled through the net on ccd sensors and found like you the Phillips spc900 and toucam but also read the the eyetoy by sony for the play station has the Sony 1/3 ccd chip fitted but since I've found no reference to imaging in conjunction with this camera I can only assume its not suitable . I also found a vw reversing camera with the same ccd fitted both of these were sub £10 although the power required for the reversing camera was 12v dc and not sure how you would interface.

Right off to the loft where I think is lurking an old Logitech webcam windows 95 era ...

Off topic I managed to align telescope and view Jupiter wow ..but have not sorted the goto gizmo yet ...so saw Jupiter for about 5 seconds at a time before it had left the eyepiece ...move quick don't they ..lol I guess tracking will sort that one .. Thanks again guys

[Jimichelle]

I am very interested in hearing how the Xbox camera works for you. My wife and I are newbies as well. We just bought our telescope a week ago (a Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT which is comparable to your new scope I believe) and we are interested in getting some pictures of Saturn, Jupiter and the moon to get our feet wet with astrophotography.

I also got an Xbox live vision cam used from GameStop a couple of days ago and followed the mod instructions you can find online. We took it out for the first time last night trying to get Saturn (Jupiter was too low to the horizon and obstructed from our view by the time we went out), but could even get it in the view finder. We knew it would be a long shot to get even a rough image on the first try though.

We are going to wait for the moon to be visible and try using the live cam on that sine it should be a much bigger and brighter target than Saturn.

Let me know how it goes for you and good luck!

[Astrosurf]

I always manage to shift my finderscope in transit so I get the scope mount polar aligned then just manually point the scope at something bright like Saturn or Jupiter or a bright star (with the help of my Telrad - you could use a red dot finder if you'd prefer, it it'd help) then I align everything up. I just use a 24mm EP for that. It's just to get it reasonably accurate. I set the scope back to park manually and do my 3-star align for the handset. Your scope might be different of course!

I used the Xbox cam and it does have a USB connection.

And yes, the lower the number the greater the mag. I can't do the maths so can't give you the figures!

It's interesting about the Eyetoy. People are always looking for good replacements for the Phillips. Why not start a thread in the equipment section and ask what people think?

Alexxx

[Moz]

Eye toy may be answered .. Not compatible with windows 7 or 8 but Xbox live is

[Moz]

The cameras arrived but what software does everyone use for capture ? I can't at the moment seem to find camera and there doesn't seem to be drivers for it ...I know some of you have used this cam so how are you doing it ...many thx in advance

[JamesF]

SharpCap is probably the easiest capture program to start with.

James

[Moz]

Thx James just downloaded and it recognised webcam so that's good the only thing it said it would only work until may 31 st .. Beta version have I d/l correct version or will I need to reinstall after the expiry date . Looks great btw will be modding the Xbox live vision can this weekend so can run a few tests and see what we can weather depending

[JamesF]

Not sure what version I was using. I'll boot my laptop and find out.

James

[JamesF]

Looks like I was using the last of the 1.5 versions. 1.5.344. I've not tried the beta. That earlier version worked ok with my Xbox cam though.

James

[Moz]

Ill d/l it and see what gives thanks again

[Moz]

Here's an Xbox Livecam mod tutorial.

All the best of luck!

Alexxx

Does the light ring around lens affect image or will this disappear when I carry out mod !

[JamesF]

The ring is lit by the four LEDs on the PCB. Once you crush or remove those, the ring doesn't light up.

James

[Moz]

Doh didn't read the mod thread all the way through it does explain what you said ..o well source some poly pipe tomorrow and mod on sat ...lol re-order a new webcam sat afternoon ...

[Astrosurf]

Let us know how you get on. And some images! Good luck.

[Moz]

Ok got to a stage that looks like the end result minus the tube...plugged into USB and it shows as bright white on screen held over Barlow and it went dark ..is this right do you think ...or will the tube make things come to life can't see an image at moment ..

[shirva]

Yes once its on scope ..fast shutter speed and sloe focussing then adjust shutter speed to what you require. ..Davy

[shirva]

Slow focus adjustment.

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