Not a good start to imaging at all !!

[Bungielad]

Hi All,

A bit of help needed please!!..... So i manage to get the xbox webcam on the go tonight (1st time) and it all looks as if its working ok ie...PA,Saturn in my EP,motor is running and keeping alighned with Saturn but after checking sharpcap for the images, no Saturn at all and just alot of pinpoints which im asuming were stars???? Now for the real problem.....after transfering the avi file to Registax (i have to be honest here) i had no idea what i was doing at all to try and make the images better, so......Please any advice on Registax and sharpcap would be much appreciated. A copy of "Every Photon counts" is on its way to me and im hoping this will explain alot to me of what im doing wrong but, in the mean time .......any help from you guys would be great.

Skywatcher 130p, EQ2, RA motor drive.

[Daddystu]

Hi Bungielad. The xbox cam with have a much higher mag than your eyepiece so you'll need to get Saturn dead centre before switching to the webcam. Then you'll need to refocus. In sharpcap you'll need to tweak the exposure, gain and shutter speed I think to bring out the image. Once you have the image it'll pay to fine tune the focus before grabbing the avi. You'll want to be seeing at least the 2 dark bands in the avi if you want a good result post-stacking. A barlow lens/image mate may also be a good idea to increase image size.

[lensman57]

Hi All,

A bit of help needed please!!..... So i manage to get the xbox webcam on the go tonight (1st time) and it all looks as if its working ok ie...PA,Saturn in my EP,motor is running and keeping alighned with Saturn but after checking sharpcap for the images, no Saturn at all and just alot of pinpoints which im asuming were stars???? Now for the real problem.....after transfering the avi file to Registax (i have to be honest here) i had no idea what i was doing at all to try and make the images better, so......Please any advice on Registax and sharpcap would be much appreciated. A copy of "Every Photon counts" is on its way to me and im hoping this will explain alot to me of what im doing wrong but, in the mean time .......any help from you guys would be great.

Skywatcher 130p, EQ2, RA motor drive.

Hi,

Yuor Xbox cam has an equivalent of view of EP of approximately 5 mm focal length, if you have one around that figure use it to center the planet before changing, to the cam. Saturn is very dim, in sharp cap push the gain up all the way and then slowly and I mean slowly increase the exposure till the planet appears, you definitely need to refocus unless you make your eyepiece parfocal with your cam so they are interchangable. Readjust focus and good luck. There are some tutorials on using regsitax on the web if you google for them.

Regards,

A.G

[Bungielad]

Thanks for the tips, its much appreceated! Next clear sky ill have the 2nd crack at it and hopefully will get better results

[JamesF]

I'd forget all about comparisons with eyepieces. It is often repeated but I think it only serves to confuse in the end. The important points are that the field of view of your camera is very small, so the planet really needs to be absolutely central or you won't even see it on the sensor at all. It's possible to do that by eye, but an illuminated reticle eyepiece helps. The effect is further exaggerated if you're using a barlow. The other is to get the focus right. If the focus is too far out then you won't get an image on the camera even if you're perfectly aligned.

What might help with the focus is to put the camera in during the day and focus on something as far away as possible. Then mark the position of the focus tube somehow -- even a pencil line will work. Then when you come to put the camera in at night you can check that the focuser is in approximately the correct position by realigning your mark. Turning the brightness and gain full up may help locate the planet if the view is dim, though the Xbox camera is quite noisy so I can't be sure how well that will work.

James

James

[Bungielad]

Just had a good read up on webcams, Registax and sharpcap and to be far everything that i could be doing wrong i was doing wrong, including all the advice from above^^^^^!!

Hopefully next time ill have a bit more knowledge, Have a Phillips SPC900nc on the way so lots more reading 1st i think.