Phil dyer pd colour camera

[shirva]

Hi..has anyone used or is using one of these cameras and is it better than the Samsung scb2000. .Davy

[johnno]

Davy it uses the same ccd as the Sammy. ICX639BKA. but the exposure are longer 0.00001 sec up to 20 secs. X 1024.

I don't know what other mods are done to it. Looks to me like something similar to a 4000 but with a 2000 ccd. I could be wrong and someone put me right, cant find a lot of info on it

[Carl Reade]

I can't find much more. 20 secs is tempting though.

[johnno]

I can't find much more. 20 secs is tempting though.

and I don't think you can complain about the price too. at £99 it seems a very good buy, but would of liked a bigger ccd

[Carl Reade]

Only thing bothers me is the picture is taken at 10 sec. I would like to see 20 sec. The dreaded amp glow is appearing at 10 what's it like at 20? But at £99 as you say Johnno. Maybe being too hard on it? Maybe worth a review Davy.

[shirva]

Couple of Saturday shifts required first...Davy

[shirva]

Update. ..tried phoning Phil phone rang out...read on a post on sgl might not be trading any more..if this is not the case no malice intended. ..Davy

[Nibor]

Just to let everyone know - I spoke to Phil only a few days ago and he certainly seems to be open for business!! He was very helpful and gave me some leads to help me better understand video observing.

One particularly helpful suggestion was to obtain the instruction manual of the Orion Starshoot Deep Sky video camera - which is very helpful in gaining an understanding of how integrating image cameras work - I understand that some of the cameras Phil sells operate in a very similar - if not exact way to the Orion Model.

I have attached the file:-

How to set up Orion Video Camera.pdf

As the OP was asking - Can anyone add any experiences of using any of Phil's cameras? - I am especially interested in the colour one:-

http://www.astrophot....uk/cameras.htm

[shirva]

Hi Nibor. ..great news Phil is open for buisness ..never dealt with the gent but good news we have an outlet for video capture TOYS...I got number from his web page maybe it could be put on here to save any confusion. And if Phil would like to contribute any of his knowledge it would be most welcome. ....and apologies for stating he may have ceased trading as I daid no malice intended. ..Davy

[shirva]

I'm waiting on my new scb2000 getting dispatched on 18th ebay seller had to attend a funeral in another country. ..at under 45 pound for a brand new Sammy can't complain. ..bought my original from seller so don't think I will have prob....was going to purchase the pd camera from Phil would have been good to try and review it against the Sammy. ..maybe try for one next month if all goes well cash wise...I though phoning Phil was best option at time ah hind sight should have emailed. ..belt n braces's approach better. ...would have been proud owner of one.....keep watching I'm for one unless Paul can fault it lol.

Davy

[paulastro]

There is a review of the Phil Dyer colour video camera on Ade Ashford's scope review site. Ade's web site also has contact details. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you contacted him if there is anything else you want to know that he doesn't mention in his review.

[paulastro]

Sorry, forgot the link to Ade Ashford's site in my last post. Type in www.scopetest.com

[Nibor]

Sorry, forgot the link to Ade Ashford's site in my last post. Type in www.scopetest.com

Many thanks for the link - seems to be a handy piece of kit for the money - great value!!

[Red-Dwarf82]

I took the plunge and ordered one last week which will hopefully arrive this week. For the money it's certainly worth a punt.

I'll post a quick review hear once I have had chance to give it a good evenings testing.

[Carl Reade]

I took the plunge and ordered one last week which will hopefully arrive this week. For the money it's certainly worth a punt.

I'll post a quick review hear once I have had chance to give it a good evenings testing.

Hi Red looking forward to a review of this camera. I am interested to see how well the extra 10 seconds intergration compared to the Samsung works. What sort of setup will you be using with it?

Cheers Carl

[Laurie61]

Interesting, I would also be interested in your findings Reddwarf. Am still looking for something reasonable to use with my old LX6 and this could be it

[Nibor]

I am also very interested in your findings as I have begun to see that video astronomy may well help me get much better celestial views from my light polluted skies!! Did you order the complete kit? If not some idea of the cabling / capture software would be helpful. Cheers!!

[shirva]

Waiting on results myself. ..got my money back for my Samsung that never appeared. .watec cam 2nd choice would rather stick with colour...Davy

[Red-Dwarf82]

Hi Red looking forward to a review of this camera. I am interested to see how well the extra 10 seconds intergration compared to the Samsung works. What sort of setup will you be using with it?

Cheers Carl

Hi Carl, camera arrived last week but weather not as good as predicted and only managed to run short tests between clouds. I am proposing to eventually use one camera as an allsky/meteor camera and first test where at 50 fps which yeilded good amounts of stars on a not so dark and quite cloudy sky. Intergration up to 20 seconds made the screen look like it had measles so seeing stars wuite down the magnitude.

The only test on a telescope got was close to the end of the night on a 16" Meade LX200 SCT looking at Andromeda at F10, so not focal reducer. This is not realy a good object to test on as its bright and not challenging. As expected it didn't need much intergration to get a bright picture and I could quite easily focus on Andromeda without needing to first focus a nearby star. Unfortunately, I was just using a monitor so sample pic's.

I'm hoping to get the camera setup on my 10" Meade LX200 with either a F6.3 o F3.3 focal reducer this weekend. I weather is good an I capture some images I try and post both the Raw and processed images.

[Carl Reade]

Hi Red sounding good, I'm likiing the stars like measles at 20 sec . I think your going to get great results from your set up.

Just tried meteor capture on the Perseid thread the cameras work very well for widefield.

Looking forward to your pics, thanks for the update.

Carl

[Red-Dwarf82]

I am also very interested in your findings as I have begun to see that video astronomy may well help me get much better celestial views from my light polluted skies!! Did you order the complete kit? If not some idea of the cabling / capture software would be helpful. Cheers!!

Hi Nibor, I have plenty of vidoe kit lying around so just ordered the camera but the full kit is a good price too if you don't have it ling around.

I use an anolgue to digital (video capture) USB dongle (similar to that you get with the full kit) to connect to my laptop, these can be bought relatively cheaply, although the quality of image seems to go down the cheaper they are. The camera has a standard BNC connection at the rear, again these are relatively cheap and easy to come by but you will need a BNC to phono/video adater to connect to a USB dongle or TV, although some monitors have a BNC connections. I would suggest if you're unsure, buy the full PD camera kit.

When using my telescope at home I am under some realative light polluted skies. I have had some pretty good result using a DSLR although there is a tendancy for an orange glow to show on the RAW images. Post processing in a good photo editing suite (i use Lightroom) can significantly reduce the orange glow, as can adjusting the preset white balance in the camera. With the DSLR I take very long exposures at ISO100 which means the sensor gather light much slower but is less effected by noise (good guiding requried). With a video camera I would be wanting to turn the intergration down to a point where the object is just visible and then capturing a say 50-100 frames to be stacked in Registax. However, the more you have to stack the better.

Hopefully the weather this weekend will be good and I can get some images captured.

[shirva]

Yeh as Carl says looking forward to some images. .once my hand stops dipping in pocket for building carols budgie avairy I'm for one of these cams..did you get it through the Phil dyer website ok...Davy

[Red-Dwarf82]

Yep, bought through his website http://www.astrophoto.co.uk/cameras.htm

[shirva]

Brilliant. .that's the one I was looking at...cheers...Davy

[Nibor]

Hi Nibor, I have plenty of vidoe kit lying around so just ordered the camera but the full kit is a good price too if you don't have it ling around.

I use an anolgue to digital (video capture) USB dongle (similar to that you get with the full kit) to connect to my laptop, these can be bought relatively cheaply, although the quality of image seems to go down the cheaper they are. The camera has a standard BNC connection at the rear, again these are relatively cheap and easy to come by but you will need a BNC to phono/video adater to connect to a USB dongle or TV, although some monitors have a BNC connections. I would suggest if you're unsure, buy the full PD camera kit.

When using my telescope at home I am under some realative light polluted skies. I have had some pretty good result using a DSLR although there is a tendancy for an orange glow to show on the RAW images. Post processing in a good photo editing suite (i use Lightroom) can significantly reduce the orange glow, as can adjusting the preset white balance in the camera. With the DSLR I take very long exposures at ISO100 which means the sensor gather light much slower but is less effected by noise (good guiding requried). With a video camera I would be wanting to turn the intergration down to a point where the object is just visible and then capturing a say 50-100 frames to be stacked in Registax. However, the more you have to stack the better.

Hopefully the weather this weekend will be good and I can get some images captured.

Red, Many thanks for the info - momentum for a purchase is building!! - Looking forward to the photos.!!