Phil dyer camera review

[shirva]

Hi all first section of the review on the Phil dyer camera

Ordered from the website www.astrophotography.co.UK and paid by PayPal. ..basic camera came as camera and mains adapter. ..cost 104 pounds delivered. ....an email confirmed my order and payment and was given a dispatch date,, camera came day after dispatch well boxed and secure , fitted adapter and camera powered up...email received from Phil with apologies for not sending manual ect earlier by email. .. file attatchment on bottom of this page.....the camera is smaller than the Samsung scb2000 but nearly the same layout apart from auto iris connector on rear...the instructions are really good and give great advice on setting up the full camera and software if buying the full kit...very impressed so far..

First light review to follow weather depending. ..

This is an independent review of a camera purchased by myself with no affiliation with Mr Phil dyer. And the views expressed are my own personal experience with above camera. .....Davy

download-1376683064867.pdf

download-1376683203337.pdf

download-1376684745258.pdf

[johnno]

Hi Davy, what is the modifications done to the cam? is it just IR filter removed. Do you think the remote OSD mod can be done on this cam.

[shirva]

Ir filter removed to my knowledge. ..osd mod would be same as sammy I would guess same button type..specs in download files

download-1376691020621.pdf

[johnno]

That DPC function looks like it could be useful to remove dead pixels or hot pixels when you crack up the sence up., bit of nice info regarding using a camera lens , if you could your hands on a big lens you could ditch the scope. I've got a 200mm lens but can't find a adapter yet for it, roughly equivalent to 800mm according to the user manual.

[shirva]

Glad info supplied by Phil a help.

.I have a cs lens that zooms to 60mm with auto iris the price takes a hike up larger than this...been looking for a outside camera housing to maybe just leave out permanent to capture widefield. ...Davy

[Carl Reade]

Hi Davy, just seen Reds pics the PD looks like a good buy. Great that he has added settings to the files very useful. Got a clear spell the other night at about 1 am sky was black couldnt resist taking the camera out with its lens. (if only it was like that during the Perseids ) The screen was full of stars to the degree that if I went above intergration of just X16 the AGC couldnt cope.

Moving objects vertually every 20 secs. Looking at housings as well for a more permanent setup or may DIY it

[shirva]

Seen a few cheap ones from ebay ...Hong Kong ....was looking for pan and tilt motorized unit to control it via a rc transmitter for my rc plane....also seen a tv that can record cctv image on to its 16gb memory. ..now that would be some trick pony..cctv with remote pan and tilt to a tv/monitor that records ....or a az mounted camera with record monitor. As a grab n go... Davy

[johnno]

I think some of them pan and tilts can be controlled from your iphone or android. yep you only need 2 servo's for full control of cam, I used my rc stuff for remote focuser on my Mak 127

[johnno]

Here is something you could house it in

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TAXIDERMY-ACRYLIC-PERSPEX-DOME-FOR-ANIMAL-OR-CLOCK-MOUNT-/321183495593?pt=UK_Collectables_AnimalCollectables_SM&hash=item4ac80735a9

[shirva]

Done a quick test with the camera ....using a auto iris 6-60 cs zoom lens at a tiny bit below infinity and using sharpcap via a usb capture device I manually tracked the moon by hand (to many clouds to set up a tripod or mount or attatch a scope) this camera in my opinion has a slightly better colour pallet than the Samsung scb2000 and better light grabbing power it was showing sections of the moon that were behind heavy cloud that was not visable to the naked eye....this camera also has pelco communication d that I was not aware of at time of purchase""""bonus""".....next section hopefully will be a cloudless dark night capture. ...thumbs up so far for this camera......Davy

[Nibor]

Davy,

Thanks for sharing the PD Camera manual - very helpful in deciding on whether or not to buy one - it looks like a good value piece of kit and I am becoming more tempted by the day!!

[shirva]

Give in to temptation Nibor,, it looks the next step up for av astronomers on a budget. For 104 pounds delivered you get a camera and a mains to 12v adapter.I think even the full kit is a bargain. ..can't wait for decent weather up here to ....not only try this camera out but just to get out...been that fed up wae the weather I even turned my astroshed into a budgie and Chinese quail avairy and flight for my good lady. .may as well have some use out of It I suppose. ...still the faster capture using av instead of dslr will help time wise (clouds/bad weather) and if I can mount a camera and lens to a outside casing and have a full time set up even better. ...Davy