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Cheap starter camera find!

Carl Reade

By Carl Reade
in EEVA - Reports

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Nibor

Nibor

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Sounding good!! Is it a mechanical filter or screwed on? Wandering as it says true night and day.

Carl

There are two screws holding the mechanism on and there is some kind of mechanism which moves a filter when switching between colour / B & W / auto modes.

Now connected to my Equinox 66 with views to the pylon across the valley - the "sense up" system seems to be automatic - up to 512x - I can't seem to find anyway to select intermediate settings. Image is looking reasonable sharp even through double glazing.

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Nibor

Nibor

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I am having an interesting time discovering the yet unmodified camera setting options of my "CR6" whilst focussing on the top light on the Emley Moor transmitter some five miles away - it is just visible over the neighbour's roof.

I found that the auto "sense up" seemed to be an overkill in terms of brightness and I eventually came across the shutter settings which allow the shutter settings to be lengthened  - I am new to VA and cameras but this setting did seem to produce a more pleasing result as opposed to the "sense up" setting - is this a practical option for both video observing as well as capture??

I am looking forward to other purchasers receiving their cameras and hopefully we can discover what its true potential is.

For starting settings I chose those closest to the Phil Dyer's camera setting suggestions.

Lets hope for some decent weather over the weekend - although I think the forecast is generally poor - certainly in West Yorks!!

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johnno

johnno

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Its come, I've stripped it down and removed the filter, but i'll have to nip out to maplins to get the power lead plug so I can test it,

If you're reading this before you strip it down I would like you to just remove a 2 wired connector, it is red and green, just unplug it and see what happens .

The front of the camera has a mini photocell sensor and I think this activates the ir filter, the filter in front of the sensor is greenish with those 2 wires going to it , and I think it passes a current to the filter glass ,

Like I said before my electronic knowledge is virtually zero so feel free to put me right..

going to go and get that plug now.

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johnno

johnno

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tried it out but needs to be tested at night, thought i'll take apart the rear of it to see if the OSD mod can be done,

post-24363-0-71863000-1381498398_thumb.jpost-24363-0-07542000-1381498458_thumb.jpost-24363-0-42987300-1381498483_thumb.j

I have left off all the plastic covers around the sensor just to make it a bit more easier to clean the sensor

post-24363-0-71217300-1381498504_thumb.j

A couple of pic's of before and after white balance adjustment 

Snapshot_0187.bmpSnapshot_0191.bmp

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Nibor

Nibor

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Johnno,

Many thanks for letting us "CR6" owners have some insight into the required mods for astro use. I shall continue following the thread with interest and look forward to learning about your night time testing.

The white balance screen shot settings are very helpful as are the internal filter removal pix.

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Carl Reade

Carl Reade

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Johnno you beat me to it mine came this morning I removed the filter as well but you saved me posting the photos :grin: .

I was waiting on this being NTSC or something bad but I think we got a belter here.

The cam is alot lighter than the Sammy it weighs 215 grams it feels like aluminum and the 24V board is a lot smaller.

The camera board uses a wired loom unlike the Sammys ribbon cable which means it could be seperated from the main body and cooled like a board cam.

There is a lot of room inside to do all sorts :grin:

I think I like it :grin:

Cheers Carl

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johnno

johnno

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@ Nibor, as I've already got a remote box, I was thinking of just adding the fly lead to the camera and use the same remote box off the Sammy as well. but  I leave it for the time being.

@ Carl, yes its a lot lighter there's nothing to it, just have to see how it performs on full whack . Still got the petlier sitting in the draw gagging to get out. :grin:

HAS anybody tried just removing the 2 wires and see if it knocks off the ir filter?

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Carl Reade

Carl Reade

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@ Nibor, as I've already got a remote box, I was thinking of just adding the fly lead to the camera and use the same remote box off the Sammy as well. but  I leave it for the time being.

@ Carl, yes its a lot lighter there's nothing to it, just have to see how it performs on full whack . Still got the petlier sitting in the draw gagging to get out. :grin:

HAS anybody tried just removing the 2 wires and see if it knocks off the ir filter?

Heres a bit of info for anyone not wanting to remove camera board or an easy way of dealing with the filter. 

Remove the front four casing screws, pull the front out a bit. Identify the two way connector with the red and green wire. Remove the connector from the board.

Cut the connector off strip the wires and touch them to a 9v battery. You should hear a sound and the IR filter will have disappeared. If not reverse the polarity.

You are then left with a clear screen and will stay that way. Cut the stripped wire ends off back to the insulation and screw front on. 

Just tested it is a small solenoid.

Cheers Carl

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Nibor

Nibor

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Heres a bit of info for anyone not wanting to remove camera board or an easy way of dealing with the filter. 

Remove the front four casing screws, pull the front out a bit. Identify the two way connector with the red and green wire. Remove the connector from the board.

Cut the connector off strip the wires and touch them to a 9v battery. You should hear a sound and the IR filter will have disappeared. If not reverse the polarity.

You are then left with a clear screen and will stay that way. Cut the stripped wire ends off back to the insulation and screw front on. 

Just tested it is a small solenoid.

Cheers Carl

Carl,

Many thanks for this suggestion - after disconnecting the connector I used a couple of pins inserted into the terminal to provide contacts for the PP9 battery - hey presto! -  the I/R filter clicked away!!

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