PD1 Camera, some help please.

[bomberbaz]

I have read a lot of good things about this camera and I am looking for a kittle more information.

Pointers to other threads would be good but has anyone bought the complete package at £169 and if so, what extra do you get over the standard camera only package olease?

Also I have seen some great pics of nebulae and galaxies with it, does anyone have more experienfe taking these types of images and what kind of setups are we looking at for them..

I have two setups, I have a 12" goto dob and also an eq synscan mounted F10 90mm frac.

I know neither are properimaging setups but from what I can gather I should be able to do some half decent images with either.

any advice, tips would be most welcome.

TIA

Baz ake Steve

[Nibor]

Steve,

As newcomer to Astrovideo I am much taken with the PD1 - I was looking for a complete kit and good instructions as to how to set it up.

I was also interested in a remote set up and a phone call to Phil revealed he did offer a key pad kit version for around £199. It came with something like 30 metres of cable and all the connections clearly marked.

I use it mainly on my ED80 but have also set it up for use on my Mak 127.

I am not sure how you would get on with the FOV using your scopes but you might get some idea from the following link:-

http://www.astrovideo.co.uk/

I have also attached the instruction manual that came with my PD1 remote version - it is essentially the same camera as the non remote and will give you some idea of what the kit contains.

MANUAL PD Colour Camera Remote S.pdf

There are also a number of threads on SGL - search on PD1.

As you have probably discovered the Video Astronomy section in the Science group is very helpful.

Good luck!!

Robin

[bomberbaz]

Cheers Robin, I have inboxed you. Incidentally I have already checked the FOV for the camera and smaller objects would work in the 12" which by design makes sense with larger objects in the frac

steve

[johnno]

Hi Steve,

The FOV is roughly the same as a 6mm eyepiece, the 12'' would be good at F5 so your exposure times would be shorter = less noise and hot pixels compared to the F10 frac., you could try a reducer on the 12'' and on the 90mm and it would be even faster.

 you will need

 nosepiece for the camera to attach to the focuser

power cable, to what length you need

video cable , to what length you need

1 bnc connector at the camera to connect cable to bnc socket on camera

1 video grabber

and power cable and what ever power supply you are going to use.

you could source these items yourself , and way up if its worth buying them separately or just buy the bundle, saves you time and you will know it will work straight out of the box.

and a ir filter/blocker, I don't think this comes with the camera, maybe someone that as bought the PD1 one can tell you.

John

[Nibor]

Ooops!!!

I had intended to attach this file as well:-

The PD1 instruction Manual (non remote)

PD1 Manual - non remote.pdf

HTH

[Laurie61]

I bought the camera and kit for £169, it has all the parts you need to start. There is no ir filter but I use a baader neodymium moon/sky glow filter which works well with the camera. The important thing is to have a tracking scope to allow the camera to integrate frames properly. You might also find a 0.5 reducer useful   

[Laurie61]

Some links to Pd camera threads 

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196894-pd-camera-and-planets/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/197240-phil-dyer-astro-camera-images/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/197762-first-light-with-pd1/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188315-phil-dyer-pd-colour-camera/

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/194914-phil-dyer-colour-camera-compared-to-mintron-62v6hp-ex/

[bomberbaz]

Thanks guys for the help. You have given me plenty to be going on with. I shall read through all this but I think the full package sounds the sensible option and less faffing about.

[red barker]

hy steve, i,me alan, i need some help, i just got a telesciope, set it up, cant realy see through it. i have tried everything.its a skywatcher150-170.i live in padiham.as for this site, i managed to write for some help, after a while i managed to find people wrote back to me, and i would like to thank them,but i cant get the hang of working things out. please could you help me. yours red barker

[shirva]

Hi red barker..can you be more specific to the problem.davy

[shirva]

Im guessing it's a focal problem. .a few reflectors cant achieve focus with a cctv camera due to inward travel, but if im rembering correctly you can with the sw 150..

The camera acts like a 6mm eyepiece ..I would try in daylight to focus on furthest away object you can with a 6mm eyepiece then swap over to the pd1 adjust the focusser very slow..very easy to miss the focal point..I mark the focal tube with a pencil line on it for reference. ..davy