Philips Vesta Pro PCVC675K Imaging

[Astropedro]

I bought one of these a few months ago for next to nothing off the usual auction site.  I have not modded it in any way yet and find myself wondering if it is worth modding for long exposures.  I originally bought it for an autoguider to use with a 9x50 finder scope but after reading a bit on a blog or 2, it appears that it has the same ccd as the toucam Pro.  Is this true?  If it is, is it worth modding for DSO work as well as planetary or as a guider?

I appreciate any input on this matter.

Clear Skies

Pete

[astromerlin]

Hi Pete, I have one of these webcams, It was the first webcam I bought to use as a dso imager. I modded it myself for lx exposure, it wasn't easy you will definitely need a magnifier or microscope to enable you to see what you're soldering.

The images captured were similar to the toucam pro I had before it broke for some reason.

I have now progressed onto a DSLR as I wasn't satisfied with the webcam dso images I captured (probably more my inexperience than the webcam).

The image below is from the Vesta webcam taken in my first year of astrophotography through a 9x50 finderscope.

[Astropedro]

Thanks John.

I too have a DSLR with another on the way. I originally bought a 300D purely because they were cheap but now I find myself craving liveview so Im trying to get hold of a 1000D, a 1100D or a 450D.  Thought I had one but they didnt want to post to Spain so Im still looking.

     That image you took with your vesta isnt bad at all especially considering you took it at the beginning of your imaging learning curve through a finder scope and not your main!  You have me wondering what it would be capable of through a larger aperture with tracking of say 2 minutes or more.  My eyes arent great close up so I would probably get a local electronics shop to do the mod.  Im also a coward!  Would be scared to death of messing things up.

I notice you mention it in your sig as a guiding cam. I assume it is fine for this application?

Thanks for the reply.

Clear Skies

Pete

[astromerlin]

Hi Pete, The 1000d is great, the 1100d is better. I have both but the missus wanted one for the happy snaps so I modded (filter removed) the 1100d.

The reason I imaged through the finderscope was purely because of the fov. Using it in my 250p most dso targets are far too big to get it all in. I'm still using it as a guide webcam set at 2 sec exposures in PHD whilst my 1100d is snapping away 5-10min subs. I havn't yet had a problem not seeing a star to guide with. Aperture isn't as important for imaging fast f ratio is, I think the SW finder is around f4 same as my 250p.

[Astropedro]

Thanks for the info.  Still trying to grab a new camera.  Ill get there in the end!