spc880 help

[Steve_meg]

I have just purchased a Philips 880 webcam, which I have been told had Been flashed to scp900 spec.

Now I am using it on my 8se, I have a nose piece with a ir filter built in and will download registax. Is there any thing else I need?

Also regards the flash update is this something that is done to the camera or something I need to download on my laptop?

Any other tips would be great

[JamesF]

If the camera has been flashed then you need do no more to it.

You'll also need some capture software.  SharpCap is a good place to start: http://www.sharpcap.co.uk/

James

[JamesF]

Ah, you may also need the drivers if your OS doesn't have them or isn't able to find them itself.

James

[red dwalf]

You can download the drivers for your operating system from the philips website, look for the spc 900 nc driver

[Steve_meg]

Thanks for the advice I will download Sharpcap later.

Luckily my laptop found the correct driver and downloaded it.

Also I have read a bit about webcam imaging, however does anyone have links to good websites or books?

[leelee970]

You may want to try AS!2 instead of Registax - most people use this and only use RS6 wavelettes after stacking in AS!2.

http://www.autostakkert.com/wp/download/

for capture you could also try

http://wxastrocapture.software.informer.com/1.8/

or

http://firecapture.wonderplanets.de/download.html

for post image processing you could use.

GIMP

 http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

Lee

[Steve_meg]

thanks guys, just trying to downloaded the stuff you suggested (some are being a nightmare)

then I just need the clouds to go away.

on another note, having played with the webcam on 'normal' mode, it seems a bit blurry/grainy. how good should the image be, as I can see it making great images of Jupiter if its not great at just showing my face.

[CSM]

I have used this webcam with my Celestron 6SE and it works very well.  Have a look at my website link here and this may help you.

[Steve_meg]

I have used this webcam with my Celestron 6SE and it works very well. Have a look at my website link here and this may help you.

Very interesting website, had a brief read and has helped me understand the process more.

Now just need clear skies

[Lonestar70]

thanks guys, just trying to downloaded the stuff you suggested (some are being a nightmare)

then I just need the clouds to go away.

on another note, having played with the webcam on 'normal' mode, it seems a bit blurry/grainy. how good should the image be, as I can see it making great images of Jupiter if its not great at just showing my face.

Hi Steve,

When you say 'normal mode' is this just the camera with it's original lens fitted? or the camera with the nosepiece adaptor fitted? or camera fitted to the scope.?

If it is the caera with its original lens then it may need the lens focused... screws in and out.

If it is just the camera and nosepiece then it will not be able to focus as there is no lens.

If it is fitted to the scope then you would need to focus the scope and that cannot be with objects nearer than around 30 - 50 feet away... possibly more... it will depend on the scopes minimum focus distance.

Try it with the camera in the scope and focus on something a mile or so away in daylight... this should give you a clear picture.

Jupiter should be no real problem so long as the seeing is good, otherwise it will go in and out of focus due to atmospheric turbulance.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards.

Sandy.