Some help on Electric eyepieces vs Webcams

[Mikyg]

Hi guys, i was wondering if someone could help in some way?

As ive mentioned in previous posts me and my dad have gone halves on a scope setup which includes NEQ6 Pro, 250pds, st80 for guiding etc.

My dad is going to use it for just observing and me for astrophotography.

Basicly ive seen a device which allows u to connect an eye piece aswell as a camera in the same focusser but my dad wants to be able to view it on his computer screen instead of standing in an observatory which we're building.

My question is what do u guys think would be best an electronic eye piece or webcam?

I cant use my dslr with live view because i will be doing long exposures so the iso setting will be too low for him to see an image because there is not enough light.

I hope u guys can help and also if anyone knows the name of the adaptor which allows you to connect two devices at once ie webcam and eye piece it would be a huge help

[Cornelius Varley]

It depends on what you define as an electronic eyepiece. There are some devices on ebay labelled as electronic eyepieces which will be no better than webcams. Both are also only limited to lunar and planetary imaging and are not sensitive enough for DSO imaging. Dedicated DSO cameras take long exposures which are the processed at a later date. If you wish to observe DSO objects in near real time you will need to go down the video astronomy route. The images taken by the camera are stored within the camera and then integrated to produce an image which can be displayed on a monitor screen a few seconds later.

 The adapter I think you are referring to is a flip mirror, this doesn't allow you to observe electronically and visually though, for that you will need some sort of splitting prism.

[Mikyg]

Yes flip mirrors thats what I was trying to find thanks.

Ive never tried it with a webcam so dont.know how it is. I was just worried that it would be like when I attach my dslr and u cant see anything unless u turn the iso ryt up and adjust the white balance and then its all too noisy to see much or is it just the same as u would see with your eye on a webcam?

Thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

Observing the Moon or planets using a webcam should be ok. The Moon is big and bright so exposure isn't going to be a problem, although disturbances to the images caused by atmospheric turbulence might be.