Used speed camera for astroimaging

[Leo.A]

I've just acquired 2 former speed cameras extremely cheap and upon investigation I found they have a 1/2"  0.1 lux colour CCD and some amazing gear within.

The camera module itself is high spec and amazing quality and I'll soon have one up and running with it's 10-200mm F2.5 lens set wide open to capture the Milky Way.

I'm looking into trying to acquire the 4 times digital zoom module too, which unlike a standard camera doesn't pixelate the image but gives an extremely clear enlarged view of the centre of the image. With it's standard zoom doubler and optional 4 times digital zoom, the camera has a focal length of 1600mm and I'm hoping I can use it as is for planetary imaging. If not, I know the Milky Way should look great at 10mm.

Info on camera specs:

http://elbex.com/product/switchable-high-sens-color-0-5lux-to-bw-0-1lux-traffic-control-camera-20-x-zoom-99-presets-and-auto-slow-shutter/

The full motorised drive on 2 axis (alt- azimuth), all computer controlled as per most CCTV cameras

Specs:

Specifications:Pick-up Devices

: 1/2″ interline transfer CCD

Picture Elements : PAL/CCIR 438K pixels (752H x 582V), NTSC/EIA 380K pixels (768H x 494V)

Horizontal Resolution : 460 TVL (COLOR) /580TVL (B/W)

Vertical Resolution : 440 (PAL); 375 (NTSC/EIA) TVL

Amplitude Response :> 50% at 360 H. TVL (COLOR)

Bandwidth : 7MHz ± 3dB (COLOR)

Video Output : 1.0V p-p/75Ω

S/N Ratio : Better than 48dB(color)/53dB (B/W) (AGC off)

AGC Off Level : 20 ~ 50 Lux (color)/3-4 Lux (B/W)

Usable Sensitivity : Better than 0.1 Lux (color)/Better than 0.03 Lux (B/W)

Light Control RangeColor : 0.1 ~ 100,000 Lux ( Super high sens.)
Light Control RangeColorB/W: 0.03~ 100,000 Lux ( Super high sens.)
IR Suppression : Built-in optical LPF/IR cut filter (COLOR) , Built-in optical IR cut filter (B/W)

Scanning System – PAL/CCIR : 625 lines, 50 fields

NTSC/EIA : 525 lines, 59.94 fields

Sync System : 2:1 interlaced EIA (RS170) or CCIR

Compressed Audio Output : 5KHz within H21 (only models with audio)

Ext. Sync : 8V p-p via coax

Adjuster : Up to 20msec. (3000km)

Lens System 20 x Zoom : 10mm~200mm; F2.5 with ND and IR cut filter

Lens DoublerPower : Equivalent to 1/2″ lens power of 20~400mm

Auto Iris Delay : Less than 1 second

Auto Iris Control : Auto, close ~ open (auto range)

Motorized Zooming Speed : 4 sec. (average)

Zoom Preset Accuracy : ±3º

Motorized Focus Speed : 4 sec. (average)

Focus Preset Accuracy : ±3º

Zoom/Focus Preset Sensor : Long life potentiometer (5×10⁶) rotations

Panning Angle : 360º continuous

Panning Speed : 6 /sec.~30 /sec. adjustable in 8 steps

Tilting Motor : 12V DC Brushless, servo (30,000 hrs.)

Tilting & Panning Angle : ±90º
Tilting & Panning Accutacy: ±1.5º

Tilting Speed : 6 º/sec.~30º /sec. adjustable in 8 steps

Pan/Tilt Preset Sensors : Hall sensors with sectoral magnets

Camera I.D. : 001~999 user selectable

I-D-CODE: 16 bit code transmitted during single horizontal line (H12±1 line) of every field.

DSP Signals : I-D-CODE via coax, or fiber optic cable, or RS422 via twisted pair or fiber optic cable.

DSP Commands : Shutter speed, white balance, AGC, Gamma, backlight compensation, Y, C and dynamic range

Slow Shutter Speed : 1 frame ~ 8 sec. (only models with shutter memory circuit).

Fast Shutter Speed : 1/50 sec. ~ 1/10,000 sec.

White Balance : Auto, red ~ blue

AGC : Off, min. ~ max.

Backlight Compensation : 5 zones setting, 0% ~ 100% weighted average.

Gamma, and Y, C : Setup process (by special key)

Dynamic Range : Setup process (by special key)

PEEPGUARD : Setup process (by special key) only models with PEEPGUARD module

Preset Position &Memory : Up to 99 + last (P, T, Z, F)

Operating Temperature : -35ºC~+50ºC

Camera Operating Voltage : 24V AC or standard power line

This could be a very worthwhile venture for anyone who may be able to purchase them second hand. I've been lead to understad Britain is heavily monitered with security cameras?

There would likely be a source of cheap, used items when they upgrade.

Mine cost me $20AU each but $160 went on freight from an interstate location. A little more than the actual cost ($60) but I wanted to be sure I covered packing and handling time for the stranger kind enough to make this possible.

An amazing find considering an international forum I frequent with 3,000,000 members and 1 member asking in the HelpDesk for information on these units. Thankfully, he was an Aussie member and soon confirmed he had access to a few of them.

No expense has been spared in the manufacture and maintenance of these units (Elbex 2330P)

If my eventual images come out well, I'll post them here.

A friend asked me if I could get one for him, I'll be looking into that today. I may see if I can get one more for myself as well and remove the camera unit and use the rest of the case for my letter box. That should slow some of the local drivers down a little, lol.

[cotterless45]

Sounds just the ticket !

[knobby]

Just don't try anything faster than 33 fps in a built up area :-)

[Photosbykev]

I suspect more than a few comets/meteors will be getting speeding tickets