Turn into Guider

[Shelster1973]

Following on from another thread I have on here, have received the adaptor for my Orion 9x50 finder to attempt to turn it into a guider, but all does not seem as it should.

The only part I have been able to remove from my finder is teh very small eyepiece that has the crosshair in it.....

this can be seen at the back of the atached image.

Are there any other reovable parts on the scope (ie the whole back end).

The adaptor in question has a 50mm thread at one end and is a two piece affair that also has a 1.25" holder on there......

[Cozzy]

Hiya.

If it is the same as the skywatcher 9X50 the back section housing the small eye piece should be removable.

On mine this piece was quite stiff so I used one of those toothed rubber/plastic Jam Jar lid looseners to get moving. HTH's.

[Shelster1973]

Cheers Cozzzy...that was what I was hoping for...will ghet my Brute Force and Ignorance head on later this evening when I get home........then get the card out to buy me a new finder...hehe

[Cozzy]

Lets hope it doesn't come to that   It's only mind over metal. have fun!

[Shelster1973]

All sorted

The back plane unscrewed fairly easily and adaptor dropped in fine.

Only change was that I had to remove the second part of the adaptor, the screw in 1.25" eyepiece holder so as to be able to get the cam towards the focal plane and focus the image.

Not had full chance to get it on and tracking but a quick handheld run shows image on screen in PHD2.  Seems very over exposed, even with exposure level set to 1 on the slider, but am hoping that will be able to see ok when it gets dark.

Next step is some clear skies and then some learning on PHD2....followed by some nice long subs......

[RichM63]

For info, what camera are you using for a guide cam? I need to get a new one.

Cheers,

Rich

[Shelster1973]

Rich..nothing special at all.  Is a 'modified' (ie hacked to pieces) Microsoft VX-3000 webcam that I found lying around in a drawer at home.

It may work, it may not but for the price of the adaptor thought it was worth giving it a punt....if it does work major result.  If not then I have the adaptor already and can save up to buy one of the QH's for guiding with.

[RichM63]

Thanks, sadly having fried my SPC900 I'm after another cheap webcam, like you my things to save for list is ever growing with a finder/guide scope at the top this summer but not having planned for a replacement guide camera.

I'll have a look around for more info on the MS/VX-3000.

At least I think I've scored a new 700D.

[Shelster1973]

Rich, plenty of them on t'Bay to look at.  Quite cheap on there too.

Good result on the 700D if it comes to fruition.....you going to mod that one?

[RichM63]

Most likely unmodded but it depends on what arrives.

Thank you gift and as such I don't exactly know what will be included. If new and with STM lens I won't be hacking it about, although I can foresee a macro lens tacking itself onto my save for list.

The info that you are using a VX was useful because there are way too many models to go at and thus getting actual experience is a plus.

[Cozzy]

All sorted

The back plane unscrewed fairly easily and adaptor dropped in fine.

Only change was that I had to remove the second part of the adaptor, the screw in 1.25" eyepiece holder so as to be able to get the cam towards the focal plane and focus the image.

Not had full chance to get it on and tracking but a quick handheld run shows image on screen in PHD2.  Seems very over exposed, even with exposure level set to 1 on the slider, but am hoping that will be able to see ok when it gets dark.

Next step is some clear skies and then some learning on PHD2....followed by some nice long subs......

On the SW 9x50 I had to remove the front lens then the locking ring, then replace the front lens with out the locking ring in place to get focus using my SPC880 and adapter.

[Shelster1973]

Well....did not go as planned this evening.

Was unable to get any star images via the webcam in the adaptor...all was either very dark with only noisy pixels or over exposed.

Have removed the camera from the adaptor body and will try and get it mounted into an eyepiece body and see if that will make any difference.

have a feeling it will not and I will now be saving like the crazies for a guidecam.

[RichM63]

Why not try it out on the Moon.

I would guess that if you can't get it into a reasonable shot through the focuser not the finder scope then there is a problem with the camera.

Using SharpCap my SPC was OK but my no-brand Chinese camera was always way over exposed and I couldn't get the frame rate down below 30fps.

For Moon capture through focuser.

[Philips SPC 900NC PC Camera]
Frame Divisor=1
Resolution=640x480
Frame Rate (fps)=10,00
Colour Space / Compression=YUY2
Exposure=-10
Brightness=64
Contrast=32
Saturation=0
Gamma=16
ColorEnable=255
BacklightCompensation=0
Gain=30

Once you get the Moon working through the main scope, then move over to the finder scope, at least you'll know that the camera/PC is working OK at this level, although it may be incapable of resolving much dimmer star light.

but you will be ruling things out.

Best,

Rich