Philip Dyer video cam.

[cotterless45]

I am a visual observer and just to add a bit of interest looked into simple astrophotography. I bought a pd colour video camera package from Philip Dyer http://www.astrophoto.co.uk/index.htm It arrived fully tracked the next day.

I was surprised by the lightness of the camera ( 255g), all the cables/ adapters included and the length of the cables supplied.

It was a quick job to install the software from the discs. Just remember to ensure that you just have the one running or you won't get anything on screen.

It is a simple job just to remove the ep and slide in the cam. The controls are on the rear of the camera and come up on screen. You can then play around with these ,get focused and get the right exposure. I'm a complete technophobe, my laptop was an ancient one that my son threw out of his shed. It stood out in the rain and snow for a week until I dried it out !

I had a real shock to suddenly see M57 on the screen, not only in colour , but with so clear with the 14.8 magnitude central star. Just a click on the screen will give you a snapshot. You can also video and set a time if you need to get stacking, beyond me at the moment. I then went to a hardly visible M27 and it nearly filled the screen with it's shape and nebulosity.

I used a 1200mm f8 refractor and the views were about x200, equivalent to a 6mm eyepiece. I haven't got any shorter ota's , it made very little difference to the view when I tried it on my 200 f6 Newt.

The clever bit is that set at 1/50 sec, the camera can get an integrated picture up every 20 seconds. It's really sensitive and I got the dust lane in M82.

This is going to be ace at outreach events , where the display can be seen by lots of folk at the same time. This will ruin your night vision, so I've mainly used it at the end of an observing session.

Although I've only used this cam three times, I'm very impressed with the results. Even more impressed to get half the outer shell of the "Bubble nebula" NGC 7635 on screen using a 6" refractor.

As I began, I'm not an imager, but very pleased to get images enhanced live on screen. Just transferring them to a simple picture manager will let you quickly adjust contrast and brightness to produce an image.

I'm now looking at a shorter ota and trying the cam out at star parties and club outreach events.

Some accessories we buy can lead to frustration and being packed away or sold on. If you'd like to try a sub £200 start into imaging with a simple and fun cam, then this is recommended. These are some single shots,

Nick.

[Red-Dwarf82]

Hi Nick,

Nice images. A lot has been written about the PD colour camera here on SGL. Easily a firm favourite with those who have ventured out and bought one.

As you say, it work very well for wowing the public with live colour images.

Look forward to seeing some more images.

[Red-Dwarf82]

The following link should take you to some images I took with the PD colour camera and uploaded last year.

http://stargazerslounge.com/gallery/album/2699-red-dwarf82-image-gallery/

[Davey-T]

I have PD Minitron mono camera and have used it show people DSOs on screen, really good detail and a whole group can view at once.

Just started using it for solar imaging.

Dave

[Sandraj]

Very interesting read, and thanks for sharing, would this work with my daughters Mak 127? she wants to play and have a bit of fun, then again, after your post I bet all of us will want to now have some fun with that camera as well, my husband shows some interest when I am outside with the scope but hates looking through the EP, seeing something on a laptop screen may be better for him.

[Paul73]

Nick

We are going to miss your observing reports.....

Paul

[cotterless45]

No way ! I just pop this cam on at the end of a session. It's not like spending a huge amount and feeling obliged to use it ! I doubt if I'll get a dedicated scope ! Just waiting for those dark

Clear skies,

Nick.

[Paul73]

No way ! I just pop this cam on at the end of a session. It's not like spending a huge amount and feeling obliged to use it ! I doubt if I'll get a dedicated scope ! Just waiting for those dark

Clear skies,

Nick.

Beware the slippery slope..........

[Davey-T]

Very interesting read, and thanks for sharing, would this work with my daughters Mak 127? she wants to play and have a bit of fun, then again, after your post I bet all of us will want to now have some fun with that camera as well, my husband shows some interest when I am outside with the scope but hates looking through the EP, seeing something on a laptop screen may be better for him.

Can't see any reason it wouldn't work with a Mak, I've used it in 100mm f/6 refractor. 10" SCT and now Solar scope.

Dave

[Sandraj]

Thanks Dave, I shall pass the info on to my daughter.

[Macavity]

Indeed, no reason why the wonderful MAK 127 cannot be useful in video astronomy.

The only fly in the ointment is relatively long focal length (1500mm) and "slow" speed (f/12).

Moreover, with a typical video chip diagonal (6-8mm) the field is only 1/4 degree. You (she)

will need to think a bit about finding, accuracy of any GoTo setup etc.

However(!), MAKs have a great range of focus adjustment. It is easy to add a budget/generic

0.5x focal reducer (See for example the 0.8-0.4x focal reducer from modern Astronomy etc.)   

onto the nose-piece of the camera which will halve the focal length to 750mm (at f/6) and give

a field of 1/2 degree. Many DSOs are within this field... with a little fiddling, you can get shorter

focal lengths, faster (f/5... f/4?) speeds, wider fields... without too much field distortion.

With video astronomy, the key is aperture (and speed) - Whatever, a 5" (colour free) aperture

seeing down to mag +15, updated on screen every few sec, can be an interesting prospect...

[Sandraj]

Thanks Chris, very interesting and informative. 

[Davey-T]

Works OK in 2500mm f/10 SCT, as always scope camera combination picks the targets for you but gets really nice close up video of the Trapezium in Orion Neb.

Accurate GOTO definitely helps

Dave