Problem with Neximage Burst

[jkdnys]

I am new to backyard astronomy and imaging and up till now had a some good results.  I just purchased the neximage burst color camera and it worked great out of the box.  Got some really good lunar shots, very clear and sharp.  I took the camera out for a second go at it and now I can't get any image on it.  Just shades of grey depending on how much light there is.  Icap shows that it's live and capturing images, but I can't get anything but a grey screen.  I re-installed both the Icap Software and the drivers from the original disc and it hasn't helped.  I even exchanged my camera for a new one and that didn’t help.  I am pretty sure the problem is Icap but there isn’t much info on line about it or any kind of manual or trouble shooting guide.

 

Does anyone have any ideas or where I can get some help?  Celestron tech support hasn't been very helpful.

 

Thanks

  

[craig_0]

hello i just bought the next image burst aswell  i havent got to try it yet  been cloudy around here lately . you might have a cabel problem have you tryied a diffrent one yet? if it gets banged or pinched  it could make a weak connection or crossed connection or  even slight iterfearance with insulation on wire being comprimized. digital signals are finiky.  other than that  do you like the camera has anyone else bought or tried this camera yet?

[jkdnys]

I tried a longer cable that I bought from a different store. Got the same result. When i did have it working, the lunar pictures were awesome. I hope I can figure it out.

[craig_0]

could their be a proble with  your colamination  what kind of scope do you have? also try takeing  the gain and diffrent settings down   in the  prefences   mabey put a moon filter on it  aswell  i know  when i was doing day time shots with it i had to take   brightness down and gain down  aswell set a shorter exposure  time on brigher objects too i belive . im new to this aswell and  i had to play alot with diffrent setting at get nice pics  during the day  and but like you said they were wery nice and crisp. i could count the plys in the plywood on the neibours chicken koop roof about 200 feet away  so i was sold on that alone and i cant wait to se what kind of pick i get out of a  bigger telescope  i was useing my 60mmx700mm refractor 

  i noticed also sometimes when i  switched inbetween the  rbg 1090x980 pixels and other video formats   sometime  i would select a size and  it would go black and  tell me no live video  and then i would just select the same channel again and it would then get video. does this hapen to you aswell  and do you know or anyone know if their is a program i gan use with my macbook pro  my old pc  dont have battery life to use in the feild,   thats why i bought new  comp is for use in field and it said mac compatable when i bought it but cant find the  image capturing somftware  just the regi stax in mac format.

[Cornelius Varley]

I am new to backyard astronomy and imaging and up till now had a some good results.  I just purchased the neximage burst color camera and it worked great out of the box.  Got some really good lunar shots, very clear and sharp.  I took the camera out for a second go at it and now I can't get any image on it.  Just shades of grey depending on how much light there is.  Icap shows that it's live and capturing images, but I can't get anything but a grey screen.  I re-installed both the Icap Software and the drivers from the original disc and it hasn't helped.  I even exchanged my camera for a new one and that didn’t help.  I am pretty sure the problem is Icap but there isn’t much info on line about it or any kind of manual or trouble shooting guide.

 

Does anyone have any ideas or where I can get some help?  Celestron tech support hasn't been very helpful.

 

Thanks

The problem could be that you haven't got the exposure and/or focus set correctly. If you are getting some sort of image in the capture program (differing shades of grey) then there may not be a problem with the camera. Try using it during daylight to understand how the capture program works (less stressful than trying to do this at night).

[jkdnys]

Thanks to everyone, figured it out. It was user error! Once I figured out Icap, I'm back in business

[Philbut]

Hi jkdnys, I also have problems with iCap freezing after only a few seconds of capture. I have to restart iCap to get it going but then the live feed runs for maybe 3-4 seconds.... Can you say what you changed/found with your 'user error'... Please....

Whatever you did...you are not alone....

Thanks

[Suki]

I also recently bought a NextImage Color Burst camera! When I focus using a 20mm lens then switch to the camera, I cannot even get the object! What am I doing wrong?

[JamesF]

The field of view of the camera is probably quite small compared with the eyepiece, so the image is possibly not on the actual sensor.  Also, the camera and eyepiece almost certainly focus at different positions, and if they're far enough apart the image with the camera can be so far out of focus that you don't see anything recognisable as an image.

The Moon is a good target to get some practice on as it's hard to miss, but it's on unsociable hours at the moment (at least as far as I'm concerned :) so you may need to wait a week or two if early mornings aren't your thing.  Also, you can try everything out during the day using a distant object as a target (tree, telegraph pole, chimney, whatever's handy really, but you may need it to be quite some distance away to get sharp focus).  I'd recommend doing that in any case as it means you don't waste too much time at night wondering if everything is actually working.

Which telescope are you using the camera with?

James

[JamesF]

Also meant to say, you can get an "illuminated reticle eyepiece" that has cross-hairs which are super-imposed on the image you see.  I have one which I think is a 12.5mm eyepiece from memory.  They can be very helpful in making sure you have a target properly in the centre of the field of view before switching to a camera.  I used to use one every time I set up for planetary imaging.  I'd get the target in the field of view with a 32mm eyepiece and centre it as best I could, then switch to the reticle eyepiece, centre it again, add a 2.5x barlow and the reticle ep and centre again, then add an extension in the back of the barlow, centre with the ep again and then finally switch to the camera, by which time I could be reasonably confident that I'd be able to see the target on the sensor.

If I'd been imaging the previous time I was out, I also didn't move the focuser when I was doing the visual parts of setting up for the next time.  As long as I could see a fuzzy blob to centre on that was good enough and it meant the image was closer to being in focus with the camera when I swapped that in.

James

[Suki]

Celestron AstroMaster90. I have been trying in the day time : ( I tried when it was  the full moon and got very frustrated! I’m on the East Coast of the US and want to get it right for Jupiter and Saturn : (

[JamesF]

In that case during the day I'd point the telescope at something that is recognisable and fills the entire eyepiece, then swap to the camera and move the focuser through the entire length of its travel if necessary to try to find the correct position for good focus with the camera.  It's possible the focuser won't go in far enough, in which case you may also need to remove the diagonal and use the camera without it.  Knowing roughly where the focus point is for the camera should help on the Moon.

James

[Suki]

James, thank you so much for responding, but I’m new at this, some of it is gobbledegook : ) I’m learning! I have 2 lenses 10mm and 20mm and the camera! Is that not enough? I practice in the daytime and I can get a pier that is about 2 miles away but not where I focused! : ( lol

[Suki]

That makes sense, sort of lol Remove the diagonal? 

[JamesF]

The diagonal is the part that fits into the back of the telescope that the eyepiece goes into.  If the focuser won't go in far enough to achieve focus with the camera then removing it and just putting the camera directly in the back of the telescope where the diagonal went may help.

James

[Suki]

Thanks for your patience : )

[Suki]

You can do that? Whoa! I will try!

[JamesF]

Just now, Suki said:

You can do that? Whoa! I will try!

Generally you can, yes.  I'm not familiar with the telescope you have, but I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible unless there's something unusual about the design.

James

[Suki]

Nope, didn’t do the trick : ( Yeah, it fits but that’s all!

[JamesF]

In that case I'm out of ideas for the moment.  Others may be able to come up with something new.  If there's an astronomy club near you perhaps they might be able to help out, too.

James