SPC900NC

[Sean L]

Hi guys, 

Very excited as I have just got a SPC900NC webcam from E-Bay. Iv only ever used a DSLR for AP and am going to hopefully get a few Jupiters with the webcam this winter. Has any one got any tips or tricks for this webcam so I can be prepared for when it arrives? also does anyone have any images they have taken with it so I can get a better idea of what to expect?

Thanks

[Uplooker]

Well done. Make sure and get or ensure you have a UV/IR filter. For capture software I use SharpCap, others are available.

Ian

[tingting44]

nice one mate, how much did you pick it up for on the bay....

i loved my spc900 when i had one with my SW130, this Jupiter shot in my montage was taken with the SPC900, also what capture software are you going to be using? i prefer firecapture, its free and does a great job

Solar System montage with a couple added DSO's by tingting44, on Flickr

[RichM63]

Nice, I loved mine until I fried it.

Tips for Jupiter, focus on the small moons as pin points of light at high gain setting, then drop the gain for actual capture.

The planet will tend to drift from top left down towards bottom right on your screen (unless perfectly aligned), set your capture point to just above the center 11o'clock position and keep a hand on the RA screw. 2000 frames should be easy to capture.

SharpCap Settings for the 150/750 + SPC900.

[Philips SPC 900NC PC Camera]
Frame Divisor=1
Resolution=640x480
Frame Rate (fps)=10,00
Colour Space / Compression=YUY2
Exposure=-9
Brightness=53
Contrast=32
Saturation=72
Gamma=0
ColorEnable=255
BacklightCompensation=0
Gain=60

and resultant first image.

[Sean L]

nice one mate, how much did you pick it up for on the bay....

i loved my spc900 when i had one with my SW130, this Jupiter shot in my montage was taken with the SPC900, also what capture software are you going to be using? i prefer firecapture, its free and does a great job

 

I got it for £41 and it comes with a filter and adapter ready to go. No idea if that's good or bad as I didn't really look around (if its way too much dont tell me haha!). Not looked at software yet so I will try all the ones recommended (so thanks for your recommendation) and see what i get on with the most. Hope I can get an image as good as yours, I cant wait for it to be delivered. 

[Sean L]

Nice, I loved mine until I fried it.

Tips for Jupiter, focus on the small moons as pin points of light at high gain setting, then drop the gain for actual capture.

The planet will tend to drift from top left down towards bottom right on your screen (unless perfectly aligned), set your capture point to just above the center 11o'clock position and keep a hand on the RA screw. 2000 frames should be easy to capture.

SharpCap Settings for the 150/750 + SPC900.

[Philips SPC 900NC PC Camera]

Frame Divisor=1

Resolution=640x480

Frame Rate (fps)=10,00

Colour Space / Compression=YUY2

Exposure=-9

Brightness=53

Contrast=32

Saturation=72

Gamma=0

ColorEnable=255

BacklightCompensation=0

Gain=60

and resultant first image.

Jupiter_30_01_2014.png

WOW Rich thanks! This will save me loads of frustration im sure. It would be just my luck the day i get the cam for me to take ages getting the setting right and then the clouds will roll in for the night!

[tingting44]

well good luck buddy, hopefully we will get some nice skies over the xmas break....

here are my settings for firecapture for my above Jupiter image also, as it may help also...

- [Philips SPC 900NC PC Camera]
Frame Divisor=1
Resolution=640x480
Frame Rate (fps)=10.00
Colour Space / Compression=YUY2
Exposure=-4
Brightness=64
Contrast=32
Saturation=5
Gamma=0
ColorEnable=255
BacklightCompensation=0
Gain=35

[jaydeeuk1]

I got it for £41 and it comes with a filter and adapter ready to go. No idea if that's good or bad as I didn't really look around (if its way too much dont tell me haha!). Not looked at software yet so I will try all the ones recommended (so thanks for your recommendation) and see what i get on with the most. Hope I can get an image as good as yours, I cant wait for it to be delivered. 

Was it the one from nottingham? Bloke said he would have taken £20 cash on collection, but with an xbox and logitech cam i figured i didn't need it and now regretting it! The filter is about £10 so £30 for the camera isn't too bad considering its rarity.

[tingting44]

not a bad price at all, i sold mine for £100, i stuck mine on the bay on an auction and i was totally gob smaked for what it sold for, but they did use to be £1 back in the day when they were making them....i think

[RichM63]

Another tip, in SharpCap2  you can register a profile for the settings of a camera and object. So I have JupiterSPC900, The MoonSPC900 etc. In your image folder a note book file will automatically be created when you save the image so you don't have to remember what settings you used.

Then all you need to do is load the profile for that camera combo and go from there.

2000 frames @ 10fps is only 3 1/2 minutes so generally plently of time to work around clouds, airplanes, satellites, UFOs etc. + you will learn to throw out duff frames in your stacking parameters.

You'll find it great fun, and mostly painless.

PS £41 is a good price!

[JamesF]

not a bad price at all, i sold mine for £100, i stuck mine on the bay on an auction and i was totally gob smaked for what it sold for, but they did use to be £1 back in the day when they were making them....i think

When they were in production I believe they were around £35 to £40.  It was when Morgans got hold of a load that had been made for some television thing (I think) and hadn't sold that they became really cheap.  By that time they weren't being made and were sold off cheap as outdated stock, basically.

James

[JamesF]

My tips for using the camera would be:

Use SharpCap.  I think it's probably a bit less complex than FireCapture.  FireCapture is excellent, but with an SPC900 probably using a sledgehammer to crack a lentil.

Leave the saturation, brightness, gamma and contrast controls at the default settings.

Use the YUY2 video format.

Don't use a frame rate higher than 10fps if you're capturing at full resolution.  It's only a USB1 device and at high frame rates will need to compress data heavily unless you make the frame a lot smaller.  Compression will throw away data and you really don't want that.

Use the histogram feature.  Adjust the exposure and gain to get the histogram around 70% to 75% full or as close as you can manage.

You may need to push the gain and exposure up to maximum initially because the focus point of an eyepiece and the camera will be very different.  It can be very hard to find an out-of-focus image with the camera.  They can be quite faint.

Practice and persevere.  The initial part of the learning curve is painfully steep and can be hugely frustrating.  Bucketloads of patience is required.  Be prepared to throw away loads of data as you learn.

But keep at it, and this sort of thing is possible:

 

(These are from my 127 Mak and SPC900, probably with a 2.5x barlow.)

James

[tingting44]

My tips for using the camera would be:

Use SharpCap.  I think it's probably a bit less complex than FireCapture.  FireCapture is excellent, but with an SPC900 probably using a sledgehammer to crack a lentil.

Leave the saturation, brightness, gamma and contrast controls at the default settings.

Use the YUY2 video format.

Don't use a frame rate higher than 10fps if you're capturing at full resolution.  It's only a USB1 device and at high frame rates will need to compress data heavily unless you make the frame a lot smaller.  Compression will throw away data and you really don't want that.

Use the histogram feature.  Adjust the exposure and gain to get the histogram around 70% to 75% full or as close as you can manage.

You may need to push the gain and exposure up to maximum initially because the focus point of an eyepiece and the camera will be very different.  It can be very hard to find an out-of-focus image with the camera.  They can be quite faint.

Practice and persevere.  The initial part of the learning curve is painfully steep and can be hugely frustrating.  Bucketloads of patience is required.  Be prepared to throw away loads of data as you learn.

But keep at it, and this sort of thing is possible:

 

(These are from my 127 Mak and SPC900, probably with a 2.5x barlow.)

James

James to get a GIF like yours do you use single subs. ive been wanting to try an animated gif for ages

[JamesF]

James to get a GIF like yours do you use single subs. ive been wanting to try an animated gif for ages

I stack multiple sets of subs, process them and then make the animation from the final images.

I did one a while back from forty or fifty capture runs.  Took ages

James

[tingting44]

I stack multiple sets of subs, process them and then make the animation from the final images.

I did one a while back from forty or fifty capture runs.  Took ages

James

i get you......sorry if this is going off topic, just let me know op and ill take this to pm....

so James, so how long inbetween runs did you do for each final image for the anim gif and how many runs if you can remember? also was this in one night?

edit, by the way James, your gif is top knotch by the way

[JamesF]

I just kept capturing, one file immediately after another at two to three minutes per capture run until I was too tired or the seeing deteriorated.  It's all from one night.  They have to be really, as the cloud formations change over time.

James

[tingting44]

I just kept capturing, one file immediately after another at two to three minutes per capture run until I was too tired or the seeing deteriorated.  It's all from one night.  They have to be really, as the cloud formations change over time.

James

thank you kindly James!

another todo added to the list lol least i can image the planets from my garden and does not require a long drive to a dark site for deep space imaging

[jaydeeuk1]

That animation is amazing, id love to get something half as good as that from my 127 mak.

[JamesF]

That animation is amazing, id love to get something half as good as that from my 127 mak.

It honestly is mostly just practice and a huge amount of patience.  I learned an enormous amount using my 127 Mak for planetary imaging with the SPC900, but it did take time.  It's particularly frustrating when you're out three or four nights on the trot and end up with nothing you're happy with to show for it, but the important thing is to learn something each time.  Then eventually it will start to come right.

James

[Sean L]

It finally arrived in the post today! So fingers crossed for tonight. Iv created a Jupiter profile on SharpCap with the settings recommended  

[Uplooker]

I in no way wish to jinx you, but its bound to be cloudy. Good luck for when you do get first light with the SPC900

Ian

[Cloengaa]

Hey James..can you do me a favor...can you show me a picture of your histogram ? what it should look like when at 70 to 75 % ??

[JamesF]

I don't have SharpCap installed since I upgraded my imaging laptop and changed cameras (more than once), but I might be able to sort out something to illustrate the idea.

James

[Sean L]

Yep, it was cloudy all night! looks like it will be that way tonight also... however tomorrows forecast is looking promising