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Toucam Pro II

AstroTiger

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MartinB

MartinB

Posted
Posted

Good decision Al. I'm sure you won't regret it. Here's what I have learnt during 3 weeks of torture and frustration. Some of this applies to undriven mounts. I am sure it is all vastly easier if you know your object is going to stay central without having to constantly fiddle

1) If using the supplied software you have to create a file and specify a file size before capturing. Call the file "lastest". I have been setting the file size at 200mb and setting a time limit of 2mins which seems to work ok although once the laptop crashed. After capture remember to "save file as" then name the file eg sat1. The "latest" file can then be used again and overwritten - this saves quite a bit of time.

2) The image is hard to get on the screen esp if you don't have a driven mount. The FOV is very small but also it wont show on the screen if it is much out of focus. So... focus the cam using random stars or an easy to frame object such as the moon.

Change to video format to give the max size screen (Some people suggest returning to a smaller format for capture to reduce compression but this is only really feasible with a stable driven mount).

Turn the gain up high which will make the object easier to spot if it is on the edge of the screen. Get the object centred in increasingly powerful EPs but DON'T change the focus from the setting for the cam.

Once dead central on highest power slip in the cam. If you are going to be using a barlow put it in without the barlow 1st. get it central then put it in with the barlow. Hopefully it will be there on display - a very exciting moment :lol:

3) On an undriven mount make sure you have enough travel on the slo mo. The Tal1 is a bit deficient in this department so before putting in the cam for capture I take the slow mo to the start of its travel and get the object back by slewing the scope back in RA. I can't describe the feeling when you are just starting a capture and you run out of RA travel AGHH

4) Aim for F20 If your scope is F10 you will need a x2 barlow F7 x3 etc.

5) So you should now have the object on screen and have a capture file ready called "latest". You now need to turn down the gain. Now I have read a lot of views about settings for brightness saturation and gain. I am sure it is best to experiment but the following sounds the easiest way to start for a planet such as Saturn - 5-10 frames per min. 10 frames = more frames = good. 5 frames = better individual frames which is preferable if you have the time - good seeing etc. Shutter speed as long as poss = 1/25. REMEMBER TO CLEAR THE AUTO BOXES. Leave all the other settings on default and the colour balance should stay on auto. Turn down the gain until the image is dim but clearly visible on screen. The image will brighten up when you stack it.

6) Start your capture and try try try to keep the object steady in the centre of the screen. Not easier if manually driving because the image doesn't display very smoothly whilst filming. Don't worry if it seems to start jumping around a bit.

Hope this helps Al. Obviously I am very much a novice but the above lessons are burnt on my heart. :? Hopefully I can spare you some of my frustration.

The Toucam is an amazing piece of kit. Look forward to the images

Martin

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  • 4 weeks later...
bonesetter

bonesetter

Posted
Posted

i've been looking into astro imaging, and some of the deep space images obtained on the forums are just jaw dropping - magazine/hubble quality

now while it seems a toucam pro 2 is great for planets, the question i have is, will a DSLR be the best for DSO's AND planets?

TIA

Bonesetter

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Ambermile

Ambermile

Posted
Posted

i've been looking into astro imaging, and some of the deep space images obtained on the forums are just jaw dropping - magazine/hubble quality

now while it seems a toucam pro 2 is great for planets, the question i have is, will a DSLR be the best for DSO's AND planets?

TIA

Bonesetter

Hi there

A dslr will be only good for Moon shots - it does not have the necessary frame rate for planets (where the norm is to take maybe 1000+ images and stack them)

Arthur

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bonesetter

bonesetter

Posted
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is this the same toucam pro 2 we are all talking of?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Philips-ToUcam-Fun-II-PCVC830K-Webcam-New-Boxed_W0QQitemZ5874848130QQcategoryZ4616QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

if so it seems like a cheap buy

only thing i can see is this is called the PCVC830K, whereas another i've seen being sold for astronomical use is called Model PCVC840K. does the difference matter?

TIA

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Jamie

Jamie

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No mate its not the same.

The one that you want to get is the PCVC840K.

The 840k seems to be the mainstream TouCam that most astroimagers go for.

The 840k has produced the best results so far.

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MartinB

MartinB

Posted
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Thanks guys for all the info, it's all being noted! In fact, is there any chance of a primer being collated and put in the Learning Zone??

I would be willing to do an introductory primer on imaging with a toucam including use of K3ccdtools, virtual dub and registax if anyone is interested. It wouldn't look at the more advanced options in Registax but most of that stuff is best avoided imho.

I would like to spare others the pain I had to endure in getting to grips with the process :laugh:

Might take me a few days but looks like we are in for cloudy nights.

Martin

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trekker308

trekker308

Posted
Posted

MartinB

That would be much appreciated - I think that there are quite a few of us newbies who are looking to go the Toucam route to get into webcam imaging, and a primer which highlighted the 'dos' and 'don'ts' could save a lot of heartache! :laugh:

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