Logitech 9000 Pro

[Starflyer]

Today I re-housed this camera and thought I'd share my experiences and some photos.

I followed the disassembly procedure outlined by Gary Honis;

http://ghonis2.ho8.com/Pro9000a.html

I didn't need to remove the 5 screws shown in the first section, just the 2 screws that hold the top section together and I decided to keep the existing USB lead.

Disassembly took around 10 minutes and removal of the autofocus lens system another 10 minutes.

A view of the top of the board showing a few dimensions;

I used a Maplin MB1 enclosure and drilled a 10mm hole towards one end.

I fixed three stand-offs to the circuit board, applied a small amount of superglue to each stand-off, positioned the chip over the hole and held it down for a few seconds. I then removed the circuit board and applied some hot melt glue around the stand-offs to fix them more permanently;

The board was re-fitted when the glue had cooled;

I'd cut a small slot in the side of the case for the USB cable and used another dab of hot melt glue to hold the cable restraint in place;

The nosepiece was attached with Araldite;

Camera complete with an IR filter fitted ready for the clouds to clear;

Cheers,

Ian

[Naz]

Nice work Ian, look forward to your reports and images.

Archie

[GazOC]

Nice mod, certainly better looking than my effort.

With that sensor size we're looking at about 3.3 microns x 3.3 microns for the pixel size, is that right?

[Starflyer]

Thanks Archie.

That sounds about right Gaz. My measurements are a bit rough - I was scared of getting too close to the chip with the pointy ends of the vernier

I'd been looking for some data on the chip without success so I decided to try and measure it. The measurements for the board should hopefully help someone else get the box size right. I meant to mention that the one I used was a little on the short side and the outside edge of the nosepiece overhangs the end of the box by ~5mm.

I've been playing with AMCap today, it appears to be functionally better than Open Video Capture - it remembers your settings, and costs around the same;

http://www.noeld.com/programs.asp?cat=video#AMCap

Have you had a chance to use yours yet Gaz?

Cheers,

Ian

[GazOC]

No luck yet with mine Ian, I was hoping to try a mosiac sometime around the full Moon but it doesn't look hopeful.

I'd a quiet day in work today and spent a couple of hours looking for information on the sensor, but not a thing except for the manufacturer and the model number you'd think it was Top Secret!!

[Starflyer]

I'd a quiet day in work today and spent a couple of hours looking for information on the sensor, but not a thing except for the manufacturer and the model number you'd think it was Top Secret!!

I was beginning to think the same thing myself 8)

Ian

[beamish]

Nice job Ian, looks good.

I had some experiences myself yesterday. ......

I had initially misunderstood what Gaz had done, and so just stuck a barrel on the front of the w/cam (yeah yeah very funny) so was a little horrified at the "tunnel vision" I was getting. After help and advice from Gaz, I removed the autofocus and lens unit and was knocked out by the results !

I later discovered that the postman HAD BEEN in the morning and my 1.25" adapter ordered from FLO on Friday was hiding under some junk mail ( cheers to Steve for his XLNT and super swift service and natter ). So after dinner I set about with my new found confidence to do the box mod (having bought the bits at Maplin's on Sat morning).

Like yourself I found it didn't take very long at all and like you I kept the original USB cable. It still works too (always a winner !!).

Hopefully we should all have a chance to test them out tonight if the forecast remains true ! Personally can't wait to hook it up with the Cape. I'd also like to do a side by side comparison with the Philips at some point.

Here are a few piccies of mine

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Karlo

[Starflyer]

Excellent Karlo

Looks better than mine, great job, looking forward to seeing the results. As far as a comparison goes, I'll have a go with both over the next couple of night and post my efforts back here.

Cheers,

Ian

[beamish]

just pm'd you

[Starflyer]

Hi Karlo,

I've just got back in after a day out, I've replied to your PM.

The skies are looking good so far. I'm so used to the Philips cam that I hope I can figure out the software whilst thinking about everything else, could be a steep learning curve

Looking forward to seeing some results.

Cheers,

Ian

[beamish]

I think the wife thinks I've gone mad, been tinkering with the cam and S/w for most of the day trying to accustom myself to it, certainly a little different to the philips but picture quality (daytime at least) is outstanding !! I seem to be leaning towards the 800x600 or the HD 960x720 setting(my favourite). Just waiting for Selene to come into view

Good luck, quite excited really(never thought I'd be saying that about a w/cam :shock: ) :cat:

Karlo

[mik]

I am following this with interest the two mods look superb can i ask what is special about these logitech 9000 cams or are you just testing to see what there like perhaps ive missed some news along the line cheers and good luck with first light.

Mick

[GazOC]

Its mainly the sensor size and resolution (1600x1200) that made me give it second look.

[mik]

Ok Gaz ive just looked at the link on the first thread it looks very promising and it will be exciting to see how the two mods compare good luck.

Mick

[beamish]

Hi Mik,

I was initially tempted by the Trust 8500 (?) a USB2 2mp cam with similar resolutions but delivery waiting times and reports of bugs with the trust s/w (look up Jan Timmerman's reports) lead me to look elsewhere and found this. Gaz's link to the Huffyuv video codec also means less/no compression at the higher resolutions. Thought if all works out well I can then consider doing the LX mod on the Philips later.

Karlo

[Starflyer]

I had a brief chance to try it last night.

I hadn't realised how low the moon was going to be and I struggled getting a view of it over the 6 foot hedge that's on the south side of the garden. I had the tripod legs fully extended, which on an EQ2 is not a good thing to do, focusing vibrations were taking ~10 seconds to calm down.

I started off with the Logitech camera, and I soon became frustrated, it was quite a struggle to get a decent image at 5fps 1600 x 1200 - the vibration and seeing were causing the image to ripple down the screen. I dropped the resolution to 960 x 720 and upped the frame rate to 10 fps - much better but still hard to get the contrast and brightness balanced and the image was still moving around all over the place. I was very pleased with the wider field this camera gives.

I plonked in the Philps SPC900NC, focused and quickly got a reasonable contrast / brightness balance, but the image was terrible compared to the last week or so when the moon has been higher. Hopefully it was just the seeing that was terrible, anyway here are the images;

50 of 100 frames captured with AMCap, Skywatcher 130PM at prime focus.

(click to enlarge)

50 of 200 frames captured with K3CCD, Skywatcher 130PM at prime focus.

(click to enlarge)

I think further testing is definitely required, but there's some good detail in the Logitech image and I think it shows some promise as a lunar webcam.

Cheers,

Ian

[beamish]

Well done Ian.

I had quite a frustrating time myself. First impressions re planetary ummm stick with the philips BUT will continue to experiment. Waited for the low moon to clear the trees.got to 1.15 and decided to pack up, just as I was bringing in the tripod had a look out and yup sure enough ,a clear line of site. TYPICAL !!

Still cloudy here.

Karlo

[mik]

How are we getting on with these cams any more results things are looking good so far.

Mick

[beamish]

so far nothing to look at or oppo's anyways . It'll come .

Karlo

[Beyond_Vision]

How have you made sure the nose piece is orthagnol to the CCD. The boxes are not truely square?

[beamish]

Pardon my ignorance but eh ? Are you talking about the T-ring sitting on the box relative to the chip ?

[Beyond_Vision]

Pardon my ignorance but eh ? Are you talking about the T-ring sitting on the box relative to the chip ?

The 1.25" nose piece ( or whatever is used to attach it to the scope) needs to be at 90degrees to the sensor surface so that the image is in focus across the whole of the sensor. This is the same as collimation.

Regards

Kevin

[beamish]

Can only speak for myself here. The board with the chip had 10mm spacers superglued and pressed to the inside of the box and hence lies perfectly flat (parallel) to the box, the T-ring was carefully placed, having made a template, and centred over the 10mm diameter hole and again was superglued and pressed to the surface of the box.

The hot glue was added later to the posts (spacers) merely for added security.

High mag daytime test images have revealed no instance of the issues you've raised Kevin. Hope this helps.

Karlo

[Beyond_Vision]

I see on closer inspection of the pics the board and the mounting are on the same side of the box which should be ok.

I originally thought the pcb was on one side of the box and the mounting on the other. In which case the sides of the plastic boxes are not that perpendicular and may have caused a problem.

[barkis]

If at all possible, it is better to fit a nosepiece that will screw directly into the lens housing of the camera, and thereby maintaining alignment. Not always possible I know, as some cameras lens threads are not catered for in nosepieces. One could be made I suppose, but a friend with a lathe is required.

Ron.