webcam & skywatcher 130

[thekio]

Hi all,

brought a cheap webcam, designed for telescopes...aparrently (lens removed etc..but only 0.3mp) for taking some cool pics, however all i get is the same blurry ringed image (SEE ATTACHED PIC),it doesnt matter if i use my x2 barlow or not, how much i focus & Unfocus lol , ive tried it directly into the eyepiece tube/focuser tube & looking down an actual eyepiece, with results still roughly the same... the cam itself picks up difference between dark/light, & when aimed at the moon 1 morning, i got a blurry whitey/blue-ish blob that may have been the moon lol fiddled with exposure etc n was either to bright or just blackness where id turnt things down too much, but even on a pitch black night i see nothing except like in the attached pic, 

is there anything i can try that i haven`t? Scopes collaminated, dust free mirror, was left to cool.. etc..isnt a thing wrong with it as is only a month or so old,brought brand new & with the supplied EPs not had any issues(except weather) with the image my eyes see, actually pleasantly suprised with the scope tbh, totally kills it since the whole point of getting the cam was to share the wonders that are up there & the scope is more than adequate for my needs, but i get a better picture holding my phone to it, although they tend to be blurred coz of having to hold it, hense the webcam,i know its not the best but was hoping to at least capture somthing lol, the reviews ive read form various sites on the cam itself, seem to be that it works, just not overly well (as expected,£10 off ebay lol), but hopefully u guys can suggest if/what im doing wrong, or if its just too crappy a cam???.. ty in advance

[happy-kat]

Hi

You need to identify which way focus travel is.

Use the Moon nice object to test with.

Start with the webcam as far into the focus tube as it goes and with the focuser racked in all the way to it's shortest point. Now adjust the focuser are you seeing the Moon begin to focus? If you get all the way to the end of the focuser rack and still not in focus repeat the test but move the webcam out of the tube first then try the test again.

You are trying to establish where the focus point is and whether you might be running out of inward or outward focused adjustment.

A barlow may help of you are running out of inward adjustment.

[michael8554]

As happy-cat says, but much easier to try first during the day on a distant object, set the camera to fully auto.

You haven't told us what kind of telescope you have.

Often with reflectors the focuser won't go in far enough to achieve focus.

If so, try with a Barlow lens between the camera and focuser, that brings the focus point further away from the scope.

But as happy-cat says, you still might need to have the camera almost hanging out of the tube.

Michael

[michael8554]

Ah, just spotted skywatcher 130 in the title, so much as I said about reflectors

Michael

[D4N]

There are a few different skywatcher 130's, I believe all are Newtonian design though and they should all be able to achieve prime focus with a webcam.

The focus position may be very close to fully in, I know that on my 130P it was maybe only 1cm from all the way in.

Set up is easiest on the day, point at something far away (not the sun!) and get focus. The focus position for infinity will be slightly further in from where you have it for a distant object in the day.

What software are you using for capture?

Suitable night time targets will be the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars & Venus. The first two will give good detail, Saturn is next to the sun at the moment so not a good idea, Mars will be tiny and Venus just shows phases.

You may be able to image some bright double stars too.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[happy-kat]

Apart from the 130pds the others may struggle to reach focus reading posts. Primary mirror too far away but a barlow can help some. My heritage 130p I drop the trusses around 2 inches for either webcam or camera.

I wonder if there is a difference between the short and the 900mm one, just looked at a Jupiter image with 2x barlow from the 900mm variant.

[D4N]

The 130P can focus a webcam but not a DSLR, from what I remember when I was looking into it the longer focal length version has more inward travel.

The helical focuser fitted dob version will have less travel but as you say it is a truss so can easily be shortened.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[thekio]

sweet for the info guys, figured the jist of it..just about lol didnt realise it`d be so `zoomed` in nor how sensitive even to a slight breeze (@D4N, Jupiter was my 1st choice, come up on pc as a blue/white ball, so think i need to play with the settings & figure out whats what, was only couple days ago that i managed to even see bands clearly, was pretty cool tbh), but being my very first scope its all new to me lol still have alot to learn i guess.. & if i had a DLSR id tell ya if it would or wouldnt, im too poor for that lol iPhone down the eyepice aint too bad tho  

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi,

I use a Skywatcher 130mm scope too, and I take planetary/lunar mages with it and a webcam. I found that at first I had very much the same kind of trouble that you're having; imaging that way was frustrating at first, but give it enough time and practice, and you'll get there.

John