SW Pro150, Xbox360 Live Vision Cam

[Aussie Dave]

I'm starting to like this avi stacking.

Conditions were average but I did manage to get some better video with the Xbox 360 Live Vision cam and the Skywatcher Pro 150 with manual tracking. I'm getting better.

Recorded in monochrome as I couldn't get a natural looking lunar surface with the colour settings, 10% of the best frames AS!2 with sharpening, cropped.

[happy-kat]

I liking seeing all your images, keep them coming please

[laudropb]

Yet another very fine Lunar image. Well done.

[Pete Presland]

Still some nice detail in your image. How many frames are taking for your images?

[Blazar]

it takes time and practice...and you are really getting better at it. Always helps to get into a rhythm and a kind of set workflow when processing. The only thing with this one would be clipping the blackness on the left of the image. it really is a balancing act...but one that you are getting to grips with. its a good shot.

[Aussie Dave]

From memory Pete it was about 35 frames. Short videos with low frame rate.

[Pete Presland]

What frame rate are you getting?

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[Aussie Dave]

it takes time and practice...and you are really getting better at it. Always helps to get into a rhythm and a kind of set workflow when processing. The only thing with this one would be clipping the blackness on the left of the image. it really is a balancing act...but one that you are getting to grips with. its a good shot.

I totally agree Steve, I'm getting in to a routine with my gear, imaging and the processing side of it all. What I am finding is that I'm not getting consistent exposures from one night to the next with webcam settings and also while recording especially with the Xbox CCD sensor. A drifting lunar surface throws out contrast and saturation settings. It doesn't help when I'm doing manual tracking with this particular setup (EQ5, slo-mo knobs).

Processing has it's ups and downs too and at times unpredictable results with the free processing software.

You may notice some poor processing by myself, poor cropping with stacked frame edges showing, over processed images but I'm not too worried about this, I'm not after perfection. As long as I get some half decent results, I'm happy with that   

My biggest hurdle atm is conditions. I've decided to give up on Jupiter for now and go back to lunar next time it's around.

What frame rate are you getting?

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Not a lot Pete, about 6-7 fps at full res 1280 x 960, YUY2 Colour/Space Compression on lunar.

At MJPG Colour/Space Compression full res is 960 x 720 at around the same fps up to 12 fps.

At 640 x 480 is from 24 - 29 fps. Have seen it running at 29.9 fps but not consistently.

[Astro Imp]

Well done Dave, I've been following your images for a while now and can see a definite improvement, keep it up and let's see more of the same.

[Blazar]

try running your avi's through PIPP first...and set the targeting boxes on the object of interest. it will then centre on that...and you can crop out the edges you don't like. keep at it. Would defo recommend a ZWO camera. Inconsistent nights....seeing can be so different even within hours of different AVI's

[Pete Presland]

I think i would be tempted to try the smaller ROI 640 x 480 with the  24 - 29 fps. Capture at least a 1,000 frames and maybe try a mosaic in the future for larger areas.

[Aussie Dave]

Well done Dave, I've been following your images for a while now and can see a definite improvement, keep it up and let's see more of the same.

Cheers Alan. It means a lot when positive feedback comes from experienced members.

try running your avi's through PIPP first...and set the targeting boxes on the object of interest. it will then centre on that...and you can crop out the edges you don't like. keep at it. Would defo recommend a ZWO camera. Inconsistent nights....seeing can be so different even within hours of different AVI's

Arh shoot, didn't know that, thanks for the tip Steve. I've only used it a handful of times to make avi's from single shots. I'll need to look in to that.

I've been looking at a few other astro cams Steve for some time. Not sure on which brand to get. I had the chance to buy the ZWO ASI 120MC second hand at another site but it sold quick. It's only a 1.2mp sensor which I think is putting me off and the prices of this one and the others.

I need to sort out my Meade 8" SCT which I haven't tested yet. I could benefit from an extra 2 inches of aperture and some more focal length. I'm still chasing some 8" rings for it.

Conditions do change during the night for sure. I'm finding it better early morning an hour or 2 before the lite glow of the sun from the dark night.

I think i would be tempted to try the smaller ROI 640 x 480 with the  24 - 29 fps. Capture at least a 1,000 frames and maybe try a mosaic in the future for larger areas.

Interesting... another member advised me to record at 640 x 480 as well. I'm finding it hard to understand why a lower res would be better apart from getting more frames. I figured at a higher res the images would be clearer even if I reduced the final processed image to a 640 x 480 image after processing. To me it's like 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Or am I thinking about it all wrong?

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My thoughts on the 360 cam so far for those that are interested.

It seem to be very capable for imaging lunar and I suspect planetary. Given good conditions and good tracking I can see it giving very good results.

What I have noticed and what I've also read online is that the cam does get quite warm after a short period of time and while adjusting the settings I have noticed colour variations around the edges, mainly on the sides, one side in particular on mine. Adjusting the exposure/colour and keeping it is much harder that the faithful CMOS sensor cam. I was thinking of filing thin slits in the top and bottom of the back casing to cool the sensor and some sort of baffled vents to cut out light.

I've also been searching on feebay at some very cheap 5mp CMOS cams from Asia. I've emailed one of the sellers which I've bought bits and pieces from before over the years and haven't had any issues with yet to see what they say. Most say 30mp and 50mp interpolated with installed software which I'm well aware of and not interested in. But, as a plug and play cam without software installation they state up to 5mp res at 2560x1920. If I get a reply stating it is in fact a 5mp cam without installing software/interpolation, I'll take the chance and buy one. Here is a pic of it

The good thing about this cam is it has a vented back, by the look of it 2 screws in the back to disassemble and a flat front casing to easily stick it to a short extension tube.

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On a side note there will be no imaging for a while as we now have another large bush fire close by started by lightning a couple of nights ago. It's hot sticky with a cloudy smoky atmosphere overhead.