Something I have not seen before

[spaceboy]

Came across this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kenko-KDE-20D-430200-Digi-Eyepiece-for-TeleScope-Black-from-JPN-with-Tracking-/271969017637?hash=item3f529ddf25:g:1G0AAOSwT6pV3oLv and if it does what I think ?? though it a good idea. While it may not be ideal for most of us astronomers I could see it's use for outreach groups or even for those with a disability or poor eyesight who would other wise struggle to see things in an eyepiece.

[SteveNickolls]

Thanks for posting this, I wonder if anyone has used one?

Cheers,

Steve

[adder001]

That is pretty cool. I made my own using a raspberry pi and a 2.8" touchscreen.

I posted about it a while ago with a youtube link in case anybody wanted to build their own or improve my design.

If this were available then I probably would have just bought that as the cost of all the bits that I used probably comes to something near that.

Having said that though I do like to tinker and make things so probably not. It is good though.

The reason I made mine was to make it easier for other people eg young daughter and parents etc to see things rather than struggling at the eyepiece.

[happy-kat]

They are both neat but I prefer the diy solution as the screen is remote (just a short cable) from the eyepiece which might be better then getting the telescope knocked. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I like the look and price of this, however i'd only be happy to part with my cash if/when i saw some real views/images from it. Its a bit like a modified Celestron Nextimage or a CCD with a view screen. It still needs to be plugged into a computer?..........so whats the point in the view screen. Surely the computer screen would be better?.

[Jim78154]

If you had bad eyesight, this would do you no good. The view through these is atrocious. It may have a use in an outreach program, but a guide scope and a laptop or a digital camera with even a halfway reasonable screen will do a much better job. They are Chinese junk and a waste of money. Ask me how I know this.

[Stu]

11 minutes ago, Jim78154 said:

If you had bad eyesight, this would do you no good. The view through these is atrocious. It may have a use in an outreach program, but a guide scope and a laptop or a digital camera with even a halfway reasonable screen will do a much better job. They are Chinese junk and a waste of money. Ask me how I know this.

You bought one Jim? ??

[cotterless45]

"It's a camera Jim, but not as we know it !"

[Kropster]

They do nice coffee too! 

[Jim78154]

I owned one for five whole days. It took me that long for the clouds to clear off, to set out in the backyard with it, to pack it up and take it to the post office for a return. The images that I saw using this "eyepiece" were of such poor quality that it was difficult to determine what I was looking at. It was just a complete bust. Could it have been damaged? Yes, I suppose that it could, but you know the old adage about "If dog bites me once..............."

[RobertI]

Thanks for sharing your experience of this Jim, we're lucky to have folk like you who are willing to try these things and share the results. I have read afew reviews on Cloudy Nights of this camera and, even if it did work, it looks like a very strange concept. Unless it had something extra, like onboard live stacking (like some video astronomy cams) or some other amazing onboard astro software to improve viewing experience, I cannot see how a tiny, low res CMOS chip on a tiny screen is ever going to show much. And if the idea is to capture to an SD card for viewing/processing on a PC, then why bother with a screen?  

[cathalferris]

Looks to be too cheap/low-end to be of much use. I think that the minimum entry level for this kind of thing is the basic low-light security camera and a small screen, but that is nearer maybe £200 for entry.