Watec WAT120n camera

[wsteel33]

Hi 

I've been given some kit and come across this Camera.

I believe its can be used as a deep space astrocamera. 

Anyone had any experience of one of these.

Cheers

[Stu]

They are very good, and sensitive cameras that should allow you to have a go at video astronomy (or EEVA as we call in on SGL, I forget what it stands for!)

You can get it to sum up to 256 frames and adjust the sensitivity in order to get near live views of DSOs, a nice bit of kit.

[Peter Drew]

I have two of these, the 120n and the 120n+.  I had a lot of success with them in the past coupled to a 12" Meade SCT operating at F6.3 and F3.3.    🙂  

[Macavity]

A FINE thing indeed! (Still fun if/when I get around to EEVA!)

Internal integration and Coax Cables are a bit "old hat" in these days? Eight Bit
cameras/processing can be a challenge? But I still feel a LOT can be achieved?! 🙂
A USB Video Capture dongle enables you to write (and stack!) .AVI Video files.

An excellent book on the subject:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Sky-Video-Astronomy-Patrick-Practical

Edited July 3, 2020 by Macavity

[wsteel33]

Thanks guys that's excellent news, I wonder if I could pick your brains further.

I have ordered a video grabber dongle and BNC to audio jack cable to get the video on my computer.

Following the advice I got here I am thinking that I could use it through RGB filters to take videos of Mars/Jupiter/Saturn through my Skywatcher Evostar 120 and using Registax to stack the images (after all we have a golden opportunity with opposition happening). Would I be right in thinking that this would be a good camera for this. I've tried this with a bog standard webcam mod previously with ok results but I'm thinking that the sensitivity of this camera could give a massive increase in outcome.

Any thoughts?

All advice greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know what size/thread adaptor I'd need to attach this to my scope?

Thanks everyone 😃

 

[wsteel33]

2 hours ago, Macavity said:

A FINE thing indeed! (Still fun if/when I get around to EEVA!)

Internal integration and Coax Cables are a bit "old hat" in these days? Eight Bit
cameras/processing can be a challenge? But I still feel a LOT can be achieved?! 🙂
A USB Video Capture dongle enables you to write (and stack!) .AVI Video files.

An excellent book on the subject:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Sky-Video-Astronomy-Patrick-Practical

Thanks Macavity I think I'll get that ordered 👍

[wsteel33]

Done some more research, will this need a C-Thread adaptor?

Cheers 

 

[Phil Fargaze]

Hello. Yes you will need a C mount adaptor as shown Here. I Have the long one as well as the short one. I use the long one combined with a focal reducer to provide a larger field of view. I also have the book Macavity recommended and also find it excellent. The book describes using colour filters and processing etc. 

[wsteel33]

Just now, Phil Fargaze said:

Hello. Yes you will need a C mount adaptor as shown Here. I Have the long one as well as the short one. I use the long one combined with a focal reducer to provide a larger field of view. I also have the book Macavity recommended and also find it excellent. The book describes using colour filters and processing etc. 

Excellent, thanks Phil.

I'll get one ordered 👍

[Phil Fargaze]

Regarding planets, you may find it easier to use a dedicated digital colour camera. I havn`t really had much progress with planets with the Watec myself, but give it a try and see what you think. However,  I`m confident you will be impressed with it`s deep sky capabilities though.

[wsteel33]

Ok Thanks 🙂

I'm currently using either Orion 80ED or Skywatcher Evostar 120 on my EQ6 with an unmodded Canon 600D and APT. I'm guiding with Starlight Xpress Lodestar hooked up to a Skywatcher 9 x 50 viewfinder scope using PHD2.

I've also currently got temporary use of a fairly hefty Celestron SCT (9.25 i think) which I haven't had a go with yet.

Looking forward to giving all this a go when we get dark clear skies again