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SPC900NC webcam


kirkster501

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I think I have three or four as well.  I had been considering using one for a daytime all-sky camera (I've been toying with the idea of using a pair of cameras -- colour for daytime and mono for night), and possibly to make an "analemma camera" too.  They're definitely on the list for when I run out of work at the end of September.

James

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8 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Given I've seen the xbox vision cam used on a rasppi I'm sure there are uses for the Phillips on rasppi

I think it would work.  I've not checked, but I believe the SPC900 drivers are still in the kernel.  It would be a shame if they'd been dropped, though I'm not sure anyone has been actively maintaining them for some years.

James

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16 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

Does anyone still use these please?  If so what do you use it for?  I have three kicking around that I rediscovered.  I need to test them.

Maybe one could be the basis for an all-sky cam maybe.

Hi Steve,

I use my SPC900NC as "my eyes" in the obsy. I fitted an old wide angle camcorder lens onto it and I now have a great view of what's going on. There is a recent post on updated drivers for this camera so you can update to win10.

 

Steve

camers.JPG

Edited by sloz1664
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  • 4 weeks later...

Lokking at prices that they have sold for on Astrobusell the average price for a standard SPC900NC with nosepiece seems to be about £30.00 to £35.00. Modified ones or ones with extra adaptors do go for a bit more though.

Edited by johninderby
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6 hours ago, HyperBiotec said:

I am thinking of buying one of these cameras mainly for moon imaging. What would be an acceptable price for a SPC900NC with telescope adapter. There is a guy in my country selling one but i think its too expensive. 

My advice - pick up a used mark 1 ZWO 120MM instead.  I have both and the Philips webcam is never used.  The 120 goes for £50 and uses a standard T2 thread. The webcam requires a special adapter 1.25” nosepiece that screws in where the lens comes out.  The frame rate of the webcam is also low.q

I had a couple of SPC900 and gave the last one away (with no adapters)

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On 10/07/2020 at 17:39, kirkster501 said:

Does anyone still use these please?  If so what do you use it for?  I have three kicking around that I rediscovered.  I need to test them.

Maybe one could be the basis for an all-sky cam maybe.

Yes I have one, but mine is the older SPC880 and I had to flash it with the SPC900 firmwear to work on win 10, as only the SPC900 will work natively without the firmwear flash....I also have an old Toucam pro II also flashed to work on win 10, they are great for lunar shots.. 👍😀

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My feeling is that the SPC900 sensor is really too small for worthwhile lunar imaging.  Even with a 200mm camera lens I think you'd be needing at least a nine-panel mosaic to capture the entire full Moon.  It might just about be ok for imaging single craters or small groups of craters at much longer focal lengths, but that might be the limit of what could be achieved.

James

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23 minutes ago, JamesF said:

My feeling is that the SPC900 sensor is really too small for worthwhile lunar imaging.  Even with a 200mm camera lens I think you'd be needing at least a nine-panel mosaic to capture the entire full Moon.  It might just about be ok for imaging single craters or small groups of craters at much longer focal lengths, but that might be the limit of what could be achieved.

James

I did a 43 panel mosaic of the moon once using the phillips webcame, the sensor is small.  

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1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

Il Alsohave an old Toucam pro II also flashed to work on win 10, they are great for lunar shots.. 👍😀

Is your flashed toucam still working on W10 please?

Mine was working until an update about 3 months ago and hasn't worked since, though I'm going to try it again as I've had another patch to W10 2004.

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35 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Is your flashed toucam still working on W10 please?

Mine was working until an update about 3 months ago and hasn't worked since, though I'm going to try it again as I've had another patch to W10 2004.

Yes, still works... and I have latest 2004 update... 👍

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1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

I did a 43 panel mosaic of the moon once using the phillips webcame, the sensor is small.  

These were done with the toucam pro II, through an 8” LX90,  it’s a 1/4” sensor...not the best I know, but ok.. 👍

 

 

629AC4E1-1FBF-42F1-879B-F45BCF2842BE.jpeg

147A61E8-6F29-4B22-BB0B-9FFD88CE8091.jpeg

E0C43417-A811-414D-BFB2-C26840872CBA.jpeg

19E17C1D-706A-47EF-9635-C156D9528046.jpeg

338B991C-F4C3-41DB-980E-05F641123710.jpeg

Edited by Stuart1971
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1 hour ago, JamesF said:

My feeling is that the SPC900 sensor is really too small for worthwhile lunar imaging.  Even with a 200mm camera lens I think you'd be needing at least a nine-panel mosaic to capture the entire full Moon.  It might just about be ok for imaging single craters or small groups of craters at much longer focal lengths, but that might be the limit of what could be achieved.

James

Yes, about right with nine panel mosaic for full moon, but that would be through an 8” SCT at F10... 👍 never tried through a frac or smaller f ratio scope though...🤔

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5 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

That is really good to know. Are you using the philips W7 driver or the W10 native camera capability please?

 

The Philips W7 driver...from the Philips website.. 👍

only works in sharpcap up to V3 I think, but I also use on Stellarmate / INdI with no issues....

Edited by Stuart1971
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15 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

em, I am using both the philips driver and sharpcap v3.2

oh well more fiddling required, I will have to boot to XP just to check it is still working I expect as a control

Ok, well 3.2 may be the issue, try using the 2.9 or 3.0 version, that may help.... 👍

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31 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Yes, about right with nine panel mosaic for full moon, but that would be through an 8” SCT at F10... 👍 never tried through a frac or smaller f ratio scope though...🤔

Hmmm.  Did I make a mistake with my maths?  Let's see...

Image scale in arcminutes per mm should be 3438 / focal length.  Focal length of a C8 is near enough 2000mm IIRC.  So that's about 1.7 arcminutes per mm of sensor.  The SPC900 sensor is I think about 4mm x 3mm, so it would cover about 7 arcminutes by 4 arcminutes.  But the full Moon is 30 arcminutes in diameter, leaving you needing about 5 x 8 (or 40) image panels to cover the entire thing.

Have I made an error there?  I'd not be surprised if I had.  I'm not feeling particularly bright this morning.

James

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50 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Hmmm.  Did I make a mistake with my maths?  Let's see...

Image scale in arcminutes per mm should be 3438 / focal length.  Focal length of a C8 is near enough 2000mm IIRC.  So that's about 1.7 arcminutes per mm of sensor.  The SPC900 sensor is I think about 4mm x 3mm, so it would cover about 7 arcminutes by 4 arcminutes.  But the full Moon is 30 arcminutes in diameter, leaving you needing about 5 x 8 (or 40) image panels to cover the entire thing.

Have I made an error there?  I'd not be surprised if I had.  I'm not feeling particularly bright this morning.

James

Well I can assure you the images above were taken with a Philips webcam and through a meade LX90 at f10, no idea about your maths, as that does not interest me, as I have the images to show what can be done with that set up....and it’s looks like it can be done with between 9 and 12 panels...some of the images above were cropped, but not the first two... 👍😀

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image.png.164340aa93338706a329849206658df5.png

12 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

and it’s looks like it can be done with between 9 and 12 panels

So have you or havent you done a mosaic with that set up?  It really doesnt look like 9 or even 12 will do it.

 

 

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50 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

image.png.164340aa93338706a329849206658df5.png

So have you or havent you done a mosaic with that set up?  It really doesnt look like 9 or even 12 will do it.

 

 

I was guessing by the size of my image, but it don’t look like 40 either... 👍😀 besides does it really matter, the thread is just about the camera, I think it’s going off topic...I was just giving an image sample from the mentioned camera...😀

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