Lazy astronomer

[Darkfighter]

Hello all, I am a proper bewbie at astronomy and I don't like the cold, I have forever been interested in the skys above, recently I had the good fortune to be asked to remove a Hikvision ds-2de4215iw-de ( click able link ) a nice addition to my small garden to watch dogs and wildlife, I soon realised that if I fix the camera upside down I get a free telescope, at the moment I am fighting the star location game using Skysafari, I appreciate it is not even slightly etiquette to sit indoors and watch the sky from a TV but I am really enjoying picking out constellations, monitoring myriads of satellites and cursing the fact the andromida Galaxy is too low in the sky to see it at the mo

Edited May 1, 2021 by Darkfighter

[Darkfighter]

I do seem to be able to resolve light from distant objects but to be expected they move across the screen pretty quickly, I have also got skysafari maxed on all magnitudes but can see more light from DSOs than is available in the app, obviously with the Ltd tech I have sharp resolution of anything is impossible but I can see the light and this to me is fascinating 

[Astro Noodles]

Hi Darkfighter

Is a Hikvision a type of CCTV camera ?

 

[Darkfighter]

Yes it is, it is a poe network camera, if you click the device type in my top post , underlined, it will take you to the devices spec page, I have it on my home network, I use various wifi tablets to view the cameras output and from there stream to a TV, the streaming is not ideal bit for me as a beginner it suits, I hope my addictive tech nature does not grab hold... for my wife's sanity 

[johninderby]

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikvision

[Darkfighter]

Yup, that's Hikvision John, they manufacture mainly pro CCTV although they do make a consumer product as well

Upturned though, a decent PTZ makes for a good starter place, especially if it's free 😀

Edited May 1, 2021 by Darkfighter

[Darkfighter]

A picture of my equipment with the observatory roof closed,  due to the non approved upside down useage of the device, the shroud that protects the camera acts as a rain catcher, not good so when not on night time duties I activate the roof closure system

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Darkfighter

[Stu]

Tee hee @Darkfighter, nice bit of engineering 🤣

If you get SkySafari Plus or Pro, it will have all the DSOs you could ever see with your camera, and more! Plenty up there 👆 

[Darkfighter]

Thanks Stu, I may well do that, I'm also now wandering what a new up to date PTZ will be capable off, I actually need someone to tell me what sensor size would be best, there is alot of reading and explaining on the net about sensor sizes, lens length and so on but il be honest it kinda looses me, there are some crossover details that are similar between stellar photography and video stellar photography, f stops, lens lengths,  maybe what I have is all that's needed taking into consideration what is realistically achievable, I'm so on my own here doing this its hard to know

[Stu]

On 05/05/2021 at 10:16, Darkfighter said:

Thanks Stu, I may well do that, I'm also now wandering what a new up to date PTZ will be capable off, I actually need someone to tell me what sensor size would be best, there is alot of reading and explaining on the net about sensor sizes, lens length and so on but il be honest it kinda looses me, there are some crossover details that are similar between stellar photography and video stellar photography, f stops, lens lengths,  maybe what I have is all that's needed taking into consideration what is realistically achievable, I'm so on my own here doing this its hard to know

Check the low light spec as this varies a lot. Not sure what’s available in PTZ, but some of the normal CCTV models like Samsung SCB2000 and Watec 120N (now obsolete I think) offer integration for 256 frames or even 512 or more, so that you can build up much better images of fainter objects.

[Darkfighter]

Difficult to cross reference your outlined numbers above and the way they are expressed in terms of cctv low light capability Stu, here is a screen cap of my devices capabilities, it means it can resolve full colour in total darkness for a still image, any movement when in slow shutter mode will obviously incur blur, for black and white it is much more sensitive but less fun when looking for objects in the sky, I guess one evening I am going to have to sit at my pc and see if it is possible to introduce the cameras live output/recordings into some other software, currently I just view on a WiFi tablet using the devices Android app for basic zoom, focus and my mobile for accessing the devices lan Web page where technical adjustments are available

Edited May 7, 2021 by Darkfighter

[Stu]

I’m not an expert at all, but the low light sensitivity comparison is 0.001 Lux for your camera, whereas the 120n+ is 0.00002 lux, so is a lot more sensitive.

Obviously they are very different cameras and yours has the benefit of the PTZ etc, was just interested in the comparison.

[Darkfighter]

Wow, that is sensitive, I had no idea that was possible to go that low, the other items listed do appear to be similar to my device but that lux level is incredible, thank you for pointing that out Stu, time now to examine lux levels on other devices.