Replacement body for MS Lifecam HD

[Cornelius Varley]

Just found on ebay, specifically designed for the MS Lifecam MS Lifecam adapter. No more having to strip down an old eyepiece to house the MS lifecam.

Peter

[Psychobilly]

Looks rather neat...

First 5 anodised Alloy as well...

Just had to get me one of them.... Thanks Pete

Made by Wayne Weedon (well thats at least where the paypal payment went..) The same lot who make the adaptors for FLO so will be a "Proper Job"

Peter...

[Psychobilly]

Just got mine and its superbly designed and engineered product

Cheers Wayne :icon_salut:

Peter...

[johninderby]

Well designed and the Lifecam fits exactly as advertised. Feels very solid and durable and looks great as well.

Here's a few pics of mine. I've fitted a Baader IR-Block filter.

John

[wayne weedon]

Looks just like mine John, inc the filter Glad they went down well.

Only thing I'd add, is it's useful to make a mark on the original MS Endcap to suggest which way is up. I used a permanment marker and have an arrow drawn on it.

Wayne....

[johninderby]

Only thing I'd add, is it's useful to make a mark on the original MS Endcap to suggest which way is up. I used a permanment marker and have an arrow drawn on it.

Wayne....

Good idea. I've got some small red reflective dots and one of them would do perfectly.

John

[Robert Watson]

Looks good any results yet

[MickyWay]

Just got my 'Replacement body for MS Lifecam HD', thanks Wayne.

Beautifully made.

[kilvil]

just recieved mine also. thanks wayne. is the filter a worthwhile addon, if so which is best.

[Psychobilly]

I use either a Baader UV/IR Cut or The "New" Neodymium one with UV/IR Cut...

[Rob]

Which model life cam is the one to go for then guys?. And equally fits this nice adapter?

[wayne weedon]

It's designed for the Lifecam HD Cinema.

Wayne....

[MikeWilson]

I've got one of these and it'd brilliant. One small thing - I notice you are exposing just the chip, no lens - is that what I'm supposed to do? I mounted mine with it's own lens still covering the chip.

[jturner9]

So when can we start seeing a few of these in action? Would be great.

Jim

ScopesNC

NightSkiesNetwork

[Cornelius Varley]

I've got one of these and it'd brilliant. One small thing - I notice you are exposing just the chip, no lens - is that what I'm supposed to do? I mounted mine with it's own lens still covering the chip.

The lens is removed from the webcam, the telescope then becomes the webcam's lens.

Peter

[MikeWilson]

So I want to remove the lens from the front of the chip.... ok... I hope this will work. The view from the camera looking into the diagonal mirror only shows a spit of light, not a useful image. I'm not sure how this would work w/o a lens at all but I'm going to try it now...

[wayne weedon]

Mike

Yes you need to remove the lens.

Remove the two screws fastening the lens assembly to the pcb.

De-solder the autofocus connections. Or as some have done fracture the joints by teasing the assembly back n forth. I prefer desoldering!

Finally, you MUST either remove the led or blank it with black paint.

I think maybe I ought to prepare some instructions. but the ones at Instructions for Converting Microsoft Lifecam Cinema HD Webcam for Telescope Use -by Gary Honis

Are OK except with my adapter you do not remove the cable and the original metal outer case and rear cover is retained.

Wayne....

[Earl]

Mike

De-solder the autofocus connections. Or as some have done fracture the joints by teasing the assembly back n forth. I prefer desoldering!

Wayne....

UGH !! Bend Snap Done UGH !!

are you refering to my delicate operation of .. snap that'll do it LOL

[wayne weedon]

Pointing no fingers! Lets just say I know it's been done

[Earl]

or better still my Plastic cutters to crush the LED

Dont try my techniques please I use a hammer on a screw !

[MikeWilson]

Snappy snappy! (broken focuser).

Thanks for the info, guys!

Time to cover that led...

[MikeWilson]

I covered the led with sone black acrylic paint, applied with a toothpick. It works perfectly to stop the blue light.

However, I can't get anything to resolve on my lens-less camera. If I wave it around, the lifecam software shows the various light levels from totally dark to totally white. All this is expected, however I cannot bring any image into focus using the nodded camera with my scope.

If I focus on Jupiter (or even a distant streetlamp), I can see it perfectly through the eyepiece and yet when the camera is in the diagonal - nothing

Any ideas?

[wayne weedon]

try without the diagonal?

I've just been out with my lifecam trying Jupiter but keep losing it behind cloud, so I've given up for the night.

You should be able to see a distant streetlamp easily. I've even picked out the pointing on a nearby factory chimney with mine when testing it.

Wayne....

[Tim]

Make sure Jupiter is PERFECTLY centred Mike. You will likely need to play around with the settings for the camera too, I dont know what you get to play with with the lifecam, exposure, gain, brightness, gamma etc???

[MikeWilson]

Thanks Wayne and TJ,

I didn't have Jupiter perfectly centred but on my terrestrial tests (Jupiter vanished behind cloud for me too) I tried focussing from extreme to extreme and playing with all the settings and didn't register anything

I think more trial & error experimentation is needed. I might even try my other scope...