Star Party Laptops

[TopHouse]

Something that's puzzled me a bit. I know at star parties it's considered 'etiquette' to have one of the red acetate jobbies on your laptop screen, but how do you go on with CCD/webcam imaging?

if you're like me, you have your face to the screen, twiddling with the focus, tweaking the gain & shutter speeds etc and closely watching the monitored image on the laptop. Do these red laptop filters not affect your ability to 'tweak'.

[beamish]

No not really Dion , often there are focus aids either on the s/w or hard solutions eg Bhatinov masks or you could run a long USB and have the lappy in your tent .

[TopHouse]

I'd be in and out of me tent every twenty seconds! No such new fangled focusing software on my toucam set up.

[beamish]

You'll be right mate

[TopHouse]

I'd be going home on crutches lol

[Jamie]

I can't remember the name of it but there is a bit of freeware out there that you can use to turn your screen red.....

Anyone remember the software's name?

[Paxo]

I can't remember the name of it but there is a bit of freeware out there that you can use to turn your screen red.....

Anyone remember the software's name?

Can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it was given away free on this months S@N magazine coverdisc if anyone needs it.

Steve

[TopHouse]

Can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it was given away free on this months S@N magazine coverdisc if anyone needs it.

Steve

Funnily enough I bought that issue, will have a lookie now.

[TopHouse]

Dark adapted

[Jamie]

Cheers Dion i just found it and was about to post......

Thanks all...

[BinocularSky]

Night vision software is fine but, and I don't think it's just me, but sooner or later a mess-up occurs, usually just as you can ruin the dark-adaptation of the maximum number of people. Red plastic sheet is just so much safer! The screen-saver on my old Palm PDA that I use for astronomy is a bit of red sticky-back plastic (Fablon) -- I would need to be deliberately incompetent to mess up with that!