Philips SPC880NC is now.......

[nightfisher]

I see that you ordered a pre-flashed 880 from Morgan's. It has to be working for the firmware to be flashed, so did you install the 900NC drivers on your PC.

Did you check the cam was working before stripping the lens off?

Have you tried it with the original lens screwed back on.

When it is plugged in and runing what do you see when you have some capture software running?

Does the image in the capture software change when you cover the camera over or shine a light at it.

If the images change then the camera should be fine and you just need to fine the focus point.

Screw you focuser right in without any EP's in and then just slowly move the camera back keeping it inline with the focuser until the image clears, it might require quite a long distance to focus.

Worse case senerio just speak to Morgans to complain and ask for a swap or refund. Your money is not wasted.

Yes i installed the drivers for the 900nc, and the cam works with the lens fitted, i sort of get an image if i open the programe for the webcam, but if i run sharpcap all i get is a solid black square, no variation, have unistalled and reinstalled sharpcap but same result

[SniffTheGlove]

Yes i installed the drivers for the 900nc, and the cam works with the lens fitted, i sort of get an image if i open the programe for the webcam, but if i run sharpcap all i get is a solid black square, no variation, have unistalled and reinstalled sharpcap but same result

OK, what program did you use to view the cam image with when you have the original lens fitted?

[nightfisher]

OK, what program did you use to view the cam image with when you have the original lens fitted?

If i use cam with original lens fitted and go to my computer/double click on the webcam it runs fine

[SniffTheGlove]

If i use cam with original lens fitted and go to my computer/double click on the webcam it runs fine

OK, run the cam in explorer, take the lens off, screw on the nosepiece and then put in you scope and focus. There is no reason why not and I just expect you are having an issue with Sharpcap.

Have you selected the the webcam under Device on the Sharpcam menu, perhaps you are defaulting to another USB camera or virtual camera and not the SPC880(900NC)

[TheThing]

I've had a problem in the past where webcams wouldn't work unless they were plugged into the same usb port everytime. Silly I know, but...

[nightfisher]

huh, just tried and sharpcap wont load now, will try again tomorrow, thanks for the help

[SniffTheGlove]

huh, just tried and sharpcap wont load now, will try again tomorrow, thanks for the help

What about running it in explorer with the lens off? Did that work?

Try Craterlet instead if your PC is having issues with Sharpcap.

[tonyowen]

yep, just tried it through the scope, really feel im out of my depth with this, gonna be a right learning curve

I've a similar situation. I'm using an (unflashed) 880 fitted directly into the focussing rack of an 80mm BCF brass terrestrial telescope. I've tried focussing on a island 6 miles across the sea to no avail, though I can focus on an islet a mile or so away. The weather has been terrible so I haven't had opportunity to try the moon. My guess is that the range of my focussing rack is too short, so I need to extend it.

(I'm running the 880 aka 900 under Win7 wihtout problems)

HOWEVER, using the same situation with a 35mm camera setup everything viewed through the camera and the resulting images are in focus!!

Given that both the 880 and 35mm camera are used without a lens I'm surprised that there is such a shift in the point of focus.

Any advise welcome

regards

Tony Owen

[yesyes]

I guess it depends how deep inside the camera the sensor is located. If the webcam has the sensor not as deep, then you'd need more focuser outward travel.

[nightfisher]

What about running it in explorer with the lens off? Did that work?

Try Craterlet instead if your PC is having issues with Sharpcap.

looks like i might have sorted it, have deleted and reinstalled drivers and installed craterlet and now getting previews:)

thanks to all that offered help:)

[bus_ter]

Good to know you're sorted now. After all that I expect to see some images up soon!

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Celeste]

Hi all sorry to be a PITA on this subject, but this thread is VERY long I haven't managed to read it all (skimmed over) We are just getting into astronomy and would love a webcam capable of not only showing us all what the scope is seeing but taking pics and movies and this cam seems to fit the bill. My question is, this cam (SPC900NC) is on ebay at a price of £22.95 +PnP or as a bundle of cam, adapter, IR filter for £49.95.....is that a good deal?

Thanks

[nightfisher]

Hi all sorry to be a PITA on this subject, but this thread is VERY long I haven't managed to read it all (skimmed over) We are just getting into astronomy and would love a webcam capable of not only showing us all what the scope is seeing but taking pics and movies and this cam seems to fit the bill. My question is, this cam (SPC900NC) is on ebay at a price of £22.95 +PnP or as a bundle of cam, adapter, IR filter for £49.95.....is that a good deal?

Thanks

NO...not a good deal, in this thread there is a link to morgans they have the spc880 that they can flash to 900 spec plus the filter and adaptor and they are great to deal with

[nightfisher]

Good to know you're sorted now. After all that I expect to see some images up soon!

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

Yes bus-ter i really hope to get the imaging going as soon as poss, and with lots of false colour from my evo!!!

[Celeste]

Ok thanks will steer clear then

[SniffTheGlove]

Hi all sorry to be a PITA on this subject, but this thread is VERY long I haven't managed to read it all (skimmed over) We are just getting into astronomy and would love a webcam capable of not only showing us all what the scope is seeing but taking pics and movies and this cam seems to fit the bill. My question is, this cam (SPC900NC) is on ebay at a price of £22.95 +PnP or as a bundle of cam, adapter, IR filter for £49.95.....is that a good deal?

Thanks

This is the page on Morgans to look at

https://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/products2.asp?CategoryID=556

You can save a little if you flash the cam yourself on XP.

If you buy it flashed then you just need the 900NC drivers off http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?cat=PC_CAMERAS_CA&sct=WEBCAMS_SU&scy=GB&grp=MONITORS_PC_PERIPHERALS_GR&ctn=SPC900NC/00&slg=ENG&mid=Link_Software&hlt=Link_Software for your OS, then choose either Sharpcam or Craterlet as your capture software or any other software that takes your fancy or wallet.

Edited November 6, 2010 by SniffTheGlove

[tonyowen]

Hi all sorry to be a PITA on this subject, but this thread is VERY long I haven't managed to read it all (skimmed over) We are just getting into astronomy and would love a webcam capable of not only showing us all what the scope is seeing but taking pics and movies and this cam seems to fit the bill. My question is, this cam (SPC900NC) is on ebay at a price of £22.95 +PnP or as a bundle of cam, adapter, IR filter for £49.95.....is that a good deal?

Thanks

The 880 webcam and adapter from the Morgan sitre are good (financial) value . You do not need to flash the 880 to get the 900nc state. You can do this by using the downloaded inf file from the Morgan website and accessing it from your computer's inf subdirectory.

I've got this to work on both my Vista 32 bit and Win7 64 bit machiines

keep it simple

regards

Tony

[SniffTheGlove]

The 880 webcam and adapter from the Morgan sitre are good (financial) value . You do not need to flash the 880 to get the 900nc state. You can do this by using the downloaded inf file from the Morgan website and accessing it from your computer's inf subdirectory.

I've got this to work on both my Vista 32 bit and Win7 64 bit machiines

keep it simple

regards

Tony

Tony, the inf file is just the installation instructions for XP to load the drivers, in no way does it flash the webcam.

To flash you need a bin file (firmware) and software (WcRmac) that can upload the firmware to the cam.

Unless of course Tony I have mistaken your comments and you are describing something else and not flashing

[tonyowen]

Tony, the inf file is just the installation instructions for XP to load the drivers, in no way does it flash the webcam.

To flash you need a bin file (firmware) and software (WcRmac) that can upload the firmware to the cam.

Unless of course Tony I have mistaken your comments and you are describing something else and not flashing

Hi Sean

I'm not flashing the 880 webcam at all.

I've got both my Vista 32bit laptop and Win7 64bit desktop computers to recognize and operate the 880nc webcam (from Morgans) as a 900nc unit WITHOUT going through the risky and non-reversible procedure of flashing new firmware.

The webcam hasd bene working on both computers for upwards of three weeks with a a vareity of software viz: IRIS, wxastrocapture, astra image, vlounge, and ANCap

regards

Tony

[SniffTheGlove]

Hi Sean

I'm not flashing the 880 webcam at all.

I've got both my Vista 32bit laptop and Win7 64bit desktop computers to recognize and operate the 880nc webcam (from Morgans) as a 900nc unit WITHOUT going through the risky and non-reversible procedure of flashing new firmware.

The webcam hasd bene working on both computers for upwards of three weeks with a a vareity of software viz: IRIS, wxastrocapture, astra image, vlounge, and ANCap

regards

Tony

That's good Tony. How did you get it to recognise on Vista/Win7. From your original post you seem to be able to do it with just using the XP inf file of Morgans site. I have a firend which is about to purchase the SPC880 and he has Win7. I previous insturcted him to go through the entire procedure of flashing etc but if you have a simpler way that would be good for him as he is has no IT knowledge.

[tonyowen]

That's good Tony. How did you get it to recognise on Vista/Win7. From your original post you seem to be able to do it with just using the XP inf file of Morgans site. I have a firend which is about to purchase the SPC880 and he has Win7. I previous insturcted him to go through the entire procedure of flashing etc but if you have a simpler way that would be good for him as he is has no IT knowledge.

Sean, the following worked for me

I inmserted the webcam into my computer usb port.

I opened Device Manager and right clicked the unknown device and chose Update Driver Software.

Next screen was "Browse for driver software"

I chose "Let me pick from list of device drivers on my computer".

Next took me to Show all devices

then to "select the device driver you want to install for your hardware"

Clicking Next got me "Select from list", which was empty

I clicked "I have disk"; and directed the search to c:\windows\inf

I was offered the choice of many manufacturers and dropped down to Philips

Here I was given the choice of various Philips webcams.

I chose Philips PCVC750k Camera, Video.

and Eureka

regards

Tony

[SniffTheGlove]

Glad it works for you Tony.

Can you use the Optimised macros in WcRmac to improve the image quality?

[Andrew INT]

Thanks to Russ' heads-up, I've been trying to get my SPC880 to flash as a 900. I will be imaging on a Vista laptop but can make us of my wifes XP for the flashing.

I dowloaded the driver onto XP and kept the cam filming. I then dowloaded the WCRMAC program and added the binary file.

However, when I followed Russ' guide and click on the DS interface, the SPC900 is not show (as on the image in the posting) rather a PCVC750K.

I don't want to proceed further and damage anything!

Also, having selected the binary tab, which showed the SPC900, when I selected "get current and save as", this just tried to save a copy of the binary file into the same folder.

I must be doing something wrong!

Any help would be...a great help!

Kind regards, Andrew

[SniffTheGlove]

Thanks to Russ' heads-up, I've been trying to get my SPC880 to flash as a 900. I will be imaging on a Vista laptop but can make us of my wifes XP for the flashing.

I dowloaded the driver onto XP and kept the cam filming. I then dowloaded the WCRMAC program and added the binary file.

Did you reboot at this point? One you reboot you then load the 900NC drivers for you OS

Read Page 10 http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/113699-philips-spc880nc-now-10.html#post1570968 of this thread were I explain this is detail to some one ina similar position Andrew.

Edited November 7, 2010 by SniffTheGlove

[Andrew INT]

Yep, I did a re-boot too. I'll try again tomorrow - after starting the flash, I just get the message "unable to download binary file". in the green box (or words to that effect).

Many thanks for your help. Regards, Andrew