Philips SPC880NC is now.......

[Chestercopperpot]

Big ups guys above.

Makes sense now

Cheers

[Key]

Given all the interest in these astronomically suited webcams why don't Philips and others manufacture them for this market?

That would save a lot of people a load of hassle and the risk of ruining the webcam/not being able to sort out the right driver, and the makers would reap reward of profits on the whole bundle rather than just the webcam itself.

Anyone got contact details for Dragon's Den?

[Stephen]

Given all the interest in these astronomically suited webcams why don't Philips and others manufacture them for this market?

That would save a lot of people a load of hassle and the risk of ruining the webcam/not being able to sort out the right driver, and the makers would reap reward of profits on the whole bundle rather than just the webcam itself.

Anyone got contact details for Dragon's Den?

They do, Atik, Imaging Source etc. etc. - Those that do manufacture them for this purpose charge for it!

The SPC is the "cheap" way in.

Still ATEOD it's still a very small market in the grand scheme of things.

[Key]

They do, Atik, Imaging Source etc. etc. - Those that do manufacture them for this purpose charge for it!

The SPC is the "cheap" way in.

Still ATEOD it's still a very small market in the grand scheme of things.

You're right of course re the mid/high end of the range, but a purpose made piece of kit to suit the masses would surely be very popular and lead on to a decent number of extra sales at the higher end when people decide their interest and skill now makes an upgrade a less costly gamble.

[Earl]

Basically if you can put it in a differnt case, change the name and charge more, job done!

There is no reason why they would want to sell the product for less.

Of course this is not a "nice thing to do" but business is not about been nice its about profit and the more the better.

This must of hit hard the sales of things like the nextimage etc, as it is over priced with the alternative options out there, which are not exactly dificult to do.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Earl

[Brent]

Epic thread, loved reading it!

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this from Morgans, but does anybody know of anywhere I could send it to get the LX and Amp Mod done if I want to go that route in the future? (My soldering skills are worse than dire.)

I was looking at Dion's modded SPC900 on eBay but there's no way I'll be able to slide a £100 single payment past the wife!

[datman]

Hi

I recently bought one of these from Morgans. I bought the whole thing (cam+tube+filter) ready flashed. It cost less than buying each item separately. Flashing is not particularly difficult but there is a small risk so why not let Morgan take the risk! Just had to remove the lens and fit the tube (easy). Anyway I decided for £40ish it was worth a play. Because of the weather I've only been able to use it once but I was very pleased with the 5 shots of the moon I took with a SW 200P. 200 frames each.

At the moment I'm quite content with what it can do in it's unmodified form.

Datman

[SniffTheGlove]

Epic thread, loved reading it!

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this from Morgans, but does anybody know of anywhere I could send it to get the LX and Amp Mod done if I want to go that route in the future? (My soldering skills are worse than dire.)

I was looking at Dion's modded SPC900 on eBay but there's no way I'll be able to slide a £100 single payment past the wife!

Try Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

[tonyh66]

Try Astronomiser - Automated Astronomy and AstroImaging Solutions

The cheapest mod is £60, add the £40 you pay to Morgans and the price is £100. Not really a cost effective solution. If your interested in modding the SPC880/900 check out the DIY section there's a thread in there which is excellent for guiding you through the process.

[Brent]

I am just more interested in imaging DSO's than planets (but would like to do both!)

The flashing itself isn't a problem. But I've tried other soldering mod jobs and have failed miserably to the extent of throwing good money away. The thread in the DIY section is great but I'm not capable enough

Sean, thanks for the Astronomiser link.

tonyh66, I know that a good DSLR is infinitely better for deep sky than the long exposure webcam but it is also more expensive to the point that I can't afford one at second hand prices

My skies are very light pollouted so I see imaging as a way of showing me the DSO's I can't readily view easily. I can't get to dark skies often enough (going back to the dark west coast of Scotland in October though, can't wait!)

I think I'll just have to give it a few more months and then try to convince the wife to let me get Dion's pre modded cam.

EDIT: My God, just re-read it and it sounds so "oh woe is me!". There are worse things not to be able to afford in this world, lol

Edited March 29, 2011 by Brent

[haitch]

Brent,

Not what I would consider a "good" DSLR by today's standards but I picked up a Canon 10D body for £100 to experiment with.

[Jriy]

Help me, the file is very necessary spc880.bin. I want to restore a webcams.My email: astronet3@gmail.com.Thanks/

[yesyes]

Not sure where you can get the spc880.bin but you can get the spc900.bin from here:

http://home.versatel.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.bin

(Link taken from this page: Philips SPC900NC uncovered )

[Jriy]

Thanks, at me are a file spc900.bin.The insertions the chamber wasn't stitched also the laptop not to see her. I wanted to return all back by means of a file spc880.bin.The still somehow it is possible to restore the webcam or to stitch it.

[dvdfilmbuff]

My 2 SPC880NXC's arrived at weekend. SPC900NC's now. Really easy mod - Didn't need to do it as my astro lappy is still XP, but whats done is done!

Might use one on my microscope and the other as a spare for my astronomiser camera!

Any hoo, for £12.80 + vat - I ain't complaining.

(One of these cams is now in a new case - An old PS2 mouse I had lying around was just the right size for the cam boards - Quick dremmel and some super glue and we are away!) - This will be 'Polar cam' so I don't have to keep bending and squinting at the polar scope. It will also be good for quick shots when I don't need LE and AMP OFF.

Edited July 29, 2011 by dvdfilmbuff

[todd8137]

Epic thread, loved reading it!

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this from Morgans, but does anybody know of anywhere I could send it to get the LX and Amp Mod done if I want to go that route in the future? (My soldering skills are worse than dire.)

I was looking at Dion's modded SPC900 on eBay but there's no way I'll be able to slide a £100 single payment past the wife!

nothing wrong with the 10d have had some good results 2"adapter and a 2"barlow not modded but still works

[MisterBill]

Jriy, I see someone said they had the original .bin file.

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-discussion/116007-raw-mode-phillips-spc880-modded-spc900.html

You might ask them if they would share.

Good luck.

Bill

[PH-R]

HI can somebody send me the 880 .inf file as the zip on Morgans website is corrupt.

Thank you,

PH-R

[Photosbykev]

send me an email PH-R and I'll email it to you

kevin@photosbykev.com

[PH-R]

Hello Kevin,

Thank you very much you are a life saver :-). Cam arrived today and the sky is looking clear!!

Best wishes,

Paul

NB sent

[Photosbykev]

Hello Kevin,

Thank you very much you are a life saver :-). Cam arrived today and the sky is looking clear!!

Best wishes,

Paul

NB sent

on its way

[PH-R]

Thank you again! It looks like I don't to flash the cam as I'm running it on a xp lappy. Is there any benefit to upgrading the firmware?

Regards,

Paul

[PH-R]

My vesta webcam died last week so I needed a replacement guide cam. I came across this thread and decided to order the SPC880NC from Morgans. I paid £31 for the cam and IR adaptor delivered. I already owned a mogg adaptor for the vesta cam, which I wanted to reuse. However, I read that it would not fit the SPC880NC. So I decided to re-house the new cam as shown below. I hope somebody else finds it useful:

First take the cam apart following these instructions: Philips SPC900NC uncovered

Equipment used/needed: Static wrist band, Mogg adaptor (UWAT-F), Watchmakers screwdrivers (flat & phillips heads), Stanley knife, Black duct tape, small piece of wire & small plastic container (Tesco £0.99 for 4). I used the former simply because I had the items at home already.

Next I checked the adaptor fitted the cam:

Cut a hole in the lid to fit the protruding part between the thread and 1.25 adaptor:

Screw cam innards to adaptor:

Cut hole in end of bottom half of the container to thread USB cable through and also make two holes in the side for your wire, which will act as a brace:

Loop cam lead around inside bottom half of case and secure using your wire to act as a brace in case you trip over lead. This step is not necessary but better to be safe than sorry:

Wrap the housing in black tape and your done. Not the most aesthetic finish but functional:

One working guide cam:

[rawhead]

Took my time but I eventually got round to flashing the cam today. Worked like a dream

Cheers Russ.

[todd8137]

Took my time but I eventually got round to flashing the cam today. Worked like a dream

Cheers Russ.

hi there you should take a look at

WcRmac - Description

flash it with the non raw color ,it makes a big difference the color on Jupiter is a bit cleaner with my spc900 and if you do not like it just use the same software to flash it back and you only have to klik on one and away you go its fool proof as well please do not take that the wrong way.

the raw modes are wicked as well i have two Phillips webcams

1,color non raw mode special factory settings

2,raw mode black and white

now these Phillips webs cams do process the image for you that may be the dif between a good and bad pic some times try all the modes

it depends how you like you images raw file wise have a look

i may even pop a vid on you tube at some point to show the modes

before some says it makes no dif because rgb filters

Edited September 17, 2011 by todd8137