digital eyepiece from ebay

[demonicrage]

hi, i am looking at this eyepiece i have found on ebay, it isnt a branded piece of equipment but it seems cheap and would be okay for a beginner like me. any thoughts?

Digital Eyepiece FITS ANY TELESCOPE View & Record to PC on eBay (end time 10-Nov-10 19:08:07 GMT)

Thanks

[brantuk]

Hmmm... looks interesting - but it would be a punt I think - and not a particularly cheap one

(never know - it might turn out to be the d's b's)

[Polar Bear]

Seems expensive for an unbranded piece of kit with no actual photos of what is achievable with what scope.

I would give it a miss and look for a good Philips Unit that occasionally come up for sale on both ebay and on the forum.

On the other hand as Brant says it may be the Dogs B's but I wouldn't bet on it.

I also have a dislike for ebay sellers that keep their items private in their feedback !

Paul

[Cornelius Varley]

The pixel size is too small (2.8 microns) to allow it to work at long focal lengths. There is another version of this camera, which has a 5.2 micron pixel size, sold under the Pentaflex brand name that I suspect could be an unbranded Orion SSSIII.

Peter

[bus_ter]

I would give it a miss and look for a good Philips Unit that occasionally come up for sale on both ebay and on the forum.

Tge Philips SPC990NC camera can be bought for £10 new, (search the forum for all the details)

[bus_ter]

The pixel size is too small (2.8 microns) to allow it to work at long focal lengths. There is another version of this camera, which has a 5.2 micron pixel size, sold under the Pentaflex brand name that I suspect could be an unbranded Orion SSSIII.

I thought the small pixel size was a good thing, the reason webcams work well because the tiny images produced through the scope covers more pixels and you get greater resolutions images.

[demonicrage]

cheers guys, ill give it a miss and try and find something better

[Cornelius Varley]

I thought the small pixel size was a good thing, the reason webcams work well because the tiny images produced through the scope covers more pixels and you get greater resolutions images.

The limiting factor is the resolving power of the telescope. At short focal lengths or for large telescopes the camera might work, but as you increase the focal length of the telescope, by the use of a barlow for instance, there will come a point where the smaller pixel cannot resolve anymore detail than the bigger pixel in a Toucam or similar. In effect a group of the smaller pixels are seeing the same area that can be resolved by the larger pixel. This is called oversampling.

Peter

[Keiran]

Take a look at this Russ said that it is an orion SS without the badge...

http://stargazerslounge.com/heads-up/116727-orion-starshoot-ssi-iii-bargain-money.html

[Cornelius Varley]

This website gives some more information on selecting a CCD Astrophoto tips.

Peter

[Polar Bear]

I stand corrected !

[Cornelius Varley]

Take a look at this Russ said that it is an orion SS without the badge...

http://stargazerslounge.com/heads-up/116727-orion-starshoot-ssi-iii-bargain-money.html

No it isn't. The Orion SSSIII has a 1280x1024 sensor with a 5.2 micron pixel size. The Ebay camera has a 1280x1024 sensor with a 2.8 micron pixel. Which by my calculations makes the sensor in the ebay camera 3.6mm x 2.86mm and the Orion SSSIII 6.6mm x 5.3mm. They both 1.3mp sensors but the FOV of the ebay camera is about the same as a Toucam. The 2.8 micron pixel won't work as well as the Orion camera at the focal lengths normally used in planetary and lunar imaging. Read my earlier post regarding the pixel size and telescope resolving power.

peter