My first go with Toucam... oo-er

[SteelRat]

Well, finally got an old toucam (no mod) and an adapter. Chucked it in a x3 barlow, plugged it into in the end of the little 80mm scope (laptop outside & not impressed) and pointed the lot toward Saturn this morning - RA drive running - racing against the sunrise. Barely got focus - didn't know WHAT settings to use as had not played with before so just hoped for the best. Laptop battery ran out just after saving. Back inside.

Loaded the avi into registax (old free version off S@N cd) pushed a few buttons - can't really admit to understanding any of it yet. Altered the contrast in Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Not much else I could do with it really.

Not as easy as you lot make it look.

Ah well, here's what I did Sorry if it puts anyone off their breakfast.

(click to enlarge)

[geppetto]

I'm impressed SR 8)

Some folk make it look easy (which it isn't) because they've had hundreds of goes at it.

You come along and produce a lovely Saturn image on Toucam day one..

You've got good colour, detail on the planet's surface rings clearly seperated and good exposure.

Now tweak and tweak again at your settings next time out to beat your previous image.

Very well done

[lunator]

SR

Thats an excellent 1st pic.

I very good base to start from.

Cheers

Ian

[Jamie]

It will get esier SR.

And that is a great first Saturn image (mine was a smudge)

[SteelRat]

Thanks for that folks. Just a quick question though;

I did try my x4 imagemate first but couldn't get enough in-travel to get focus. Just about managed with the x3 barlow. Just realised now (doh!) that with my 2" diag I'm using up a fair bit. I no longer have a 1.25" diag - question is should I be using the x4 without a diag in place? - the draw tube is pretty long. (80mm f6 480mm refractor)

Cheers

[Jamie]

Yep you should take out the diagonal mate.

[SteelRat]

Thanks Jamie - thought as much (doh!). Will try it next time. I take it Saturn will then also be larger on the screen? Theres's one goal at least. Registax made that pic out of a load of these;

When I saw the stream playin I had my doubts.

Cheers folks.

[CELESCOPE]

nice one SR first image of Saturn , good job mate , nothing wrong with that one , keep at it , it will get better and better

Rog

[Jamie]

Listen here SR your images are always gonna look as bad as this in Registax

before processing them. (even the stunners)

Try this mate - when you have focus when using the barlow but not the diagonal

loosen the grip on the cameras eyepice adapter a little and pull it out just slightly you

should see the image get a bit bigger, then just tighten it back up and re focus.

You should have a bigger image than before.

Good luck mate.

[SteelRat]

Cheers Rog & thanks again Jamie. Got some things to try now. 'Preciate the help mate

[Caz]

What a corker for your first toucam image... Well done!!

Caz

[SteelRat]

Thanks Caz

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Superb for a first go. I'd show you my first go but it went in the bin, and my best one isn't any better than yours. Oo-er indeed, you should get better, as we all do with practise, and I look forward to the results.

Captain Chaos

[daz]

That's a fab picture SR!! Nothing to add to the others comments - practice, practice, practice!!

[FLO]

You should be pleased

[SteelRat]

Cheers folks. Will try again next clear night. May have a go with my 100r. Thanks for the encouragement

[GazOC]

Very nice mate! The Tal should give even better results.

[SteelRat]

Cheers mate. Should get more mag from m'Tal and already being f10 won't need the imagemate. Should probably use a x2 with it though eh?

[GazOC]

Yep, the x2 will give a great image scale.

[MartinB]

Makes me feel embarrased when I think of my 1st image of Saturn. That really is a terrific 1st effort SR. Did you try the wavelets in Registax. If not it's worth having a look. Also have a look at this primer if you haven't already.

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=3523.0

[SteelRat]

Cheers Martin. I did slide a couple of bars but managed to make things look a bit nasty so put them back as they were. Thanks for the link. Will have a read