CCD imaging

SPC900NC magnification?

NutoAP — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:31:02 GMT

Does anyone know what the comparable magnification level of the SPC900NC is? What mm eyepiece would it be comparable to as-is, with no Barlow hookup? I appreciate any help that anyone could give!

P.S. I finally was able to get out and use the camera and everyone's advice from all my questions, and had a pretty successful 1st night. Once again, thanks to everyone! It's nice to get out and work with the settings and experience what makes a good capture and what doesn't.

SPC 900NC Webcam Question

NutoAP — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:26:00 GMT

I'm new to the CCD forum, and have posted a couple of times in the epuipment section, and noticed many users of the SPC900NC in the group. I've looked through the list of old posts, and have a couple of questions that I'm sure have been asked many times, but I couldn't find the answers. I'm new to CCD imaging, and want to make sure I get the right setup before I continue. I appreciate any and all helpers! I have an 8" Newtonian Reflector (F/4, 800mm focal length,SPC9000NC)

1. Is it necessary to get around 4000mm focal length and .25 arcseconds per pixel. If so I would need about a 5X barlow (unfortunately a shorty). Would this be pushing it with moderate seeing conditions? Also, what books or reading material can I find with the formulas,or am I making it too complicated?

2. Which Resolution setting is best- some say 640 X 480, some 355 X 288? I noticed much less noise in the 355 X 288. Any suggestions?

3. Is it necessary to capture in .AVI format? Mine seems only to have .mpg in video format. I've looked everywhere on the program, but can't seem to find where to change it. It seems someone posted this issue before, but I can't find it. I thought there was an additional download from Philips, and I thought it was for this issue. Help!

4. I've noticed some say no IR/UV filter for the webcam, others say yes. I was looking at the Baader IR-Pass 670nm, and was wondering what everyone's experienced.

Starlight Xpress MX-516 CCD ?

mustachemurder — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:26:38 GMT

Well i recently looked into purchasing a Orion Starshoot II but they are back ordered so i put out a called to my local club. someone responded with a Starlight Xpress MX-516 CCD for a very reasonable price so i went for it. Does anyone have any experience with this CCD? This will be my first, ive been using a DSLR so its much different i'm sure and the integrated guider will be a very nice perk.

what CCD web cam should i get?

catsrool5 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:54:47 GMT

i want to move on from holding my camera with the giant 50mm lenses up to my eyepiece, and im wanting to move into a ccd web cam imaging iv had a look at some recommendations on the internet and most of them are for discontinued web cams so my question is what is the best web cam for me which i can go out and buy today (and will run with vista) and id be grateful if you could direct me to somewhere which will show me how to adapt it to my telescope thanks.

small size CCD

Kate — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:35:43 GMT

Hi there,

What's the value of small size CCD Chips in astronomical (amateur) research ?

Are they maybe still useful for small but deep pictures in asteroid observing and surveys?

How can they contribute to (semi-)professional research tasks?

Thanks and greetings,

Kate

Watec 902H CCD Question

Ehud99 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:25:34 GMT

Hi,

I have recently bought some WATEC 902H Ultra sensitive CCD Cameras and I am trying to get rid of them. (NOT HERE...)
It came complete with a Rock Pine CCTV 1:1.4/16mm Lens which leads to my question:
Should I disassemble it and try to sell only the body or do you think I better sell it has one piece. ( I don't nothing about this equipment so I will need your kind help with it)

Thanks and all the best,
Ehud.

eye have bought a sony ccd-trv65 unmodifide camcorder

parasiticlord — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:07:41 GMT

eye was woundering if anyboby can tell me what kind of astronomy scope would fit to my camcorder the most powerful if possible .thanx

Guide Camera?

Gamma Gal — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:15:11 GMT

What is a guide camera? Is it used in conjunction with you imaging camera? Do you need a special "miniscope" attached to your main scope (where the finder scope is located)? Somebody please explain this to me!

Exposure Question...........

WABarry — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:35:57 GMT

I am looking for a definitive answer to this question, and an authorative source for your answer.

Are six 60 second exposures the equivalent of one 6 minute exposure? If not, why not?

Thank you for your help.

Planet imaging only.? Camera

andybyrd — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:18:17 GMT

Untill I get my deep sky Imaging back on track. I wan't to do some planet Imaging. what I'm going to use is my 7'' ed Meade refractor with the CGE Mount. So what would be the best camera for the solar system only. And also would that type of Camera be good for Double stars.

Thanks Andy

New High Resolution Monochrome CCD Camera fro Orion???

jimipage — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:46:15 GMT

Orion has been showing nice new products lately. (Orion 190mm Maksutov Newtonian, StarShoot Autoguider, Solitare Autoguider, 6MP Color StarShoot Pro CCD, etc)

I am amazed they are just showing a 2'' CCD Filter Set and 2'' CCD Filter Wheel. None of their cameras need needs since their monochome cameras only need 1.25 filters. Could this mean they plan to sell a Large Format Monochome CCD Camera anytime soon?

Anyone have heard anything?

Neximage and orionstarblast 4.5

boy.boy — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:21:47 GMT

Hi guys, i am new to this forum and i am looking forwards to learning more from the experts here.

Yesterday, i tried webcam astrophotography using my orionstarblast and celestron neximage. It was a full moon and jupiter was near. I locate the moon in the centre of my eye piece and insert the neximage camera. However, i could only see a super big bright ball on the laptop with no details at all. i tried focusing from one end to the other end but it makes no difference. And also, i could not see jupiter on the laptop when it's in the middle of the eye piece.

Is it becos i need to adjust the contrast, shutter and gain? Is any filter required?

Will try again tonight if the sky is clear. Thanks.

Price

warbi — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:31:23 GMT

I was just wondering around how much a mid to upper midrange CCD would cost. I won't be getting one anytime soon, but it seems that that is the direction many are taking for astrophotography. I am still reading books and learning stars and constellations by sight. Even after I set up my telescope, I will be using a 35 mm film camera (Nikin N6006) for at least the next year or so. It is just that I have been lookind around and the prices are anywhere from several hundred dollars to $10K+!!! Also, I read in one of my astronomy books that some CCDs are even cooled below zero!?! Well, mainly curious, but as I said, I imagine that one day I will have to jump on the CCD bandwagon. Thanks for the input.

Notebooks loaded with Windows XP

RBraye — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:36:16 GMT

Hi, my name is Randy and I have been a long time lurker to these forums.After readind a few reports about laptops now having Windows Vista 64 and having incompatability issues with the ccd cameras, I wondered about using the new notebooks that are loaded with Windows XP. They seen to have decent memory and disc space. The biggest issue I can see is also purchasing an external CD drive to install software. Has anyone tried these yet? I have 2 of the Meade cameras{ haven't used them yet) and am interested if they will work with the notebooks. I welcome your replies.

DSI II Problems

Gamma Gal — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:07:49 GMT

I am trying to get some night sky pictures using my LX200 telescope, a DSI II imager, and the Autostar software. When I first hook the camera up to my notebook computer I can see the object I've chosen. It usually needs some focusing and a little bit of adjustment so that it is in the middle of the display window in the Autostar software. The problem is that when I try to move the scope position the picture becomes all granulated and I can no longer see the image. No matter what I do the image will not ungranulate so that I can see the object. I've tried unplugging the camera from the computer and even totally rebooting t he computer. Nothing I do will work. I can't get it working until the next night out. Please HELP!

StarShoot, DSI (low-end models) vs. DSLR

WABarry — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:54:47 GMT

I have used both an original Meade DSI color, and an Orion StarShoot II color. No matter how well focused, and how carefully aligned, the DSI/StarShoot images show stars that are more blobs (both large and small) than points. It seems to me that even mediocre DSLR photos show much tighter star points.

Question? Is this observation correct? Is the much greater resolution of a DSLR the difference? Has anyone been able to produce images with tight, point-like star images with either of the above two cameras?? If so, how?

Thanks for your help.

Beginner CCD

mustachemurder — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:40:24 GMT

Well i have decided to try and do some CCD imaging. I have been doing prime focus with my D40 for awhile and been pretty happy with the results. I just purchased a 9.25" SCT and now would like to use my 100mm refractor for a guide scope. Also would like to use the CCD for planetary imaging since the dSLR sucks for it. I dont wanna go and spend top dollar on a premium CCD just yet i would like to test the waters alittle. Anyone have any suggestions on a budget CCD? I have thought about webcams but i wasnt sure what one that is still available would work. Thanks guys.

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ORION STARSHOOT - MAXIM DL

WABarry — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:22:35 GMT

Is anyone using an Orion Starshoot imager and Maxim DL software??? I am considering buying one and have some questions. I have been using a Meade DSI and Autostar Suite.....but the DSI died.

Thanks

Imaging on a shoestring budget

johnjohnson — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:46:05 GMT

I have been imaging now for a while with a 120mm Orion EON ED refractor. I had an old Orion 6" F5 reflector sitting in the corner of the garage. Knowing that many reflectors won't come to focus with DSLR cameras I had not tried it.Just out of curiosity though, I decided to give it a try one night. I noticed that the upper part of the focuser could be removed and a T-Ring could be screwed directly on to the silver part of the focuser tube. This is it with the upper part of the focuser removed.

This is another view of the whole rig. This is not the mount I use for imaging but my quick grab and go mount. I use an EQ 6 for serious imaging.

The night I tested the rig to see if it would come to focus the Moon was out and a little past half. I decided to use it as a target. Low and behold the thing actually came to focus with room to spare. It makes a great wide field imaging scope at F 5. The Moon image came out sharp and well focused with no chromatic abbe ration. I also shot the Dumb Bell nebula with it but can't see to find the image any more. Here is the Moon shot though. It has been cropped as I could probably get 3 Moons in the field of view.

I picked this scope up used for $150 for a grab and go. It does do a fine job for what it is. The only draw back is with the upper part of the focuser removed, you can't use a barlow to up the magnification. In this configuration it can only be used at F5. I don't think there is enough in travel left on the focuser to use a reducer. Those on a tight imaging budget might consider looking for one of these used.

New Orion Starshoot II color......Heeeeeelp!

WABarry — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:42:37 GMT

Last night was first light on my new Orion Starshoot II color imager. Since I am not familier with the camera or the software, I decided to keep it as simple as possible. I did not take any dark frames, and I did not use the electronic colling on the camera. That was dumb I guess.

Anyway, I got M64 in the FOV and set the camera to take 20 frames at 30 seconds each. Everything seemed to go well. The frames got saved, etc. Buuuuuuuuuut, when I went to process the frames in Maxim DL, this is the result:

Equipment used: Orion short tube 80mm refractor, Celestron CG-5 mount

1. one raw .fit frame saved for here in JPG

2. same raw frame slightly stretched

3. aligned and stacked image (18 frames)

WHERE DID ALL THESE WEIRD ARTIFACTS COME FROM?? What did I do wrong? Is anyone familier with the Starshoot and Maxim DL software??? I could sure use some help.

Thanks much!!!

CCD to Telescope Hookup?

Gamma Gal — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:47:47 GMT

How do you hook a Meade DSI II CCD camera to a Meade LX90 telescope. The CCD camera came with no instructions on how to do this. It did come with a thin (about two quarters thick) device that has a screw for attaching to ???. I am at a complete loss on how to attach my camera to my scope. Can anybody help me?

Newbie Questions

Arawn75 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:51:42 GMT

Okay I have been observing for a little while but I am very new to astro imaging. I am using a Celestron 11SGT with the 6.3 reducer and DSI 3. It took me a few times out to figure out how to even get a picture on the laptop with the imager. After figuring that out I went out last night to try my hand at Saturn and the Orion nebula. Two problems with Saturn. First it was overexposed, I think. It was extremely bright and all white. Second there was definite trails like it was moving through the exposure. So I am guessing I need to shorten the exposure time to avoid the overexposed picture which should also solve the "trails" issue. I looked but could not figure out how to set my exposure time. The nebula actually looked good but it too had trails. I was going to try some longer exposures to bring out the color but with trails in the shorter exposures I knew the longer ones would be worse yet. Is my only option here an autoguider? The only other thought I had about all this was, are the exposures being saved "correctly". If it is saving them as a series of stacked images it would appear to have trails because of the movement from exposure to exposure. If I tried saving it differently would it save each exposure without stacking them? If this is the case which save procedure is best? Thanks for the advice.

Meade DSI with a Mac

MaxKas — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:42:53 GMT

I purchased a Meade DSI back when I have my Hp that ran windows but that computer poop'd out on me and now i have a Mac, the problem is that the software that comes with the Meade DSI is only for windows. I dont want my camera to go to waste so i did some research and i found that the program Nebulosity runs a DSI on a mac. Now the problem with this is that it cost $45 for the 1st version and $60 for the second. I dont have a problem really spending the money on the program but i just wanted to make sure that it was worth it and that it would work for sure for my camera. Also i wanted to see if there was any freeware that any of you fellow Mac users know of. Thank you This is the DSI that i have http://www.opticaloverstock.us/Meade-Deep-Sky-Imager-DSI-Color-Telescope-Camera--04522_p_17.html

Imaging Saturn

TilburyN — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:29:12 GMT

Last Night i looked and imaged Saturn for the first time very exciting :) but i noticed its really bright what can i do to get definition is it possible, i have a Celestron 130SLT and a neximage cam, is it long exposure to give it definition?