joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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I see all these great things said about the Mallicam on this site and started getting curious to exactly what video assisted astronomy and the mallicam are all about. My main question is do you need tracking to operate a mallicam? Or can you just use it as a live feed camera that picks up more than your eye does and puts it on a monitor. It would be great if I could just stick something in my Dob (which isn't on an EQ platform) and view enhanced images on a monitor. Something is telling me that it's just wishfull thinking and the mallicam needs tracking to soak in the photons to display a good amount of detail. In my perfect world it would work like one of those cheap meade video ep's but with tons more detail! Hopefully one of you kind souls can set me straight. Thanks
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“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 649
Loc: Louisiana
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Without tracking, you would be limited to about 1/2 second exposures maximum. For your Dob, an EQ platform is the cheapest way to accieve good tracking. A ServoCAT is also a good solution.
Jack
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Orion ED80
Astro-Tech 102EDF
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
 Waning Moon II Observatory
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joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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Thanks Jack, I know it can take pics but I'm kinda confused about the whole "video" thing. I've read were people talk about how they love seeing objects in a live feed and not a picture. Do you guide the mallicam with the shutter open for a while and after it collects enough light it can process an optically advanced live video image. I don't know the first thing about video assisted astronomy so if these questions sound newbie-ish you know why now! Is there really a big difference in between video and ccd or dslr imaging?
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“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
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Doug Murphy
member
Reged: 10/07/07
Posts: 17
Loc: Leesburg, VA
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Joe, go to the Mallincam site or Jack Huerkamp's site (he's the US Mallincam vendor) to see video files. You can also look up these guys on www.zaplive.tv and search for their names and view past recorded sessions. Best way to get a feel for live video astronomy. It's great! Doug Murphy
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Doug Murphy
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johnnyha
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/12/06
Posts: 1115
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Joe I think you have the basic idea. The camera provides the image you see on the monitor, and you regulate how often it updates. The longer each iteration is, the more light the camera gathers - up to 56 seconds with the Mallincam. Sometimes this can be way too much so you dial it back to 28 or 14 seconds, etc. I have had pretty good shots with a wide angle scope on an alt/az with 2 second iterations, but generally you want to have a tracking mount. You can shoot the moon and brighter planets without tracking as the exposure times are in hundredths of a second.
So, say you have it tracking and set for 14 second iterations... the image you see on the monitor will be a still image that updates every 14 seconds. Although it is still it is actually playing at 30fps like normal video. The better your tracking is, the crisper the shot. Instead of a computer that stacks the images later, the Mallincam has a built in processor that performs the magic in real time, you just plug it into a monitor. You can record the images on any DV recording device like a DVD, VCR or digital recorder.
Hope this helps.
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joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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Wow, the Mallicam sounds awesome!!! I'm going to check it out as soon as I feel comfortable with my new EQ mount and refractor. I can see now why people have been saying the Mallicam upstarts their interest in astronomy again. I can only imagine how beautiful some of the images the mallicam can produce are. Thank you, you all have been a big help!!!
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“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
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elbee
member
Reged: 05/02/09
Posts: 26
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the mallincam yahoo group is quite active. jack (above, and the us distributor) and rock mallin (the designer and builder) are always available to answer questions. lots of input from users and plenty of photo and video examples. i would say in general, you will want some tracking. other than planets, you need exposure times on the scale of 7 to 56 seconds. polar alignment does not have to be great, but you would get the most enjoyment out of it with some tracking.
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Lee
My Sky Photos
Mallincam Sky
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MrJim
member
Reged: 08/24/09
Posts: 55
Loc: Mansfield, Texas
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Lee,
Would my alt-az CPC 1100 be suitable, or must it be a GEM?
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Jim W.
CPC 1100
SV90TBV
PST
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3947
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Jim,
Lots of folks use a Mallincam with alt az scopes like the CPCs. You can't always get 56s integrations to show pinpoint stars due to field rotation (inherent in the alt az design but the amount of it depends on where you are pointed to in the sky) but overall they work out very well at 7, 14 and 28 seconds.
Serious focal reduction will be your friend. Ideally you'll want to get the F10 scope down under F4 and closer to F3 is even better. This can be done for a few hundred dollars using existing focal reducers (Meade F3.3 or the one from Mallincam for example).
What a number of folks are also doing is investing in a Hyperstar setup which gets you down to F2 on a CPC1100. Hyperstars open up a whole new world of imaging, not just with a Mallincam but also with a DSLR or CCD imaging camera. So while a Hyperstar is relatively expensive (over $1000 with the adapter for a C11) it turns a CPC1100 into a whole different scope.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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So the mallicam isn't just for dobs then I guess. I have an 80mm apo on a tracking mount, would that be enough to get started in the future? Or does the size of the scope come into play?
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“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3947
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Speed or low f ratio is IMHO more important that aperture. Your 80mm with the appropriate focal reduction would work fine for a great many objects. It will likely provide views that will rival and sometimes exceed those seen through your Starblast6. Given your location I think you would also benefit from a light pollution filter like the LDAS LPS2. But regardless of the add ons, yes your 80mm with a focal reducer and a Mallincam on a tracking mount would be a great start.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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elbee
member
Reged: 05/02/09
Posts: 26
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as mark suggested, size matters less than focal ratio. i took this using a 72mm megrez operating at f/3.9 (0.65 reduction)
http://lbuckphotos.smugmug.com/Nature/Mallincam-Sky/Horsehead-56s-x-21-stretch/683987130_3jxFv-X3.jpg
i have a blast with this thing. most of the time i am using a 130mm refractor, but if i want a wider field i go to the 72mm.
now i have seen some amazing mallincam photos of really tiny stuff that does require BIG scopes -- not because you need aperture so much as you need to retain substantial focal length with your fast f/ratio if you want to capture something only 4 arcmin across.
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Lee
My Sky Photos
Mallincam Sky
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DFEmery
super member
Reged: 05/09/08
Posts: 118
Loc: Maine
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The way I look at the MallinCam system is that it gives you the light grasp of, say, a 30" dob (depending, of course, on your telescope) for a tiny fraction of the cost, and it requires only a tiny fraction of the space! AND, for those of us who live in the north, we can view the winter sky for hours and stay warm and toasty... only the telescope, mount and camera have to brave the cold!!! I absolutely LOVE my MallinCam.
Just be aware that there are tradeoffs... don't expect captured frames to be as sharp as those that are stacked and processed from a conventional CCD camera... that's not what this system is designed for. And don't expect the needle-point stars you would see in a wide-field, low-power eyepiece... you are ultimately limited in resolution by the CCD chip (768 x 494), the outout of which is then converted to a NTSC signal.
But, I'm telling you, when you first see the Orion Nebula, the Horsaehead, the Dumbbell or the Eagle in 'almost-live' color... you'll NEVER go back to an eyepiece!
--Dave Emery
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Larry F
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 1598
Loc: Westchester, NY
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Has anyone tried to obtain non-tracked images with an 80mm f/6 refractor and Meade f/3.3 focal reducer (would give f/2)?
I'm thinking about taking my Mallincam along next summer on a trip to dark skies in the Colorado Rockies (using Stellarvue Nighthawk on Astrotech Voyager). I've got to take everything on the plane so taking all the pieces for a tracking mount isn't realistic (scope is carry-on, mount breaks down and fits in a duffel with the clothes, wife can carry on the camera and monitor, which are small and light). I figure that with enough focal reduction, a 7 or 14-second image might not be blurry, and would show DSO's with significant detail.
Anyone try this?
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C5 Orange Tube SCT, CPC 800 XLT SCT
Orion 127 Mak, StellarVue Nighthawk
Coronado Maxscope 40, Lunt 60mm H-alpha double-stack
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 2140 mm (grand piano)
My Gallery
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 649
Loc: Louisiana
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Jim,
Here is a link to my Photobucket album containing some single frames grabbed from the DVDs I recorded while observing with my CPC1100 (the Rosette is a stack of a few frames):
http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/jhuerkamp/CPC1100%20Hyperestar/?start=0
Jack
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Orion ED80
Astro-Tech 102EDF
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
Waning Moon II Observatory
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skybsd
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/01/08
Posts: 599
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Awesome!
Very encouraging to see what is achievable on an ALT/AZ rig.
Good job!
Regards,
skybsd
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MrJim
member
Reged: 08/24/09
Posts: 55
Loc: Mansfield, Texas
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Thank you Jack - very impressive! However, adding the price of the Hyperstar to the price of the Mallincam creates quite a threshold for getting started. How would the Mallincam & CPC 1100 combination perform when hooked to a monitor without using the Hyperstar?
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Jim W.
CPC 1100
SV90TBV
PST
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joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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Simply amazing!! Now I'm seriously considering making a mallicam purchase next week. The only equipment that I can really use it with would be my meade series 5000 80mm apo and my Starblast6 ota mounted on my cg5-gt mount though. Do you think only having this equipment justifies the purchase? I planned on getting a much larger OTA and a better camera to image with once I had became more familiar with using all the new basic imaging equipment I just bought. I would like to thank you all for giving your input.
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“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
|
mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3947
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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I think you'll find that your Starblast6 on the CG-5 with a Mallincam will simply amaze you . At F5 it will produce nice images, and from your NY location (is that City or State?) this maybe as fast as practical without some sort of light pollution filtering.
Under darker skies if you add a simple 1.25" focal reducer ($30 at OPT link) on the nose piece of the Mallincam you'll really open up some faint DSO details and colors. Your UHC and OIII filters may also allow you to take advantage of 56s integration times and faster f ratios even from more heavily light polluted skies.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 649
Loc: Louisiana
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Here is a single 28 second frame grabbed from the DVD recorded during the observing session. I was using my Orion ED80 with focal reducer to get the 1+ degree FOV.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/jhuerkamp/M42Single28SecED80.jpg
The MallinCam works well with small scopes.
Jack Huerkamp
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Orion ED80
Astro-Tech 102EDF
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
Waning Moon II Observatory
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joec33
super member
Reged: 06/13/09
Posts: 111
Loc: Chester, N.Y
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I can't get over the amount of detail you can see with such short exposer times. I've only just begun reading up on photography and it seems you can get amazing results in half the time with the Mallicam! I'm kind of mad that I bought a cheap Meade DSI to get my feet wet. Oh well, I guess I could just use it for autoguiding. Thanks again for all the great images and input guys! You all have made my initial research on the subject so much easier.
--------------------
“I'm not perfect, but who are we kidding, neither are you.”
Jeremy Grey
An Over accessorized XT10i
80mm Meade Series 5000 Apo w/duelspeed focuser
Vixen VMC110L
Orion Starblast6
Meade DSI PRO II, Orion S.S Autoguider
Advanced GT Mount
Kendrick Dew System
|
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