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Talstarone
Vendor (Inner Planetary Products)
Reged: 09/12/06
Posts: 7593
Loc: Benson, North Carolina
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I had occasionaly read a post when this section was just a thread in the Equipment Area(I Think).
Well Now I Have Started To get Interested In This Video Astronomy.I am mainly a Planetary and Lunar Observer with two main scopes.A Meade AR-6(152mm)F/8 Achro Refractor,and a William Optics 66mm ED Petzval Semi-Apo.
I will have an observatory finished in June,that will have a roll off roof.And I have a Celestron As-GT(CG-5)GOTO Mount.I also have a couple of Meade ETX scopes(80,70,60).
So what cameras should I be looking at?I am looking to spend around $500 to $850.00 so the Malincam(which looked awesome)is out of the question at almost $1200.00.
And the other questions I have are
1=How do you power these cameras?
2= What do I need to hook one of these cameras to a scope?
3= Can these cameras take images as well?
4 = and since I like mostly Planetary and Lunar viewing,do I look at one of those special cameras like the Vixen or one of the ones at Astrovid?
5 = Or would I be better off with a good imager and looking at the streaming video?
What is the Major Drawing Point Of This Astronomy Using Malincams and StellaCams?
Thank You All Sincerely For Any And All Help.
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Todd C.
Celestron NexStar 4SE(102mm F/13)Maksutov-Cass
Meade ETX-80AT(80mm F/5)Achro Refractor
Meade ETX-60BB(60mm F/5.8)Achro Refractor
www.innerplanetaryproducts.com
Meteorites and More....
"Outer Space at Down to Earth Prices"
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 2453
Loc: Colorado
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Todd,
1)12v external power supplies, the Mallincams come with a cable that has both the video and power leads attached (not electrically) for convenience.
2) 1.25" nose piece so basically anyplace you can attach an eyepiece (but with some additional in focus). There are also T thread and C thread adapters.
3) The cameras output a continuous video stream, you need to capture frames from that continuous feed. The most popular method is to use USB video capture tools (hardware is under $100) and capture the video feed, then extract single images or stack a number together and process them as if they came off of a single image imager.
4/5) Not sure any of these continuous video setups would be the best choice for you. Sure then can capture planetary and lunar images but for a lot less money a webcam would be fine. These cameras/imagers are very very sensitive and are generally best used on DSOs. Given your stated budget I really think a generic webcam (SPC900 for example) would give you the best bang for your buck.
The extreme sensitivity of the Mallincam means you can view detail in faint DSOs that is otherwise impossible to see with your eyeball at the eyepiece. Plus others can view along with you (looking at a monitor).
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED
Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s, 8x56s, T-Mount Light, and Mark 1 eyeballs
Modded 350D, SPC900, Mallincam
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 519
Loc: Louisiana
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A very inexpensive but excelelnt device for imaging the moon and planets is a Phillips ToUCam. I got one at Sam's for about $55 and there is a gentleman in Australia that sells a 1.25" adapter for them to allow you to place them into a telescope drawtube. The ToUCam is a USB device and video clips can be saved to the hard disk for later stacking in RegiStax - a freeware program available on the internet. Some excellent images of the planets have been obtained using this type of camera. Here are some notes from my website on a ToUCam image of Saturn:
"Saturn taken on Sunday, January 11, 2004
I used my Phillips ToUCam and my 6" Celestron refractor to take this photograph . I added a TeleVue 2X Big Barlow to the scope to change it to f/16. The ToUCam was set to record 5 frames per second, and I used the image on the laptop to adjust focus, brightness, gain and hue. I recorded several 30 second AVI files (150 images), deleted the audio track using VirtualDub, and then stacked all images using Registax. I did not individually pick the frames to stack. If I had eliminated the fuzzy frames, the finished stacked image would be clearer. However, clearly seen in the photo is Casini's Division all the way aroung the rings until it disappears behind the planet. Encke's minima/division is seen along with the Crepe Ring in front of and on either side of the planet. Also seen is the shadow of the planet projected on the ring. NOTE: the original image was saved as a TIFF. I converted the file to a JPG in order to be able to post it to this webpage. In the conversion some of the finer detail was lost."
Here is the image:
Here is an image of Jupiter obtained with my Orion ED80 and Orion Big Barlow yielding f/15:
I hope this helps.
Jack Huerkamp
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Orion ED80
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
Tricked-out 17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
 Waning Moon II Observatory
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 5098
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Very nice Jack
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Chris
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
10" DSH with SC DSC, CPC 800 XLT
M102ED S.V., ZS 80FD 10th Anniv, ZS 66SD, PST
POD XL3 http://POD.SchroederCity.com
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Jack Huerkamp
Vendor - Waning Moon
Reged: 10/13/05
Posts: 519
Loc: Louisiana
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Chris,
Although the MallinCam can be used for the planets and the moon, I still prefer using my ToUCam for these targets. When it comes to deep sky; however, the MallinCam wins out.
Jack
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Orion ED80
Coulter CT-100
Celestron 6" f/8 Refractor
8" Newtonian/Cassegrain on Byers 812 Mount
Classic C-8
Celestron 11" CPC 100 with HyperStar
Tricked-out 17.5" AstroSystems TeleKit
Life Member and ALCOR - PAS New Orleans
Waning Moon II Observatory
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Talstarone
Vendor (Inner Planetary Products)
Reged: 09/12/06
Posts: 7593
Loc: Benson, North Carolina
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Thanks Sincerely For the words to the wise,expressed by all of you.I have the NEW version of the ToUcam(The Philips SPC900NC)I have already installed the telescope adapter and am just looking for a good chance to get out there and try the new webcam.
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Todd C.
Celestron NexStar 4SE(102mm F/13)Maksutov-Cass
Meade ETX-80AT(80mm F/5)Achro Refractor
Meade ETX-60BB(60mm F/5.8)Achro Refractor
www.innerplanetaryproducts.com
Meteorites and More....
"Outer Space at Down to Earth Prices"
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semiosteve
super member
Reged: 07/03/04
Posts: 143
Loc: NEOhio
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Lunar and Planetary? I just use the Phillips ToUcam (see attached shots)...I reserve the Mallincam for faint deep sky objects.
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Steve Verba
7in. Astro-Physics StarFire
20in. Obsession
15 x 15 Rolloff (Backyard Observatories)
Mallincam Hyper Color video camera
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