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DFEmery
member
Reged: 05/09/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Maine
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I am fascinated with the possibility of viewing astronomical objects through my telescope on my computer monitor in near-real-time... but I am completely new to the imaging aspects of amateur astronomy.
My telescope is an older Celestron C-8 SCT, f/10, on a Sirius EQ-G mount driven by ASCOM/EQMOD and a planetarium program. I have a very stable permanent pier that is already wired for power, USB and Ethernet. I'm connected in such a way that I can completely control my mount from the comfort of my home office... which could make observing the Orion Nebula a much more comfortable proposition this February, rather than freezing my %$#@& off outside here in Maine!
My goal is to be able to see on my computer monitor what I would see through an eyepiece (and hopefully more!)... and I'd like to be able to capture frames for stacking and processing as well. I'm pretty certain I'll want a color camera even though monochrome is a bit more sensitive.
What will I need for hardware and software that will work well with the system I described above?
--Dave Emery
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 5079
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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Hi Dave, you have a great start already, now do you want to see color, this will decide which camera you get as well as what type of objects you want to view, DSOs or Solar system?
I have a similar setup except my 8” is on an Alt/Az mount. For Planets, I prefer my Star Shooter II from Orion, this is a solar system webcam which hooks directly to mu PC via USB. This gives instant live images right on the computer screen. For DSOs, I use a Mallincam Color Hyper Plus, this is a color analog video camera that, like the webcam, replaces the eyepiece in you telescope. The MCHP sends its signal through either a S-Video and composite video outputs. To watch the image on your computer screen, you’ll need a converter of some sort to convert the signal to digital form for the computer. I have a TV PCI card in my computer that I hook the S-Video to. The best view though is through a regular CRT TV, something with front mounted analog adjustment works the best as to get the best picture, you are adjusting said controls quite a bit.
Check out the Best of pinned to the top of the forum to get some helpful ideas and tips.
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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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DFEmery
member
Reged: 05/09/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Maine
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Thanks, Chris...
I already have a video card equipped with BOTH S-video AND composite, so if I go in the direction you suggest, I guess all I need is the camera. I am mainly interested in DSOs, but I will also want to look at planets.
How does the Mallincam manage exposure time? For DSOs, won't I have to use an exposure time of several seconds, at least, in order to collect enough light? How is this managed? Is there software that controls this?
And what about resolution... if I am using a TV card interface, that suggests NTSC resolution which isn't too good. Isn't there a way to use an astroCCD camera to produce a much higher resolution output? My initial thinking was some way to use a hi-res one-shot color astroCCD camera like the QHY-8, and repeatedly capture frames of a set exposure duration, and display and update them on my video screen... too complex? Unnecessary? As anyone ever done it this way? Or is the video camera the way to go??
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DFEmery
member
Reged: 05/09/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Maine
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Chris...
Since my previous post, I have read about the Mallincam camera; also about another product line from The Imaging Source (www.theimagingsource.com); and I have read several 'Best of' posts from this forum.
A couple of questions, though:
(1) I notice that Mallincam offers a video-to-usb interface. Have you had any experience with this? I think I'd prefer a USB connection to S-video, but I couldn't find anything on the Mallincam site that discussed the advantages or disadvantages of this approach;
(2) The link to the Mallincam US vendor on the Mallincam site wasn't working. Where can I purchase a "US camera"? They say in very strong terms not to buy a Canadian camera if you are a US citizen;
(3) Do you have any thoughts about using one of the 'Imaging Source' 1280x960 or 1024x768 color cameras rather than a Mallincam camera? The price is less, the resolution is greater, and it provides a digital output rather than analog, which appeals to me... is this a reasonable approach? What am I missing?
--Dave Emery
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HendyPhoto
Sith Lord
Reged: 08/09/06
Posts: 1485
Loc: Bountiful, Utah
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Hey Dave! The imaging source cameras, DFK, DMK and DBK, arent long exposure cameras. They are used for solar system only, planetary, solar, lunar etc.. And they do a great job for those things! The mallincam and stellacam are long exposure cameras for deep space and faint objects, they are also very good at solar system imaging. Most of the users have a small crt monitor to view the live images from their cameras, and also use some sort of usb capture device to get it to the computer.
As far as exposure times, there are switches on the mallincam that will give you either 2, 7, 14, 28 or 56 second exposures and the camera will automatically refresh the image at whatever you set the integration time to. If you have it set to the 28 second integration time, it will put out a new image every 28 seconds.
I hope this helps!
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~jon
SparkCast Ustream
CGE1400XLT w/HyperStar
90FD 66SD C6-R SN-8
CPC1100XLT Hutech 20D
Manny-Mod Vixen Porta
Mallincam MCHP
SPC900NC
CG-5 GT
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe." --Albert Einstein
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DFEmery
member
Reged: 05/09/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Maine
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Thanks, Jon...
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Chris Schroeder
Postmaster
Reged: 12/11/04
Posts: 5079
Loc: N.E. WI Sky Glow
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As to the USB device, as you already have a card, that is the better route to go, you are more limited in USB cable then a good S-video cable. You are pretty much limited to 15' with USB verses 50 to 100' with S-Video. As to where to buy go to http://www.waningmoonii.com/ Jack Huerkamp is the US disturber. There is a wait list though, not sure of how long right now.
I think Jon has answered your other questions, let me otherwise.
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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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