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ndelo
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 526
Loc: Light-polluted New Jersey
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Ok, I have some basic questions about setting up the MallinCam. The answers to these will help me plan on what accessories I'm going to need to purchase.
1) Cabling -- for a cable in the 25'-50' range, what type of cable/setup has the least signal attenuation/noise/interference? How is the 25' cable that comes with the MallinCam?
2) Focusing - Once you focus the MC on an object, does it ever take re-focusing as you move from object to object or if you use the digital zoom on the Mallincam (it has digital zoom, right?).
3) Those of you who have a WAT-35, is it pretty easy to power this and the MallinCam using 12vDC from a powered upper truss? Any tips?
4) For those of you who have a Speco 9", how do you power this in the field?
4) Does cable wrap ever become a problem? If so, how does one best cope with it?
I have some time before my MallinCam shows up on my doorstep (I'm on the waiting list for the VSS). But, I'd like to get the right accessories up front so I don't have to double-buy and experiment with this or that piece of equipment before I get an optimal setup.
My plans are to roll the scope out in my driveway and view from a Speco 9" on my porch, controlling the scope via a wireless servocat/sky tools/laptop setup. I'd like to have to visit the scope as little as possible.
Thanks in advance.
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3943
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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1) S-Video seems to to a better job than the composite connection. My Mallincam came with the combination power/composite cable, it basically stays in the box. I use a 25' S-Video from the MC to a DVR and then a short S-Video cable to a Speco monitor.
2) I don't normally use the zoom feature. I also don't normally have to refocus my MC during a "normal" (2hr.) session. If I've been out for more than a few hours I will check and sometimes have to adjust the focus.
4) I found an inexpensive 90W Targus inverter did NOT work with the Speco (rated at 45W). I did borrow a 300W inverter and it worked fine on that. I suspect that anything over 100W capacity will likely work fine. What I haven't been able to look into is whether the quality of the inverter's suedo sine wave output affects the quality of the image on the 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 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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greg
sage
Reged: 01/25/05
Posts: 481
Loc: Central Ca.
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1. I'd get a 50' S- Video Cable if it will reach the porch. I'm not sure what brand to recommend. The cable that came with my camera was an RCA cable that I don't use.
2. My focus holds, but you may need to touch up focus if you do a long viewing session. If you have a focus lock adjustment on your focuser, you can tighten it after you reach a good focus so you don't bump the focus when you have to remove the camera to find and center objects.
3. I use in $50.00 2.5" LCD from Ebay for centering and focusing at the scope, I took the other $300.00 saved from not buying the Wat-35 and spent it on other equipment. I power my little monitor and the camera from a 12 volt distribution box near the focuser. The 12 volt power to the camera needs to have a fuse to protect the camera.....(What Ever Fuse Rock Recomends...)
4. I use a marine Deep cycle 12 Volt Battery and a 12 Volt To 110 power inverter to power my Laptop, Speco, DVE, and Powered S-Video splitter.
I would recommend getting the MFR-3 Focal reducer, one 5mm, and two 20mm spacers.
A DVE
A powered S-Video Splitter.
A USB Digital converter so you can run the camera signal to your Laptop, so you can broadcast live on ZapLive..... :O)
You will need to visit the scope on each GOTO to help guide the cables and make sure they don't get snagged on anything.
Also it's been my experience that the ServoCat GOTO's will almost never put the object on the Chip so you may need to remove the camera and put in an eyepiece to find and center the object.... I do this by putting a thread on barrel extension on my finder eyepiece so I can slide the eyepiece in and out to reach focus, then I center the object and reinstall the camera, that way you don't loose your all important focus... Remember to tighten your focus lock if your focuser has one...
If you can see the object in a large finderscope , and the finderscope is aligned Very Well then you can center using the finderscope, but a lot of objects can't be seen in a finder when you are at a Light Polluted site.
If the ServoCat GOTO is starting to wrap the Cables around the scope I stop the GOTO and use the hand pad to unwrap the scope and get it near the object and then restart the GOTO and the scope will then take the shortest path to the object.
Greg
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Gravity is like a magnet to Humans...4 yr Old Marcus Gregory Allen Wilhite
Not tonight honey I have a Telescope... Greg Wilhite
16" F/3 Reflector GEM SiTech Servo Goto
4.5" F/4 Reflector Piggy Backed on The 16"
Meade 10" F/4 on CGE
6" F/5 Refractor
Celestron 102mm F/5
26mm T5 Nagler
13mm ETHOS
MallinCam Color Hyper Plus
9" Speco High Res. Color CRT Monitor
10' Home Dome
MallinCam Deep Space Observatory
Light polluted Backyard
Great Darksite 1.5 Hrs. Away
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ndelo
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 526
Loc: Light-polluted New Jersey
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Quote:
You will need to visit the scope on each GOTO to help guide the cables and make sure they don't get snagged on anything.
Also it's been my experience that the ServoCat GOTO's will almost never put the object on the Chip so you may need to remove the camera and put in an eyepiece to find and center the object.... I do this by putting a thread on barrel extension on my finder eyepiece so I can slide the eyepiece in and out to reach focus, then I center the object and reinstall the camera, that way you don't loose your all important focus... Remember to tighten your focus lock if your focuser has one...
Would having a wireless handpad for the ServoCat alleviate the need to visit the scope to center a DSO in the FOV?
I'm trying to set this all up so that I have to visit the scope a little as humanly possible. I'd also like to alleviate the need to have a display on my UTA.
In my dream senario, I roll the scope out, focus and align everything, then control my whole session from my porch, visiting the scope once or twice to deal with wire-wrap or refocus/tweak camera.
If I have to visit the scope a lot, then I'm going to just mount a WAT-35 to the UTA and observe from there.
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Mike Harvey
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/01/04
Posts: 695
Loc: Orlando, FL.
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It depends of what type of scope/tracking setup you're using.
My 28" w/Argo Navis/StellarCat has about a 50/50 chance of putting the target object in the Malincam f.o.v.
Remember how small the true field IS.
Usually the target is just off the edge and I only have to slew a little bit to find what I'm looking for.
With the wireless handpad, this can be done remotely...BUT...depending upon the area of the sky you're targeting, the pointing error may be greater and the process of 'finding' the object becomes extremely frustrating.
On the other hand...a 10" Meade LX200GPS that I used last month placed every object dead-center...every time!
Another consideration for remote observing is changing the settings on the Mallincam itself. The settings for M-42, for example, will be dramatically
different than what you would use for M-33.
Unless you have a wireless controller for the MC (or a really long cord!), you'll still have to go to the scope to make such adjustments.
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ndelo
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/02/06
Posts: 526
Loc: Light-polluted New Jersey
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Thanks for all the input everyone.
I guess I'm going to start out simple, with a Speco on a small table next to my dob.
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johnnyha
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/12/06
Posts: 1105
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As far as the zoom feature goes, it is a digital 2x zoom so it will not give you the full resolution you want as the pixels appear larger, BUT - the zoom feature is a great trick to tweak the focus to perfection.
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Johnny
Spicewood, TX
Sherman Oaks, CA
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