claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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SCB 2000 accessories?
#5244160 - 05/28/12 03:43 PM
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I just ordered a Samsung SCB 2000 to use with my Nexstar 6SE. I have a few questions about what I'll need to get my new video rig up and running. I have a Celestron 6.3 focal reducer and a 8Ah sealed gel cell 12 volt battery. I plan to use my Toshiba Satellite C655 laptop (Windows 7) for live view of some bright DSOs, planets, and the moon. What else do I need and where do I get it?
Thanks,
Kim
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S.Boerner
super member
Reged: 04/29/10
Loc: Eastern Missouri
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5244362 - 05/28/12 05:45 PM
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A way of getting the signal from the video out on the SCB 2000 into your laptop. Something like a Dazzle DVD 100 USB video capture device (frame grabber) and then a BNC to RCA adapter. The video capture device will run you around $30. The BNC to RCA adapter less than $5 at RadioShack.
You might get by with an Easy Capture (EZ Capture), but some of the knock off versions don't work very well.
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: S.Boerner]
#5244381 - 05/28/12 05:54 PM
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Thanks for the info. There's a Radio Shack here in my little town so the adapter shouldn't be a problem. I'm wondering why it's recommended to remove the IR filter from the camera and then buy an IR filter to use on the nose piece. Also, will my laptop provide as good a view as a dedicated monitor?
Kim
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5244432 - 05/28/12 06:19 PM
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Kim,
Because the built in IR filter is really restrictive for viewing DSOs. An external IR filter is usually of much better quality and transmission characteristics.
You'll need ...
A 12v DC power source - your battery sounds just fine.
A 1.25" nose piece - you can find these from most astronomy dealers who handle a good variety of adapters and spacers. Another option are the relatively inexpensive versions on Ebay (they're made of Delrin and are usually under $20).
You won't absolutely need an external IR cut filter right away but it might not be a bad addition at some point in the future. It will tighten up the stars just a little bit and if you leave it on the nosepiece will help to keep the sensor clean.
You'll be able to attach the camera with a 1.25" nose piece to your f6.3 reducer with your 1.25" visual back and 1.25" diagonal. This will likely give you close to the .63x reduction factor. You may find however that the camera will cause a bit of tilt between the visual back and diagonal.
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: mclewis1]
#5244469 - 05/28/12 06:41 PM
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The quality of the video presentation on your laptop is primarily dependent on the quality of the USB frame grabber. In general a good quality video monitor will also provide a slightly better quality display than the laptop and inexpensive frame grabbers. The difference however won't be huge. The Samsung's are a bit noisy at longer (4-8 second) integration times and the composite video connection isn't going to reproduce the most subtle faint details so spending the extra money likely wouldn't be the best idea.
I'd get a basic USB frame grabber and use the laptop to display the images. If you move up to a more capable video camera in the future then you could consider better display options.
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StarmanDan
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/27/07
Loc: Deep in the heart of Texas
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: mclewis1]
#5244515 - 05/28/12 07:15 PM
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If your handy with a soldering iron, I'd recommend building an external hand paddle for controlling the camera settings without having to touch the camera.
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: mclewis1]
#5244615 - 05/28/12 08:22 PM
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Thanks for all the advice, Mark. I was hoping to not use the diagonal in line. Should I use a different focal reducer to accomplish this? I'll probably go ahead and get an IR cut filter. Any suggestions regarding brand/type?
Kim
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: StarmanDan]
#5244627 - 05/28/12 08:28 PM
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Quote:
If your handy with a soldering iron, I'd recommend building an external hand paddle for controlling the camera settings without having to touch the camera.
Sadly, I'm not that handy with a soldering iron, Dan. Being able to control the camera without touching it does seem like a good idea though. Maybe I'll brush up on my soldering technique. 
Kim
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5244717 - 05/28/12 09:40 PM
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Kim,
An inexpensive alternative would be one of the .5x 1.25" focal reducers (<$50). They would thread onto the front of the 1.25" nosepiece and give you in that configuration somewhere between .5 and .6x. With this type of setup you would simply insert the nosepiece into your 1.25" visual back, no diagonal involved.
There are a few different brands of these .5x reducers (OPT, GSO, Antares). I've heard that the Antares is probably the best of the bunch.
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: mclewis1]
#5244738 - 05/28/12 09:48 PM
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For planetary work, you'd remove the focal reducer and replace it with a 1.25" 2-3x Barlow. One of these setup with the 1.25" nosepiece inserted into a 2x Barlow will give you just a bit more than 2x (because of the slight increase in spacing compared to using the Barlow with an eyepiece).
Oh and I forgot to add to my previous post - You can also stack or use both the .5x and .63 SCT reducer together. Using the two reducers you can get down to a fast f3.5 or even a bit faster depending on the spacing.
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Dom543
member
Reged: 10/24/11
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5244830 - 05/28/12 10:47 PM
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A couple of weeks ago I put together this list in response to a similar question.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/sdc435club/message/749
Enjoy your new Sammy!
--Dom
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Dom543
member
Reged: 10/24/11
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: Dom543]
#5244908 - 05/28/12 11:32 PM
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I found this to be the best priced high quality UV/IR block filter.
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=11754
But beware of the high shipping costs at OPT. This filter is not an absolute must. You can wait until you need to buy more stuff from OPT that spreads the shipping cost.
On the other hand it is really important to remove the IR cut filter that comes with the Sammy. The reason is that it cuts at the wrong place, cuts too much. It blocks the H-alpha spectrum that is a particularly important component of the light coming from some nebulae.
It is also important to set expectations right. The SBC-2000 is great for the solar system: Moon, Planets, Sun (with solar filter). You can also get nice images of star clusters. But with its 8 sec max exposure, it is not the best camera for faint deep sky objects. You will have to wait another 6 months for the return of M42, which is bright enough to look great on the Sammy (with IR filter removed).
Enjoy!
--Dom
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: Dom543]
#5244945 - 05/29/12 12:06 AM
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Thanks Dom and Mark. I'll spend some time tomorrow gathering a shopping list based on your recommendations.
Kim
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barbarosa
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/11/10
Loc: "lamorinda", CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5249007 - 05/31/12 02:45 PM Attachment (35 downloads)
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Some excellent advice already given, but let me add just a bit.
I scrapped a Dazzle in favor of an EzCap because the cheaply made RCA jack on my example could not maintain a good connection.
There are some threads around here that demystify the frame grabber chipsets, if you can find a cheap one with an Empia 2860 series chipset the hardware should be good. Drivers for Win7 can be a problem and might require detective work. You really can't rely on the model numbers because there are any number similar or identical names and models used for different devices by various Chinese makers.
The SCB-2000 is challenged by the short exposure times and my light polluted sky, but with some care and freeware like SharpCap or GStar Capture I have been able to see the Horse Head, the Flame, and impressive (to me) views of the Eagle, Swan and the Ring and stunning views of Orion. A grab from my second try at the Swan is attached. In darker areas of the sky I was able to see, and pretty well too, a Mag 15 object. On the other hand, many galaxies and some nebulae remain gray blobs or nothing at all. The Whirlpool was always a disappointment.
I routinely use both the .5x and f/6.3 reducers on my CPC925 for dim targets and on my C5 to get full images of the sun and moon.
As you live in California check out Monoprice.com for cables etc. You have to pay tax, but they offer very cheap overnight shipping. An $1.02 BNC adapter + $5.63 overnight shipping + $.48 tax vs. $6.99 + $.52 tax (or more) at RS--$7.13 vs. $7.51.
Edited by barbarosa (05/31/12 02:52 PM)
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: barbarosa]
#5249408 - 05/31/12 07:00 PM
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Thanks, David. Very helpful information.
Kim
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Amith
member
Reged: 06/03/12
Loc: Durban, South Africa
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: claws]
#5252955 - 06/03/12 07:02 AM
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Hey there Claws, It looks like you have the same setup im looking at getting. I have the 6SE and thinking about getting the Samsung SCB2000. Did you take out any videos or images created out of the videos as yet.
I would love to see them. I have been told that the 6SE is too small for DSO's using the SCB2000 and have seen most people are using the 8SE or scopes with larger apertures with this camera.
Please help!!!
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Stew57
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/03/09
Loc: Silsbee Texas
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: Amith]
#5252979 - 06/03/12 08:01 AM
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Think focal ratio not aperture. A 6SE and 8SE will take the same integration time. The 6 will have less image scale (smaller magnification) but larger FOV. I am using a meade ETX80 at F5. Results are in my sig. You should do as good with the 6SE and focal reducer. There are some shots at longer integrations but a lot of them can be done at 14 seconds.
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claws
member
Reged: 02/27/12
Loc: rio vista, CA
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: Amith]
#5253056 - 06/03/12 09:12 AM
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Amith
I haven't received my camera, monitor, or frame grabber yet so I can't be of much help at this point. Hopefully I'll have my video equipment up and running by the middle of the month. I'll post my experiences just as soon as I have any.
Kim
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: Amith]
#5253098 - 06/03/12 09:44 AM
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Amith,
Welcome to CN.
Aperture is just not that big a deal with video observing so don't be concerned for a minute that you have a C6 vs. a C8 or anything like that ... indeed you will also find that something like an 80mm refractor will be an appropriate scope on many objects. As Mark said above, with video observing a lower f ratio is more important than a slightly larger aperture.
Keeping things within budget is always challenging but the .5x 1.25" focal reducers mentioned earlier are not very expensive (<$50). Getting down to f4 or so with your scope is a bit more difficult (read more money). F3.5 or so can be easily achieved using the Meade f3.3 unit ($130). It doesn't have a great reputation for optical quality when used with larger sensors but with your SCB2000 and it's 1/3" sensor you'd find that it will work out very well. Just something to consider if you want to move beyond (or more correctly below) f5.
The other variable for viewing DSOs with your scope/camera combination will be the quality of your skies, specifically the transparency or how dark and clear it is. Very simply the less light pollution you have the better your views will be.
With a maximum of 8 second exposures the Samsung camera will be limited to the brighter DSOs but that only means that you'll have hundreds of things to look at vs. thousands. Stellar objects (open and globular clusters like M13/3/5) will be some of the best targets, then compact nebulae (planetaries like M57), bright nebulae (m42, m17, etc.) and the brighter galaxies (M51, M81, etc.) will be suitable targets.
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Amith
member
Reged: 06/03/12
Loc: Durban, South Africa
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Re: SCB 2000 accessories?
[Re: mclewis1]
#5254171 - 06/04/12 01:49 AM
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Thanks for the quick replies everyone. Look forward to seeing your images there Kim. I will definitely have to get a focal reducer but the only affordable one here in SA is probably gonna be the F6.3.
Any clues where I could get the .5 1.25" focal reducer.. if that is feasible here then I may as well go for that.
Clear skies arent really a problem. I have modded a very cheap webcam for planetary use. my profile picture is the one of Saturn taken out with +-200 frames (video then stacked using registax 5, not a fan of 6).
I see that mclewis1 mentioned that I would not be able to get quite a bit of DSO's. Is this because the camera is not sensitive enough or simply because of the F ratio only. Im sure I can save up eventually for the lower number focal reducers if that is the case. I also wouldn't mind getting an 80mm refractor if that works out cheaper in the long run.
Look forward to those images Kim.
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