91 replies to this topic

[crazysaint]

This is a fork from the SV305 thread in the Planetary imaging forum but is intended for discussing the full breadth of the SV305's capabilities, not specifically related to planetary imaging.

[crazysaint]

Replying to Borodog from other thread:

 

Also, I will probably eventually purchase a refractor for astrophotography, but I am not ready to go there yet. The zoom eyepiece and T-C adaptor only cost me $75. Pretty low hanging fruit. :O)

I picked up a Svbony SV106 60mm guide scope for about $80 to start experimenting with astrophotography. It's quite a good value and gives me a roughly 1x1.5 degree FOV at its native F4, even with the SV305's small sensor. You can see my modest results so far in my profile gallery. My limitations so far have more to do with a lack of a GOTO mount and shooting from bottle 8/9 skies than the scope itself.

[Fitz8710]

I have been experimenting with it on PhD2 using it as a guide camera through AsCom. So far so good on the camera end. Still working on scope and mount issues though.

[Borodog]

I have been using on of those SV106s as the finder scope on my Dobsonian for a few months now. I’ve imaged the Moon through it but nothing Deep Sky yet. Pretty happy with it overall. People complain about the focuser, and it isn’t great, but it’s adequate (barely).

[Fitz8710]

Honestly how good of a focuser do you need for a finder or guide scope? Mines a modded finderscope and i use a thumb screw and move it in and out to get focus. Dont get me wrong it is BETTER to have an easier to use focuser. I guess the only thing that would matter is if it shifts on you.

[Borodog]

Honestly how good of a focuser do you need for a finder or guide scope? Mines a modded finderscope and i use a thumb screw and move it in and out to get focus. Dont get me wrong it is BETTER to have an easier to use focuser. I guess the only thing that would matter is if it shifts on you.

Exactly. Although the set screw on the focuser doesn't seem to do anything at all in terms of locking it in place. The set screw on the extension tube works though!

[crazysaint]

I actually use the 60MM SV106 as my "learner scope" for deep-sky astrophotography. I'd rate the focuser as "not great, but adequate". It's fine for "fire and forget" where you get your focus and don't mess with the camera after that, but if you remove the camera for any reason (e.g. to add or remove filters), you'll definitely have to re-focus. In terms of how good it is for deep-sky, I've gotten some "okay" (but not great) pics of M42 and M57, but I'd blame the lack of greatness more on the fact that I have bortle 8/9 skies and I'm roughly capped at 30s exposures due to using a manual EQ mount. Here's one of my M42 captures (I know the color balance is way off)

[Seany75uk]

Hi new here signed up after reading the sv305 thread in the imaging section, I have a Skywatcher 10" newt and an 80ed Pro on an old EQ6 Pro,imaging with a Canon 550D. I've been looking for a guide camera that would also do planetary and after watching John Cox's YouTube channel I was going towards the ASI120MC as he had some very impressive planetary results using a 10" newt with a powermate, and I know people do actually use them for guiding. But after reading the sv305 thread I'm leaning towards it due to its higher specifications for a similar price. But I can't find any information on its guiding performance, I'd also like to be able to use it for plate solving so I can do polar alignment in sharpcap. Just wondering if anybody is using one for these purposes I don't have a massive budget so if I can use it for dual purposes it would be a great deal for me.

Thanks
Sean

[Fitz8710]

Welcome to cloudy nights.  Sv305 would work for both planetary and guiding fine.  It wont be as sensitive as a monochrome camera but its still a Sony imx290 sensor.  Ive taken pretty decent planetary pictures with it with no tracking and that was before i learned good collimation and focus.  The price is right for the little guy too.  Only thing i dont know about is the longevity of the camera ( is it built well?).  Seems to be built pretty good though.  Doesnt feel cheap.

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[Seany75uk]

Welcome to cloudy nights. Sv305 would work for both planetary and guiding fine. It wont be as sensitive as a monochrome camera but its still a Sony imx290 sensor. Ive taken pretty decent planetary pictures with it with no tracking and that was before i learned good collimation and focus. The price is right for the little guy too. Only thing i dont know about is the longevity of the camera ( is it built well?). Seems to be built pretty good though. Doesnt feel cheap.

Thanks buddy it does look too be a great buy at the price, would you say it's a better buy than the ASI120MC as they're very similar prices here in the UK, I'm looking at the usb 3.0 pro version.

[Fitz8710]

I cant speak much for the Asi120mc. I do know that the AsI290 uses the same sensor as the Sv305 (IMX290 Sony sensor). Not sure if it would be more sensitive because of the lack of bayer matrix (color). The pros will have to chime in on this one. Usb3.0 is nice too but you could go with the SV305 Pro for this. You will get higher frame rate with usb3.0. Not sure if the Asi120 has the ROI feature that the Sv305 has ( i cant find any info on that online). I dont think you will be disappointed with either of theae cameras. As it goes in Astrophotography you will probably end up buying both ...hahahahah...

[Seany75uk]

I cant speak much for the Asi120mc. I do know that the AsI290 uses the same sensor as the Sv305 (IMX290 Sony sensor). Not sure if it would be more sensitive because of the lack of bayer matrix (color). The pros will have to chime in on this one. Usb3.0 is nice too but you could go with the SV305 Pro for this. You will get higher frame rate with usb3.0. Not sure if the Asi120 has the ROI feature that the Sv305 has ( i cant find any info on that online). I dont think you will be disappointed with either of theae cameras. As it goes in Astrophotography you will probably end up buying both ...hahahahah...

Should have clarified it was the sv305 pro I was leaning towards, think I'm going to go for it. I know it's good for planetary imaging just hope it makes for a good guide cam too.

Lol yes that could happen, until a couple of weeks ago I was imaging with a DSLR with lenses on a Star Adventurer this past week I've bought an EQ6 Pro with a Skywatcher 120/1000 refractor and a skywatcher 10" newtonian with upgraded focuser, and then bought a Skywatcher 80ed Pro with reducer and an upgraded focuser. Still using my DSLR for now though. Thanks for the info 👍🏻

[Fitz8710]

Yup. Money money lol. Sv305 pro would work great as a guide cam. Too bad they didnt release a monochrome version though.


Im saving up for a CEM 60

Edited by Fitz8710, 10 January 2021 - 11:15 AM.

[Seany75uk]

Well received my SV305 Pro and EQMOD cable yesterday, set up my mount with eqmod and stellarium last night and have been trying to get the sv305 working today in sharpcap. Drivers are installed and connects fine showing no frame drops all seems fine. I've currently got it attached to me SKywatcher 80ED whilst I wait on my guidescope but I just can't get an image on screen other than green, black or white screen depending on where i point the scope, there's no sign of clear skies round here for anytime soon so was hoping to get it set up in the daytime so I could get an idea of settings etc. Any advice on getting an image out of it would be much appreciated, I've been trying for about 2 hours and feel like I'm getting nowhere.

[charlieb123]

I purchased a SV305 and while I was able to get it to work in sharpcap it required quite a bit of adjustment to get an image right.

I was unable to get PHD2 to recognize the camera. I believe this was my fault and puts no bearing on the capabilities of this camera since there are others who have been able to use it.

 

I sent it back and purchased a ZWO ASI120mm.

Edited by charlieb123, 14 January 2021 - 10:33 AM.

[Borodog]

Well received my SV305 Pro and EQMOD cable yesterday, set up my mount with eqmod and stellarium last night and have been trying to get the sv305 working today in sharpcap. Drivers are installed and connects fine showing no frame drops all seems fine. I've currently got it attached to me SKywatcher 80ED whilst I wait on my guidescope but I just can't get an image on screen other than green, black or white screen depending on where i point the scope, there's no sign of clear skies round here for anytime soon so was hoping to get it set up in the daytime so I could get an idea of settings etc. Any advice on getting an image out of it would be much appreciated, I've been trying for about 2 hours and feel like I'm getting nowhere.

Perhaps a dumb question, but you’re outside pointing the scope into the distance, right?

[Seany75uk]

Perhaps a dumb question, but you’re outside pointing the scope into the distance, right?

Yes and no lol, its raining so I'm pointing through my patio door windows, I've actually just managed to get it to focus on some branches on a tree in the distance after much messing with settings.

[Fitz8710]

Its fine to point thrpugh a window. Make sure your exposure is set fast enough. It takes a whole lot of white balance adjustments to get it right. Dont forget to take the lense cap off. Haha just kidding...sort of (it happens to the best of us lol) if you cant get it by the time i get home let me know ill show you my settings which should get you in the ball park. Another thing worth noting is if your not focused you wont get a picture.

Charlieb123. I can look when i get hone but ot required me to use a dev version to get sv305 working on phd2. I am not sure if i used Sv305 Ascom driver or not. I will check once home.

Sorry for the choppy post. I am at work atm.


Clear skies dudes... someday

[Seany75uk]

Its fine to point thrpugh a window. Make sure your exposure is set fast enough. It takes a whole lot of white balance adjustments to get it right. Dont forget to take the lense cap off. Haha just kidding...sort of (it happens to the best of us lol) if you cant get it by the time i get home let me know ill show you my settings which should get you in the ball park. Another thing worth noting is if your not focused you wont get a picture.

Charlieb123. I can look when i get hone but ot required me to use a dev version to get sv305 working on phd2. I am not sure if i used Sv305 Ascom driver or not. I will check once home.

Sorry for the choppy post. I am at work atm.


Clear skies dudes... someday

Thanks for the info, I did manage to get it focused on a tree in the distance but I was using auto on the exposure, tried auto white balance and it was way off, was starting to get dark by then so will have another try with it tomorrow, snowing here so no chance of trying it on any stars. Got my guide scope coming tomorrow so will give it a try with that, and I've just won a x5 powermate on ebay for a good price so looking forward to trying some planetary if I can get my settings sorted.

Would be interested in seeing your settings if you can thanks buddy.

[Fitz8710]

Have to take wife to appointment. Ill be back in an hour with settings.

[Seany75uk]

Have to take wife to appointment. Ill be back in an hour with settings.

Thats great thanks 👍🏻

[Fitz8710]

So here are my settings.  Neighbors house across the street was quickest because i didnt feel like resetting up my heavy setup.  Let me know if this works for you.

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[Seany75uk]

So here are my settings. Neighbors house across the street was quickest because i didnt feel like resetting up my heavy setup. Let me know if this works for you.

Thanks bud I'll give them a try tomorrow, how do I get the settings box up in the first image I've not come across that one yet.

[Fitz8710]

Settings/guide Camera/white balance? One of those options in guide camera tab. If you cant find it ill go look. Just shut down the computer sorry ..

Just read a message up above. Definitely make sure your looking at a target at least 150 to 200 feet ahead to get good picture and focus.

Edited by Fitz8710, 14 January 2021 - 06:24 PM.

[Fitz8710]

charlieb123

 

Here is the version and driver name i used to get Phd2 to recognize my Sv305.

 

It was the Ascom Sv305 driver.  I do not think it worked with the SvBony company driver supplied with the camera

 

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