Category Archives: Astro Equipment

Ghosting problem on Moon images

Posted on May 3, 2013 by james

I was experimenting with shutter speeds and ISO settings whilst imaging the Moon with my DSLR the other night and when I got down to a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second starting seeing a problem where the top … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Examples of DSLR Exposure Times for Lunar Imaging

Posted on February 21, 2013 by james

I was struggling a few days ago with some images I’d taken of the Moon because they looked really poor after stacking and sharpening. I’d been experimenting, trying to get a better histogram fill for the images by increasing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astroimaging, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mounting a DSLR on a Telescope Mount

Posted on February 21, 2013 by james

Someone was asking how they could mount their DSLR on a telescope mount such as an EQ3-2 or EQ5. I do this for my wide field images. Here’s how. I have a short dovetail (about 15cm) to which I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New Kid on the Block: The ASI120MC

Posted on February 21, 2013 by james

I’ve been pondering on a dedicated planetary imaging camera for a while. The SPC900 is exceptionally good for what it is, especially as I paid only £5 for mine, but being USB1 the frame rate is limited to 10 fps … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Red Dot Rifle Sight as a Finder

Posted on February 21, 2013 by james

One of my RDFs died recently. It seems to be something they do. Anyhow, I had a red dot rifle sight sitting around doing nothing, so I removed the mount from the RDF and cut a plate from a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy, Projects | Leave a comment

SPC900 vs. PS2 Eye camera

Posted on December 7, 2012 by james

When I posted images from the Xbox, Lifecam and SPC900 for comparison, someone asked about the PS2 Eye camera (not the Eye Toy). Last night whilst I was imaging Jupiter and Europa I had a go with it. Control is … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

SPC900 webcam brightness setting

Posted on December 7, 2012 by james

It has been said that the brightness setting for the SPC900 camera affects only what appears on the screen and not what appears in the capture file. Having read the code for the Linux SPC900 driver I wasn’t at all … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged | Leave a comment

SPC900 vs. Xbox Live cam vs. Lifecam Cinema

Posted on December 7, 2012 by james

“What webcam can I use if I can’t get/afford an SPC900?” seems to be a common question now the SPC900 has become difficult to get hold of, but there doesn’t seem to be much empirical evidence on which to base … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hot Shoe Red Dot Finder

Posted on November 15, 2012 by james

Having taken a few wide field images with my DSLR on the EQ3-2 now, I’ve realised what a pain it is getting the target area in the field of view when much of it is too faint to see, let … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

EQ3-2 motor gearbox reduction ratio

Posted on October 2, 2012 by james

I’ve decided there’s nothing more I can do with my EQ3-2 mechanics to improve the backlash that’s painfully obvious in the DEC axis. What backlash there is left (about twelve seconds at the 8x speed when changing direction) appears to … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged | Leave a comment