My Setup - General Summary of Current setup

Skywatcher 130M Newtonian on EQ2 - My first telescope

Skywatcher ST150 wide field achromatic refractor

EQ5 Mount - Medium/Small GEM, my first upgrade from the eq2 (Vixen GP clone)

My CMOS experiment - Could a cheap CMOS camera have any use?

HP/Compaq NC4000 Ultraportable - Every Imager should have one!

Vesta SC1.5 - The classic camera from philips re-chipped and re-housed for LX

 

NOTE: Sections are kinda thrown together, so some newer ones might contradic olderones as my current equipment changes.....

My current setup is as follows....

• Skywatcher Startravel 150mm short tube achro. refractor
• EQ5 german equatorial mount on (not perfect) stainless steel tripod
• Vesta SC1.5 webcam re-chipped to Philips Toucam Pro 840k
• HP/Compaq NC4000 Ultra-Portable laptop
• Random eyepieces and boxes to protect it all and other bits n bobs

Newtonians

My telescope is of a Newtonian design. Its a fairly simple design. The light comes in through a big hole in the end, and travels to the bottom of the scope, where a mirror (the primary) reflects it back up the tube, 'focussing' it onto another smaller mirror (secondary) The secondary is angled to reflect the light out of a hole in the side of the tube, where it is finely focussed through an eyepiece.

However, because the mirrors need to be accurately lined up, it is necessary to  'collimate' the scope often (line the mirrors up) This is a delicate process that can be done very roughly or very accurately. One fast way is to use a laser, but many will tell you this is not the most accurate way. The seasoned astronomers out there can gain higher precision than a laser by collimating by eye. I am not a seasoned astronomer...And I don't like having to re-collimate all the time! It's not a difficult process, nor does it take very long, its just annoying!

A CMOS webcam....

Although I primarily use my digital camera when trying to capture planets, a fairly recent discovery for planetary imaging is the use of a webcam. My digital camera records video in a .MOV file, and I can convert this into AVI format and then stack the entire clip into 1 image, however, I thought I'd dabble in other methods.

For those that aren't aware, webcams come in two types. Those that use a CCD chip and those that use a CMOS chip. The former been the best. A CCD chip is a lot more sensitive to incoming light, and as a result these cameras are a bit more expensive. The main cameras used in the astrophotography world are the philips Toucam Pro (740K or 840K), Philips Vesta, and the logitech Quickcam 3000/4000 (although the 4000 is a later model, some models contain an inferior chip, so it's best to go for the 3000)

These cameras are chosen for their sensitive chips, sensible price tag, and much more importantly, because they can be modified for long exposures!!! The long exposure modifications for webcams is an area I have little knowledge, so for now check the UKAI forum for this info.

However, the web cameras are excellent for planetary and lunar photography as they are. Originally, the basic method was to remove the lense  of the camera, leaving the exposed CCD chip, and then attatch a 35mm film case to camera with the end chopped off (leaving a hollow cylinder). These cases conveniently slide into a 1.25" focussor!

However, the technique of webcamming is now more commercialised, and ready made adaptors are available for each camera that screws on securely. The actual image is obtained by inserting the assembly, with no eyepiece, and then using a 2x/3x barlow, or 4x/5x imagemate, you record a video clip in AVI format, using the preview screen on the PC/laptop to focus the image, and then stack the entire clip into 1 frame using software such as Registax.

Get the adaptors here www.modernastronomy.co.uk

Now thats the background information over, so I'll get on with my point. Not been the owner of either a laptop, or a CCD webcam (or the cash to buy either) I figured I'd test the suitability of a CMOS webcamera, as I had quite an old webcamera lying around that I just use for MSN with friends. It's of the Aiptek brand called 'Hyper Vcam Mobile'

In order to remove the focussiing lense from the camera, I had to unscrew the case and slide the PCB board out, The lense itself only had a small plastic ridge to stop it unscrewing completely, so I removed this with a craft knife, making it possible to fully unscrew the lense from the outside of the case. NOTE It's important if you are going to attempt this with your cam, to keep the lense you remove. You may want to continue using the camera for normal use, in which case it's VERY IMPORTANT you keep this lense. I knew this camera would return to its main purpose afterwards, so I kept this lense.

Next, I cut the bottom off a plastic film canister, and then attatched it to the case of the camera over the opening. It's important to fasten it as central as possible, as this is helpful for when using the camera later. Attatch it with the original case side, this allows for the cut you made on the case not been perfect.

My camera, an Aiptek Hyper Vcam mobile, had a very unusually shaped case, making this process quite tricky, so instead I cellotaped the case on. It's a good idea to use the lid of the canister as a dust cap, as now the sensor chip is exposed, it must remain IMMACULATE! any dust or particles on the chip will affect your images!

At first, I practiced using the camera in the scope in daylight. I just set the scope up next to my computer and pointed it out the window, and focussed on the furthest chimney away I could see.

As you can see, it looks a little messy, but it wasn't a test of my engineering skills! I practised taking a few snapshots of a blackbird on a chimney for a while, getting used to adjusting the settings of the camera.

 

 

Then, two nights later, it was a clear night so the pc went as close to the backdoor as I could get it, and with a few USB extensions I was shooting AVI's!

Aftermath: Well the hardware for the camera turned out to be worse than expected! Many frames were dropped due to the length and cheapness of the USB leads, and also some of the AVI's became corrupted, but don't know what caused this?! Check the images section for what i got for my 30mins work.

Laptops

Description of first Ultra-Portable I bought....

Bargain orice from E-bay, seller was less than co-operative but eventually everything went through ok. It was a Toshiba Portege 3480ct with a 600mhz P3 and 192MB Ram. After holding the >1inch thick laptop, i was immediately addicted to ultraportables and saw the advantages they offered to astronomers immediately.

It worked well on small games, small media applications etc. and obviously was perfect for doing college work on. However, I was made an offer on it I couldn't resist so sold it on at a nice profit.

 

Current: HP/Compaq NC4000

Well this is the current ultra-portable. It's not quite as small as the last one, but it boasts a 1.4Ghz Pentium M (chip used in Centrino Laptops) and 512MB Ram and a much bigger 40GB of storage. As with the last it hasn't got any internal optical drives, but the long battery life and high performance is great for using out with the scope.

One piece of advice I would offer is keeping the aptop warm in winter, as the cold can really hamper the battery performance of the laptop! This cost a small £390 and is plenty of performance for University work and astronomy alike. I can't understand why anyone would use the huge desktop replacement notebooks after using one this size! Anyways, theres a good review of this particular model on the CNET site if you want to read more onthem. Mine was from www.cheap-it.com

Vesta SC1.5

Well a little different than planned, this camera came up for sale at a abargain price. It seemed fellow forum memebr Andy Ellis aka Coxellis had acquired an old Philips Vesta pro camera (pcvc680k) and re-chipped it with the more sensitive Sony ICX098BQ which is the chip found in the Philips Toucam Pro (PCVC840k)

It's modded for LX mode, is air cooled and also Amp off, which reduces the glow that begins to develop in the corner of an ordfinary LX image. Please contact Andy Ellis directly from his website or on the UKAI website, he's pretty much becoming the best guy on the web regarding CCD modifications, and not forgetting he does them all at no profit!

However, Sods law that as I get the camera I need to sell the laptop I bought (at a very nice profit on what I paid so I couldn't resist!) But to remedy this a good friend on the forum Nick King has sent me an old P1 laptop until I get another one. It won't do much good for capturing planetary AVI's but copes with LX very well.

However, if your wondering what I did with the money from the laptop, check out the new mount......

EQ5

Well I sold a few various bits and upgraded my mount to an EQ5.

It's a german equatorial, so identical in concept to the previous mount, but the load bearing is greater (to take the new heavier scope) and also is easier to accurately polar align thanks to the polar scope. I saved a bit of money as the tripod had a little bit of damage, I've managed to brace the legs with some strong chain, but it's still not ideal to use at full extension as the weight of the 'scope is pretty close to the limit.

It's motorized in RA for photography and is definately a great mount for the cost. Like I said, the stainless steel legs are not very solid, leading me to either start looking at portable pedestals or building some replacement hardwood legs.

Anyways, not much to say on it, but I would advise ayone with this mount to check out Astronomy Boy's website for some great tutorials on servicing this mount and improving it. (The EQ5 and CG5 are near identical clones of the Vixen GP mount)