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Telescope comming along...



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 22nd 05, 01:42 AM
none
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Default Telescope comming along...

Hi Guys,

Since I last posted here I managed to get hold of a Dobsonian base and
have pretty much finished putting the drive in place to automate it.
All I need to do now are the electronics to drive the actual motors,
which shouldn't be too hard once I settle on how I want to do it.

Something I wanted to start keeping an eye open for is a decent camera
to use.
I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions on a camera
capable of taking a clear picture which I can hook up to the telescope.

I would like to be able to have the camera hooked up to the computer via
a USB cable so I don't need to be anywhere near the telescope to use it.

Most of the cameras Ive seen people use have been glorified WebCams. I
can't see the image quality being anything above appalling from these
though, am I wrong? 300K pixel resolution doesn't seem like it could
give too good a picture when the image is so small and dark to start off
with.

Is it possible to hook a decent Digital SLR up to a telescope and is it
worth while?

Regards,
Garreth
  #2  
Old September 22nd 05, 02:26 AM
Crusader
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Default

I heard Canon Eos digital is a good choice and a lot of people use it.

"none" ""gcain\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys,

Since I last posted here I managed to get hold of a Dobsonian base and
have pretty much finished putting the drive in place to automate it.
All I need to do now are the electronics to drive the actual motors,
which shouldn't be too hard once I settle on how I want to do it.

Something I wanted to start keeping an eye open for is a decent camera
to use.
I was wondering if any of you guys have any suggestions on a camera
capable of taking a clear picture which I can hook up to the telescope.

I would like to be able to have the camera hooked up to the computer via
a USB cable so I don't need to be anywhere near the telescope to use

it.

Most of the cameras Ive seen people use have been glorified WebCams. I
can't see the image quality being anything above appalling from these
though, am I wrong? 300K pixel resolution doesn't seem like it could
give too good a picture when the image is so small and dark to start off
with.

Is it possible to hook a decent Digital SLR up to a telescope and is it
worth while?

Regards,
Garreth



  #3  
Old September 22nd 05, 03:27 AM
Tim Auton
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Posts: n/a
Default

none ""gcain\"@(none)" wrote:
[snip]
I would like to be able to have the camera hooked up to the computer via
a USB cable so I don't need to be anywhere near the telescope to use it.

Most of the cameras Ive seen people use have been glorified WebCams. I
can't see the image quality being anything above appalling from these
though, am I wrong? 300K pixel resolution doesn't seem like it could
give too good a picture when the image is so small and dark to start off
with.


Webcams are the best thing for lunar/planetary imaging, where the
subject is bright and the limitation is generally seeing. The high
frame-rate of webcams lets you take hundreds or thousands of images
and select the best - the ones with minimal atmospheric distortion.
Stacking the 'cream of the crop' then removes the noise introduced by
the sensor. Webcams are poor for other targets though.

Is it possible to hook a decent Digital SLR up to a telescope and is it
worth while?


Yes and yes. The main limitation is the lack of IR sensitivity, even
far red like Ha is quite seriously attenuated by the filters (designed
for terrestrial photography) on the sensor. It's not a show-stopper
though, you can still take decent images with the filter in place.

Canon do a special version of the 20D (no internal IR filter and some
other tweaks) specifically for astro-imaging, the Canon 20Da.

Hutech sell pre-modified DSLRs and external filters to covert back to
terrestrial use:

http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/

You can remove the filter yourself (there are guides for various
models on the web), but I left the one in place on my 20D. I didn't
like the idea of taking my new £1100 camera to bits, at least not till
the guarantee has run out!


Tim
--
You are being watched. This gives you power.
  #4  
Old September 22nd 05, 04:56 AM
Stephen Paul
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Posts: n/a
Default


"Tim Auton" wrote in message
...
none ""gcain\"@(none)" wrote:
Is it possible to hook a decent Digital SLR up to a telescope and is it
worth while?


Yes and yes. The main limitation is the lack of IR sensitivity, even
far red like Ha is quite seriously attenuated by the filters (designed
for terrestrial photography) on the sensor. It's not a show-stopper
though, you can still take decent images with the filter in place.

Canon do a special version of the 20D (no internal IR filter and some
other tweaks) specifically for astro-imaging, the Canon 20Da.

Hutech sell pre-modified DSLRs and external filters to covert back to
terrestrial use:

http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/

You can remove the filter yourself (there are guides for various
models on the web), but I left the one in place on my 20D. I didn't
like the idea of taking my new £1100 camera to bits, at least not till
the guarantee has run out!


I would just add a caution here. I purchased a user modified Rebel off of
Astromart, and it died within 6 months. I sent the seller an email and asked
that he split the cost of an umodified replacement, but he didn't have the
courtesy to respond.

I ended up spending the cost of a new Hutech modified Rebel, for a dead
modified and a working unmodified. I'm still a little pist, but I'm also
glad to be back in business, even if it is Ha poor. The modified model was
wicked awesome. 1 minute with the 200F4 reflector was blazingly fast and
rich in the red.


 




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