scope monitor

Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV screen. This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and made to work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope could provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some feedback.

John

If your digital camera has a "video out" jack and your TV has a "video
in" jack, you can easily position your camera afocally and see what the
camera sees on the TV.

I would love to find an inexpensive portable 5 to 9-inch TV with a
video in jack to aid with focusing when photographing the moon. The
camera's LCD is just a little too small to do this as well as I would
like and I hate to haul around a 13" TV for this.

If anyone has any TV suggestions I would love to hear them.

Mark


John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and made to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV
screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and made
to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope
could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

5" LCD TVs are relatively cheap. They are made for playing videogames
in the car and can be found at most well stocked videogame specialty
stores and some big box electronics retailers. If you plan to run off
batteries and/or in the dark you may want to try replacing the cold
cathode backlight with red LEDs.
Ian Anderson
www.customopticalsystems.com

Local camping store, local Radio Shack, local Wallmart, local K-Mart,
any place that sells TV's.. I have a small 5" TV that runs on C cell
batteries, Comes with a 110 adapter, and comes with a 12 volt adapter and is
an AM/FM radio, and has video and audio jacks. It's black and white but it
does work well with this Orion video EP. I think I paid $20 or $30.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
If your digital camera has a "video out" jack and your TV has a "video
in" jack, you can easily position your camera afocally and see what the
camera sees on the TV.

I would love to find an inexpensive portable 5 to 9-inch TV with a
video in jack to aid with focusing when photographing the moon. The
camera's LCD is just a little too small to do this as well as I would
like and I hate to haul around a 13" TV for this.

If anyone has any TV suggestions I would love to hear them.

Mark


John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and made to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

Thanks, but I have looked at the 5" TVs at Wal-Mart/K-Mart/Best Buy and
none has a video input, they only have an antenna input. I haven't
looked yet at Radio Shack, but will investigate.

If you have a brand name I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mark


Michael Barlow wrote:
Local camping store, local Radio Shack, local Wallmart, local K-Mart,
any place that sells TV's.. I have a small 5" TV that runs on C cell
batteries, Comes with a 110 adapter, and comes with a 12 volt adapter
and is
an AM/FM radio, and has video and audio jacks. It's black and white
but it
does work well with this Orion video EP. I think I paid $20 or $30.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
If your digital camera has a "video out" jack and your TV has a
"video
in" jack, you can easily position your camera afocally and see what
the
camera sees on the TV.

I would love to find an inexpensive portable 5 to 9-inch TV with a
video in jack to aid with focusing when photographing the moon.
The
camera's LCD is just a little too small to do this as well as I
would
like and I hate to haul around a 13" TV for this.

If anyone has any TV suggestions I would love to hear them.

Mark


John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV
screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and
made to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope
could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

Thanks, this is what I found at Radio Shack in the way of LCD TVs. For
$200, it's a little pricier than I want. I don't care if it's a
portable CRT-based TV, but I would like to get it for $50 or less and
have the A/V inputs.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=16%2D3013

GPX, model number TVP2K. I don't recal where I bought it from
specifically but it was either Radio Shack, WallMart, K-Mart, or one of the
sporting stores with a camping department. It has the video and audio
"input" jacks and weighs next to nothing. It also takes a lot of C cell
batteries but if you have AC it comes with an AC/DC adapter (doesn't have
the DC cigarete lighter adapter like i thought). This was manufactured
"September 2003" so there's still a chance it's availible somewhere.
Another place to look is a camper/RV dealership.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks, but I have looked at the 5" TVs at Wal-Mart/K-Mart/Best Buy and
none has a video input, they only have an antenna input. I haven't
looked yet at Radio Shack, but will investigate.

If you have a brand name I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mark


Michael Barlow wrote:
Local camping store, local Radio Shack, local Wallmart, local K-Mart,
any place that sells TV's.. I have a small 5" TV that runs on C cell
batteries, Comes with a 110 adapter, and comes with a 12 volt adapter
and is
an AM/FM radio, and has video and audio jacks. It's black and white
but it
does work well with this Orion video EP. I think I paid $20 or $30.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
If your digital camera has a "video out" jack and your TV has a
"video
in" jack, you can easily position your camera afocally and see what
the
camera sees on the TV.

I would love to find an inexpensive portable 5 to 9-inch TV with a
video in jack to aid with focusing when photographing the moon.
The
camera's LCD is just a little too small to do this as well as I
would
like and I hate to haul around a 13" TV for this.

If anyone has any TV suggestions I would love to hear them.

Mark


John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV
screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and
made to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope
could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

$19.49
http://www.x10.com/electronics/gpx_tv527.html
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Michael Barlow" wrote in message
...
GPX, model number TVP2K. I don't recal where I bought it from
specifically but it was either Radio Shack, WallMart, K-Mart, or one of
the
sporting stores with a camping department. It has the video and audio
"input" jacks and weighs next to nothing. It also takes a lot of C cell
batteries but if you have AC it comes with an AC/DC adapter (doesn't have
the DC cigarete lighter adapter like i thought). This was manufactured
"September 2003" so there's still a chance it's availible somewhere.
Another place to look is a camper/RV dealership.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks, but I have looked at the 5" TVs at Wal-Mart/K-Mart/Best Buy and
none has a video input, they only have an antenna input. I haven't
looked yet at Radio Shack, but will investigate.

If you have a brand name I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mark


Michael Barlow wrote:
Local camping store, local Radio Shack, local Wallmart, local K-Mart,
any place that sells TV's.. I have a small 5" TV that runs on C cell
batteries, Comes with a 110 adapter, and comes with a 12 volt adapter
and is
an AM/FM radio, and has video and audio jacks. It's black and white
but it
does work well with this Orion video EP. I think I paid $20 or $30.
--
Michael A. Barlow

"Mark" wrote in message
oups.com...
If your digital camera has a "video out" jack and your TV has a
"video
in" jack, you can easily position your camera afocally and see what
the
camera sees on the TV.

I would love to find an inexpensive portable 5 to 9-inch TV with a
video in jack to aid with focusing when photographing the moon.
The
camera's LCD is just a little too small to do this as well as I
would
like and I hate to haul around a 13" TV for this.

If anyone has any TV suggestions I would love to hear them.

Mark


John wrote:
Orion sells a CCD eyepiece which transfers the image to a TV
screen.
This
got me thinking about a similar setup with a spotting scope for
terrestrial
applications where high resolution is not too critical. Orion's
product
replaces the eyepiece, but I'd need something that fits over a
spotting
scope's fixed eyepiece. If a small CCD head can be found and
made to
work
with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope
could
provide
a full time display without having to keep an eye glued to the
eyepiece. If
anyone has tinkered with this idea, I'd sure appreciate some
feedback.

John

In Europe some supermarkets had the 5" Denver B&W CRT TVs on offer for
=A310 ($20). I use one with my Sony P71 digital camera at the telescope
using the digital cable supplied with the camera. Great for centering
the camera and focussing where the camera screen itself is far too
small to see anything astronomical clearly.

The little TV was very useful for the Venus transit in
quickly-changing cloud cover. Allowing me to choose the best moments
easily. I used the fastest indicated shutter speeds to take my
'snaps'. Normally I can hardly read the figures provided by the camera
screen.

Another supermarket had a 5" LCD colour screen recently for about
=A3100. (or $200) But prices are still falling and I'm waiting for
something a little larger and cheaper. :-)=20

Regards
Chris.B

Michael -

Thanks, this is terrific, I will look a little more in town and then
purchase this one if I can't find it locally. Not a bad idea to have
one of these here in "hurricane alley" anyway.

Mark