Tweedledee Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Not sure what I'm doing in this section really, but it proves I'm finally having a go with the Mintron video camera . Spent a couple of hours with the scope in the backyard last night, and it was the first time I have not even touched an eyepiece. Didn't even use a finder. The laser did a great job finding stuff. This shows the setup in the backyard before it got dark... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/104047272/692.jpg Clouds kept rolling by and the sky between the clouds was a bit murky, but that didn't matter because I didn't have a clue about what I was doing. First I got the capture dongle driver software installed, then finally managed to get focused by removing the extender tube I need for eyepieces on the 10" SNT. I got Jupiter filling the netbook screen but couldn't get it toned down enough and at sharpest focus it was probably 10 times the size it should be. I played with a few camera controls but could not dim it down sufficiently. The moons were fairly sharp points though. I then decided I needed to use a much wider field to make things easier. So I tried it on the 80mm RACI finder, but the Mintron would not go close enough to focus with the fixed amici prism. This was a pity since the Mintron chip would have given a 2.5 degree field on the finder. So I used the 0.5x reducer on the camera and put it in the ST120. Had to remove the 2" diagonal to achieve focus and actually got some crappy images. There is nothing exciting in my images, but I was just pleased to get the Mintron working. Since I know nothing of stacking or processing, these are completely raw snapshot images. There are quite a few controls to set up the camera, both within the software and on the separate control box and again I am in the dark about how to set these up at the moment. Kept walking through the cables and pulling out the power from the camera, but it was fun and not cold. Here are some of my first attempts, have a laugh at these ... https://dl.dropbox.com/u/104047272/Jupiter.jpg https://dl.dropbox.com/u/104047272/Aurigacluster.jpg https://dl.dropbox.com/u/104047272/M45.jpg https://dl.dropbox.com/u/104047272/M45part.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 That's exciting Pete - you're well on the way there - looking forward to when you get it all fine tuned and we start seeing those distant galaxies and nebulae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Thanks guys, I've been reading up about Mintron settings and getting the best out of it. So hoping for some improvements next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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