red dwalf Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 (edited) have downloaded Sharpcap 2 and some very nice little additions, most helpfull of all is the focusing plugin, works brilliently with the Skywatcher autofoucer and my hitec dc focus unit. anyone wanting to do some plantary imaging over the next few months i would highly recommend this software. Edited November 24, 2013 by red dwalf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Once i finish reading this chapter rob i'll go and download it. Thanks for the tip off. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 I used sharpcap 2 for the Jupiter images the other night. I focus by hand though so did not use it to its full potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Just downloaded it. It seems nice. It hasn't frozen yet on the laptop which is a bonus; the laptop really didn't like the old version of sharpcap for some reason (it doesn't like most software). Had a quick play and it recognises the camera, and i like how i can move the black box around and pick which bit of the cameras sensor i want to image from when using a smaller image size. Will try and have a go with it if the weather permits. But looks promising. Thanks. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 certainly works better with a bigger range of cameras, especially ascom complient cameras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 you`ll have to get one of those Skywatcher autofocusers fitted to the 2--p Felix, makes focusing so much easier when your sitting infront of the pc while focusing, and not trying to focus with cold hands shacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 you`ll have to get one of those Skywatcher autofocusers fitted to the 2--p Felix, makes focusing so much easier when your sitting infront of the pc while focusing, and not trying to focus with cold hands shacking. I think I am gonna do that once I have the moonlite focuser bought and installed rob. Oh man the purchase list goes on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Do it now while you wait for the moonlight - it's not an expensive item. Then when you get the moonlight and don't want to put a little sw focuser on it - sell the focuser to me for half price lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Anyone else having trouble installing sharpcap 2 on windows 7, says it needs microsoft. net downloading which the sharpcap download page says should already be on windows 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I didn't have trouble two days ago when I installed it, but I do recall having to install that previously for something else, it was easy to find. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Installed now after downloading microsoft .net framework 4.5. Nothing seems straightforward with windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I know no other operating system but I agree, it's never straight forwards, and I have conflict after conflict and my computer runs like it was made in the stone age (and it's only a year old (i7)).... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I loaded Sharpcap 2 OK using Win8.1, .Net already loaded I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 It's supposed to be on 7 already according to the sharpcap download page, I already had a earlier version of sharpcap so must have been ok then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) might be something to do with the version of windows 7 your running, if anyone needs to update the .net framework there`s a link to it on the hitec astro page, i needed it to use ascom 6 platform and hitec astro dc focuser, thinking about it i`m sure there`s a link to it on the ascom platform website also. saying all this i was highly impressed with the control of the focuser in Sharpcap 2, worked a treat and when the step counter reaches 0 it shuts the motor focuser off, which is a good thing as i`m always trying to either take the focuser to far out or too far in and the motors struggling to turn. Edited November 25, 2013 by red dwalf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 It's supposed to be on 7 already according to the sharpcap download page, I already had a earlier version of sharpcap so must have been ok then. I had the same problem Paul, I am running Windows 7 but I had to install the .net thing before I could install Sharpcap 2. Some newer features are available looking at it. Will get a better idea next time I go out imaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 had a go with Sharpcap 2 last night using the Atik Titan camera and the software kept crashing, most annoying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 I used sharpcap 2 last night with the ZWO ASI120MC and had only one problem where the image jumped across to the left of the screen a couple of times. Most annoying as it stops the stacking process in registax as the image goes off the screen slightly. Other than that it was ok. I had a look on SGL and there are a couple of threads reporting the "image jump" with ZWO cameras and sharpcap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xanthic Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Could you discard the bad frames and just work with the good ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Could you discard the bad frames and just work with the good ones? Yeah of course I can put the avi into virtual dub and sort it no probs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Ive been using firecapture which is a really nice intuitive program but my antivirus file scan doesn't like it so I have to switch that off 1st which I inevitably forget. So I just downloaded sharpcap to give it a go. It looks quite straightforward and I have just had a play on the table top with my cam and it all seems to work. How do you change the frame rate byw? Cant see any sliders etc and when I did a test run I was only getting 2 - 3 FPS with my IMGOH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 from what i can gather Phil, alot of the functions depend on the camera your using, i`ve tried a philips webcam, which gives you loads of adjustments you can make, a Opticstar px-35 colour camera which works well but gives only half of the adjustments available for the philips webcam, and i`ve tried the Atik Titan, which is an ascom compatable camera but i could get on with that at all, sharpcap kept crashing and the picture looked rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Cheers Rob, I reckon it will all be revealed when using it on a planet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawson Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I used SharpCap2 last night and I was really impressed. Mostly impressed by the fact my laptop didn't whinge at all, even with the camera at the end of a 15m active USB extension lead without being connected to the mains. I like the new version. It seems simple to use and just works and doesn't freeze. There was an option to alter the frame rate for me, towards the top on the very far right, but just set this to maximum and that rate appeared to depend upon the amount of the sensor I was using, and the exposure duration and gain. I managed to get to nearly 50fps with a 600x500 ish frame size and 0.02s exposure time. So while my data was rubbish for various other issues (mostly down to me!) I did find the software easy to use and reliable. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 A disappointment for me, as Phil says, there's not the range of adjustment for the IMG0H that's available in Firecapture, frame rate stuck at 2 fps and crashed every time I tried to adjust it. Pity, I used to like using Sharpcap with the spc900. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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