Pls recommend video camera

[vivid]

So I have a 6" f6.5 achro and a manual mount (DOH on the mount but i needed it to be FAST Grab n Go).

Just getting M42 in colour or more details aided with a UHC/O-III would be nice.

But is anything available that is workable with a manual mount? Eg say 2 fps?

[weixing]

Hi,
I had no experience on astro video camera, but I think there are some member who had use it. Anyway, you might want to take a look at this:
http://mallincam.tripod.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67r2FCKNQZk

Have a nice day.

[vivid]

Unfortunately it seems that the draw of video is the integrating times, so the mount preferably is accurate to at least 30 seconds. So manual is out. Ugh.

[yltansg]

Hi,

I have used a SCB 2000 (Samsung security camera) on an iEQ45 mount with Megrez 90.
http://www.pbase.com/yltansg/image/141594591

I will try it out on a portmount and let you know if it is good.

Alfred

Unfortunately it seems that the draw of video is the integrating times, so the mount preferably is accurate to at least 30 seconds. So manual is out. Ugh.

[Gary]

Hi Alfred. Good stuff! Embedding your photo here:



Check out this video using the same camera by youtuber jaywoodism:

Video Astronomy Samsung SCB 2000 / Celestron 8 SE - Jupiter

[vivid]

Heh heh...Gary, it's more for the faint fuzzies. Globular Clusters I think more or less within reach of my 6" refractor at least for those interesting ones. Galaxies can forget about it. I ran some numbers through the online limiting magnitude for telescopes. The 6" refractor is pretty close to the 8" SCT esp for our ZLM here..... really need to be 20"+ to make a difference.

Due to commitments, out of country travel is out of the question. (hence no AP) I am several underwhelmed with how M42 looks even with a UHC - so still waiting for that super clear day with PM10 reading on NEA website to be well below PSI 20 and no clouds and preferably below 50% moon. I saw how M42 looked on a really good day I think earlier this year and i remember there was no moon at all, it looked to have "more punch" on a 7 x 50 compared to now on 6" + UHC. But no worries i guess, my optimised my setup to be deployed fast.

I was thinking of getting a 10" newtonian which is not expensive, but i think the difference would be small (at least for what i am looking for).

[cyberruk]

You can also consider a Samsung SCB-2000 security camera as an option. The integration times are a little confusing for people but let me try and explain it simply. A security camera with a Sense Up function is required. Sense Up of 128X will accumulate light in 1/60 of a second increments to give a 2.1 second image capture. A 256X Sense Up will give a 4.2 second image - which will capture things like the Ring Nebula (M57), Dumbbell Nebula (M27), Hercules Globular Cluster (M13) and so on. The camera I mentioned above has a 512X sense up which gives an 8 second image capture capability.

From your response, you are in a "light polluted" area and viewing is challenging. That makes a telescope with a tracking mount more important - using a Mallincam (I have the MHCP as well as the Samsung) and have done captures from central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Generally I get 14 and 28 second captures with the Mallincam and when my tracking is really good - 56 seconds. An alt-az tracking mount will give you that kind of stability (balance is very important) and you too can enjoy seeing the Deep Sky Objects in colour. The best you can hope for with a manual telescope is getting the Moon and bright planets.

The manufacturer of the Mallincam, Rock Mallin, has 3 magnitude skies and is able to image in great detail with the cameras he manufactures. By the way, each is hand crafted to very exacting specifications in his shop so there is a waiting list but it is well worth it. You can see for yourself if you join Nightskiesnetwork.com