Video Astronomy

[beren]

Gday just seeking some input/views/pro's and cons on video astronomy...this product (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/guides/gstar.htm) has me really interested. I like the idea of having real time views and less critical tracking etc , the spin on the product page sounds very enticing but it would be great if anyone could share their experiences ...cheers:thumbsup:

[mick pinner]

hi Stuart, l have a Sac Mintron which is almost the same as the G-STAR only mine has a USB download as well as the AV.
these are very sensitive monochrome cameras and give great real time views downloading at 29.5 fps.
they can be used for both deep sky with sense up at 128x and solar system objects inc the moon with sense up and auto gain control off.
with a filter wheel l am sure great images could be achieved with this camera as l am going to try this saturn season.
a couple of pics with the Mintron

[asimov]

I'm more interested in its DSO capabilities. Less need for super polar alignment sounds great!

[mick pinner]

these are a couple of dso's, please note they are single frames taken from an avi l have not processed any avi's yet but l think they will have good potential to produce some nice images.

[g__day]

I spoke to Steve at MyAstroShop about these cameras and he is really into them and believes them to be a very credible option. I bought my Celestron from Steve and I think he knows what he is talking about and is a very earnest person.

[beren]

Yeah I checked out Steve's web page :thumbsup: fine planetary and DSO selection on display and some more work done by these cameras here (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gstar-users/).Thanks Mick ,top pics ......where the lunar images shoot through your 80mm and the DSOs the 12"lx

[Karls48]

I got GStar and it is the best camera from three Mintrons I got. With any telescope you can see objects about two magnitudes fainter then you would see in eyepiece. You can flip, mirror and make image negative. It got 2X digital zoom (useful for focusing), you can block part of the image. With gain at maximum it got very little of amplifier glow. Almost any function of camera can be configured. And it can be done remotely, from your computer (with special RS232 cable). You can use two monitors at same time. One S-video and other AV.
Only disadvantage is that at maximum sensitivity setting 128x integration the image is updated every 2.56 seconds and it makes focusing bit difficult. And with Maxim DL it works only in 320 x 240 mode. It got out of the box some hot pixels but that is inherited problem with Sony HAD technology.
I’m very happy with it