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[asimov]

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[mick pinner]

the LPI delivers it's images via USB and once you go longer than a 5m cable you get a great deal of signal loss so you have to have a comp or lap top reasonably close also the images shown on the screen are not quite in real time so unless you are tracking focusing becomes a nightmare l've tried a bit of deep space imaging with little success but apparently with some of the brighter objects it is possible. l've got my Meade tracking perfectly now and when combined with the tracking box facility the LPI has, l'm getting huge amounts of images downloaded all perfectly centered in the CCD chip.
l'm personally getting better images the more l play with the LPI but l think it's limited for DSO's. The new Meade DSI with colour filters for $500.00 looks ok.

[Dennis]

Hi John

The maximum exposure of the LPI using the Meade Autostarsuite software is 16 seconds. I have found this to be inadequate for DSO's through my 4" refractor, but also have seen results from others using 'scopes in the 8" to 12" range and again, these did not look really good.

The LPI is as the name suggests a Lunar & Planetary Imager which for the price is an easy and relatively pain free way to break into digital imaging. If I remember rightly, H0ughy may have an almost new LPI for sale? Why not PM him?

I really enjoy using the LPI on the Moon and Planets. It is so easy to set up and use compared to my SBIG ST7E.

Cheers

Dennis

[asimov]

Dennis, given my set-up (no drive & DONT wanna drag the puter to the scope) do you still say it's ok for me? If I have to have the computer running the camera, then it's a no go.

[Dennis]

Hi John

Sorry mate - didn't read the full details in your original post. You are right - the LPI does require a computer running the capture software and for saving the images. So, the LPI will not meet your requirements.

Cheers

Dennis

[asimov]

So I guess I'm stuck with using the kodak DSLR....that sucks