Flea 3 GIGE

[icytailmark]

im thinking about buying the flea 3 GIGE camera when it comes out this year. Would this camera be suitable for planetary imaging? I have 50 metres of cat6 cabling so i could run it from my computer inside to the camera in my backyard.

http://www.ptgrey.com/products/flea3_gige/flea3_gige_camera.asp

[renormalised]

I don't see why not. If these cameras are up to the usual standard of Point Grey cameras, especially the other Flea models, they'll be excellent planetary cameras.

[mithrandir]

Is that 50 metres of solid core or 50 metres of stranded? That could be a marginal at Gig speeds if it is all stranded.

[icytailmark]

im not sure andrew id have to check on that. Would the Flea 3 GIGE be a good alternative to the firewire flea 3 model?

[mithrandir]

Firewire and GigE are in the not that far apart when it comes to speed. If you have GigE, available ports on the computer or GigE switch, and aren't already using most of the bandwidth, that would be one less driver to be running. My astro notepad only has 100Mb, USB2 and nowhere to plug in a Firewire or GigE card, so a Flea 3 is out of the question.

[renormalised]

Mark, are you going to be running this setup as a permanently mounted scope or on a tripod. If you use a laptop, make sure it has a firewire port or has the ability to have a firewire and/or GIGE card connected to it (through your PCMCIA port). Otherwise, setup a computer in your house and run solid core Cat5/6 cable through ducting to where you have your scope.

[icytailmark]

on a tripod in my backyard i will be taking it outside everytime i use it. I have 2 options run a firewire cable from my PC tower from in the house to the camera in my backyard or run a cat 6 cable. I already have plenty of cat 6 cable so i think ill go with the GIGE Flea 3 camera.My PC has two gigabit ethernet ports on it.