Hi Brad
No – the Tak wasn’t modified at all. I simply removed the eyepiece from the focuser, inserted a x2 or x2.5 Barlow and then inserted the DBK webcam. Here is a
link to the D*K series where you can see the 1 ¼” adapter tube on the front of the camera body (blue cube) which simply slides into the Barlow.
The DMK and DBK do show you very nice live images, but you are viewing these as a movie; that is, you are seeing a real time image at say, 15 frames per second, 5fps, 30fps etc. depending on setting.
So, for those doubles, I recorded a movie file (e.g. Antares.avi) of say, 1500 frames and then later at my desk, used a program to select the best quality frames and stacked them together to produce the final image (automated).
Each single frame will have the multiple stars nicely visible, but will also have some “noise” or a grainy appearance. By stacking several 100 of the best frames, the quality of the double star image increases markedly and the noise is also reduced dramatically giving a nice, smooth final image.
So, when you are viewing live, the doubles and their colours are visible, but the background may appear grainy, especially if you need to increase the Gain (sensitivity) to record the stars adequately.
I think that the GStar-Ex actually “stacks” or “integrates” the displayed image in real time, so what you are looking at, is a “live” image that is a stack of several frames? I’m sure a GStar-Ex owner will correct me if I am wrong here.
Cheers
Dennis