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Old 02-10-2017, 09:33 AM
Jocksquin (Ron)
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Video Imaging DSO

Looking for input on which video cameras are suitable for Deep Sky imaging - specifically Frame Accumulation cameras.

Not interested in mono at this time so cameras must be colour, capable of accumulation rates to say X128 and be modestly priced.

Am aware of the G-Star Ex range from astroshop but before going there,wanted a more modestly priced entry point.
Have a feeling the DBK21/41 have the capability but still researching.

Lastly,what Image Capture Sw packages are "frame accumulation" capable" (apart from Steve Massey's GStar4). (preferably free SW).

I have looked at SharpCap, Nebulosity and the proprietary ToupSky for Prostar cameras but they don't seem to have the "frame accumulation" capability

Any input welcome

Rgds
Ron
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Old 02-10-2017, 10:50 AM
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ZeroID (Brent)
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I thought Sharpcap 3.0 had it's 'Liveview' mode which accumulated short exposure images ? You can save from that apparently.
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Old 03-10-2017, 12:27 AM
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billdan (Bill)
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There is "Lodestar Live" free software that originally came out for Lodestar camera's only, but now supports many more cameras. It does stacking on the fly and can subtract darks as well.

Stargazers Lounge has a large number of followers of this software if you want more up to date information.

EDIT: For anyone interested in this software, it has now been taken over by Starlight Express and the software is now called Starlight Live.

http://www.sxccd.com/drivers-downloads

Last edited by billdan; 03-10-2017 at 12:37 PM.
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Old 03-10-2017, 08:53 AM
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ChrisV (Chris)
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I thought that the analog cameras that could go up to x128 were being hard to get now. So you'd have to go second hand.

Sharpcap has a feature that will show a running stack of the last 3, 5 or 10 sampled images. Trouble is it doesn't get time-locked with incoming analog images. You'd need a usb camera for that.
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Old 03-10-2017, 09:27 AM
eskimo20 (Robert)
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Ron

Some information here

http://ballaratman.wixsite.com/videoastronomy/eqipment
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Old 03-10-2017, 09:34 AM
Jocksquin (Ron)
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Thanks for the input so far.
Win XP which I'm runing,doesn't support Sharpcap 3.0,only up to 2.9. I downloaded V2.9 and it indeed has a "livestack" function and an "dark frame subtract" function which gets me about half way there.
These programs usually rely on a high frame rate of 30-60 f/s I believe but what i am looking for is a "smart" video colour camera that can take frames as slow as 1f/s and also accumulate and stack 128 or 256 frames internally and then spit out an already stacked frame - this apparently will provide great deep sky images(after final processing of course) and "live viewing' on the computer monitor or TV if required.

I was hoping for a Sw package that does the internal and external camera controls if you know what I mean,but i might be misunderstanding and to do this you might need a 'camera specific' Sw package to set the camera "internals" plus the capture SW (eg Sharpcap).
In the "Camera control" section of Sharpcap V2.9 it calls these cameras "frame grabbers' and it recognises these cameras(USB versions) as USDB2861 - however it can't set the camera internals for "frame accumulation" acc to how i read it.

I'm a beginner here so still open to input.
Hope someone can expand on the camera specific part - so far GStarex and Mallincam are all I've got as the type of camera needed - both a bit expensive for a beginner.
Rgds
Ron
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Old 03-10-2017, 09:46 AM
Jocksquin (Ron)
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Hey Robert,
thanks for that link.
Great site for the camera equipment end and it covers they type of cameras I am interested in - will explore it more fully.
I actually have Steve Massey's book on the subject and although the process hasn't changed much,the book is quite old and a bit out of date on the equipment end.
There's certainly a bit of camera info on this site to research
Rgds
Ron
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Old 03-10-2017, 03:13 PM
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ChrisV (Chris)
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Go here
http://astrovideoforum.proboards.com

Everyone on that websites does video with analog and digital cameras.

Edit: sorry I have to advertise another website. But >astrovideoforum> is totally dedicated to live camera viewing. A few of us asked IIS about having an astro video section but it was knocked back.
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Old 04-10-2017, 03:10 PM
Jocksquin (Ron)
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Thanks Chris for that new link.
Didn't know it exsisted - seems a lot on it and will take some exploring which I will enjoy
Rgds
Ron
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