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Old 11-02-2009, 05:26 PM
mbaddah (Mo)
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QHY/Orion starshoot autoguider vs Toucam for planetary imaging?

Would kindly appreciate some expert advice on whether I should purchase a qhy5/orion starshoot autoguider or a toucam for planetary/lunar imaging and also for guiding a refractor (for dso)?

I apologise if this has been million times before, tried to search through the forums to of no avail Cheers.
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Old 11-02-2009, 06:48 PM
keppar (Graham)
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I have qhy 5 for guiding and it works a treat
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Old 11-02-2009, 07:08 PM
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Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)
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Moh - the QHY5 is far (and I mean FAR) more sensitive than a TouCam for guiding as it's a monochrome camera. Given the same scope of mine (Tak FS60-C) I could immediately notice the difference between my original TouCam 840k and the QHY5 when I got it when trying to pick a suitable guide star. Chalk and cheese. Rule of thumb is that mono cameras of this class are generally more sensitive - period.

The QHY has greater resolution too, resulting in larger image files. Very nice.

Only problem is that, for planetary work, you'll need to use colour filters to get colour, wheras the TouCam is colour.

If you want to get the best of both worlds, there are DMK colour cameras that will do both jobs well.

Last edited by Omaroo; 12-02-2009 at 04:00 PM.
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Old 12-02-2009, 05:46 PM
gbeal
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I've tried, albeit only briefly, and the biggest snag so far is capture software. You have thought of this, No?. For the ToUcam I use K3 CCDTools, or IRIS for capture, but neither will work with the QHY5, only GCVideo or whatever it is called. It works, but I know K3 and would like to use that, to no avail.
Gary
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Old 12-02-2009, 06:13 PM
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Bassnut (Fred)
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Gary, ummm, no. It has drivers for Maxim DL, CCD soft (the best apps, not everyone only uses freebies ), astroart and Qgvideo.

Do your home work before postng, or Gamma will smack you
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Old 12-02-2009, 06:20 PM
gbeal
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Hi Fred,
Gama smacks even if you are right, LOL.
Currently I use my QHY5 with Maxim DL, and or PHD. That is for when I am using it as a guide camera.
But the thrust of the orignal post is about comparing it with a ToUcam for planetary imaging, and to this end one needs normally an AVI, which K3 does wonderfully with the ToUcam, but the QHY5 will only do an AVI with GCVideo unless I am mistaken.
Gary
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Old 12-02-2009, 06:30 PM
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Bassnut (Fred)
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Opps, OK, point taken, perhaps I should do more homework . No, ill go away now
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Old 12-02-2009, 06:33 PM
gbeal
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S'all right Fred. I am serious though, I would love to be able to run my QHY5 with K3, and have posted on both the QHY forum as well as the Yahoo K3 group, to no avail. I have even written to Mr K3 himself, without a reply.
At least I get a reply from Tom re his QGVid program.
Gary
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  #9  
Old 13-02-2009, 02:27 PM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Thanks guys for all the replies...

It seems both serve their purposes in different ways, i'll most likely end up buying both save me headache of thinking about it

Anywhere I can buy Toucam? Can't seem find shop that sells them (even ebay didn't have them). Cheers.
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Old 13-02-2009, 03:19 PM
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rogerg (Roger)
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I had a Quick Cam, tried guiding with that. I then had a ToUCam for guiding, and now have a Q-Guider. If I had my time again, I wouldn't bother with the first two, would just get the Q-Guider (or wait, save for it, then get it). From my experience there is little comparison in terms of ease of use, sensitivity and FOV.

If you want a ToUCam the only place I know to buy them new is: http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/

Roger.
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  #11  
Old 13-02-2009, 09:30 PM
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wasyoungonce (Brendan)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mbaddah View Post
Thanks guys for all the replies...

It seems both serve their purposes in different ways, i'll most likely end up buying both save me headache of thinking about it

Anywhere I can buy Toucam? Can't seem find shop that sells them (even ebay didn't have them). Cheers.

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/clayton_W.htm


MSY Clayton Victoria. Philips SPC900NC For $79. That's where I got mine a few months back.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=36591

I believe they now have WA store:
http://www.msy.com.au/LOCATION/balcatta.htm

MSY generally do not courier to your door but I believe some QLD & NSW stores may offer this service. I don't know if they send stock between stores aka from Clayton to WA.

At $79 it's worth pursuing ..IMHO.


Good Luck

Edit:

your in Sydney..even better..I think!
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Old 17-02-2009, 04:57 PM
bloodhound31
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Where can I get this GC video? I would like to try to use my Orion Starshoot to capture planetary images.
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Old 17-02-2009, 05:10 PM
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kinetic (Steve)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbeal View Post
S'all right Fred. I am serious though, I would love to be able to run my QHY5 with K3, and have posted on both the QHY forum as well as the Yahoo K3 group, to no avail. I have even written to Mr K3 himself, without a reply.
At least I get a reply from Tom re his QGVid program.
Gary
Don't write off Peter K (the K3 author) so quickly Gary.
He has incorporated a lot of different camera drivers at the request
of users many times over.
His efforts are usually repaid by people not buying his registered version.
K3 still remains one of my most used bits of software for my webcams.
Peter always answered my requests, but from memory it wasn't always
overnight.

Steve
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Old 17-02-2009, 06:12 PM
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Gama
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bloodhound31 View Post
Where can I get this GC video? I would like to try to use my Orion Starshoot to capture planetary images.
Dont bother, QG Video is a QHY-5 program, and Orion Starshoot is not compatible due to firmware. The Orion only comes with Maxim and PHD drivers. It is not compatible with ANY of the software and drivers from Astrosoft. But i think you can get a license to run it, from memory i thing about 40 bucks or so.

Theo.
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  #15  
Old 17-02-2009, 07:26 PM
bloodhound31
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Originally Posted by Gama View Post
Dont bother, QG Video is a QHY-5 program, and Orion Starshoot is not compatible due to firmware. The Orion only comes with Maxim and PHD drivers. It is not compatible with ANY of the software and drivers from Astrosoft. But i think you can get a license to run it, from memory i thing about 40 bucks or so.

Theo.
Bummer! Thanks for the scoop Theo.

Now I am wondering if there is or will be a way......

I might have to keep my ToUCam instead of selling it with the C11.
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