Celestron Neximage

[Camelopardalis]

Folks,

In my cupboard I have an original "old" Celestron Neximage. This was the camera I took my first planetary images with :D I believe it's USB 1.0, so not state of the art but does the job.

Just in case anyone is interested in the novelty, how about $50 + post?

Cheers,
Dunk

[gjh1967]

Hi Dunk

You wouldn't know if this runs in Windows 10, would you ?.

Cheers Glenn

[Camelopardalis]

Good question...I'll have to investigate and get back to you. Celestron's knowledgebase article only specifies Windows 7. I have both so I can try it out.

[tempestwizz]

I'm also interested in finding a driver for one I have. Drivers on original disc no good now there is windows 8 and above. Couldn't find anything on Celestron sites that wasn't for later versions of hardware. None of my capture programs will recognise it.
Grateful if anyone can point to a site where I can find a usable driver for it.

[Camelopardalis]

From what I understand, some techno babble related to the driver may prevent it working with Windows 10, although there is a driver available for Windows 7.

It's a generational thing...the chip in the Neximage has been around since 2003...

[PeterAnderson]

I know more about this unit than I should. - I have one!
The chip is a Philips Toucan which was very popular in the early days, and the camera runs beautifully on everything from XP to Windows 7.

Now I have a son who is a professional computer nerd and he has several times installed the driver on my new Windows 8/10 laptop. Why do I say 'several times'? Well, after he did his investigation, found the driver and where the system stored it, and put it in, all it took was an automatic computer update or two and it was written over or gone again.

I don't feel I can ask my son to re-instal it again, and since I like the little beastie I have asked the local computer shop whether they have any old Windows 7 laptops as trade ins... (Next thing would be to satisfy the question - "What do you want another computer for???")

Incidentally my real real old 2002 model Toshiba laptop with XP is too slow to run it, but a Windows 7 machine I use for another purpose runs it like a charm. Whether it makes any difference or not, this machine is a 'Pentium'. - I have heard some dark things about later Celestron imaging stuff and compatibility with AMD chips but my knowledge (apart from experience), of computer matters is barely past the Neanderthal stage...

You will probably find more stuff on the internet.

[PeterAnderson]

I got out the box and it comes with a CD with the driver, capture software, operating instructions, tutorial and sample files.

the CD cays Windows 98SE or better. (I had some trouble with XP on an old machine but Windows 7 was a breeze. They say 333MHZ pentiumII or better. (Were computers ever that slow) and 128MB Ram and 40MB hard drive available. (Wow) Screen Resolution at least 768X1028 required.

Camera is a Philips Toucam 640X480 (0.3mp) 5.6 X 5.6 micron CCD.

I got a reducer lens with it (extra cost) that sips inside to provide a much wider field.

OKAY, OKAY, TMI

[ZeroID]

I've got one at the bottom of my box of bits too. No longer works with latest Win7 any more, too many updates I suspect. And a Philips SPC 880 upgraded to 900 FW, also now useless.
Any one know of a museum wanting some exhibits .. ? :lol:

[LaughingBeagles]

For Windows 10, if you have the old CD, try installing the software in compatibility mode:
1. On the install file (typically "setup.exe") right click and select "properties."
2. Navigate to the Compatibility tab.
3. Check the box "Run this program in compatibility mode for"
4. Select your old version of choice (anything from Win95 to Windows 8).

Click Ok.

As for overwriting old files (Pete's Geek Son install) ask your son to write a quick batch file that checks if the system file is there and if not, copies it. (should take less than a minute to write). That way, when you fire up the software using the batch file, it does a little check to ensure the file is there, if not, copies it first.

Hope that helps.

[Camelopardalis]

Thanks Peter! I tried it with a Raspberry Pi and it worked right off the bat.