what do you see on the laptop screen?

[csb]

I would like to know what you see on the laptop screen when using a camera, ie the live image.

When looking at galaxies & nebula do you see the same as the images posted in the image forums? Especially colour!

Is the image the same size as posted in IIS? (eg Many of nebula images cover >50% of the screen.)

What about planetary?

I ask because I have some colour cameras (Meade LPI and OrionStarshoot DSI) but never used them and now they're in storage - I had no time to practise and actually kept putting off setting them up on my 120mm refractor.

Now I realise it's not actually taking images that I want but to use my laptop as part of my scope system to visually observe the deepsky objects and the sun.

I also have a DMK21 which I use on the sun, with a PST. The DMK & PST combo are great for visual of solar activity but of course no colour (I do realise even with a colour cam I would only get red).

Would the Meade and Orion colour cams be suitable for viewing on the laptop? Would I get colour?

I have an EQ5 synscan Go-To mount & 120mm Skywatcher.
Although, if I am able to get descent images, with colour, I will probably get an 80 - 100mm ED scope.

So, what do you see on the laptop screen when viewing deepsky objects?

And, are my cameras suitable for what I wish?

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Craig

1. We will assume you have your camera mounted on your telescope
The telescope is on and tracking.

2. You have installed the camera software and the computer recognises the camera.

3. You will see nothing till you actually take a picture. What the picture appears as will depend on how long you expose it for. Its size will depend on the pixel count and your screen resolution. It is highly unlikely that you will see anything like published pictures because these are all processed to make them look good

4. If you point at the moon or Jupiter and set the camera to take multiple shots at a short duration you will probably get a live image but this will depend on how long the exposure is. Too long will wash everything out. Too short and you will get nothing but a black screen. You will need to read the manual and experiment.

5. If you are using a DSI or Lpi it can be set to take multiple images and stack them automatically with the supplied software. In this case suposing you take a sequence of image of M42 with say 20 sec exposures you should see some sort of a static color picture of M42 after about a dozen shots.

6. If you can get this far the rest is experiment till you are happy. If you can't get this to work read the manual and keep trying till you do.

7. However if you manage to get a picture of M42 you are in real serious trouble because you are hooked! It will cost you time and money from here on because you will never be satisfied with you equipment and results.

This may be over simplified but you need to find out for yourself by trying.

Barry

[bartman]

I'm also wanting to know real world experiences with cams and laptops.
I'm looking at the GSTAR EX CLR . The live view stacking feature intrests me and might interest you too csb...
It has frame accumulation, which in effect - so far as I can understand- stacks images over a given short period of time continuously and gives a near 'live' view of the sky giving a more detailed and more colorful view than what you might get looking through an eyepiece alone.

This is a link to the details about the gstar ex clr

http://www.myastroshop.com.au/guides/gstar/gstar-exclr.htm

hope this helps
Bartman

[csb]

What!? No image until you take a picture. Then how do you see what the scope is looking at before that?

Is this the way all astronomy imagers work?

I have read the manual for the Orion Starshoot and that is what I read but I thought I misunderstood it.

Barry, your #5 may be what I need to do.

Thanks Bart, I have considered the Gstar and keenly read about it and noted Jeanette's posts. It may be what I need.

What about webcams eg Toucam?

After taking 3 shots of the sun I realised I don't enjoy doing image processing . . . yet!

[jjjnettie]

Hey Craig, the Gstar-Ex is the go.
I haven't tried out the colour version yet.
Visit the Gstar users Group for more info.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gstar-users/

[csb]

Jeannette, do you use the Gstar for live viewing? I realise the resolution may be different from the colour version.

I had a good read about the colour Gstar (MyAstroshop website) and it seems to imply you need a big scope to get colour. They have pics taken with a 10" and write about the colour that can be seen.

I think I will wait until I get my imagers out of storage and see how I go.

[jjjnettie]

I do use my Gstar for live viewing. And have seen the Horse Head in real time on my laptop screen, using just a little 80mm scope.
The Colour version would show you colour in M42 and M8, no troubles. For fainter objects you would need to actually image it.

[csb]

I don't really want to spend big on another camera yet.

I think I'll investigate webcams and maybe DSLR.

[RobF]

As Jeanette said, the GStar is extremely sensitive, and one of the few good options for seeing more than the human eye if you're talking realtime.

Almost all the images you see posted here of DSOs are many minutes (usually) hours of stacked faint exposures, with individual exposure times of several minutes (2-20 usually). Most camera technology doesn't allow you to accumulate signal and read it at the same time, thus the need for precise tracking, off-axis guiders or a 2nd guidescope & camera, tracking software, etc. That's just the data collection - you usually end up spending almost as long stacking, stretching, tweaking etc to pull out maximum detail.

Mind you, a single 1-2 min DSLR or CCD frame should show more on the screen than the human eye could see if setup and tracking is ok. I can still remember the first glimse of a galaxy's outline on a laptop I saw, after a 1min exposure taken by someone else from city skies. Magic!

Telescope + Camera = $$$$ + Time

(Fun and anguish optional extras....:lol:)

[csb]

Thanks Rob, I understand a bit more.

I'll try to see what I can achieve with my current imagers, next year probably.

At least the sun shows up well on the laptop. I should try the DMK on the moon and planets . . . . . . and deepsky!

Thanks all.