Well, I was waiting for Tony to come back, but perhaps I can help (I have written
a manual on it for questions just like this, after all!)
You need (roughly):
- A telescope: Just about any telescope will do. If it tracks then great, but if its only a dob then there are ways around that.
- A video camera: if it integrates then you have an advantage. Some are better than others, but if you have something basic like a Gstar or Malincam then that's enough to get started. The best camera doesn't exist, unfortunately, its a future development we're still waiting for, but some are better than others.
- A Video Time Inserter (or other GPS-based timing device). You can get an IOTA-VTI from the US for around $300.
- Some way of capturing the video. There are some people who still put it on the VHS machine, but ultimately you still need to digitise it to a computer for analysis.
- Software for predictions (Occult and OccultWatcher) and analysis (LiMovie and Tangra 3) are currently still free!
- Check out the RASNZ Occultation Section website to see what we've all been up to lately
It is a little more complicated than that but you may already have some of those components and just need one or two of them.
I should also mention there are
lots of introductory presentations to read through from the recent Eighth Tran Tasman Symposium on Occultations (TTSO8) posted online as well in case you didn't get to NACAA over the Easter weekend.
We really need some one in Victoria (and SA and Tasmania, for that matter) The more the merrier! I hope you'll take the plunge and join in.
