[glend (Glen)]

Due to a recent vertigo problem (inner ear issue, hopefully short-term) I am unable to bend over a scope or finderscope in the dark (without consequences); so I needed a solution that enables me to sit at my observatory workstation for alignment, initial image framing, etc. Why not just use the imaging camera, after all some imaging people don't even use a finderscope, well because of the field of view issues with my DSLR especially on my longer focal length scopes. Yes it could be done, but I find a finderscope easier.

So my solution was to adapt an Orion 70mm f4 Multi-Use scope for video capture, to be displayed on my laptop in a finderscope window. I bought an ASI034MC camera - very basic but high frame rate and a bit better than a usual webcam. The Orion scope has a focal length of 279mm, a helical focuser, and comes with a couple of adaptors to add length to the tube if neccesary. I initially tried using a 90 degree diagonal that I had on hand, but was unable to achieve infinity focus, so I went with a straight through arrangement with a 1.25" extension tube (actually the top section of an old barlow without the lense elements). With that setup I was able to achieve focus and do some initial daytime testing on distance objects.
I have attached some photos of the setup. I need to do some night time star testing to tune the focus precisely and workout the video settings for the application. ASI offers downloads of the drivers and the capture app, so I am using that initially. But if someone want to recommend a good video capture app that works with ASI high frame rate cameras then I will try those.

More to come. Photos below.