hi guys, i have a Phillips ToUcam 840 Pro II and have a homemade dodgey adapter made with a camera film holder. when i try to look at objects using it however, i cant get anything into focus. the focuser wont go in close enough to the secondary mirror to get anything in focus. is it possible to get things in focus without using a barlow??
any replies would be much appreciated thnx
A Toucam should pull focus with the factory set 2ndry and primary, unless you have made your adaptor too long. The Chip in the camera needs to get as close as possible to the 2ndry. Try shortening your adaptor so The Toucam is closer to the scope
If that fails, you may have to adjust (or even relocate) the Primary mirror further up the tube.
hey Ken,
thnx for the reply. i have the camera pushed right up flush with the focuser and the focuser in as far as it can go . relocating the primary mirror sounds scary is there any other way to do it? would bying a barlow fix it or not..?
How do you know it's not in focus? What are you seeing? What objects are you pointing at?
Can you record an avi or what you're seeing and use registax to stack it and produce an image, or something like virtualdub to extract a frame from it so you can then save it as a jpeg and post it here?
The TOUcam at prime focus shouldn't have trouble focusing in any of the GSO dobs. It's definitely worth trying a 2x barlow though and see if that helps.
Middy - do you still have the original little chromed ToUcam lens on? You must remove it and replace it with a Mogg adapter or something similar. You need to be able to focus the light directly onto the CCD array - and not through the original lens. The Mogg adapter ( http://webcaddy.com.au/ ) replaces the original lens and allows you to use the whole camera/lens assebmbly as you would a 1.25" eyepiece. They aren't expensive so my advice is to get one soon.
hey thnx guys for all the replies.
yes i have taken the silver lense off the ToUcam and have the ccd chip exposed. i have made an adapter with an old camera film and a bit of plastic tube that screws into the camera. I have tried to get an image of Jupiter but I just cant get a clear image. if i move the focusser out, the image just gets larger and the outline of the secondary mirror can be seen. when i move the focusser in as far as it can go, the image gets smaller, but it still needs to go in a tad further to become clear. i think i may need to adjust the primary mirror location as advised below.
hmm... is there any way you can get the toucam (and chip) closer to the focuser by modifying your adapter? if it is too far out then you wont have the infocus you require. alternatively can you take a picture of your setup?
there is no way i can get it closer. the adapter pushed right into the focuser, so the camera is flush with the focusser. the only way i'd get it closer would be to take the camera apart in order to get the chip iteslf closer
OK, as suggested, post a couple of photos from different angles - see if someone can spot anything.
Also, might be easier to set up during daylight on a distant terrestrial object (hilltop, TV antenna etc.) Then you can concentrate on getting into focus and not worry about tracking the object.
Ken's suggestion of screwing the primary screws in as far as possible to move the primary mirror up the tube might be next. If you can monitor the captured image after you turn each screw a turn or two you might see what is happening.
i can focus on terrestrail objects alright. just when i treid to focus on jupiter last night and its moons last night, i couldn't. i'll take some pics of my setup though, see if any1 can see wat im doin wrong
thnx
. relocating the primary mirror sounds scary
is there any other way to do it? would bying a barlow fix it or not..?
