Home-made camera

[Rob_K]

Just mucking around with stuff, and put together a vid camera for wider-field shots, made of the large lens out of an old pair of binoculars (12x50), some black poly plumbing fittings, and a basic lunar/planetary imager (see attachment). Went to try it out last night, but lots of thin & thick cloud about. However, enough of the moon showed through to assure me that the focus I needed was within the range of the threads, and the FOV was good. I put it on a fairly faint star (the only one visible!) and focused it to quite a good point.

Low-tech I know, but it should give me a bit of fun when the skies clear, especially if I mount it on a board for stability, with an alt adjustment.

Cheers -

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Looks good, keeps us updated on it performance.

[Phil]

Love two see the photos it takes. Great work hope it works.
Phil

[Rob_K]

Didn't get out till late tonight, and the moon had already risen. Ended up taping the unit to a camera tripod, and gave it a go. Just worked with auto settings on Neximage. Found the threads were a bit loose, and focus kept moving. Will add some Teflon tape next time. Anyway, got a short AVI, and processed it (roughly). No work of art, that's for sure, but I'm proud of it anyway (my baby!). No doubt the unit will be better with a few tweaks & adjustments, and I'll see if I can get some stars. More anon -

Cheers -

[Rob_K]

BTW, this is the set-up:

Cheers -

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Nice start, looks very promising. Will make a good lunar/Solar scope