Questions re Sac 4.2 and Astrovideo for imaging

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I'll throw this out hoping that someone here can help, though I've not seen anyone using the Sac 4.2 here.

1. I"ve been having some trial runs with the above system on a Saturday afternoon over the past couple of weeks. Basically trying to get the hang of it before taking it outside. I've had it for some time but I've just not had the opportunity to learn how to use it until now.

It's been quite a challenge as it is nothing like using the ToUcam and K3CCDTools, and I'm not finding it very intuitive.

I'm can't seem to take Avi using the "Frame capture using AVI file" option in the advanced capture mode settings (Image 1). I need to use the "frame capture using scratch file" option. 2020BC has suggested

For short exposure imaging you should select the camera from the VfW or WDM list of drivers.

Unfortunately this doesn't appear to be an option. I'm only able to select driver that came with the camera when connecting (unless someone knows another way of connecting to the driver other than using the "Driver" menu, see image 2). If I use the "Frame capture using AVI file I get the message "Unable to reopen the temporary AVI File" (Image 3). There also doesn't seem to be an option for setting the fps. Exposure is straight (Image 4) forward but no fps. I tried adjusting the "Frames per image" from 1 to 5 in the "AstroCapture Setup" dialogue box (Image 5) but that didn't seem to make a difference to the fps.

2. While I have the colour images checked in the setup dialogue (Image 5) my daylight preview and images don't seem to be in colour. Any suggestions. See Image 4 for my colour balance settings and a sample screen preview.

3. What's with the banding that shows up on the preview screen and final images? (see image 6)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Karls48 (Karl)]

Hi
I’m using AstroVideo as my main capture software. But not to capture AVI’s.
First of all, did you in File Menu select camera type you are using? If your camera is not listed there – select Video Capture Device.
In Capture set-up Frames per Image must be set to 1
In Advanced Capture setting Frame capture via scratch file must be check
If I use Frame capture via AVI file I get same error message as you did.
Ticking colour option works for ToUCam and colour Mintron. Check in the software that comes with your camera and in your capture card software that it is set for the output you are using. What I mean is that Video Capture Card Software may be set to S Video but your camera is outputting Composite video. The AstroVideo does not set up those properties.
FPS – you can use Time lapse, if set to 0mS it will capture as fast as hardware allows.
Banding – don’t really know, try to tick Video overlay in View menu (if you can) and check in Video- Video format and in your driver software that it is set for PAL B
Karl

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Hi Karl. Thanks for the info.

Yes, I have selected my camera type (SAC 4(new)). FPI set to 1, check, scratch file, check. I'll check my video details. Time lapse is set to 0ms.

Looks like I'll have to do a bit of checking to see how my Laptop deals with video.

Thanks.