Thinking seriously about a DMK

[matt]

OK...

So all the talk lately about folks taking the DMK plunge has got me thinking seriously about joining the 21AF04 brigade.

My astro pooter is a Dell Inspiron 6000.

There's no firewire port but it does have USB2.

What extras will I need to buy that are not included in the box with the DMK ?

Look what you've done to me, Ponders!!!!

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Do you have a PCMCIA port on your laptop?

[iceman (Mike)]

How big is your harddrive?

Do you have an external USB2 drive?

You'll need the adapters (1.25") and a belkin firewire powered hub.

[matt]

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

Do you have a PCMCIA port on your laptop?

Yep... although I don't know what PCMCIA actually stands for

Originally Posted by iceman

How big is your harddrive?

Do you have an external USB2 drive?

You'll need the adapters (1.25") and a belkin firewire powered hub.

60Gig HDD

Er... I think the USB2 drive is internal???? Bit confused about that one

We have USB2 ports

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Originally Posted by matt

OK...

So all the talk lately about folks taking the DMK plunge has got me thinking seriously about joining the 21AF04 brigade.

My astro pooter is a Dell Inspiron 6000.

There's no firewire port but it does have USB2.

You sure it doesn't have a firewire port? Lots of reviews of the 6000 on the net seem to think is does...

cheers, Bird

[iceman (Mike)]

You'll definitely need a firewire powered hub - that powers the camera. Approx $85.

And because you don't have a firewire port, you'll need to get a PCMCIA card which gives you a firewire port. They're on ebay for like $20.

The USB2 external drive I referred to is an external hard drive. 60gig won't be enough (long term) for capture + processing + storage of all your astronomical goodies.
You can get a 300gig external USB HDD for around $200. I capture directly to my external drive.

[iceman (Mike)]

Then of course you need a filter wheel (manual one for $200-$300), and Astronomiks RGB Type II filters ($350+).

It all adds up, so make sure you budget for it.

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Originally Posted by iceman

You'll definitely need a firewire powered hub - that powers the camera. Approx $85.

Matt, I got my firewire hub from SI computers in Fyshwick, cost me about $25 :-)

Bird

[iceman (Mike)]

haha nice price.

The belkin one has 6 ports, 4 firewire and 2 USB2 (I think). You could probably get a cheaper one as Bird suggested. As long as it powers the camera, and transfers data to the PCMCIA card, that's all that matters.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Yep... although I don't know what PCMCIA actually stands for

Neither do I but you will need one of these;

[matt]

Originally Posted by iceman

Then of course you need a filter wheel (manual one for $200-$300), and Astronomiks RGB Type II filters ($350+).

It all adds up, so make sure you budget for it.

Hmmmm.

Think I'll hold off on the purchase of filter wheel and filters for a short time, while I practice shooting in monochrome

Thanks guys.

Plenty to think about.

Bird - is there any easy way to check my laptop to see if indeed it is firewire capable? Any system check I can run?

I'll need you to provide me with the steps to reach the info.

Thanks again folks

[iceman (Mike)]

Yeh mono is fine for a while - my first Jupiter shots with the DMK were in Mono, and mono on the moon is well... normal

[Dennis]

Matt

Single Click the green “Start” button
Select “Control Panel”
Double Click “System”
Select the “Hardware” Tab
Click the “Device Manager” Button

This will open the “Device Manager” Window which provides a list of all the devices in your computer. If you have Firewire (IEEE1394) it should appear somewhere in the list.

Cheers

Dennis

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Matt, if you have a firewire port then it will be located somewhere on your laptop. Look for a small 4-pin mini socket, maybe on the left side of the laptop (thats where mine is, a dell inspiron 8500). It might be marked "1394".

It looks kinda like a mini-usb port, but it's not quite the same shape.

Bird

[matt]

Dennis

Here's what I get when I follow that sequence.

Does it look good for me?

[matt]

Originally Posted by bird

Matt, if you have a firewire port then it will be located somewhere on your laptop. Look for a small 4-pin mini socket, maybe on the left side of the laptop (thats where mine is, a dell inspiron 8500). It might be marked "1394".

It looks kinda like a mini-usb port, but it's not quite the same shape.

Bird

Hooooooooorayyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!

Yes. There's one of those at the side of my pooter.

I was looking for the firewire symbol and not the "1394"

So, what does this mean?

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Is it a small port or a large port Matt? (4pin or 6pin)

[matt]

4-pin, Paul

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

You will definately need a powered hub then. The camera doesn't have a seperate power supply so needs a 6 pin to power the camera.

[matt]

But at least I don't need at PCMCIA card... right?