ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE WEBCAMS Last updated: 9 December 2005

Subject:	Astrophotography - Webcam
Sent:	Wednesday, December 7, 2005 03:04:02
From:	Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com (Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com)
Hello Philip, 

welcome to the world of astroimaging. 

There are different ways to connect a webcam to your ETX telescope.

The one I prefer is called 'prime focus' and can be achieved by
unscrewing the ToUCam lense and screwing in a 1 1/4 inch adapter. You
may get one from your local astroshop. I remember having read about
'Steve Mogg's' adapter and adapters and visual backs from 'Scopetronix'
(I live in Germany so I don't know US dealers)  I prefer this way
because it uses the minimum number of lenses (against eyepiece
projection and afocal imaging) and thus should produce better images.
You can nicely record the avi-file (some few hundred up to may be 2000
frames) with the original software provided with the ToUCam. For
aligning, stacking, post-processing there are many excellent tools
available on the web (like Giotto, K3CCD, Registax, etc.) and of course
you can do the final processing in Photoshop, PaintShop Pro, Corel
Draw...

Especially on the moon, what will you get... 
with the ETX-60/70/80 a good overview of the moon (you can stitch
together two pictures for a photo of the total moon) or with the
ETX-90/105/125 more details (may be together with a barlow)  The ToUCam
equals about a 6...7 mm ocular.

Give it a try and have a look at Mike Weasner's excellent website,
especially under 'Astrophotography - Webcam'.  Another website dedicated
specially to the QuickCam/ToUCam is 'www.qcuiag.co.uk'.

Clear skies, 
Dieter from Munich, Germany 
    

Original message:

From:	Phillip
Subject: Your shots on http://www.weasner.com/etx/guests/2004/guests_moon2.html

I saw the photos you posted on the above web site.  I am curious about
using the PHILIPS ToUCam pro and a Meade 125 ETX scope, which I saw you
had done.  How do you connect the Philips to the scope?  Thanks for any
help you can give!

Thanks! 

***************************************************************** 

Phillip
Lookout Mtn, GA 

Subject:	Re: ToUcam questions
Sent:	Tuesday, November 22, 2005 01:12:44
From:	Terry Godfrey (terry.godfrey@materials.ox.ac.uk)
Thanks for  your  swift reply.

1) With regard to the IR filter,  I was more concerned about the ToUcam
sensor's  extended response in the IR and whether the lack of a filter 
would adversely affect the images.

2) Thanks for the link to USB:  It would appear that 3-5 metres is the
recommended maximum  for a single cable  (depending on the device).  As
you suggest,  a powered hub on the end of the cable would allow a
further 3-5 metre extension to be used  (up to  a maximum of 5 hubs and
extension cables).

Kind regards

Terry Godfrey

Subject:	ToUcam questions
Sent:	Thursday, November 17, 2005 03:49:03
From:	Terry Godfrey (terry.godfrey@materials.oxford.ac.uk)
I am thinking of buying a Philips ToUcam Pro webcam for my ETX 125 and
have a couple of questions which I hope users may be able to answer:

1) I understand that the lens as supplied with the webcam has an
integral IR filter. With this lens removed for prime focus (and Barlow
extension) recording, is it necessary to fit an IR filter into the
webcam adapter tube?

2) At present I only have a desktop computer and would like to operate
the telescope/camera from indoors. I plan to operate the ETX Autostar on
an extended RJ45 line, but what is the maximum length of USB connector
that can be used between the webcam and the computer?

Kind regards,
Terry Godfrey, UK

Subject:	AnyAstroWebCam Sugestions?
Sent:	Wednesday, November 2, 2005 18:28:58
From:	D Haines (dhaines@yahoo.com)
Attached is my best astro-webcam image.  I think it can be a lot better.
It was taken with an ETX-90EC with a ToUcam.  I believe the seeing was
"pretty good".  However, I think I can do a lot better.  I have a few
questions:

1)  The biggest problem (I think) I had was focusing the image .  It
wasn't that I couldn't see the webcam image on the laptop.  I just
couldn't get it to just the right focus.  I have flex-focus-type
adapter, and it just seem to "jump" in steps.  Is there any better,
(precise/smoother) focusing system for the etx?

2)  Does anyone have any 'best' settings for the ToUcam on the PC and/or
Mac?

Contract/Brightness/Gain/Etc...  I have access to both.  I prefer to use
the PC because of the resolution any my familiarity with it. But I can
also use the Mac, but it saves the files in .mov (at smaller resolution)
which isn't readable with Registax without conversion.

Subject:	RE: Problems discerning Messier objects
Sent:	Saturday, October 22, 2005 20:01:01
From:	Jon Avner (jonav@exchange.microsoft.com)
I've attached a pretty poor picture of Saturn I took this morning (poor,
but lots better than my first effort).  I was having some trouble with
tracking, but I haven't made a whole lot of effort to tune the thing up
and calibrate it properly yet (the go to feature does seem to work
pretty well, though).  I haven't been able to make out any real features
so far (like the Cassini division), and I still haven't quite gotten the
focus figured out.  I keep switching between the auto focuser and the
manual knob - the knob is difficult to fine tune because of the
vibration caused by using it, and I have trouble with the auto focus
determining if I'm moving in the right or wrong direction (it would be
nice if the auto focuser had a manual override so I can use that for the
rough focusing and the motor for the fine focusing).



Eventually, I'd like to try photographing deep sky objects.  I know the
ETX isn't the best for this, and I've bought a field flattener to help,
but we'll see how it goes.  I have a lot of work still to do just to get
a decent planetary or moon shot. So far, when I try to point the camera
at stars, there's just so much noise that the stars are not really
discernible.  I've tried playing with contrast and shutter speeds and
all that, but no dice yet.

Subject:	Can Handy AVI and a Web Cam control the ETX-125 and Autostar ?
Sent:	Friday, October 21, 2005 12:07:21
From:	Michael Lang (Lang.Michael@orbital.com)
As just about every Astronomer, amateur or otherwise on the planet is
doing right now, I too am feverishly working to image Mars as weather
permits in Virginia.

One problem I have is the fine tracking required to keep Mars on my
TouCam. I've gotten good, actually - expert at it (and use of a
MicroFocuser has helped immensely) but I came across an interesting bit
of software that might turn an arduous stressful evening tapping
Autostar buttons to guide my ETX, into a rather fun night waiting for
those perfect steady moments to capture frames. It's called Handy AVI
and it's here:

http://www.azcendant.com/

It claims to be able to "send Meade LX-200 commands to your telescope"
that will keep the image coming out of your WebCam in the center of the
image. Okay, so what I think (hope) I hear are words on this web page
that suggest it will work with the ETX-125, Autostar, and TouCam.

Do you know ? Perhaps one of your readers knows or has another
suggestion. I would love to try this out, but don't want to get
distracted from imaging Mars right now to try and figure this out, as I
don't want to wait another 16 years to get some decent images on my own
equipment.

thanks !
Mike Lang
Aldie Virginia

Subject:	Mars Image
Sent:	Tuesday, October 18, 2005 13:56:28
From:	Ralph Smyth (ralph.smyth@ntlworld.com)
Just a word to thankyou for your superb site. I have only owned my Meade
ETX105PE for about a month and a half and I think it is a wonderful
instrument.

The telescope is being used everytime weather permits - which in
Northern Ireland isn`t as often as I would like!!!  I am really learning
to get the best from the telescope - and your site has assisted
tremendously in this. I am attaching an image of Mars that I imaged on
13/10/05 using my ETX105PE and a Philips Toucam II and x2 Barlow. The
best of the resulting 1200 frames were stacked using Registax and
processed in Photoshop. Hope it makes it onto your astrophotography
section.

Kind Regards, 
Ralph Smyth

Subject:	Mars
Sent:	Tuesday, October 18, 2005 10:26:09
From:	Giuseppe Pellizzer (pelli001@umn.edu)
This is my first picture of Mars. I have used a Toucam and a 2X Barlow
with my ETX-90. I took 400 images and used Registax 3 to select,
register, stack the images and do some wavelet adjustment. I have added
a Mars simulation for comparison.

Giuseppe Pellizzer

Subject:	Guest Astrophotography Gallery - The Planets
Sent:	Monday, October 17, 2005 08:48:35
From:	Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com (Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com)
I re-did Mars this weekend and you will see that waiting until after
midnight did me a good job (I could sleep on Sunday morning)

Beautiful autumn in Southern Germany, don't know how long it will last;
a little bit windy but some nice details to be seen...

2005-10-15  00:45 CEST  MEADE ETX-125AT with 2x barlow  PHILIPS ToUCam pro
at prime focus  250 of 1500 frames



Thanks for your site and work Mike and cs to all 'stargazers'
Dieter (Munich, Germany)

Subject:	Photograph for the etx guest planetary astrophotography page. 
Sent:	Saturday, October 15, 2005 11:52:11
From:	chasiotis elias (elias_chasiotis@stendor.coo.gr)

Subject:	Guest Astrophotography Gallery - The Planets
Sent:	Friday, October 14, 2005 08:22:06
From:	Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com (Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com)
I started this years 'Mars season' with my first try. Close to
opposition and with -1m.9 and 19 arcsec Mars is a very attractive view.
Of course it would be better to wait after midnight for Mars to climb
higher and turbulences to calm down - but I had to go to work the next
day.....

2005-10-12  22:50 CEST;  MEADE ETX-125AT with 3x barlow and ToUCam pro
at prime focus;  300 of 1500 frames



There is only a small 'dot' left of Southern Polar Cap.
Compare this shot with the one Job Geheniau did a day ago with his
ETX-90AT and a 5x TeleXtender in the 'Astrophotography - Webcam'
section.

Thanks for posting and cs,
Dieter (Munich, Germany)

Subject:	Photograph for the etx guest planetary astrophotography page. 
Sent:	Wednesday, October 12, 2005 21:17:52
From:	chasiotis elias (elias_chasiotis@stendor.coo.gr)
Capturing mountains on Mars with the ETX 125 is not easy. Despite that
fact here is a photo that shows Olympus Mons and their shadow as well as
the volcanoes Arsia Mons and Pavonis Mons (two of the three Tharsis
Montes). The volcanoes are covered by orographic clouds and appear
whiter than normal.
 

 
Thanks!
 
Elias

Subject:	Mij best Mars with ETX90 and a beautiful NGC 7023
Sent:	Wednesday, October 12, 2005 12:35:37
From:	Job Geheniau (geheniau@xs4all.nl)
Here two nice ETX 90 results I did.
My best Mars ever attached (from last night) and NGC 7023 (IRIS nebula),
also very nice (I have to say ;-)) for an ETX90.

Job Geheniau
The Netherlands

Subject:	Re: webcam question
Sent:	Saturday, May 21, 2005 00:49:44
From:	Peter Thejll (thejll@mail.dk)
Can anyone suggest a simple webcam control programme that allows the
taking of single pictures simply by executing the programme name - say
in a batch file, from the DOS command prompt window in Win 98/XP/2000?
The purpose is to have a simple means of snapping webcam pictures for
telescope pointing purposes (say, "find the Sun/Moon/Jupiter)". The
programme must snap a single webcam picture when the name of the
programme is executed so that there is no menu to pull down or mouse
clicks to perform. Settings for the camera could be in a setup file or
in command line arguments. I have a Philips ToU cam and a Logitech 4000
Pro, so it would be nice if the software worked with these. I already
know about AstroVideo and the use of AVstarter, but the operation is a
few levels too complex: Does something really simple exist out there?
Perhaps someone who knows how to programme with Visual Basic knows how
to write a VB programme to do just the above - any pointers to How-To
tips or Toolkits on the Internet?

Thanks, Peter Thejll, Denmark.

Subject:	Photograph for the etx guest planetary astrophotography page. 
Sent:	Thursday, May 19, 2005 07:08:16
From:	chasiotis elias (elias_chasiotis@stendor.coo.gr)
Ganymede transit - 2nd contact (ingress).





the simulation image on my latest photo of Mars is taken from NASA - JPL
solar system simulator.

Moon 17 May 2005
 
Stadius, Copernicus, Eratosthenes.



These are my latest moon images. They were captured on 17 May 2005 with
my standard equipment: ETX 125, Atik1c, 2X apo Barlow, IR filter,
Registax.(Seeing 4.5/10 Transparency 8/10). This is Moretus crater near
the South limb of the moon.

Subject:	Moon Picture - ETX-90 RA
Sent:	Monday, April 18, 2005 05:34:39
From:	Thom Tapp (ttapp@comcast.net)
I took this photo April 16, 2005 - I found an old Logitech webcam at a
yard sale for $5.00, took it apart and taped it to a film canister,
hooked it up to my laptop (Parallel port at that!) and took this photo.
I used Registax to combine the best frames, and viola! My first attempt
at astrophotography! It isn't as good as most of the other photos here,
but I'm impressed with my first attempt!
 
Thom Tapp

Subject:	2 views of Jupiter with an ETX125
Sent:	Thursday, January 20, 2005 13:34:18
From:	Franck BOUQUEREL (Franck.Bouquerel@Wanadoo.fr)
please find here for your website 2 photos of jupiter (40min delay),
taken with our ETX125+Barlowx2
Webcam is a toucam
softs are AstroSnap and Registax

done by Franck BOUQUEREL & Florence CLEMENT

Subject:	New Saturn Image
Sent:	Friday, January 21, 2005 03:20:35
From:	Martin Sidgreaves (martin.sidgreaves@wrigley.co.uk)
Thought I would send you the latest image of Saturn I managed to get.
I've just 'Raw Modded' my Toucam but this is the only image I have been
able to get so far as the weather here has been terrible lately so
'sky-time' is limited.



Best Wishes

Martin

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