I finally got around to hacking a Philips SPC 900 to enable it to take long exposure images suitable for astrophotography. The modifications are fairly well known. The approach I took is a mixture of the http://www.boltonastro.org.uk/Members%5FArea/Projects/spc880conversion.pdf and http://www.yesyes.info/index.php/diy/philips-spc900-webcam-lx-and-ampoff-mod/ . The circuit between both approaches is roughly the same, I followed the circuit in the [...]
Browsing Posts in Astronomy
Hacking a webcam for long exposure astrophotography
December 30, 2011
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First Solar Haplha image in years
November 27, 2011
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I got the PST out again recently. As we approach Solar Maximum it would be a shame not to have a look every now and then. This was taken by attaching my Canon 400D to the scope. 1s exposure. Green channel extracted, a few tweaks, then coloured orange. The diagonal lines are from Nebulosity, which [...]
Philips SPC900 Mods
November 25, 2011
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A collection of some of the main pages describing the long exposure and amp mods for the SPC900 webcam. http://home.zonnet.nl/m.m.j.meijer/D_I_Y/spc900nc.htm http://www.yesyes.info/index.php/diy/philips-spc900-webcam-lx-and-ampoff-mod/ http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/114129-pictures-taken-during-some-lx-mono-mods.html http://www.boltonastro.org.uk/Members%5FArea/Projects/spc880conversion.pdf Now just to read through them all, order the bits I need, and do the mod. Simples.
Skymax 102mm Maksutov Telescope for Sale
November 14, 2011
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Hi, Final bit of telescope equipment for sale for the moment. This time a compact 102mm Maksutov. I bought this to take abroad for the transit of Venus in 2004 and the solar eclipse in 2006. It’s the biggest telescope that I can take as carry-on luggage on a plane and has a decent enough [...]
LXD 55 Mount for Sale
November 13, 2011
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I’m selling my trusty LXD55 mount as well as the Telescope (see previous post). This mount is designed to support the weight of the SN10″ telescope (~15kg). The mount itself with counterweights weighs about 25kg. (See the manual for details on the mount LXD55_Instruction_Manual_revD-1) The mount comes with the Meade Autostar goto system, and has [...]
Telecope for Sale!
November 7, 2011
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I’m selling my Meade LXD55 OTA in a Dob mount plus some accessories. The price is €500. For that you get: The LXD55 10″SN Telescope (OTA Only in a homemade Dobsonian mount, but includes the O rings) 2 eyepieces, 26mm & 12.4mm Meade Super Plossils. JMI Motofocus. (cost $169) Red dot finder. EZ Collimator (useful [...]
Light Pollution Sensor Data for December 2010
January 4, 2011
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As part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy our Colleagues at the Kuffner Sternwarte Observatory in Vienna produced a light meter that could be used to monitor light pollution. More details on the project and the meter are available at lightmeter.astronomy2009.at (use login Guest and IYA2009). There are three stations in Ireland. One in [...]
Partial Light Pollution Sensor Data for November 2010
January 4, 2011
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As part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy our Colleagues at the Kuffner Sternwarte Observatory in Vienna produced a light meter that could be used to monitor light pollution. More details on the project and the meter are available at lightmeter.astronomy2009.at (use login Guest and IYA2009). There are three stations in Ireland. One in [...]
Partial Light Pollution Sensor Data for October 2010
January 4, 2011
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As part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy our Colleagues at the Kuffner Sternwarte Observatory in Vienna produced a light meter that could be used to monitor light pollution. More details on the project and the meter are available at lightmeter.astronomy2009.at (use login Guest and IYA2009). There are three stations in Ireland. One in [...]
Partial Light Pollution Sensor Data for September 2010
January 4, 2011
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As part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy our Colleagues at the Kuffner Sternwarte Observatory in Vienna produced a light meter that could be used to monitor light pollution. More details on the project and the meter are available at lightmeter.astronomy2009.at (use login Guest and IYA2009). There are three stations in Ireland. One in [...]
