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Remote Control Solar System Digiscope

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Offline Davo

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Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« on: 23 / February / 2013, 16:51:50 »
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I have a Celestron Nexstar 4SE telescope mounted on a shelf outside my study window. I have all the functions remotely controlled and I normally use an Imaging Source USB astro cam to record videos which I convert into images. It cost about 6x my new A810.

I thought I would try my A810 so I bought a digiscoping bracket and tried it out on the Moon. Amazingly, it outperformed my usual camera and was a real treat to use. I hooked it up via chdkptp which let me use liveview to focus and adjust the scene and start and stop video recording. All this from the comfort of my study while it was -8C outside.

The A810 has a big advantage over the usb cam in that the video data rate is not limited by the usb wire. I can also zoom in and out remotely to give different image scales.

Attached is a detail of the moon shot with the A810. You can see the complete image in a zoom-pan version here http://zoom.it/iUX9#full It covers about a quarter of the lunar surface.

Many thanks to the developers who made all this possible. I am very impressed. Next trial - sunspots.

Dave
« Last Edit: 24 / February / 2013, 05:55:56 by Davo »
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Offline blackhole

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #1 on: 24 / February / 2013, 03:55:00 »
Excellent image, great increase just as in the primary focus. ;)

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I can also zoom in and out remotely to give different image scales.

How did you solve moving the lens when the lens is pressed against the eyepiece? I have that problem for the last ten years, and can't solve it in a simple way  8)
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Offline Davo

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #2 on: 24 / February / 2013, 06:06:31 »
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How did you solve moving the lens when the lens is pressed against the eyepiece?

I used a SkyWatcher universal Camera Adapter / Mount For 1.25" Eyepiece to mount the camera. This has x-y screw adjustment to allow you to exactly centralise the camera lens over the eyepiece. It also has slots for the camera fixing screw so you can adjust the camera to eyepiece distance (z). I set the camera at infinity and then zoomed it until I got the maximum lens extension. I then mounted it with the lens a few mm from the eyepiece. This means that the lens will never touch the eyepiece, no matter where I zoom.

Here is where I got the adapter

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130850673602?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
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Offline blackhole

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #3 on: 24 / February / 2013, 06:37:23 »
I use a similar solution, but I never leave the space between the lens and the eyepiece because of the appearance of reflection.
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Offline Davo

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #4 on: 24 / February / 2013, 07:59:46 »
I only see reflections with wide angle zoom and they disappear as soon as I zoom in sufficiently so that the subject fills the screen. It could also be the shape of your uppermost eyepiece lens element - I used the stock 25mm Celestron Plossl that came with my 4SE.
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Offline cameron.lashley.7

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #5 on: 01 / September / 2013, 20:56:00 »
I was directed to this thread from the CHDK group on Facebook. I'm interested in expanding into digiscoping, but am having some trouble identifying an appropriate adapter for a Canon S5IS. The length of the lens barrel seems to be a bit too long to accommodate the S5IS. Has anyone on the group found an acceptable adapter for this camera, or could you recommend an alternative Canon P&S that would accommodate a lens adapter (I'm thinking something with at least 8-10MP but not necessarily a superzoom)?
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Offline Davo

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #6 on: 02 / September / 2013, 07:00:26 »
If you measure the distance from the centre of the tripod screw to the end of the extended barrel, I will check the adapter I have for size.

Alternatively, my 16MP A810 seems to work fine for digiscoping and it only costs £50.  :lol
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Offline cameron.lashley.7

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #7 on: 02 / September / 2013, 18:52:30 »
The distance from the center of the tripod screw to the front edge of the lens barrel is just about 3 inches (76 mm).

I have been doing some research on the A810, and that looks promising. Do you have a gallery of digiscoped images and maybe a picture or two of your rig?
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #8 on: 02 / September / 2013, 19:12:28 »
Quote from: cameron.lashley.7 on 02 / September / 2013, 18:52:30
I have been doing some research on the A810, and that looks promising. Do you have a gallery of digiscoped images and maybe a picture or two of your rig?
While you wait for Davo to respond,  you might find these threads interesting :

Night Sky with A810

Access Autofocus Parameters?
« Last Edit: 02 / September / 2013, 19:20:00 by waterwingz »
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Offline cameron.lashley.7

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Re: Remote Control Solar System Digiscope
« Reply #9 on: 02 / September / 2013, 19:19:05 »
Thanks!
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