G'day Alex, I wondered how long it would take before you popped in and joined up :D
Good to see you here.
Alex, one of the highest recommended Grabbers is the 'authentic' EzCap Video Grabber.
It used to be called the EasyCap, but every man and his dog in China make really bad copies and flog them on Ebay as the real thing and they often don't work. And the ones that do aren't all that good.
To find the real one they changed the name from EasyCap to EzCap, registered the name, and redesigned the packaging so there would be no mistaking a Chinese copy.
Compare the chinese copy on the left to the real one on the right. Bit obvious isn't it :)
The real one also comes ONLY from the U.K.
www.ezcap.tv/usb-video-capture/ezcap116-capture-cardThere are some other Grabbers that work OK but not always in all machines. Some can be stubborn in differing PC's. Whereas the real EzCap seems to work for everyone.
But if you don't mind paying out for top shelf, the MallinCam MCV-1 and the MCV-1E are the Bee's Knee's.
I have 2 of the MCV-1's and they run faultless in all my PC's and lappies, and give good strong clear signals.
My EzCap is pretty good too but I can see the difference. The MCV-1's give a slightly cleaner signal.
The MCV-1E has the added benefit of a built in darkness control which darkens over-lit skies (due to Light Pollution or longer exposures) without compromising the incoming video stream. It's a bit like a Contrast Booster.
When you say 'If it ain't Broke don't fix it". Well, in this case it's time to upgrade from G-star to one of the many available software packages.
I used G-star happily for quite a few years too, but once the new programs starting coming out they made G-star look like a Commodore 64 compared to Quadcore laptop.
Yes, there is that much difference.
There are Free programs for download like the Mallincam capture software by Stephan LaLonde in several versions depending on what cameras you want to use, but I found that the 'Xtreme' version seems to run every Video Astronomy camera and security camera I plug into it.
Other Free software, but not as many features, are SharpCap, AstroSnap, etc.
If you want a software for 'Live' viewing with just about every imaginable feature, then there's 'Miloslick' for $49 and it also runs every camera I use with it. It even allows Live-stacking in all the cameras I have tried. Even the little LN-300.
Then there's AstroLive at $99 with even more features.
If you choose to use a Lodestar, Lodestar II or the newer UltraStar there is Lodestar-Live software. There's also Atik's Infinity capture Software.
And others.
Video Astronomy has developed in amazing ways in recent times Alex, especially over the last 2 - 3 years. Unfortunately, Australians have been very negative towards Video Astronomy and have been left in the dark (no pun intended) through lack of interest in recent development, and product range.
I currently read
conversations in Australian forums and online groups that were discussed 2 and 3 years back in other parts of the world, but were mainly ignored in Australia. Due to lack of interest in Video Astronomy or lack of need for Video Astronomy because of our skies still having excellent Visual qualities. I don't know, but in the main, the majority of Australians that do Video Astronomy (and there's not many) are still discussing old gear, old software, and old techniques as if they are new and current.
I have talked with a few Aussies that say they are 'into' Video Astronomy yet they didn't even know that there are newer cameras than the old StellaCams, or Forums that discuss Video (and there are many), or Video Astronomy Groups, or that hundreds of people Broadcast Live on the internet, etc.
Now that you are here Alex, hang on and enjoy the ride, because Video Astronomy has become far more exciting and fun than it used to be.
Especially the broadcasting side of it :)
Ask anything you want and hopefully we can help.
Also, you might like to look through my Video Astronomy website. I put it together for people wanting to know what's what with Video Astronomy: HEREI also made a series of Video Astronomy Tutorials on You Tube for newbies to Video Astronomy: We are also lucky to have Shevill Mathers as a contributing member here. Shevill is Australia's most experienced Video Astronomy practitioner having been at the forefront 25+ years ago and still actively contributing with his vast past and current knowledge and willingness to help.