Chris and John, it is really easy.
All you need is your camera and a Video Grabber (which you will already have if you view your camera on your computer), and that's it.
You contact NightSkiesNetwork and Jim (the owner of NSN) will give you a Channel. All you need do is give your channel a name
All the instructions are on the NSN website. It sounds confusing at first but it is a long explanation of how to click 3 things then use 2 sliders to get the image to look nice for viewers.
You can choose to talk to your viewers and type messages, or just type messages (by turning off the Microphone).
Don't wait until you learn more about your gear before getting a Channel. Even Jim suggests to get your channel, then go Live and have a play with it. Even if you are only showing a daylight view of your garden. You need to have a play to see how it all works. Often many of the viewers are also Broadcasters and can guide you through it all 'Live'.
We often help each other during our Broadcasts.
Even though you can use just your camera direct, it will help if you have software to control the video levels like Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Hue, etc.
One I used to use is the Gstar-ex4 Software which is a very good program and is Free. It is the software for the Gstar-ex AstroVideo camera and the owner of the software, Steve Massey (a really nice bloke) has made it freely available for anyone to use even if they don't buy his Gstar-ex cameras.
Or you can use free download programs like ManyCam or WebcamMax, or purchase the full WebcamMax (that's one that I use).
If you have a Mallincam you can download the Mallincam camera control Software which will also work with many other cameras. Worth a try, it's Free.
There is a new Program for cameras called Miloslick but it costs $49. It was designed for Mallincams, but I see people using it to control other cameras
The advantage of Miloslick is that it has built-in Hot Pixel removal, Histgram, Stacking, etc all on-the-fly, so you get to fiddle and play and make your Live view look heaps better while it is coming through, not after you have saved it and then processed it.
Is is 'Live Processing' and does a fantastic job.
How set up your Broadcast the easy way:
Plug your camera/Video Grabber into your computer and power up the camera
then the computer. It seems to be more stable in that order. Then open NSN website and log in.
Your Channel will open up but with no image.
Right click on the Image frame and it will open a window where you select your camera. Then your camera's view will appear in the Image frame. You are now Live 'On-Air'.
Now open your Video control software (which ever one you choose, like Gstar-ex etc).
If you don't want everyone hearing you grunt and groan and swear as you work it out the first time, turn the Microphone off
Easy-Peasy.
Chris also asks what kind of problems could occur.
Well, none really.
The only problem that seems to get common on some nights is Flash Crashing.
The NSN website is extremely Stable, but Flash is dependant on traffic flow on the internet.
If Flash can't get your signal through to NSN without a Bandwidth slowdown it will crash.
Some times of the night seem to be busier than others, and if the internet gets really busy, it is like trying to shove basketballs through drinking straws.
The Flash data just can't get through fast enough. It's not NSN's fault, it's not your computers fault, it's just that you are trying to send a lot of Info througfh a busy internet.
Just refresh the page and your image will re=appear in the Image Box. No Drama. I have several crashes on some nights. On other nights I have none.
Obviously Broadcasting won't work with Dial-up Internet.
But make sure your Adobe Flash is up to date.
As for Browsers, I have to use Firefox for NSN because Chrome won't let me get an Image in the Image Box. others have no problem with Chrome.