Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2014 20:30:18 GMT
Recently I bought a couple of Watec 910hx/rc video cameras from Bern at Modern Astronomy. I purchased these for a dual camera meteor observing system with the intention of covering a larger swathe of sky than a single cam would allow.
The Watec 910hx/rc is an integrating video camera and comes with a remote handset for control of the camera. Unfortunately the cable on the handset is only about 1mtre long, but by cutting the cable and adding a RJ45 connector to each end, I was able to use a pair of straight through couplers and a 15mtre cat5 patch lead to extend the cable. I can now control the camera from indoors even when it is mounted on the rooftop.
I had my first proper test of the new Wat-910hx/rc camera on Tuesday night. I finally got one camera installed and ready for the Orionid meteor shower on Tuesday 21st October, as a proper shower seemed an appropriate test. Despite the awful UK weather forecast I had an incredibly clear night on Tuesday 21st.
I paired up the camera with a Computar 2.6mm f1.0 lens and I set up the camera with similar settings as are used with the 902h2 Ultimate for meteor capture.
Camera settings were 1/50 sec fixed shutter, sensup off, AGC off, manual gain 40db.
Using HandiAvi for meteor capture I caught 120 meteors, 1 bat, a flock of birds, damned near every plane in the sky, maybe a satellite or two, and a UFO. (to be looked at later)
I think it fair to say the cam performed very well and is very sensitive. Even at 1/50 sec I could see stars of mag 4.40. Sensitivity and image quality gets better if the exposure is increased but the object of the test was to see how the camera performs without using sensup. I also have to say that being able to control the camera with the keypad .from indoors was lovely. The menus are very easy to navigate and simple to use.
I don't really understand the argument against using the 910hx for meteor capture due to it being an integrating video camera, but there is no doubt that it performs brilliantly.
I will not use the second 910 for meteors for a while. It needs to be plugged into a scope and tested on dso's first. Even only having a sensup to 256, it should still be a very capable deep sky cam.
Here is a single frame extracted from an Orionid avi. At only 520tvl it lacks the resolution that we get with some video cameras, but the image does get much smoother with integration, and a lower gain level.
And here are a few meteor shots.
The Watec 910hx/rc is an integrating video camera and comes with a remote handset for control of the camera. Unfortunately the cable on the handset is only about 1mtre long, but by cutting the cable and adding a RJ45 connector to each end, I was able to use a pair of straight through couplers and a 15mtre cat5 patch lead to extend the cable. I can now control the camera from indoors even when it is mounted on the rooftop.
I had my first proper test of the new Wat-910hx/rc camera on Tuesday night. I finally got one camera installed and ready for the Orionid meteor shower on Tuesday 21st October, as a proper shower seemed an appropriate test. Despite the awful UK weather forecast I had an incredibly clear night on Tuesday 21st.
I paired up the camera with a Computar 2.6mm f1.0 lens and I set up the camera with similar settings as are used with the 902h2 Ultimate for meteor capture.
Camera settings were 1/50 sec fixed shutter, sensup off, AGC off, manual gain 40db.
Using HandiAvi for meteor capture I caught 120 meteors, 1 bat, a flock of birds, damned near every plane in the sky, maybe a satellite or two, and a UFO. (to be looked at later)
I think it fair to say the cam performed very well and is very sensitive. Even at 1/50 sec I could see stars of mag 4.40. Sensitivity and image quality gets better if the exposure is increased but the object of the test was to see how the camera performs without using sensup. I also have to say that being able to control the camera with the keypad .from indoors was lovely. The menus are very easy to navigate and simple to use.
I don't really understand the argument against using the 910hx for meteor capture due to it being an integrating video camera, but there is no doubt that it performs brilliantly.
I will not use the second 910 for meteors for a while. It needs to be plugged into a scope and tested on dso's first. Even only having a sensup to 256, it should still be a very capable deep sky cam.
Here is a single frame extracted from an Orionid avi. At only 520tvl it lacks the resolution that we get with some video cameras, but the image does get much smoother with integration, and a lower gain level.
And here are a few meteor shots.