First Light TouCam SC3

[JohnP]

Hi All,

As Chris well knows I've been playing around with my ToUcam over the last few weeks. I decided to change the ICX098 colour chip for a much more sensitive & slighly larger 1/3inch CCD the sony ICX424AL. It's not a straight swap as the original chip has 14pins & the new one 16pins. Anyway thanks to instructions from Steve Chambers (QCUIAG group) & a very very steady hand & a very high magnification eyeglass I managed to do it - at one stage I thought I had trashed the webcam board but was able to repair some broken tracks on the PCB board.....

Anyway last night I made first light with the new camera - I decided to image NGC891 as I had done this (not very successfully) before - The image below is the sum of 50 X 10secs subs with gain set to approx' 75% - I haven't implemented cooling on the camera yet  but have made provision should I decide to at a later stage. I didn't use any filters at all.

I'm pleased with the image - it's a lot better than my previous attempt. I need to get to grips with flat frames & removing gradients from skyglow etc. I'm sure the processing would be better if it was run through AIP4Win or the like... There also a dust spot top right..

Total cost for camera was approx' £100 - original ToUcam was £30 + £60 for the new chip & £10 on other various electronic parts & a box...

Going forward I need to get myself a set of RGB filters & figure out how to do Auto-Guiding. Anyway I'm happy with the result & look forward to playing some more with the SC3 at the next DSC.

Cheers,  John

[Whitters]

Nice image Jon, Well done for completing the mod

[Mike]

Yeah - Hats off to you for doing that soldering job. Would have scared me silly!

That image is excellent - Well done!

[JohnP]

Thks Paul & Mike - Yep the soldering was a bit tricky but all part of the fun of the hobby (or at least for me) - It was great getting first light & seeing that first preview image focus on my laptop. Hopefully, the camera will give me the opportunity to capture a lot of images previously not possible with my 'basic' imaging devices. I've got lots to learn.

Cheers,  John

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi John,

Thats excellent, much better than I expected, if you get many more frames then the SN ratio will get rid of the background noise, longer exposures will help.  But that is excellent, gosh!

Can you do my camera when I'm in the states so I have a guide cam?

[JohnP]

Hi Chris,

Yes - It came out quite well & dead easy to use - just plug it into USB port & use K3 like a regular ToUcam..

Anyhow, I did a quick analysis on the raws from the M42 & NGC891 images & reckon with the M42 I've captured between Mag 13 & 14 in the two sec exposures & with the NGC891 I've captured better than Mag 15 with a 10sec exposure so should hopefully be OK as a guidescope.

Cheers,  John

[Ian]

cool job John. What did you use for an enclosure?

[JohnP]

Hi Ian,

Thks. I used a cheapo Maplin ABS special - Box MB2 LH21X  - cost about £2.70 I went for ABS because it was easy to drill etc. The box has a lot of space so I can add cooling etc. at a later date. I also mounted the CCD in a chip holder just on the outside of the box this has a couple of advantages.. (i) If I need to get the ccd closer to the secondary for whatever reason I can easily do it by piggybacking additional chip holders (I know it's not elegant but it would work) (ii) If I want to cool I can easily get directly to the back of the chip. It doesn't look pretty but it's functional.

Cheers,  John

[Fay]

John,

That is a beautiful clear picture you have taken, worth all the hard work you obviously put into it!


Fay

[JohnP]

Thks Fay - Hopefully better to come... if only the clouds will disappear...