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Specifications:
For Telescope Occular Barrel: 1-1/4" Occular Equivalency: typ. 3mm
Connection: 57" cord USB 2.0, or USB 1.1 at reduced speeds, use extensions as needed.
Minimum System Requirements: WinXP(SP2 and up)/Vista/W7, Pentium III 500MHz, 200MB avail. hard disk space, 128MB RAM.
Sensor: CMOS. Resolution - Active Pixels: (VGA) 640x480 Snaps: JPEG Vid Recording: Windows AVI
Exposure: Automatic. Frame Rate: Up to 30 fps (MJPEG). Back-Focus: ~.5-.7"
Software Control: Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Hue, Sharpness, Gamma, White Balance, Backlight Compensation.
Power: USB powered. Head: 2-5/8" Ø x 2" length, 6oz. Barrel: 1-1/4" Ø x .8" length
Operational Environment: -20 to +40C, 90%RH (100% condensing OK occasional or up to 8 hrs heavy dew).
Storage Environment: -40 to +55C, 90%RH, bag-seal w/dessicant for long-term storage.
Shipping Package Typical: 7x7x6", 1Lb USPS
Tips:
It's the 3mm occular equivalency that makes this "Photon-Piston" particularly valuable and unique. It will 'pump-up' your image scale directly without use of Barlows or Power-Max focal increasers - and directly without any of that sofware-zoom hype common in cameras that cuts resolution, thereby permitting better images at full resolution without the light loss or scatter that would be added by those extra optic surfaces. It will plug-in to those if needed anyway on small scopes, and also works with focal reducers when you want to widen the field of view in your particular instrument and object case, such as Moon-Mosaic composition or full solar disk as are seen in examples below.
Use at the telescope with a laptop, notebook, or desktop PC. Use any USB2.0 extension cable if needed for further reach, but keep cable total length under 4 meters, or about 15-feet if you can to limit interference pickup. With use beyond this range frame-rate speed will drop steadily, then you should consider products that boost USB signals on USB cable to much geater distances with standard bandwidth.
This part can be used as an autoguider camera too, with limiting guidestar magnitudes of 4.0 in a 4" f6 guidescope. Use PHD-Guide for short-period stacking cycles and noise-reducing integration, as well as various output control methods for the mount interface.
Though we mostly use this unit on refractors/Mak/SCT from 70-150mm, it also becomes quite amazing on larger Dobsonian/Newt style telescopes with a tracking system, which allows not only un-barlowed direct-view planets - but also some rather awesome live monitor viewing of bright clusters such as the Double in Perseus when used with short focal-reducers.
Use a good mount and clock drive as you would for any viewing of high-magnifications.
Loop cable around the telescope mount, or anywhere near center of rotation, to avoid sudden accidental tugs on the cable from knocking-off your telescope alignment or tracking motor positions.
Telescope enjoyment can be addictive... please observe responsively!
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