[AZ-Observing] Re: TouCams Available

Light sensitivity is extremely important for Webcam planetary imaging.  
With my 740 model, I can get away with 1/25 sec. exposures on Jupiter 
with the gain turned only about one-tenth of the way up.  That means I 
can get 1000 images to use for stacking in about a minute.  The detail on 
Jupiter begins to smear due to its rotation in only a couple minutes.  So 
if you have a less sensitive camera, you get either fewer frames to stack 
or noisier frames, due to dialing up the gain.

The smaller chip doesn't sound too detrimental: even at 0.2 arcsec per 
pixel, Jupiter is less than 250 pixels across, which would fit on that 
smaller chip.

At the risk of bringing up the touchy subject of what's on topic for AZ-
Observing, I think what I just wrote above is on the fringe.  There are 
plenty of imaging groups.  If somebody tells me to stop, I'll stop.

Tom


> I checked the one I have and it's the Philips ToUcam XS (PCVC720K/17).
> According to website www.pc-cameras.philips.com, under manuals, the XS 
has a
> CMOS chip with 352X288 pixels and resolution of 640x480. Illumination 
is <10
> lux. The ToUcam Pro (PCVC740K) has a CMOS chip with 640x480 pixels and
> resolution of 1280x640. Illumination is <1 lux. Whether the extra 
resolution
> and illlumination is going to make a difference on the screen for bright
> objects remains to be seen. 640x480 should give me some good pics. 
Neither
> one is good for dim objects so I wonder about the 1 lux claim.
>
> Jack Jones
> Saguaro Astronomy Club
> Public Events
> Phoenix AZ
> spicastar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> > Jeffy wrote and sed:
> > That's a great price! Be careful, however, as there are close to a
> > dozen different flavors of the ToUcam. Do you know which one this is?
> > The one you want is the ToUcam Pro (PCVC740K). This has the
> > sensitivity and resolution needed for all those super photos seen.
> > Lessor ones will work, but not as well.
> >
> > Jeff
>
> > >Derek Poertner still has some Philips TouCams for sale for $35. He's
> burned
> > >some CDs with Registax to go with the software that comes with them. 
You
> > >still need to make an adapter to fit it to the focuser. Email me for
> contact
> > >details.
> > >
> > >Jack
> >
>
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