Hello!
I have a DSO setup (Newton 2000 mm focus).
In SharpCap I am only interested in the function of Polar alignment.
Can I use SharpCap and a classic CCD camera with a mechanical shutter (FLI Proline 16803)?
I don't want to use a guide camera. I have an off-axis guider with a very small field and strong distortion of the shape of the stars.
Polar alignment and DSO CCD Cameras
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StanVolskiy
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Polar alignment and DSO CCD Cameras
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Re: Polar alignment and DSO CCD Cameras
Hi,
in theory you can, but you would need an ASCOM driver for your camera to allow SharpCap to use it (SharpCap does not have built in support for FLI cameras).
Once the ASCOM driver is installed, SharpCap should be able to access the camera and take exposures. Since you will be using relatively short exposures (just a few seconds), you might need to use the display stretch function to see stars properly.
The biggest likely issue is going to be related to the frame rate you can achieve - CCD cameras tend to have slow readout and be only USB2 for transfer (maybe even USB1), so the time taken to capture a frame and get it from the camer through to SharpCap might be quite long. In Polar Align mode, SharpCap will capture frames in a loop, updating after each frame is captured, but if the total exposure + download is (maybe) 15s, then you will only see an update every 15s.
Note that you can try all of this without needing a SharpCap Pro license - the license is only needed for the final adjustment stage of Polar alignment, and you will know if it is going to work or not long before you get to that part of the alignment!
cheers,
Robin
in theory you can, but you would need an ASCOM driver for your camera to allow SharpCap to use it (SharpCap does not have built in support for FLI cameras).
Once the ASCOM driver is installed, SharpCap should be able to access the camera and take exposures. Since you will be using relatively short exposures (just a few seconds), you might need to use the display stretch function to see stars properly.
The biggest likely issue is going to be related to the frame rate you can achieve - CCD cameras tend to have slow readout and be only USB2 for transfer (maybe even USB1), so the time taken to capture a frame and get it from the camer through to SharpCap might be quite long. In Polar Align mode, SharpCap will capture frames in a loop, updating after each frame is captured, but if the total exposure + download is (maybe) 15s, then you will only see an update every 15s.
Note that you can try all of this without needing a SharpCap Pro license - the license is only needed for the final adjustment stage of Polar alignment, and you will know if it is going to work or not long before you get to that part of the alignment!
cheers,
Robin