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(meteorobs) Video Camera Data

I figured that a little more information is due so you can 
estimate the bennifits and limitations of the camera Brian Hunter 
wrote about for SeeSat. Here is the heart of his message;

       "As some of you know, my standard observing tool is an 80 mm. 
f/5 refractor on a simple alt/az mount. I purchased a ccd-based low 
light level televison camera and have it mounted on the end of the 
elevation axis opposite the telescope. It is mounted on a 135 mm focal 
length camera lens (48 mm aperature) and connected to a VCR. The two 
'telescopes' are pointed in the same direction so the VCR carries a 
complete record of what I am looking at. The camera has a built in 
microphone that picks up the clock ticks generated by the computer and 
also any comments I make as I observe. 

       The camera is a P23C from Supercircuits Inc. in Leander Texas 
(www.supercircuits.com), it sells for US$80 plus shipping.

       The remarkable thing about this camera is that it is rated a 
0.04 LUX (not a typo), and with a 48 mm aperture, I can see stars down 
to 8th magnitude and satellites down to 7th magnitude and occasionally 
fainter. The downside is that the ccd chip is only about 10 mm across 
the diangonal and the field of view, even with the 135 mm focal 
length, is only about 3 degrees. I'm playing with other optics to try 
to find a combination that gives me a larger field of view and better 
sensitivity.

       There are a couple of other minor problems. The resolution is 
not great especially on bright objects, there appears to be blooming 
from pixel to pixel and I don't ever get pinpoint or single pixel 
images. The chip is not cooled and at high gain, the random background 
noise is quite obvious."   Brian Hunter<bkh<@chem.QueensUdot ca>

       I hope that Bob and Ed and others who are interested in using 
video to record their observing sessions can work out if this camera 
is worth looking into. 
                             Dave English


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