Goodmorning Ted, I am not familiar with C-SAT since I dont have the program but have heard about it. I see no reason why you shouldnt be able to spot satellites in your LX200 provided you meet certain requirements, the most important being use fresh elements and choose satellites in stable orbits. I have often seen predicted satellites using a 10 min arc field of view on a 20 inch reflector so there is no hidden magic involved. Re video for satellite tracking. I have done a little experimenting here and this is also practical. Using a low light level surveillance ccd camera (0.05 lux) and a 150mm telephoto lens with 2 inch aperture I have been able to observe satellites as faint as about magnitude 6.5. My sky naked eye limit is about magnitude 4 so gain quite a lot. Using a 5 inch refractor,operating at f/5 and working at the prime focus I have a field of view of about 24 arc minutes and with that I can see stars as faint as magnitude 9 and satellites about a magnitude brighter. Its also possible to video record the satellite as it crosses the field of view although my resultant AVI files are about 90 megabytes for about 30 seconds recording. I am currently adding stepper motors to my telescope altazimuth mount so that the telescope can be computer controlled from inside the house-Im using a system similar to that developed by Mel Bartels. Once this is completed I hope to do some video satellite tracking.Several computer programs , such as GUIDE, drive Mel Bartels system without problems so I am hoping I can use GUIDE to track on a satellite and output the bearings to the computer system. If this doesnt work then Ill have to write some software myself,but I see no reason why it cannot be reasonably easily done. ( famous last words ?:-)). Hope this encourages you to persevere further, Best wishes Greg ----- Original Message ----- From: <Glensoft@aol.com> To: <SeeSat-L@blackadder.lmsal.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 6:51 PM Subject: Equipment > Hello, > I have a 8-inch LX200 (f/10) and C-Sat software from Celestial Computing. > After carefully setting my coordinates, time and aligning the LX200, I > haven't been able to "catch" a satellite in the field of view. Is anyone > using similar equipment? > What about video for satellite tracking? After reviewing Celestial > Computing's web site (www.skyshow.com) I was considering buying an > AstroVid-1000 camera from Adirondack Video Astronomy company > (www.astrovid.com/AV1000.htm). But it may not be able to detect objects with > the magnitudes of satellites. Has anybody tried it yet? > Is anyone getting satellite images using a CCD camera? Can the Autoguide mode > be used to lock-on to a satellite? > I realize that satellites move very fast and vary in magnitude while they're > being observed but that makes the challenge more interesting to me. Just > want to know if I'm expecting too much from the equipment available to me. > Thanks. > Ted Pittman ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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