International Occultation Timing Association (I.O.T.A.) has several papers on the accuracy and sensitivity of video methods. http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm Main Page. A good article about the differences in the Supercircuits PC23C and PC164 is at: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/supercomparison.htm Both the PC-cameras are quite good and low light, however one big drawback is they do not have exposure or gain control built in, which makes exposing planets and close-ups of satellites difficult. (However, one I.O.T.A. member has written a paper on how to add a gain control to the PC-23C and offers to retro-fit a PC-164 for a small fee.) If you just want to track satellites and use the camera to video sat-star passage timings, etc., they are both quite good. The PC-23C has a built-in microphone - the PC-164 does not, but Supercircuits sells a 9V battery powered microphone. See: PC-164C (approx &130 US) http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/prodinfo.asp?number=PC164C&variation=&ait em=5&mitem=13 PC-23C (approx $90 US) http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/prodinfo.asp?number=PC23C-AC&variation=&a item=7&mitem=13 Pre-amp microphone ($13 US) http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/prodinfo.asp?number=PA3&variation=&aitem= 14&mitem=23 I highly recommend the PC-164 and the additional cost is well worth the extra sensitivity. The AstroVid "StellaCam EX" is an EXCELLENT camera for all types of astro-imaging, planetary imaging and satellite tacking since the exposure can be controlled from 1/10,000 sec up to integrating 128 frames together, but it is much more expensive at about $750 US. With it, I can image stars about 1 magnitude FAINTER than I can see through the telescope visually, and it does very well on nebula, galaxies, etc. Some examples including my tracking of the J002E3 rocket body (suspected Saturn S-IVB stage) can be seen at: http://www.astrovid.com/ Click on "What's New - Customer Images!" on the left, then scroll down about half way. What I found cool about the StellaCam is with frames integrating for several seconds, any moving object will appear as a streak, making them obvious on a monitor. When searching for geosync sats or sats with ill-defined or moved orbits, one can simply point the camera and start recording, and satellites show up as short lines! Since I have some experience as a satellite tracker and occultation timer (similar requirements!), I'd be glad to answer specific questions off-line at rickbaldridge@msn.com Rick Baldridge Campbell, CA USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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