Webcam upgrade

Sep 4, 2003

Wow, I hardly realized it’s been almost a month since I did a front page update! I’ve been working pretty hard on a new job so time and energy has been limited, but I have been finding the time to do some observing and Mars imaging. Still can’t get that perfect seeing night, but I’m hoping…

I’ve been somewhat pleased with the Mars images I have captured but I have feared that my older Logitech Quickcam wasn’t quite as good as the newer versions I’ve heard so much about.  Consequently, I went ahead and purchased a new Logitech Quickcam 4000 Pro and have managed to MacGyver together a housing for it. As you can see in the photos I used two 52mm camera filter rings and sandwiched the board between them, taking out the filter glass, of course. All it took was a little trimming off the corners of the board to fit securely atop the filter threads.  The board rests firmly between.I then placed one of my 2” camera adapter tubes atop the filter ring. The threads on the bottom of the tube snapped perfectly into the filter ring. It is secure without a drop of glue. Perfect fit. If you’ve got a couple of filter rings laying around, you might consider this method of mounting the component board. This way, it will slide perfectly into my 4x Powermate or over the top of my 2x barlow. Note that I removed both the on/off switch and the IR filter from the board giving a bare chip and very little loose wiring. A simple lens cap should cover the bottom, with a hole for the cord. There is a green LCD (the ON light) pretty close to the CCD chip (!) so you’ll need to affix a little electrical tape (or something) to shield it.

I hope to put my new converted webcam to use this weekend with the LX200 and TV 4x Powermate (I love this thing).

I’ve been keeping my digital camera in my car lately in the event that something atmospheric might occur. DFW has been bathed in some interesting cloud formations during the day as of the last few weeks. Driving home today from work I managed to take a couple of shots through my wind shield of the western horizon. I put one in the Misc.Gallery for your pleasure. It pays to keep a camera close at hand.