From: Milton Aupperle <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: October 1, 2006 1:13:48 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Using and old G4 Powerbook


Hi Ray;


Two questions.


a) Is it an iBook or a PowerBook? 


A PowerBook will have a PMCIA expansion slot and you can add a USB2 PMCIA card for probably less than $40.00 USD. This is the main reason I recommend a PowerBook over a iBook, because if the internal FireWire / Ethernet / USB / WireLess etc. ever go down, you have that option rather than paying Apple $500 to $1000 USD for repairs.


b) Also how fast is the CPU (1 gighz+??)?


If you shooting 640x480 in 8 bit and at up to 30 frames per second, with an 800 mhz + CPU, you can likely record directly to a daisy chained FireWire Hard drive rather than the  internal drive. Most FireWire hard drives have 2 FW ports, so you should be able to  attach a FireWire camera to a FW port on an external FW hard drive and the other back to your Mac. Failing that you could use a FireWire Hub and cable it up that way.


You may be able to do the record to a USB 2 hard drive if you can use a PMCIA USB 2 card too, as the data rate for the video stream is only 9 megabytes per second and even with Apple's dismal USB 2 performance, it should be able to keep up.


HTH..


Milton J. Aupperle

President

ASC - Aupperle Services and Contracting

Mac Software (Drivers, Components and Application) Specialist

#1005 - 815 14th Avenue. S.W.

Calgary Alberta Canada T2R0N5

1-(403)-229-9456

milton@outcastsoft.com

www.outcastsoft.com




On 1-Oct-06, at 12:13 PM, Ray Byrne wrote:

Hi Group,


Post 3.


As I'm doing this change from PC to Mac astro imaging thing on the  

cheap (I'm a Mac man through and through BTW) I'm temporarily pulling  

together kit to make a start.


Previously I've been using the usual Windows set-up with a PC laptop,  

K3CCD Tools, Registax and a Philips ToUcam.


I bought my son a second-hand G4 Powerbook a couple of years ago for  

his birthday (to stop him using my Mac and for college) and have only  

just looked at it's spec. It only has a 20GB HD and even thinning it  

down can only free-up half of it so I've only got 10GB to play with.  

This is very little as I'm intending to do LRGB imaging with it and  

to top it all it hasn't got USB 2 any suggestions?


Ray Byrne