From: "cosmicrock2001" <ursamajor_1@mac.com>

Date: April 10, 2009 2:25:40 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: firewire 800?

Thanks Milton.  1- 4 nights a year is maybe what I get here in front range foothills too.  Not worth the extra expense and hassle of filter wheels an such.  As for guiding I'm already using a DSI-Pro and PHD for guiding with USB 2 when shooting deep sky with a dslr on my Mac.  Hope to be posting some  AstroIIDC planet images in the near future. clear, steady skies,  Ron

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, Milton Aupperle <milton@...> wrote:

Hi Ron;

On 10-Apr-09, at 9:57 AM, cosmicrock2001 wrote:

I just recently (finally!) acquired a TIS camera and AstroIIDC.  

Probably a newbie question, but is the camera able to use the  

firewire 800 port on my macbook pro?

Yes, but you need an Adapter or "Bilingual Cable" for it, which is  

described in the FAQ section of Astro IIDC web site:

http://www.outcastsoft.com/ASCASTROIIDC.html#FAQ

We list two links where to buy these sorts of things, there are other  

companies that have them too.

I have a cable for the 400 port to the camera, but is there any  

advantage to go from the 800 port to the camera?

No advantage at all. The only nice thing is if you want to run 2  

cameras, you don't need a hub, you can use both ports for each  

camera. That's why I still love my G4 LapTop, no Hub and no extra  

cables to haul around when I image with a FW800 camera and guide with  

a FW 400 camera.

Ron

p.s.

btw optcorp.com has the color TIS cameras on clearance sale for a  

pretty good reduction. yes, I know the mono cameras are better rez  

but seeing at my location is usually so bad I figured the 'one- 

shot' color is more practical and the sale price made it more so.

I get maybe 1 to 4 night a year where I can actually make maximum use  

of the Monochrome Cameras resolution. The only reason i bought it was  

for doing DSO's filtered or Narrow Band imaging, for Photometric  

measurements (of Asteroids, Variable Stars etc.) and also for things  

like Venus in narrow band UV and Mercury in IR.

And doing Luma imaging with RGB filters and a mono camera under  

average seeing conditions is a major PITA. Nothing matches up  

perfectly so you wind up with color edges on things at long focal  

lengths. It's pretty well useless if you wan to do those exaggerated  

color lunar shots I have done lie this:

http://www.outcastsoft.com/AstroImages/Luna20070103_MJA.jpg

or this

http://www.outcastsoft.com/AstroImages/Luna20070224MJA.jpg

or this

http://www.outcastsoft.com/AstroImages/Luna_20061009_MJA.jpg

or this

http://www.outcastsoft.com/AstroImages/Luna_Enchanced_20050419_MJA.jpg

Milton Aupperle