From: Jim Chung <jim_chung@sunshine.net>

Date: April 4, 2017 1:19:43 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Re: "new" camera purchases

I find it interesting that although USB3 is faster, it still doesn't support as much power (wattage and volts) as FW800 nor is it able to operate over as long a distance.

Quoting "tjp314@pacbell.net [Astro_IIDC]" <Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com>:

The cameras arrived last night.  Packed well.

The Scorpion color 1600x1200 works wonderfully, and is a perfect match for the 4.2mm, f/1.6 lenses that were included in the sale.  I may rig up a telescope with two OTAs on the same mount for LRGB imaging with the monochrome camera on one scope and this color camera on the other.

All 3 cameras came with the tripod mounts, which I seldom have gotten with ebay purchase of cameras in the past (I made my own for the monochrome scorpion to work with old 35mm camera lenses).

The AVT Pike 2048x2048 color ONsemiconductor (Kodak) 1.2" CCD does show an image, but color balance and brightness seem "off".  I'll have to look at the manual in detail to see if I can figure out what's going on.  At this point, I haven't tried connecting any of the GPIO pins.    The 4.2mm lens delivers an image that's too small for the 1.2" chip - it's a small circle in the center half or so of the frame.  I'll try it with a legacy camera lens at some point, maybe tomorrow evening.

The Grasshopper 50S5C-C has a problem.  It displays video, but one half of the frame is very noisy, while the other half delivers a very nice image.

I may have to send the pike and the grasshopper to the manufacturers for repairs, and hope that isn't prohibitively expensive.

Still, even with just the scorpion works, plus the 3 lenses, I think I got a good deal (under $400)