You can use the LPI with any telescope for imaging, for autoguiding using Autosuite with non-meade telescopes I'm not so sure, though it is supposedly compatible with other meade scopes that can be converted to goto. The Autostar suite's planetarium program takes a bit of getting used to but its accurate and you can easily get information updates regarding comets and asteroids etc.
The LPI comes as part of the Autosuite package. It is basically a webcam supplied by meade that has the capability to take longer exposures than most webcams. This allows an LPI user to try their hand at some of the brighter DSOs. I haven't played with mine much but i think you can get about 15 sec exposures out of it. Rumples Riot is the resident expert on LPI, and I think he might be switching to a ToUcam
Its image capture using Autostar is different to using a normal webcam. It automatically processes the still image as it captures vidio continually trying to improve the image as it goes. But you can use it just as a webcam if you have a vidio/avi capture program.
I agree with Mike. Go the ToUCam... Unless of course you want to do deep sky.
Actually the Celestron NexImage camera released recently is a re-boxed ToUCam, which is a good way to go as you don't need to get the seperate adapter for 1.25".
Go for the Toucam, the LPI is good, but you will eventually want to go for the Toucam, preferably one with cooling. Since getting the Toucam my shots have improved out of site. You can still auotguide with the Toucam, you just need to use diferent software.
After seeing a beaut deep sky shot from the LPI on CN I was toying with the idea of getting one of those for a play (larger chip better for deep sky). And after that review at has to be the ToUcam or Celestron Neximage for planetary stuff.
I meant the LPI. Slightly higher resolution and has a larger CCD but slower for deep space compared to the DSI.
I dunno really, I don't have either of them. I've got to get a cheap one shot colour camera. Either that or blow up my quickcam by attempting to mod it.
I don't suppose anyone sells pre-modified long exposure webcams?
Hi Kevin,
The SAC range of cameras are just modified webcams (as far as I know). But they are pretty pricy considering the alternatives.
http://www.sac-imaging.com/
Thats great Grant top stuff .....havent used my LPI for a while but i usally let the LPI software do the exposure time then i dropped it a little to avoid washing out the image and i found i got more detail out by experimenting with the slider bars underneath the histogram , the trouble i had though was the outer boundry of say jupiter would soften ...EG:
yeah - over exposed a tad. That image was compiled in Autostar - I will try saving all files and stack in Registax next time. This one my son and I did for his school project - taken a few nights ago. Shows Io, Europa and Ganymede.
On another note: I think the LPI is perfect for planetary... if folks aren't getting decent shots with it, it's because they dont know how to use it properly. Personally I dont like the the modified TuCam approach. They always give the planets the appearence of a boiled lollie. But that's just me, I like the LPI because it gives a more natural result.