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What is VideoStar?
What is Free?
What about Support?
Yahoo Groups Forum
Future Capabilities
VideoStar Pages
About the Project
Circuit pics
Circuit Details
Sample Images
VideoStar-jr
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Welcome to the VideoStar(tm)
pages!
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What Is VideoStar?
The goal of the VideoStar project is to produce an open source, scientific grade, video imaging platform for amateur astronomers.
VideoStar is a combination of hardware and software developed for
amateur astronomers who want to take control of their telescopes and
enter the world of digital imaging.
First and foremost, VideoStar is a * free 1*
reference design providing the basis of a powerful imaging system.
See here for more about the
project.
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1 What is meant by
"free"?
Free, as in - you can use any concepts contained on these pages for
your own personal use for no charge. All I ask is for a little credit
if you utilize these concepts or designs.
If you are a business venture and would like to create a commercial
product based on the VideoStar platform, please contact me to
make licensing arrangements.
If you want to see what it really costs, click here.
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What about support?
This is something I'm doing in my "spare" time. I will
attempt to answer emails.
The best bet however is to use the "Yahoo
Groups forum" for discussion of VideoStar topics. In this
way, an ongoing dialog is maintained and everyone can learn and build
up a database of questions and answers.
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What does the future hold?
Another reason that I am developing this system is to
provide a platform for an adaptive optic system. The extreme sensitivity
and low noise of the ExView CCD makes it well suited to such
applications. Preliminary tests indicate that 15hz guiding using this
system will be quite straightforward.
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VideoStar jr.
There appears to be interest in a miniature version of VideoStar. A
little unit that would give RS-232 controlled focusing and temperature
readout capabilities so that people could make their own temperature
compensating focuser system without having to spend many hundreds of
dollars.
Most of us seem to have NGF-S units with DRO option, which provide
an excellent base for such a system. If I develop VideoStar jr., it
will be based around this unit, providing a plug-and-play solution.
Watch here for more information on such a package...contribute to
the VideoStar Yahoo
Group if you want to put your vote in for the creation of VSjr!
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