\n\n
How to build a webcam-scope <\/h4>\n\n
Construct a simple and cost-effective imaging device for capturing bright targets <\/p>\n\n Awebcamscope provides a simple and cheap introduction to astrophotography. As its name suggests, it\u2019s built around the sort of webcam you might buy for Zoom meetings, rather than a DSLR camera. <\/p>\n\n The components you need to make a webcamscope are widely available and, whether you choose brand-new or second-hand parts, they won\u2019t cost much. You may even have some of them in a spare drawer. I paid \u00a311 for the webcam and \u00a316 for the 200mm M42 lens on eBay, while the eyepiece adaptor, which replaces the webcam\u2019s lens, was \u00a310. <\/p>\n\n Second-hand M42 lenses are commonly available and, as they use a screw thread rather than a bayonet fitting, you can make a mount for one from an old rear lens cap. Lenses can be heavy, though, so you can adapt the wooden mount to incorporate a cradle to support the front part as well. <\/p>\n\n When building your webcamscope, it\u2019s important to get the correct distance between the backplate of the lens and the surface of the sensor in your webcam (the registration distance). For M42 lenses, the registration distance is 45.5mm. If you vary this by too much, you might not be able to focus. I drilled a 32mm-diameter hole through the wooden mount to hold the webcam adaptor, with a wider recess for the M42 rear lens cap, so the webcam and camera lens were held close together. A little masking tape wrapped around the adaptor stops it slipping out.<\/span> Once set up, you shouldn\u2019t need to make big changes to the focus, but it helps to be able to turn the lens\u2019s focus ring if you shift targets. Cutting away the sides of the wooden mount will make it easier to access the ring. A metal strip with a \u00bc-inch hole allows the mount to be fixed to a tripod. Position this once you\u2019ve established the balance point of the assembled instrument, to reduce any tripping potential.<\/p>\n\n To create an image, you\u2019ll need to capture a video clip. You can use a Windows computer (SharpCap, bit.ly\/3w5mkNS<\/a>) or a Mac (oaCapture, bit.ly\/3vFdc3w<\/a>). Once you have a clip you can use stacking software to align and stack the best frames from the video, as well as to remove any noise, and produce a high-quality, still image. Lynkeos (bit.ly\/3w1BGTq<\/a>) is a stacking application for Mac, while RegiStax (bit.ly\/3MOIjPH<\/a>) is popular for Windows. <\/p>\n\n Using this webcamscope is as easy as making it \u2013 point, focus and record a video clip. Experiment with different exposure settings to see which clips are better to process. You\u2019ll become addicted. <\/p>\n\n Marking-out tools (a ruler, compasses and a pencil); a coping saw (or drill and hole saws). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plywood or softwood, approximately 600mm x 80mm x 15mm (or 12mm); a small strip of stiff metal (approximately 100mm x 25mm x 3mm); small screws; wood glue; and paint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n M42 camera lens (with a focal length of 200mm or similar); an M42 screw cap; a webcam (and a laptop); a 1.25-inch webcam eyepiece adaptor. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n Unscrew and remove the built-in lens unit of the webcam: some cases just prize apart, while others have small screws. You can also remove the stand\/clip (but you don\u2019t need to for this project) and you may need to enlarge the hole in the casing to fit your adaptor. <\/p>\n\n Your adaptor might screw into the old lens thread. If it\u2019s an odd size you may be able to use the metal adaptor\u2019s internal thread to screw it onto the smooth outside of the plastic lens fitting. It\u2019s important to align it above, and perpendicular to, the sensor.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Download and print the webcamscope plan (see \u2018More online\u2019), and mark out the parts for the mount on the wood and cut them out. Adjust the cradle at the front and the overall length of the mount to fit your lens. It needs to be held so you can still focus. <\/p>\n\n Once you\u2019re happy with how your lens fits in your mount, glue and clamp the parts together. Use pilot holes if you\u2019re going to add screws to stop the plywood splitting. Once the glue is dry, smooth the surfaces down with sandpaper and give them a coat of paint. <\/p>\n\n If you find your mount is too thick to achieve focus, you can cut a recess for a modified M42 rear lens cap. You may need to adapt the design a little, depending on the registration distance of your lens. <\/p>\n\n Cut a metal strip to make a bracket to mount the webcamscope to a tripod. Next, assemble the parts. Find the best position for the bracket by finding the balance point of your webcamscope. Use a camera screw, 0.25-inch x 20tpi (thread pitch) to fit it to the tripod. <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Mark Parrish is a bespoke designer based in West Sussex<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Construct a simple and cost-effective imaging device for capturing bright targets <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":32881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"74","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"74","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_74-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_74-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"July-2022","purple_external_id":"July-2022-74-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"July-2022-74-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086554||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086554||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.206","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"2022skyatnightJuly","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.206","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"2022skyatnightJuly","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb.jpg",1556,788,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb-300x152.jpg",300,152,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb-768x389.jpg",768,389,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb-1024x519.jpg",800,405,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb-1536x778.jpg",1536,778,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb.jpg",1556,788,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Construct a simple and cost-effective imaging device for capturing bright targets","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32889"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33422,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32889\/revisions\/33422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/0023aaa7-d14b-43f0-99d4-b8aba75e67cb.jpg\")
Get creative <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
What you\u2019ll need <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Step by step <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Step 1 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/d703cc5a-1a40-419b-ad32-77b908c037d0.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\nStep 2 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/8229e4c1-bdf4-418d-8c95-14fa160b647c.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\nStep 3 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nStep 4 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nStep 5 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/1e901850-5879-4f2f-9376-4ac3ec58cce6.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\nStep 6 <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/b4ec7b28-af37-4080-886b-82e682da4ca5.jpg\")