I'm looking for suggestions for a low budget, low lux, small B&W ccd video camera to mount on a telescope for Moon, filtered Sun, planets, and maybe the brighter celestial objects in the sky.
CCD chips are from 1/3, 1/2, to 2/3 of an inch square, they have electronic shutters or from 1/60 to 1/100,000 of a second, resolution from 400 lines to 600 lines, 1/2 lux to 0.01 lux, weight about 1/2 pound, have standard c-mount and 1/4-20 thread bodies, adjustable gains, etc. I know Burle and Philips make these smaller cameras with low lux levels. I've seen the philips work well on the filter whitelight and h-alpha sun, picking up prominances, specules, granulation, etc. (forgive the spelling...)
I have seen these small video cameras, about the size of a box of animal crackers, perform quite well.
I've received information from an outfit in Queensbury,NY called Adirondack Video Astronomy which sell just such cameras. Any experiences with this company out there? What do you think of their products? Pluses & minuses?
Of those of you that have this type of camera, recommendations and specs? Approximate costs? Dealers that specialize or are familar w/ astronomy needs?
I know these won't beat an integrating cooled ccd camera. This camera is for public viewing events, time dependent events, views for large crowds, "continuous action" viewing, etc.
thanks for the help and experience.
frank sienkiewicz curator ffs@bu-ast.bu.edu