hoi.polloi wrote:Yes. I did use a 2x barlow for that image though. I also use a video capture card to digitize the video signal. I recently upgraded from the SDC-435 to a Mallincam (which uses the exact same type of OSD menu system, also uses analog video which has to be digitized, and is designed exclusively for astronomy). Clearly you don't understand astrophotography or how apparent magnification works with CCDs.
The smaller the circle of people that understand how something works, the fewer people you must fool. If you fool them, it is much easier to rest on their laurels for credibility. So let's just get that out of the way and isolate this to your responsibility.
There are thousands of amateur astronomers who know how to track ISS. There are even more who understand the equipment I use. You are welcome to invite them here to "prove me wrong." It is your responsibility to prove that I faked the video, not the other way around.
On the other hand, everyone can see that a JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG and other files are just common forms of compressing an image. Therefore, you aren't presenting a very credible case for your imagery.
You've utterly failed to prove that I faked my imagery.
2. Many more people can fabricate an image than use your hardware-software combination and speak about it with expertise.
I disagree that they could speak about it with expertise, but in any case it's irrelevant. The burden of proof is on you to prove that I faked the video.
You're saying the only way we can reproduce this image is to learn about techniques that you, and a handful of the world population, actually know about. But that isn't so. It can also just be fabricated out of nothing more than Adobe Creative Suite.
I've seen attempts to fake ISS tracking videos. They sucked. They made several critical errors and failed to recreate all the aspects of a real video accurately.
What is the most basic, affordable way any one of us could capture the ISS with our own systems? Please explain your set up and how it might be achieved by anybody with the fewest expenses and inconveniences as possible. If that is too much to ask, explain (and photograph) your arrangement so that we can see if one of us can't reproduce your methods and capture what you claim to have captured.
Oh, let me guess, I explain and photograph all of it, which I'm happy to do, then one of you claims he wasn't able to find ISS and therefore it must be fake, even though he didn't really try. Sorry, but a claimed negative attempt does not disprove positive confirmation. We're not going to play that game. Tell you what, come to the Chiefland Fall Star Party this year and I'll show you ISS in person, straight through the eyepiece.
For the record, I use a Meade 8" LX200 Classic Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Brent Boshart's Satellite Tracker software, and a Meade LPI strapped to the viewfinder for acquiring ISS while recording it through the main telescope with a modified Samsung SDC-435 at prime focus (with or without a 2x barlow). I also use anti-vibration pads to help stabilize the view and a video capture card to record the video from the SDC-435 (I do have a mallincam, but I find the Samsung provides sharper views of bright objects like ISS). You can see what this setup looks like, in this case with the samsung attached to a widefield refractor that I sometimes use for astrophotography, here:
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm47 ... cd0baf.jpg
This setup can be replicated for about $3000