A Skywatcher's Sword and Shield

[mo]

The best combo a skywatcher can have for night time sky watching and maybe even day time.



The Yukon Digital Ranger Night Vision mono-scope

www.amazon.com/Yukon-YK28041-Digital-Ranger-Monocular/dp/B000HZT88I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310491275&sr=8-1

in combination with the



High Resolution CCTV Motorcycle & Bike Camera Recorder w/ Mini Bullet Color Camera.

www.asianwolf.com/covert-bodycam-wolfcomx-2.html

This combo has served me well. Easy to use and a snap to connect and start recording on a moments notice. More and more mini- DVRs are becoming available to the public. The mini DVR allows ease of travel and mobility to record from devices that have A/V out connections much like the Yukon Digital Ranger. The scope is tripod mountable for obvious reasons and picks up a lot of light in no light situations.

The other reason I have this combo is that it is relatively cheap compared to similar products. At one time a combo like this would cost you 1000s of dollars now you can get for just under 500 dollars.

The DVR can hold a high density memory card allowing many hours of recording depending on the video setting. I recommend this combo to anyone in the field a lot. Here is an example of a Skywatcher here in Florida that cough a Navy Blimp running exercises over the Tampa Bay area.

[Alien8]

I will likely be purchasing one (maybe even two) of these in the next couple of weeks from my tax return. I happen to already have a monitor with built-in DVR with a quad screen. Technically, I could run four cameras at the same time. I'm hoping such cable exists to connect the Yukon to my DVR. I'm confident I can though. I love the portable DVR option as well!

[avalonswan]

floridafi ,
You said,

I will likely be purchasing one (maybe even two) of these in the next couple of weeks from my tax return.

I would like to chime in before you blow your dough on gear and say please read the "optics" thread in this section. There are lots of other designs out there and I'd hate to see you limit yourself to just one design option not knowing of the others. Sony makes a really nice pair of recording optics, but they are pricy. However that should be coming down.

I'm hoping such cable exists to connect the Yukon to my DVR. I'm confident I can though.

Not knowing the exact gear you're going to purchase, I can't say for sure, but usually these fall into just two categories of wires, USB and Firewire. Firewire cables are used mostly in the video editing industry and while standard, never really hit critical mass with the public. Therefore, they can be hard to find. USB is the default standard but some of the cables can also be hard to find as they are not common consumer cables. In either case the cables may not be the main issue for you. Most Common consumer DVR's usually have RCA jacks for auxiliary inputs. Upscale ones may even have DVI or HDMI inputs, Neither of which are compatible with USB or Firewire. What is needed in this case is a video editing converter that takes USB or Firewire video signals and turns them into RCA inputs for a DVR. There are many of these devices already on the market, so this should not be too hard for you to find. Dazel makes a good one @ www.dazel.com for Firewire conversion. Just Google "video converters" and a whole slew of them will pop up. But this is something to think about.
Hope this helps!

[Alien8]

Thanks for the information! Much appreciated! Do you have the information (model) of the Sony version?

Also, it appears the video output for the Yukon is RCA which is one of the options for my DVR,. SO, that should work fine.

[avalonswan]

Floridafi,

Sorry bout that, should have made the link a bit more clear

Here is the posting forum with all the info requested on the Sony Dev5
MUFON Forum :: UFO Investigators Corner :: Science and Technology :: Optical Devices

A little bit of self promotion here you can check out my site at www.getgogator.com. We sell cables and just about everything electronics you would need. If you can't find it on our site (which is very possible as our catalogs are a work in progress) you can let us know on our contact form.

[mlapage]

I would like to extend this post by asking about experiences from those who have taken the next setp and purchased equipment and have research. Has anyone actually completed a project or are involved in a project whereby they might relay that experience to us?

I would be nice to not 'reinvent the wheel', so to speak. I am interested in beginning a project, but would like to hear from those who have some know-how as to types of equipment that work best or ideas to pursue.

I remember a year or so ago reading several articles online about a researcher who had a stationary complex and several years of research, but I cannot find any references to this mans research.

If anyone has experiences they would share with myself and others, I am sure we all would appreciate hearing from you about that research. This is one of the best ways to move forward in our quest for understanding.

Thanks,
Mike