CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
MallinCam is dedicated to their customers, and it shows. Read below what some of our customers have to say.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
January, 2021
I have to thank you for such an amazing camera. I used to be impressed in what I could see with my Jr Pro, but this camera is in a different race.
Graeme O.
Australia
I have to thank you for such an amazing camera. I used to be impressed in what I could see with my Jr Pro, but this camera is in a different race.
Graeme O.
Australia
Feb. 2021
I am eternally grateful for your efforts creating detailed manuals and software monitoring. And Rock for continually developing the SkyRaider software and providing it as a free upgrade. As well as providing state of the art cameras, Live Skies to explore and share the night sky, the MallinCam forum to learn from each other and provide encouragement, and ... You have brought my love of astronomy to a new level of enjoyment.
Brett H.
Canada
I am eternally grateful for your efforts creating detailed manuals and software monitoring. And Rock for continually developing the SkyRaider software and providing it as a free upgrade. As well as providing state of the art cameras, Live Skies to explore and share the night sky, the MallinCam forum to learn from each other and provide encouragement, and ... You have brought my love of astronomy to a new level of enjoyment.
Brett H.
Canada
July 10, 2020
I was out last night in my SkyShed POD trying a few things with the Xterminator camera. This
is the first time I decided to try the zoom option using the Miloslick software slider. I’m really
happy with this image even though I realize the camera is meant for live video, not imaging.
Being able to observe faint objects like this in colour is very satisfying. Keep up the good work
Rock. Members of our club express a lot of oohs’ and aahs’ when they see something like this
that was only a 20 second integration.
Rodger F.
Ontario, Canada
I was out last night in my SkyShed POD trying a few things with the Xterminator camera. This
is the first time I decided to try the zoom option using the Miloslick software slider. I’m really
happy with this image even though I realize the camera is meant for live video, not imaging.
Being able to observe faint objects like this in colour is very satisfying. Keep up the good work
Rock. Members of our club express a lot of oohs’ and aahs’ when they see something like this
that was only a 20 second integration.
Rodger F.
Ontario, Canada
January 22, 2020
Hi Rock
I wanted to say that I was very pleased with my new camera from you. Thank you for a great camera. I am still learning how to use it. The moon was gone and even though I was at the park with cars and streetlights etc I was able to capture 2 nice photos of the Orion nebula and flame nebula. I used an Orion light pollution filter with it and no focal reducer. I have a 5 inch Televue refractor here at Clearwater beach.
I love my MC extreme x2 that I use with my Dob.This MC JR EX Pro seems like it will work great w my refractor.
Bennet
Louisville and Clearwater Beach FL
Hi Rock
I wanted to say that I was very pleased with my new camera from you. Thank you for a great camera. I am still learning how to use it. The moon was gone and even though I was at the park with cars and streetlights etc I was able to capture 2 nice photos of the Orion nebula and flame nebula. I used an Orion light pollution filter with it and no focal reducer. I have a 5 inch Televue refractor here at Clearwater beach.
I love my MC extreme x2 that I use with my Dob.This MC JR EX Pro seems like it will work great w my refractor.
Bennet
Louisville and Clearwater Beach FL
November 28, 2019
Rock,
Tried out the DS432cTEC last and I can say with confidence my scope likes it, my observatory likes it and most importantly I like it!
Cooling is fine – works like gang busters!
Thank you again for your dedication to you customers – unique in today’s business circles.
R.Y.
USA
November 5, 2019
Hello Rock,
We met last summer at your Ottawa shop where I bought you a SkyRider 287m camera and a focal reducer.
Since then, I spent some beautiful nights with this camera, at my home in Mayo - Quebec, and I wanted to tell you that this product is really great.
I'm really happy with my choice and I do not think it will be the last camera I will buy from Mallincam.
As I am still in the initiation phase and I am still familiar with the software and image processing, I still wanted to send you a picture of M13 taken with the SkyRider 287m. As you can see, the image is in color but I did not use trichromatic filters to get it. Instead, I used a fake RGB game extracted from the Mallincamsky software to which I added the original image, say the L portion, to make it a LRBG. The acquisition of the film M13 was done quickly from my Dobson 10-inch non-motorized and without the addition of my coma corrector ... The result is rather surprising. Click Here to see image
Although my goal is not to make the image beautiful, but rather to do astrometry or simply recognition and identification with professional catalogs like Aladin, I'm really impressed to see all the power and the versatility of this small camera.
Francois Mireault
Mayo, Quebec, Canada.
Hello Rock,
We met last summer at your Ottawa shop where I bought you a SkyRider 287m camera and a focal reducer.
Since then, I spent some beautiful nights with this camera, at my home in Mayo - Quebec, and I wanted to tell you that this product is really great.
I'm really happy with my choice and I do not think it will be the last camera I will buy from Mallincam.
As I am still in the initiation phase and I am still familiar with the software and image processing, I still wanted to send you a picture of M13 taken with the SkyRider 287m. As you can see, the image is in color but I did not use trichromatic filters to get it. Instead, I used a fake RGB game extracted from the Mallincamsky software to which I added the original image, say the L portion, to make it a LRBG. The acquisition of the film M13 was done quickly from my Dobson 10-inch non-motorized and without the addition of my coma corrector ... The result is rather surprising. Click Here to see image
Although my goal is not to make the image beautiful, but rather to do astrometry or simply recognition and identification with professional catalogs like Aladin, I'm really impressed to see all the power and the versatility of this small camera.
Francois Mireault
Mayo, Quebec, Canada.
October 4, 2019
Wow, that was easy: threaded the focal reducer on, put the DS287Dob into the adapter, fired up the software, and there was the house on the other side of town that I'd focused my Orion XX12g Dob on. Pointed it up at the Moon, and... there was the Moon! Total setup time: less than 5 minutes. Can't wait to try it in the dark, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow night for free time.
That all probably sounds fairly pedestrian and obvious, but I've just spent a week trying to get any kind of usable image at all out of a Lodestar X2C, and I can't even bring it to focus in either of my 'scopes, even with help from a very experienced user with a nearly-identical telescope, it's going back!
Thanks again! Totally jazzed to do some EAA in my driveway.
Best,
Scott B.
California USA
Wow, that was easy: threaded the focal reducer on, put the DS287Dob into the adapter, fired up the software, and there was the house on the other side of town that I'd focused my Orion XX12g Dob on. Pointed it up at the Moon, and... there was the Moon! Total setup time: less than 5 minutes. Can't wait to try it in the dark, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow night for free time.
That all probably sounds fairly pedestrian and obvious, but I've just spent a week trying to get any kind of usable image at all out of a Lodestar X2C, and I can't even bring it to focus in either of my 'scopes, even with help from a very experienced user with a nearly-identical telescope, it's going back!
Thanks again! Totally jazzed to do some EAA in my driveway.
Best,
Scott B.
California USA
August 21, 2019
When I first started this I bought a Celestron camera that was supposed to be good for the moon and planetary imaging but it took forever to just get it to work. The software was a joke and the camera was not much better when it did work. I bought one of the red cameras I have heard you talk about in the videos not too long ago but it is really glitchy to me and does not work that well. I have had success using it as a guider though and I can live with that. The Mallincam DS16C worked well though. I am sure you hear it a lot but it truly did. Everything worked like it was supposed to and that really is rare. And from what I have seen in the equipment for doing this it is even more rare. I really am glad I made the purchase and I just have to get better at using it now.
Thank you for making such a nice camera and I hope you are having a good day :-)
Larry G.
USA
When I first started this I bought a Celestron camera that was supposed to be good for the moon and planetary imaging but it took forever to just get it to work. The software was a joke and the camera was not much better when it did work. I bought one of the red cameras I have heard you talk about in the videos not too long ago but it is really glitchy to me and does not work that well. I have had success using it as a guider though and I can live with that. The Mallincam DS16C worked well though. I am sure you hear it a lot but it truly did. Everything worked like it was supposed to and that really is rare. And from what I have seen in the equipment for doing this it is even more rare. I really am glad I made the purchase and I just have to get better at using it now.
Thank you for making such a nice camera and I hope you are having a good day :-)
Larry G.
USA
June 20, 2019.
I wanted to thank you for putting me on the path when I first started using the DS10CTEC.
My deep appreciation of your support in helping me get started, the DS10CTEC is a wonderful instrument and I can’t describe how exciting it is to use it to take photos that I can point at and say, “I did that”.
Sincerely,
D. Schmidt
Ontario, Canada
I wanted to thank you for putting me on the path when I first started using the DS10CTEC.
My deep appreciation of your support in helping me get started, the DS10CTEC is a wonderful instrument and I can’t describe how exciting it is to use it to take photos that I can point at and say, “I did that”.
Sincerely,
D. Schmidt
Ontario, Canada
May 22, 2019
Rock,
My sincere thank you for backing your products with the best guarantee and service that I have ever seen!!
This is why I will continue to purchase your products and marvel as you push the envelope on astronomy video innovation! Looking forward to future business with Mallincam.
Really looking forward to receiving my new Universe also!
Thank you again.
Joel C
Arizona, USA
Rock,
My sincere thank you for backing your products with the best guarantee and service that I have ever seen!!
This is why I will continue to purchase your products and marvel as you push the envelope on astronomy video innovation! Looking forward to future business with Mallincam.
Really looking forward to receiving my new Universe also!
Thank you again.
Joel C
Arizona, USA
March 26, 2019
Thank you for your commitment to the advancement of video astronomy and the support of all of us who use your cameras.
Mike B.
USA
Thank you for your commitment to the advancement of video astronomy and the support of all of us who use your cameras.
Mike B.
USA
March 26, 2019
The Xterminator is fantastic and so easy to use. That's' why I want to use it for our outreach program and personal observation. This way people won't have to stand around while the operator tries different settings like working with the Histogram, stacking, binning, etc. With the Xterminator II it's mostly point-and-shoot. The DS 10 and 16 are better for someone who doesn't have people standing around waiting to see something quickly. Fantastic product!
W. P.
Canada
The Xterminator is fantastic and so easy to use. That's' why I want to use it for our outreach program and personal observation. This way people won't have to stand around while the operator tries different settings like working with the Histogram, stacking, binning, etc. With the Xterminator II it's mostly point-and-shoot. The DS 10 and 16 are better for someone who doesn't have people standing around waiting to see something quickly. Fantastic product!
W. P.
Canada
Feb 26, 2019
Rock, your honest and quick response is indicative of your character and that of your company.
S.C.
B.C. Canada
Rock, your honest and quick response is indicative of your character and that of your company.
S.C.
B.C. Canada
January 23, 2019
Rock,
Used the DS10C TEC last Sunday to image the lunar eclipse. Camera worked flawlessly in -26 degree C! Captured 216 images over 3.5 hours. To say that I am pleased would be an understatement!
Brett H.
Ontario, Canada
Rock,
Used the DS10C TEC last Sunday to image the lunar eclipse. Camera worked flawlessly in -26 degree C! Captured 216 images over 3.5 hours. To say that I am pleased would be an understatement!
Brett H.
Ontario, Canada
January 16 2019
Thanks so much for all you do and the personal and professional attention! It is almost unheard of to be able to interact with the owner of a business that PERSONALLY deals with customers and supports the products the way you do. Your online presence answering numerous email questions posted daily and informing everyone of updates and new products is greatly appreciated by everyone.
Your broadcasts on NSN are special indeed! The amount of learning viewers get from your testing of cameras and different settings and accessories is invaluable. Your innovation, passion, support and development of new products will keep MallinCam firmly at the cutting edge of video astronomy!
Best regards,
B. H.
Canada
Thanks so much for all you do and the personal and professional attention! It is almost unheard of to be able to interact with the owner of a business that PERSONALLY deals with customers and supports the products the way you do. Your online presence answering numerous email questions posted daily and informing everyone of updates and new products is greatly appreciated by everyone.
Your broadcasts on NSN are special indeed! The amount of learning viewers get from your testing of cameras and different settings and accessories is invaluable. Your innovation, passion, support and development of new products will keep MallinCam firmly at the cutting edge of video astronomy!
Best regards,
B. H.
Canada
May 16, 2018
The best decision I ever made regarding astronomy equipment was purchasing Mallincam cameras.
They provide the highest quality at a reasonable price.
The service provided by Rock Mallin is the icing on the cake.
John Scholl
Covington Louisiana USA
The best decision I ever made regarding astronomy equipment was purchasing Mallincam cameras.
They provide the highest quality at a reasonable price.
The service provided by Rock Mallin is the icing on the cake.
John Scholl
Covington Louisiana USA
Feb. 13, 2018
Many thanks,
Incredible service Rock.
Sylvain L
Quebec, Canada
Many thanks,
Incredible service Rock.
Sylvain L
Quebec, Canada
Feb. 9, 2018
I own several high end ccd cameras along with a RC Optical telescope on a Paramount EQ in my dome. I am writing to you to express my satisfaction with your Mallincam Universe CCD camera. That large sensor really does the job and with superb color reproduction. Sensitivity has exceeded my expectations. I barely use my other cameras since the Universe has been installed on my telescope. Great performance unsurpassed support and quality product. Well done!
Jim C. Sanford
Canada
I own several high end ccd cameras along with a RC Optical telescope on a Paramount EQ in my dome. I am writing to you to express my satisfaction with your Mallincam Universe CCD camera. That large sensor really does the job and with superb color reproduction. Sensitivity has exceeded my expectations. I barely use my other cameras since the Universe has been installed on my telescope. Great performance unsurpassed support and quality product. Well done!
Jim C. Sanford
Canada
Jan. 2, 2018
If you are considering a SkyRaider DS16C all I can say is go for it.
It is the perfect all purpose EAA appliance, because it delivers awesome, near-real time viewing, in addition to capturing ridiculously good images with extremely short exposure times.
The only downside is that you will be spoiled by checking off object after object in your observing list in record time. Even faint comets can’t elude detection once you learn the finer points of additive versus average stacking, and histogram tweaking.
Just click the box to automatically subtract the dark, and the fun begins.
Compared to LRGB capture and process, it’s a walk in the park.
I took the time to read the article regarding how the chip in the 16 uses refractive indexes versus a bayer mask to generate the color image. I believe this to be one of those quiet technology advancements that produces noticeable performance at the ‘virtual eyepiece’, not just on a spec sheet.
The SkyRaider DS16 is the camera that unites everything I want.. revolutionary technology, great images, mature and effective software, and instant visual gratification.
Or as Jack says, “I just want to be able to see the thing!”
Clear Skies
David D.
USA
If you are considering a SkyRaider DS16C all I can say is go for it.
It is the perfect all purpose EAA appliance, because it delivers awesome, near-real time viewing, in addition to capturing ridiculously good images with extremely short exposure times.
The only downside is that you will be spoiled by checking off object after object in your observing list in record time. Even faint comets can’t elude detection once you learn the finer points of additive versus average stacking, and histogram tweaking.
Just click the box to automatically subtract the dark, and the fun begins.
Compared to LRGB capture and process, it’s a walk in the park.
I took the time to read the article regarding how the chip in the 16 uses refractive indexes versus a bayer mask to generate the color image. I believe this to be one of those quiet technology advancements that produces noticeable performance at the ‘virtual eyepiece’, not just on a spec sheet.
The SkyRaider DS16 is the camera that unites everything I want.. revolutionary technology, great images, mature and effective software, and instant visual gratification.
Or as Jack says, “I just want to be able to see the thing!”
Clear Skies
David D.
USA
December 4, 2017
you have a great product (DS16C) which is fully capable of equaling or bettering what the imaging cameras can do. All done with a video camera, all in one. Software is easy to use and stable. Remarkable!
Serge Benoit
Quebec, Canada
you have a great product (DS16C) which is fully capable of equaling or bettering what the imaging cameras can do. All done with a video camera, all in one. Software is easy to use and stable. Remarkable!
Serge Benoit
Quebec, Canada
November 17, 2017
It is not idle flattery when I tell you that you have revolutionized amateur astronomy. I am 69 years old. I have owned telescopes since age 8. It is such a treat to see objects in color in near real time after spending a lifetime searching out faint fuzzies. I bought my first Mallincam about 10 years ago after reading an article in Amateur Astronomy Magazine and have been hooked ever since. Keep up the spectacular work.
Luke C. Arizona, USA
It is not idle flattery when I tell you that you have revolutionized amateur astronomy. I am 69 years old. I have owned telescopes since age 8. It is such a treat to see objects in color in near real time after spending a lifetime searching out faint fuzzies. I bought my first Mallincam about 10 years ago after reading an article in Amateur Astronomy Magazine and have been hooked ever since. Keep up the spectacular work.
Luke C. Arizona, USA
November 11, 2017
When I was a visual observer, I never would have considered dragging out a scope when the Moon was up and try to look at anything but the Moon. Now that I have been using MallinCams, there is no time during the month when observing is off the table - baring clouds.
J. H.
USA
When I was a visual observer, I never would have considered dragging out a scope when the Moon was up and try to look at anything but the Moon. Now that I have been using MallinCams, there is no time during the month when observing is off the table - baring clouds.
J. H.
USA
October 27, 2017
Thank you as always for great products and great service. I simply cannot put into words the joy your products have brought. I am 72 years old and am seeing things I have never seen before. The mallincam with my C 14 HD is amazing. I am experimenting with more ways of focal reduction. Absolutely amazing.
Best always. Lou H. MD, USA
Thank you as always for great products and great service. I simply cannot put into words the joy your products have brought. I am 72 years old and am seeing things I have never seen before. The mallincam with my C 14 HD is amazing. I am experimenting with more ways of focal reduction. Absolutely amazing.
Best always. Lou H. MD, USA
Oct. 25, 2017
In my opinion, the DS2.3+ is the best "general purpose" (i.e., sun, moon, planets, DSOs) imager available on the market.
Brian S.
IN, USA
In my opinion, the DS2.3+ is the best "general purpose" (i.e., sun, moon, planets, DSOs) imager available on the market.
Brian S.
IN, USA
Oct. 24 2017
I really appreciate you guys for your quick response.
Mallincam is an excellent product and your support is far beyond my expectations.
Thank you both.
P. S.
India
I really appreciate you guys for your quick response.
Mallincam is an excellent product and your support is far beyond my expectations.
Thank you both.
P. S.
India
Sept. 27, 2017
You and Mallincam are without equal, par excellence! Quality products, integrity, cutting edge innovation and love of sharing astronomy with the world...I run out of superlatives. And you always answer emails quickly.
Best regards and Clear skies,
Jim L
USA
You and Mallincam are without equal, par excellence! Quality products, integrity, cutting edge innovation and love of sharing astronomy with the world...I run out of superlatives. And you always answer emails quickly.
Best regards and Clear skies,
Jim L
USA
Sept 22, 2017
Cameras have come and gone in my possession but I have always continued to use my mallincam. It has had 100s of hours of use.
Mark N.
USA
Cameras have come and gone in my possession but I have always continued to use my mallincam. It has had 100s of hours of use.
Mark N.
USA
August 31, 2017
Hi Rock
I am so glad I bought a Mallincam camera.
I have met a lot of great people, including you, on NSNLIVE.COM, and the Mallincam group etc, all are only to willing to help, if you have problems.
You have a great following through out the world Rock, and deservedly so.
You have done a lot for astronomy and astronomers, and in my opinion, deserve some sort of award for services to the astronomy community.
Keep up the great work Rock, and thank you very much for the help you have given me.
Yours Sincerely
Robert B.
Australia
August 30, 2017
Rock,
As I've said, my MallinCam is the BEST astronomical accessory I ever bought because it actually allows me to see objects like I never could before.
Thank you!
D. L. Gallian
USA
Hi Rock
I am so glad I bought a Mallincam camera.
I have met a lot of great people, including you, on NSNLIVE.COM, and the Mallincam group etc, all are only to willing to help, if you have problems.
You have a great following through out the world Rock, and deservedly so.
You have done a lot for astronomy and astronomers, and in my opinion, deserve some sort of award for services to the astronomy community.
Keep up the great work Rock, and thank you very much for the help you have given me.
Yours Sincerely
Robert B.
Australia
August 30, 2017
Rock,
As I've said, my MallinCam is the BEST astronomical accessory I ever bought because it actually allows me to see objects like I never could before.
Thank you!
D. L. Gallian
USA
August 2017
Rock,
Received the unit yesterday. Wow that was faster than I expected ! Thanks. I checked it out this morning and it worked beautifully. Rock, I've said it before and I'll say it again: your customer service is second to none. Thanks again.
Very truly yours,
V. D.
Arizona, USA
Rock,
Received the unit yesterday. Wow that was faster than I expected ! Thanks. I checked it out this morning and it worked beautifully. Rock, I've said it before and I'll say it again: your customer service is second to none. Thanks again.
Very truly yours,
V. D.
Arizona, USA
March 29, 2017
From Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Click on each images
From Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Click on each images
|
|
December 2016
Rock,
I want to personally Thank You for your true devotion to our passion. Though we have seen the Good, the Bad and the Ugly this year…this group has persevered and come out on top. Your input and willingness to treat all of us equally is unmatched in the 31 years I have been in this “Hobby”. I look forward to an informative 2017!
With All Due Respect,
Peter F.
USA
December 2016
Rock,
I just received a very nice Christmas present from you and want to thank you very much.
The NetBook computer that I sent in for repairs was returned yesterday in the mail, and to my suprise I found it was not repaired, but replaced. I want you to know that I consider that to be far more than any reasonable person could have ever expected from any business.
I have not been in this astronomy hobby very long as compared to lots of you folks, but from the first contact I had with your company I was impressed with the quality of your products, and the loyalty of your customers, and now realize why that is.
I am now retired - first from the USN (we've talked about that on line a few times) and a second from retail management -.so I believe I can speak with some authority when I say that loyal customers are produced only from an excellent product line and top of the line customer service, and both of these come only from a company with quality management. I believe Mallincam has all that, and I appreciate it. Thank you.
From my wife and me, please accept a very sincere wish for a meaningful and merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year, to you, your family, and all your employees.
Thank You
B. E.
South Carolina
U.S.A.
October 2016
Rock,
This email is about gratitude. I want to thank you for believing in your commitment to astronomy and to all your Mallincamniks like me. I just can't imagine all the R and D that goes into developing these wonderful scientific pieces of art. ALL we have to do (lucky us) is to set the camera in the telescope read the most interesting data and voilà!!! We're peering into the depths of the cosmos.
With all my gratitude I wish you All the best
David S
Quebec, Canada
Rock,
This email is about gratitude. I want to thank you for believing in your commitment to astronomy and to all your Mallincamniks like me. I just can't imagine all the R and D that goes into developing these wonderful scientific pieces of art. ALL we have to do (lucky us) is to set the camera in the telescope read the most interesting data and voilà!!! We're peering into the depths of the cosmos.
With all my gratitude I wish you All the best
David S
Quebec, Canada
October 2016
Just a quick note to let you know that I received my camera today and even had a chance to test it for guiding despite a cloudy forecast.
I have to say, it worked better than I can remember it ever has. I experienced no lost stars, and it calibrated and guided without any issues whatsoever for several minutes prior to the clouds doing what they do when you have new or improved gear.
Thank you very much! You have a very satisfied client, and when funds allow, I plan to invest in one of your higher end cameras.
D. E.
USA
Just a quick note to let you know that I received my camera today and even had a chance to test it for guiding despite a cloudy forecast.
I have to say, it worked better than I can remember it ever has. I experienced no lost stars, and it calibrated and guided without any issues whatsoever for several minutes prior to the clouds doing what they do when you have new or improved gear.
Thank you very much! You have a very satisfied client, and when funds allow, I plan to invest in one of your higher end cameras.
D. E.
USA
October 2016
Received my Xtreme today and tried it out tonight, Everything went GREAT! Thank you, I do not know any other company that would have repaired a couple of years old camera at no cost. It’s great to know that there are people who care about their customers like you do. Thanks again for putting up with me through all this.
Robert Y.
NM, USA
Received my Xtreme today and tried it out tonight, Everything went GREAT! Thank you, I do not know any other company that would have repaired a couple of years old camera at no cost. It’s great to know that there are people who care about their customers like you do. Thanks again for putting up with me through all this.
Robert Y.
NM, USA
Sept 2016
Hi Rock, I purchased this kit (Mallincam Skyraider Netbook Kit With Mono Camera) last weekend and it is a truly straight out of the box working kit. I was able to use this kit with my Lunt LS35 Solar scope right away with immediate results. Truly amazing. This is a rare thing in astronomy. I’m very happy with this purchase. Thank you.
Hani
Canada
Hi Rock, I purchased this kit (Mallincam Skyraider Netbook Kit With Mono Camera) last weekend and it is a truly straight out of the box working kit. I was able to use this kit with my Lunt LS35 Solar scope right away with immediate results. Truly amazing. This is a rare thing in astronomy. I’m very happy with this purchase. Thank you.
Hani
Canada
Aug 2016
Rock is an honest, consumer-oriented, electronic and astronomy genius who values his customers satisfaction above all. He is a pioneer in video astronomy and has designed some of the best video astronomy cameras on the market. His customer support is personal and professional and his honesty is impeccable.
Tom Richardson, K4TTA Licensed Senior Psychological Examiner (Tn. - Retired)"
Rock is an honest, consumer-oriented, electronic and astronomy genius who values his customers satisfaction above all. He is a pioneer in video astronomy and has designed some of the best video astronomy cameras on the market. His customer support is personal and professional and his honesty is impeccable.
Tom Richardson, K4TTA Licensed Senior Psychological Examiner (Tn. - Retired)"
August 2016
Our local club, the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt, in Greenbelt, Maryland, purchased an Xtreme three years ago. Our star parties at Greenbelt Observatory are pretty popular these days. Last month we used the Xtreme to observe Pluto, and the month before we used it to observe quasars 3C273 and PG1634+706, 2.5 and 8.6 billion light years distant, respectively. We're very pleased to be able to view these objects, and many more faint deep sky objects, from our seriously light-polluted area, near Washington, D.C. We very much appreciate your products. Thanks for making such products available.
Best,
Conrad Terrill
Lanham, MD
Our local club, the Astronomical Society of Greenbelt, in Greenbelt, Maryland, purchased an Xtreme three years ago. Our star parties at Greenbelt Observatory are pretty popular these days. Last month we used the Xtreme to observe Pluto, and the month before we used it to observe quasars 3C273 and PG1634+706, 2.5 and 8.6 billion light years distant, respectively. We're very pleased to be able to view these objects, and many more faint deep sky objects, from our seriously light-polluted area, near Washington, D.C. We very much appreciate your products. Thanks for making such products available.
Best,
Conrad Terrill
Lanham, MD
April 2016
Rock,
I have to say I have never been more impressed with a person leading a business than I am with you. I opened up the box you sent and was extremely surprised with the wired keypad controller and extra cable. You certainly did not have to do that and that tells me I am with the right company to do business with in the future. I run a small business myself and you are doing things the right way. I just want to say thank you for your willingness to go above and beyond to have a very happy customer. I will from now on tell every one with an interest in astronomy the company to do business with is Mallincam!
Warm Regards,
Jerry Goodson
USA
Rock,
I have to say I have never been more impressed with a person leading a business than I am with you. I opened up the box you sent and was extremely surprised with the wired keypad controller and extra cable. You certainly did not have to do that and that tells me I am with the right company to do business with in the future. I run a small business myself and you are doing things the right way. I just want to say thank you for your willingness to go above and beyond to have a very happy customer. I will from now on tell every one with an interest in astronomy the company to do business with is Mallincam!
Warm Regards,
Jerry Goodson
USA
Dec. 2015
By the way. I did my best ever Horse Head last night. The Xterminator is by far the best camera you ever made. That Horse Head and Running man both were great. Best part is no guide camera needed. Love that freaking camera man. They can keep all the rest.
Jim Turner.
USA
By the way. I did my best ever Horse Head last night. The Xterminator is by far the best camera you ever made. That Horse Head and Running man both were great. Best part is no guide camera needed. Love that freaking camera man. They can keep all the rest.
Jim Turner.
USA
Jan 22, 2015
Mr Mallin,
It is encouraging these days to know there are still people like you that run an exemplary business and truly support customer needs. Thank you so much for what you have done for amateur astronomy. It is comforting to know that my baby is in the hands of its maker…..I love that camera!
Sincerely,
Chuck Real,
Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society
Mr Mallin,
It is encouraging these days to know there are still people like you that run an exemplary business and truly support customer needs. Thank you so much for what you have done for amateur astronomy. It is comforting to know that my baby is in the hands of its maker…..I love that camera!
Sincerely,
Chuck Real,
Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society
July 3 2014
Hi Rock and Jack,
I received my Micro EX with wired controller last month and I wanted to say thank you for producing a great little camera!
It has received a workout in our winter skies down here in Australia over the past few weeks. The views of 47Tuc, Omega Centauri and the Jewel Box have been amazing. I bought it for my son to play with but so far it has been all me.
I also have a MC Hyper Color which one day I want to upgrade to an Extreme, however it keeps on going well at the moment.
Keep up the good work producing top of the line gear.
Warm regards,
Craige Australia
NSW
December 23, 2013
Rock,
It has been a real privilege to work with you this past year. Your service, and enthusiasm, has made this the best year of my 20 years of astronomy which, by the way, I got into by force from my wife. What you and Jack have allowed me to do this year to open the sky to people who had no access has been priceless to me. And I can't thank you enough for the support. And thanks again for all the wisdom.
Jim O'Connor
South Rim Coordinator
Grand Canyon Star Party
*************************************************************************************
September 26, 2013
Dear Rock,
I recently bought a Mallincam Xtreme Color from Jack Huercamp and I want to thank you for designing and building this remarkable device. Please excuse this long e-mail. I seldom write these. The few times I've been so excited over technology are so rare that I can remember them vividly - my first Apple computer back in 1980; my Celestron C8 in 1985; the Tesla Model S; and now, the Mallincam! I am an old amateur astronomer who can trace his fascination with the stars ever since watching 2001, the original Star Trek and the Apollo space programme. I was still in elementary school when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. The next few weeks after that we all played astronauts recreating the mission - launch in the Saturn V; piloting the LEM, doing moonwalks! Those were fun times.
After a long 30-over year hiatus I came back to astronomy - my professional interest in software had led me to take part in citizen science projects like the Zooniverse and especially the Planet Hunters: I have scoured through Kepler transit photometry data, analyzed light curves and participated in the discovery of several dozen new exoplanets, eclipsing binaries, RR Lyrae and dwarf novae, resulting so far in 3 published papers in astrophysics. Last year I found a planet that orbited a binary star, with another binary orbiting this system, making a total of 4 stars to this planetary system. I would have called it Nightfall or Asimov, but of course they won't let you name these exoplanetary systems. It was the Kepler mission that brought me back to my roots, star gazing. Sure, hunting exoplanets in distant stars may be fun and exciting, but somehow it's different from experiencing it directly with my eyes. Maybe I ought to re-experience the old sensation of seeing real photons from the stars. Over this summer I learned about the tremendous changes in observational astronomy since the 1980s: better eyepieces, better telescopes, more aperture, more accurate mounts, digital astrophotography and how technology has transformed the hobby. But on top of all this, video astronomy caught my eye, they say it is the future of observational astronomy - and one name kept coming up: Mallincam.
I'll digress for a minute here and explain the reason why I'm now so interested in video astronomy. I have a son who is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. This means the rods in his retina are degenerating and he is effectively night-blind and one day he may lose his sight. He has not been able to see the stars for the last few years. I am going to see how I can change that and introduce him to a new world of seeing. So about a month ago I made the decision to get a Mallincam. I first bought a goto equatorial mount and an 80mm refractor (I had always wanted to upgrade to a 3 inch refractor) and spent a couple of weekends getting to grips with it. Then I went to your website at mallincam.tripod.com, which referred me to MallincamUSA.com to get on the waiting list. I sent an email and to my surprise Jack responded almost immediately that he had an Xtreme Color available. I sent my check and received the package the next week. It took several more weeks to get the rest of the gear together. I also bought a copy of Miloslick's excellent Mallincam Control software after a very helpful exchange with Bill Koperwhats on the right gear and cables to use.
Last Monday night was first light with my complete video astronomy set-up: Stellarvue SVR80ED on AVX mount; Orion flip mirror with 12mm reticle eyepiece, set to be parfocal with the Xtreme. It has a MFR-5 'B' piece and connected to the back of the Orion flip mirror. The RS-232 from the XT is connected via USB, as is the S-Video to an iGrabber A/D frame-grabber - and both USBs are hooked up to my Macbook Air running Miloslick software. I also had a SkyFi wireless control box hooked up to my mount's controller. Yep, a lot of wires and stuff everywhere... but to my great astonishment, and totally counter to my experience as an engineer, everything worked the first time. Being a little apprehensive of what a little 3-incher could do, I cautiously went through a few Messier objects, and since I'm not sure how good my tracking was, I used a short 15 second integration. M8, M20, M12 and even M57, a tiny but bright glowing ring, were all marvelously captured, with color apparent in the nebulae. But it was M27 that took my breath away. The colors of the nebula were so clear, so real that I spent several minutes awestruck at the sight. I took so long admiring the colors in M27 that it got pretty late. I decided to call it a night soon after and also I want to save more surprises for later. Besides, I still had to figure out how to do the various settings, filters and color balance etc. So many things to learn but I feel like a kid again with my first telescope! This weekend I hope to set things up and have Josh finally see the wonders of the night sky. First light for him. I am so happy that he will finally have that chance.
So in conclusion, much gratitude and appreciation for what you have created, Rock. Please keep on doing it and continue to bring change and joy to the lives of others. I want you to know this. It is the greatest gift that we can offer.
Clear skies and good S/N ratios always,
Kian Jek
*************************************************************************************
July 8 2013
The more I use the new camera (MallinCam Xtreme-X2-EX) the more I appreciate what it can do. It is an amazing camera and at F/3.3 has recently pulled out sharper detail of deep sky objects in 1 minute than the Sony Nex-7 has at F/6.3 in 10 minutes. I know that is an unfair comparison due to the faster F/Ratio on the Mallincam but the fact is that with my current setups capabilities I am seeing far more fine detail with the Mallincam.
J.W.New Zealand
*************************************************************************************
May 27, 2013
Hi Rock,
Thanks for the upgrades for my cameras!I am eager to try them out.The wireless exposure option will keep me inside on those cold Ontario nights, and away from the voracious mosquitoes in the summer.What I found to be incredible was your answer to my question about corrosion in the cameras, I am amazed that only a couple of screws showed signs of corrosion after the conditions these cameras are exposed to.You could teach those automobile manufacturers a thing or two!I have kept the MCHP outside for 7 years, and the VSS for 5 years, they have never been inside since their purchase, think about that, from torrential downpours and high humidity to -32 C just under a simple scope cover.The fact they perform every time I turn them on is amazing, but not only do they work, they work flawlessly.I know many people leave them outside, but usually in a dome or observatory, but under a basic canvas cover, very impressive indeed.Your product and your service as usual is second to none.
Thanks again,
Rick and Julie
P.S. your Booth at the Astrocats show in Oakville was the best!
*************************************************************************************
Sept. 10, 2012
Hi Rock,
Just wanted to let you know that thanks to you, I saw something spectacular last evening. On page 58 of the October 2012 issue of Sky & Telescope in the "Deep Sky Wonders" column, there is a picture of galaxy PGC187663 and planetary nebula Abell 70. The planetary is magnitude 14.5, and the galaxy magnitude 16. The galaxy is positioned nearly tangent to the edge the planetary giving it the nickname "Diamond Ring". I was able to see both objects using my VSS+ and CPC 1100. They were actually fairly easy! Even the planetary's central star was visible. I was so impressed that I called my wife to come and look after showing her the picture in S&T and trying to explain exactly how faint those objects really are.
I guess I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I'm totally blown away every time I use my MallinCam!
Thanks,
Don Gallian , USA
*************************************************************************************
Sept. 16, 2012
Hi Rock:
Donna and I were at Ecvar 2012 this year and got to watch Jack and Jim experimenting with the new Universe on Jims 12 inch. I was totally impressed. The camera and cooler is large compared to my MCHP, but the idea to be able to hook up with just a USB was so cool. They took some shots of M51, M17, and The "Pillers of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula. What surprised me most was first the wide field, second the short integration. I honestly think I could put that camera on my Alt / Az mount on my CPC and have no problems. The control to take out amp glow was perfect, and the ability to stack automatically was great. You Sir, have struck gold with this one...Gar
Gary Shannon, USA
*************************************************************************************
May 29 2012
P.S. I'm totally blown away every time I use my MallinCam. I've seen things I would never have bothered looking for in the past. And things I have seen before, I'm seeing in a whole new way.
Don, USA
*************************************************************************************
July 6, 2010
Dear Rock,
I’ve been an amateur astronomer for 35 years. Like many of us, I’ve purchased literally hundreds of astronomical items - telescopes, mountings, eyepieces, and other accessories - during that time. Some of them have been great, others not so great. However, only four of those items have had a major impact on amateur astronomy for me. Number one would be my first telescope. It was an Edmund 6” f/8 Newtonian reflector on a German equatorial mount. Once I figured out how to locate Saturn and the Moon in the telescope I was hooked! Second was my first GOTO telescope, a 10” Meade LX-200. Living only 10 miles from downtown Chicago, essentially no deep sky objects are visible. So, on those occasions when I did get to a dark site, I didn’t want to waste time looking FOR objects, I wanted to look AT them! Next, is my observatory. We now live about 60 miles south of Chicago. My skies are not really dark, but compared to my previous location it’s like Heaven! Once we were settled, one of my first projects was having an observatory built. Mount Jennings Observatory is a 10’ square roll-off constructed by Backyard Observatories. Since the observatory was built, I’ve observed more than I ever did before. Finally, my Mallincam VSS+ has changed amateur astronomy for me, perhaps more profoundly than any other item. Why? Because it actually accomplishes what I’ve been trying to achieve with all the other things – seeing objects better. I’ve looked through scores of telescopes ranging from 2” to 36” and generally the larger the scope, the more you see. But bigger scopes are more expensive, difficult to transport, time consuming to set up, and require higher-level skills to use effectively. With the Mallincam, my Celestron CPC 1100 has already shown me deep-sky objects better than I’ve ever seen through an eyepiece no matter how large the aperture. Plus, they’re in color! Rock, you have truly done amateur astronomers a service by making the Mallincam available. I couldn’t be happier with mine!
Don Gallian (Digital Don)
P.S. I did my first broadcast on Night Skies Network this evening. NSN is a great resource for anyone with a Mallincam! Even though I never actually even saw a Mallincam before last week, watching the NSN guys made me feel like a 'pro' when mine arrived!
*************************************************************************************
Finally got to give it a good try. Used the 80mm and went wide field for 6hrs last night. Man I love that thing, it performed flawlessly, and fov was amazing. I had more than enough room for the triplet and many wide shots with more than 6 galaxies, m81 and m82 in one shot, the pinwheel and others just amazing. Got my setup fine tuned again from astro-day and gotos were centered all night. Went to mag15 at 56 seconds, could go deeper with a VSS and 112 seconds. Was at it till 3:30 am, good thing I was off today! I really want to take the time to thank you for making my astronomy hobby way more enjoyable and easy to see objects that I would not see with a scope 4 times bigger, I can go to arp galaxies with a 3" scope! With my poor vision (blind in one eye and the other very weak) you have made it easy to see detail in DSO's
Thank you very much,
Rick Kelland
*************************************************************************************
Hi Rock,
I really appreciate all the work you did on the camera, but I appreciate best of all the speed at which you made the upgrade. Now I won't have to be without my MallinCam for very long! I would like to thank you for making such a fine product.Your video camera has been a blessing for us folks who have aging eyesight and more difficulty seeing though an eyepiece. The MallinCam enables people like me the ability to see details that might otherwise go unseen. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Carol Green
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma,
USA
*************************************************************************************
Hello,
I ordered a MallinCam Hyper PLUS Color through Jack H. and received it Saturday after a relatively short wait. I just wanted to say WOW! The camera delivers, and delivers well. I was able to see dust lanes in M51 through my 150mm telescope from my suburban Los Angeles area backyard where visually I am barely able to see the galaxy core. And this with default settings, as I have not yet tried the many possible tweaks to improve performance. In just the first two hours I was able to see many objects I have never been able to see from my backyard with detail that I have never seen even from a dark location.
So I just wanted to say thanks for the great product and all your hard work to get it produced for delivery so quickly. It is going to totally transform my astronomy experience for the better.
Sincerely,
Brendan Fisher
Altadena, California, USA
*************************************************************************************
An emotional moment for me
Last night - who'd have thought that there could be so many clear nights on the Wet Coast? - I looked again at M82 and compared with the view in a 20mm Nagler in my 16"f5 Newtonian. There was actually more detail on the monitor than I could see with the eye. This was at X4 integration.
The big surprise was M81. The night was clear and transparency good, though seeing was so-so. When I was struggling to get the stiff scope to point to M82, M81 kept appearing on the monitor. A boring smudge, just like in the eyepiece. I eventually decided to play around with integration. At X128 I was amazed to see big spiral arms faintly in the field. WoW! I turned on the TEC and flipped the Hyper switch to 7. Hold the PRESS! Huge spiral arms extending outside the field of view, with clots of light and dark indicating dust clouds and lanes. Not Hubble quality, but heck, I'm in a city here, with my own scope, seeing something I had no idea that I could ever see with my own scope.
Why didn't someone tell me this camera was really good? Well, I suppose they did... Imagine the wonder on my 85 year old mother's face when she saw that puppy on the screen! :)
This gives me ideas for my own observing future. I like finding things by starhopping; I like letting those galactic photons soak into my brain. But here is a new sense of wonder - catch the photons that are too faint to register on my aging eyes and see new marvels in the night sky.
Mike Hoskinson
- a believer.
*************************************************************************************
Elusive Moons
On Thu night I went to the RASC Observatory here in Edmonton (AB) to see the comet Holmes through larger telescopes than mine. I did take a good look at the comet of course, but then I switched to a different type of target: the moons of Uranus and Neptune. The outer planets (let alone their moons) are rarely imaged by planetary astrophotographers: their disks are too small (3.6" Uranus and 2.8" Neptune) to show any detail and their moons too faint (< 13 mag) to be captured by a webcam or a firewire camera. I thought that in this case a more sensitive camera like the MallinCam could be useful. This turned out to be a serious test for the MallinCam: being able to show objects fainter than magnitude 13 (Triton 13.5, Uranus moons about 16.5), in close proximity to a much brighter object (Uranus 5.5, Neptune 7.8), under a sky as light polluted as you can imagine (Hunter's Moon high in the sky, -12.93 mag!), with the target low on the horizon (Uranus 30 degrees, Neptune 15).
The Neptune/Triton pair showed up very visible on the screen of my laptop at 7sec integration. After fiddling around with the camera controls to get the best possible image, I moved to Uranus. Uranus was higher in the sky by about 15 deg, but its moons are fainter than Triton. Uranus and two of its moons, one very close to the planet, were again clearly visible at 7sec. I can't seem to be able to figure out which of the five moons showed up on the screen. I checked both Starry Night and the Sky&Telescope's Moons of Uranus utility (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/3310476.html) and they give different arrangements for the moons. Any ideas?
Anyway, if you are interested check here:http://www.cosmicjourney.net/SolarSystem.html and scroll past the image of Mars.
Cheers!
Massimo Torri
*************************************************************************************
Mallincam Outreach Report
The Toronto Centre of the RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) hosted two different parties at our observatory this past weekend. On Friday night we have a group of Boy Scouts and their parents, and on Saturday night we had ~25 people that are enrolled in the Toronto's Centre's NOVA program (New Observers to Visual Astronomy). This was the first time that we used the Mallincam Colour Hyper to enhance our outreach program, and it was a big success.
I brought up a Dell 20" wide screen LCD computer monitor for the display, we were planning to buy a 32" LCD monitor/TV but a few people involved with the project wanted to try one first to see how it would look and function in cold weather, since my computer monitor has video inputs I thought that it would be a good trial.
The Mallincam was hooked up to a Televue NP101 piggy backing on a C-14 on a Paramount. The C-14 was used for visual. With the right eyepiece ( for the life of me I can't remember what size it was!) the FOV was very similar between the image on the monitor and what was in the eyepiece.
A few of our targets for the two nights were M31, M27, M13, M57, Comet Holmes, Alberio, and requests. The President of our club who was hosting just loved to being able point to the monitor while talking about what we were looking at. Most of the visitors couldn't believe that it was a "live" image and a couple of times I shut the camera off just to prove it to them. All of our visitors enjoyed themselves and thanked us for a great evening.
Our Club's President and myself felt that the Mallincam added so much to our presentation and are looking forward to using it again.
A few comments about the LCD monitor, I knew going into this that the resolution wouldn't be that hot for Mallincam, but standing about a yard or more from the screen it looked not bad at all, and on the second night I played with the display size on the monitors menu and shrunk the display to about a 8" square screen and it looked pretty good.
Some of the things we are thinking about in improving the video experience is to split the video signal of the mallincam and have another monitor in the observatory and even another one in the control room for the scope. Also were are going to try a video card in the scopes controlling computer and open a window with the live image so that we can show both the Sky planetary software (it controls the paramount) and the mallincam image at the same time, on the computer monitor in the control room, and maybe even running a parallel monitor in the observatory with a blue tooth keyboard and mouse so that the scope can be controlled in the observatory by one person while they are doing the presentation.
I am suggesting that we might want to upgrade that camera to a Hyper Plus and wireless control for the future.
Cheers
Chas
RASC Toronto Centre
*************************************************************************************
NGC 253 as never before!
While NGC 253 has always been one of my favorite observing targets, my most recent views (with 28" f/3.6 and MallinCam Hyper Color camera) have taken it to #1 on my list...at least for the moment!
I spent years teasing out the 'mottling' and faint details at the eyepiece, never realizing just how much I was NOT seeing.
Since this past new moon, I've been trying to find an image online or in a book that shows what was seen on my video monitor...without success. None of the images I've been able to find really does it justice. The closest I've found is this: http://www.astrocruise.com/n253.htm
With MallinCam at only a 7-second iteration there is so much visual information you can (and I did) literally spend nearly two hours drinking in the detail and still not get it all!
Being able to use both eyes on the monitor gives the galaxy a sense of depth. You can actually (and easily) see the star clouds rising above the galactic plane ! In some areas it almost looks like the huge clouds are casting shadows behind them from the illumination from the core. The nucleus is a pale yellow, banded and cris-crossed by dust lanes and clouds. Other large, dark clouds (that give that 'mottling' effect at the eyepiece) are revealed for what they are! "Jets" of dark material are visble coming out perpendicular to the galactic plane.
It is more glorious than I ever imagined!
Mike
*************************************************************************************
Hi,
Have posted a new image of M1 in both my galleries ("Astroimaging by Tom O" and "Astroimaging and Stacking by TomO"). I really like the subtle colors that came through, even with the single exposure.
My website also now has a MallinCam gallery of all my images at: http://www.equatorialplatforms.com/mallincam.imaging.with.a.platform.html The large thumbnails, all on one page, make for easy selection.
The MallinCam Color Camera is really becoming a hit with my customers. Seems like more and more people are ordering Platforms for use with their MCHP camera. I am hoping the MallinCam gallery on my website will give people a good idea of what they can expect with this wonderful camera when used with their dob on a Platform. Deep sky color imaging made easy. Thank you Rock!
Tom Osypowski
Equatorial Platforms
www.equatorialplatforms.com
*************************************************************************************
Going where (almost) NO One has gone before!
This past weekend I attended the Central Florida Astronomical Association's AstroFest at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve...a fairly dark site...certainly the darkest site I've yet used my Mallican Hyper Color Plus and 28" f/3.6 Starstructure.
During the course of Saturday night, my neighbor was observing M-59, NGC-4638, M-60 and NGC-4647 all in the same field of view with her 16". I took a look at was "reminded" that M-60/NGC-4647 is listed in the Arp catalog as an interactive pair. For some reason I don't remember ever observing them through a large scope...certainly not with a MCHP!
At a 28-second iteration, the spiral structure of 4647 was obvious with much detail within and between the arms. Along with several other observers we remarked at how obviously the arms nearest to M-60 were being perturbed and how dark clouds of gas/dust (?) were being drawn out from the nucleus towards the larger Elliptical galaxy. It was also noted that the OPPOSITE side of NGC-4647 seemed distended with a huge absorption area between the nucleus and the first arm, and that the outer arm on that side was 'stretched and bent' towards M-59! While this last observation may be simply a coincidence, it is
certainly interesting!
We were all so intrigued by the observation that I looked up some images in the Arp Catalogue, several other publications and online. It was then that I discovered that NO ONE had an image that even came CLOSE to matching what we were seeing...not even Kitt Peak with the 2.1 Meter scope! I found an amateur image (60 mins. with a cooled camera and a Takahashi TOA 130) that at least showed some of the spiral structure in 4647..but not much.
This is a door I was HOPING to pass through with the MCHP. The opportunity to do some deep sky observational work that no one else was, evidently, doing. The Big Boys and the HST can only observe a miniscule portion of the thousands/millions of objects. There are (literally) New Worlds 'out there' to discover.
Another grateful "Thank You" to Rock Mallin!
Mike Harvey
*************************************************************************************
Let me say that as a customer and consumer in general that I have never, ever been more pleased with the quality of my purchase, or the unparallelled customer service. Few people are so fortunate as to marry their passion to their profession. Clearly you are so blessed, and all of your customers are beneficiares of your passion. I am a grade above novice and am thoroughly enjoying your superb instrument. Thanks for the response and for my continuing education via yours and others posts.
Tom A Wilson JR
*************************************************************************************
Rock,
While over past 6 months I have only had a few opportunities to really test my MallinCam Pro Dob, those opportunities have resulted in some fabulous hours of both viewing and imaging. I own a 15 inch Obsession dob and even though I use a ServoCat tracking, I have been told for years that alt-az dobs could not ever be expected to generate quality astrophotographs field rotation, inadequate tracking for long term exposures, etc. But my first time out with my new MallinCam proved those doubters wrong at least in my mind.
Not only has imaging become possible (with a level of quality I never dreamed of) but observing has improved so much that you would think I had doubled the diameter of my mirror. I am seeing magnitudes I have only read about until now. Imagine my utter astonishment when I looked into my monitor and saw the Horsehead Nebula as plain as day and from mediocre night of seeing. Orion has become an absolute wonderland of vistas right there on my monitor. And the faint galaxies. This camera is simply amazing!
While I have a lot to learn and a long way to go with astro imaging, the MallinCam has opened new doors for me. And Rock, my recent upgrade to an Ultra has shown me that the customer always comes first with you which is an increasing rarity in the business world today. Thank you ever so much for broadening my horizons.
Sincerely,
Robert R
*************************************************************************************
Hi Rock
Here is a small rundown of my observations with the new settings on the MallinCam Pro-Dob :))
The most beautifull object was the Eagle Nebula (M16)......I felt like I was at the controls of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was that detailed !!!!...I could even see directly on the monitor, the star light that light up the top of the pillars of creation with structure in the entire eagle shape.....Fantastic !!!!!!....Completly blew me away !!!!...no image processing at all...this was live !!!!
Globular clusters (M13, M92, M15) fill the screen with screaming stars....and soooo many of them
M17 (Swan nebula) and M27 (Dumbell neb) were so bright that I had to lower the contrast on the monitor!!!!.....Gorgeous structure and details galore !!!
M17 almost filled the monitor and M27 was 1/3 the size of the screen and I was using the focal reducer all the time to bring my scope down to F3.5
M57 showed easilly both central stars and some faint ones in the ring... the seeing was shitty :))
Vega looked like a Quasar !!!! It was so bright that I also had to lower the gain of the camera to remove it' s glare...What a beacon :)))
M51 showed 4 spiral arms and the bridge connecting the two galaxies was easilly seen....That sucker filled the screen!!!
M31 was sooo big, the bulge filled 1/3 of the screen. The bulge was so big it looked like an elliptical galaxy :)) By scanning around, you could see the division in the spiral arms
M33 was so big that I could only see the centre and 1/3 of it' s circumference on the screenM81 and M82 were quite bright but M82 showed HII regions that were a treat to the eye
This camera is awsome on my 20" Obsession and the platform tracking was better than anticipated. There is sooo much more to look at :))))
Thank you for the suggestion with the proper settings !!!! Boy did I enjoyed my Saturday night !!!!!!! I' m like a kid in a candy store !! :)))
Sincerely
Pierre Tournay
uV. Electronics Inc
*************************************************************************************
Saturday night I tried out the Mallincam. Unbelievable the things that I saw with it. I saw things that I never knew existed. It was amazing to see these objects, while there was a full moon out. This had to be the best astronomy session that I ever had. My mouth is still hanging open.
Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
All the best.
Clear skie
Mark Narwa
*************************************************************************************
After observing with the Mallin*Cam II, I had no hesitation in purchasing a Mallin*Cam Pro video camera. I have used both of these cameras as observing systems extensively, and they produce exquisite images live on a high resolution (800 line) monitor, with a homogeneous black sky background and no sign of amplifier glow. Using an f3.3 focal reducer, the sensitivity of the Mallin*Cam Pro is superb. I have used it both under dark skies with my 8" SCT (native f10), and under light-polluted downtown skies with my remotely controlled 10" SCT (native f10), and I am impressed by the results.
From my downtown backyard, optical observations of deep-sky objects are frustratingly difficult. However, with the Mallin*Cam Pro I can easily see the spiral structure of M51, the detailed concentric structure of the Eskimo/Clown planetary nebula, and the incredible stellar resolution of globular clusters such as M13, M15, M3 etc. Detailed deep-sky observations of galaxies and nebulae of all kinds that I thought I could never observe are now well within my reach, even downtown.
However, nothing can beat a truly dark sky. My mobile telescope is an 8" SCT. Equipped with the Mallin*Cam Pro, classical deep-sky objects such as M8 (Lagoon), M16 (Eagle), M17, (Omega), M20 (Trifid), and M42 (Orion), observed live on the high resolution monitor, are as clear and as detailed as published, professional images. The details of galaxies such as NGC 253 (Great Sculptor) are simply amazing. I have even seen the notoriously difficult Horsehead Nebula (NGC 434), live on screen. Galactic details brought out in live images by the Mallin*Cam Pro range from the dust lanes of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) to resolving every member of the Perseus A galactic Cluster in a single field of view.
To be quite frank, much as I love to observe at the eyepiece, the Mallin*Cam Pro has totally changed my observing habits. Objects I would never have attempted to observe visually, either from my downtown location or my favourite dark-sky site, now reveal their detailed structure. I can well understand why you refer to it as an "observing system".
Congratulations on producing a fine contribution to amateur astronomy, under all sky conditions!
Simon Hanmer
Ottawa Ontario Canada
*************************************************************************************
I observe with a 14 inch discovery Dobsonian using a Johnsonian EQ platform. Last month I read everything I could about this camera, and after contacting Rock Mallin via e-mail and a nice 1 hour conversation with Jack Huercamp, I decided to take the plunge with purchasing the camera. I received the camera on Saturday, November 6th and went out to use it that night at my favorite viewing site in Joshua Tree National Park in California.
I also own a Stellacam II which I purchased last June. I probably have used the Stellacam II about 30 times.
My preliminary experience with the Mallincam Pro camera was very good. It was such a pleasure to get full sense up in only 2 seconds. This makes the camera so much easier to use with a dob and eq platform. The camera is very sensitive and I believe that it is at least as sensitive as the Stellacam II. However, the camera seemed to have an increased resolution nature about it. The Stellacam II needs to have the gain pushed to reach hi res. Not the Mallincam. So the images are less pixilated for the same results making images on the screen more contrasting and finer resolution. The Mallincam definitely seems to benefit from a higher quality chip and radiant cooling. While it was a cool night, I noticed that the outside cover of the Mallincam stayed very cool. This is different from the Stellacam, which gets pretty warm even on cold nights. The result is that the Mallincam images have virtually no hot pixels. I was imaging the core of the double cluster and one of my cohorts asked if those dots on the monitor where mostly hot pixels (as seen with the Stellacam II)? I had to explain that the new camera does not have the hot pixel problem…..those dots are stars! When Orion came up, I started to wander around the nebula. This is another interesting feature of the Mallincam. I was able to move the telescope around without waiting for a long refresh. So I could explore a quadrant with the camera installed in the scope. Nice feature!
The nights' seeing was mediocre. However, I was able to image on the screen, in real time, the Horsehead Nebula. It was faint but it was there. Not bad at all! Andromeda seemed to have less dark lane then the Stellacam. But with visual examination through the eyepiece, I think this was a result of poor seeing, not the camera.
The only thing I missed with the camera was the hand pendant that the Stellacam has. But then, I didn't miss having that pendant hanging around in the dark either. So it's about a wash there. I need to extensively explore the features in the camera. I will try to report more about the camera through the rest of the season. As it stands now I am selling my Stellacam II. If anyone is interested I can make you a good deal. Finally, don't get me wrong here, the Stellacam II is a great camera and is well suited for use with better tracking than I can achieve with my Dob/platform combo.
Paul Maag
Palm Spring California
*************************************************************************************
Due to the fact I was getting older and also wear glasses, I was having major difficulty with eye strain. The Mallin Cam has been nothing short of extraordinary. Watching the night views through a monitor instead of an eyepiece has cleared my eye strain and brought back the enjoyment of discovering the skies. The views are unbelievable and best of all I can share the views (real time) with family and visitors, l love to hear their oh's and ah's. I still remember with eyepieces, trying to show people what the skies were displaying and then having to go through the pain of refocusing after each visitor had to fine focus for their vision. I have a box that arrived from Meade of a set of eyepieces, I have not used one of them yet. I highly recommend this camera to anyone. I think it's time everyone gets a chance to see what the night sky really looks like. Thanks so much.
P.S. I will be upgrading in the very near future.
Jim Bilodeau
Carp, Ontario, Canada
Hi Rock and Jack,
I received my Micro EX with wired controller last month and I wanted to say thank you for producing a great little camera!
It has received a workout in our winter skies down here in Australia over the past few weeks. The views of 47Tuc, Omega Centauri and the Jewel Box have been amazing. I bought it for my son to play with but so far it has been all me.
I also have a MC Hyper Color which one day I want to upgrade to an Extreme, however it keeps on going well at the moment.
Keep up the good work producing top of the line gear.
Warm regards,
Craige Australia
NSW
December 23, 2013
Rock,
It has been a real privilege to work with you this past year. Your service, and enthusiasm, has made this the best year of my 20 years of astronomy which, by the way, I got into by force from my wife. What you and Jack have allowed me to do this year to open the sky to people who had no access has been priceless to me. And I can't thank you enough for the support. And thanks again for all the wisdom.
Jim O'Connor
South Rim Coordinator
Grand Canyon Star Party
*************************************************************************************
September 26, 2013
Dear Rock,
I recently bought a Mallincam Xtreme Color from Jack Huercamp and I want to thank you for designing and building this remarkable device. Please excuse this long e-mail. I seldom write these. The few times I've been so excited over technology are so rare that I can remember them vividly - my first Apple computer back in 1980; my Celestron C8 in 1985; the Tesla Model S; and now, the Mallincam! I am an old amateur astronomer who can trace his fascination with the stars ever since watching 2001, the original Star Trek and the Apollo space programme. I was still in elementary school when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. The next few weeks after that we all played astronauts recreating the mission - launch in the Saturn V; piloting the LEM, doing moonwalks! Those were fun times.
After a long 30-over year hiatus I came back to astronomy - my professional interest in software had led me to take part in citizen science projects like the Zooniverse and especially the Planet Hunters: I have scoured through Kepler transit photometry data, analyzed light curves and participated in the discovery of several dozen new exoplanets, eclipsing binaries, RR Lyrae and dwarf novae, resulting so far in 3 published papers in astrophysics. Last year I found a planet that orbited a binary star, with another binary orbiting this system, making a total of 4 stars to this planetary system. I would have called it Nightfall or Asimov, but of course they won't let you name these exoplanetary systems. It was the Kepler mission that brought me back to my roots, star gazing. Sure, hunting exoplanets in distant stars may be fun and exciting, but somehow it's different from experiencing it directly with my eyes. Maybe I ought to re-experience the old sensation of seeing real photons from the stars. Over this summer I learned about the tremendous changes in observational astronomy since the 1980s: better eyepieces, better telescopes, more aperture, more accurate mounts, digital astrophotography and how technology has transformed the hobby. But on top of all this, video astronomy caught my eye, they say it is the future of observational astronomy - and one name kept coming up: Mallincam.
I'll digress for a minute here and explain the reason why I'm now so interested in video astronomy. I have a son who is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. This means the rods in his retina are degenerating and he is effectively night-blind and one day he may lose his sight. He has not been able to see the stars for the last few years. I am going to see how I can change that and introduce him to a new world of seeing. So about a month ago I made the decision to get a Mallincam. I first bought a goto equatorial mount and an 80mm refractor (I had always wanted to upgrade to a 3 inch refractor) and spent a couple of weekends getting to grips with it. Then I went to your website at mallincam.tripod.com, which referred me to MallincamUSA.com to get on the waiting list. I sent an email and to my surprise Jack responded almost immediately that he had an Xtreme Color available. I sent my check and received the package the next week. It took several more weeks to get the rest of the gear together. I also bought a copy of Miloslick's excellent Mallincam Control software after a very helpful exchange with Bill Koperwhats on the right gear and cables to use.
Last Monday night was first light with my complete video astronomy set-up: Stellarvue SVR80ED on AVX mount; Orion flip mirror with 12mm reticle eyepiece, set to be parfocal with the Xtreme. It has a MFR-5 'B' piece and connected to the back of the Orion flip mirror. The RS-232 from the XT is connected via USB, as is the S-Video to an iGrabber A/D frame-grabber - and both USBs are hooked up to my Macbook Air running Miloslick software. I also had a SkyFi wireless control box hooked up to my mount's controller. Yep, a lot of wires and stuff everywhere... but to my great astonishment, and totally counter to my experience as an engineer, everything worked the first time. Being a little apprehensive of what a little 3-incher could do, I cautiously went through a few Messier objects, and since I'm not sure how good my tracking was, I used a short 15 second integration. M8, M20, M12 and even M57, a tiny but bright glowing ring, were all marvelously captured, with color apparent in the nebulae. But it was M27 that took my breath away. The colors of the nebula were so clear, so real that I spent several minutes awestruck at the sight. I took so long admiring the colors in M27 that it got pretty late. I decided to call it a night soon after and also I want to save more surprises for later. Besides, I still had to figure out how to do the various settings, filters and color balance etc. So many things to learn but I feel like a kid again with my first telescope! This weekend I hope to set things up and have Josh finally see the wonders of the night sky. First light for him. I am so happy that he will finally have that chance.
So in conclusion, much gratitude and appreciation for what you have created, Rock. Please keep on doing it and continue to bring change and joy to the lives of others. I want you to know this. It is the greatest gift that we can offer.
Clear skies and good S/N ratios always,
Kian Jek
*************************************************************************************
July 8 2013
The more I use the new camera (MallinCam Xtreme-X2-EX) the more I appreciate what it can do. It is an amazing camera and at F/3.3 has recently pulled out sharper detail of deep sky objects in 1 minute than the Sony Nex-7 has at F/6.3 in 10 minutes. I know that is an unfair comparison due to the faster F/Ratio on the Mallincam but the fact is that with my current setups capabilities I am seeing far more fine detail with the Mallincam.
J.W.New Zealand
*************************************************************************************
May 27, 2013
Hi Rock,
Thanks for the upgrades for my cameras!I am eager to try them out.The wireless exposure option will keep me inside on those cold Ontario nights, and away from the voracious mosquitoes in the summer.What I found to be incredible was your answer to my question about corrosion in the cameras, I am amazed that only a couple of screws showed signs of corrosion after the conditions these cameras are exposed to.You could teach those automobile manufacturers a thing or two!I have kept the MCHP outside for 7 years, and the VSS for 5 years, they have never been inside since their purchase, think about that, from torrential downpours and high humidity to -32 C just under a simple scope cover.The fact they perform every time I turn them on is amazing, but not only do they work, they work flawlessly.I know many people leave them outside, but usually in a dome or observatory, but under a basic canvas cover, very impressive indeed.Your product and your service as usual is second to none.
Thanks again,
Rick and Julie
P.S. your Booth at the Astrocats show in Oakville was the best!
*************************************************************************************
Sept. 10, 2012
Hi Rock,
Just wanted to let you know that thanks to you, I saw something spectacular last evening. On page 58 of the October 2012 issue of Sky & Telescope in the "Deep Sky Wonders" column, there is a picture of galaxy PGC187663 and planetary nebula Abell 70. The planetary is magnitude 14.5, and the galaxy magnitude 16. The galaxy is positioned nearly tangent to the edge the planetary giving it the nickname "Diamond Ring". I was able to see both objects using my VSS+ and CPC 1100. They were actually fairly easy! Even the planetary's central star was visible. I was so impressed that I called my wife to come and look after showing her the picture in S&T and trying to explain exactly how faint those objects really are.
I guess I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I'm totally blown away every time I use my MallinCam!
Thanks,
Don Gallian , USA
*************************************************************************************
Sept. 16, 2012
Hi Rock:
Donna and I were at Ecvar 2012 this year and got to watch Jack and Jim experimenting with the new Universe on Jims 12 inch. I was totally impressed. The camera and cooler is large compared to my MCHP, but the idea to be able to hook up with just a USB was so cool. They took some shots of M51, M17, and The "Pillers of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula. What surprised me most was first the wide field, second the short integration. I honestly think I could put that camera on my Alt / Az mount on my CPC and have no problems. The control to take out amp glow was perfect, and the ability to stack automatically was great. You Sir, have struck gold with this one...Gar
Gary Shannon, USA
*************************************************************************************
May 29 2012
P.S. I'm totally blown away every time I use my MallinCam. I've seen things I would never have bothered looking for in the past. And things I have seen before, I'm seeing in a whole new way.
Don, USA
*************************************************************************************
July 6, 2010
Dear Rock,
I’ve been an amateur astronomer for 35 years. Like many of us, I’ve purchased literally hundreds of astronomical items - telescopes, mountings, eyepieces, and other accessories - during that time. Some of them have been great, others not so great. However, only four of those items have had a major impact on amateur astronomy for me. Number one would be my first telescope. It was an Edmund 6” f/8 Newtonian reflector on a German equatorial mount. Once I figured out how to locate Saturn and the Moon in the telescope I was hooked! Second was my first GOTO telescope, a 10” Meade LX-200. Living only 10 miles from downtown Chicago, essentially no deep sky objects are visible. So, on those occasions when I did get to a dark site, I didn’t want to waste time looking FOR objects, I wanted to look AT them! Next, is my observatory. We now live about 60 miles south of Chicago. My skies are not really dark, but compared to my previous location it’s like Heaven! Once we were settled, one of my first projects was having an observatory built. Mount Jennings Observatory is a 10’ square roll-off constructed by Backyard Observatories. Since the observatory was built, I’ve observed more than I ever did before. Finally, my Mallincam VSS+ has changed amateur astronomy for me, perhaps more profoundly than any other item. Why? Because it actually accomplishes what I’ve been trying to achieve with all the other things – seeing objects better. I’ve looked through scores of telescopes ranging from 2” to 36” and generally the larger the scope, the more you see. But bigger scopes are more expensive, difficult to transport, time consuming to set up, and require higher-level skills to use effectively. With the Mallincam, my Celestron CPC 1100 has already shown me deep-sky objects better than I’ve ever seen through an eyepiece no matter how large the aperture. Plus, they’re in color! Rock, you have truly done amateur astronomers a service by making the Mallincam available. I couldn’t be happier with mine!
Don Gallian (Digital Don)
P.S. I did my first broadcast on Night Skies Network this evening. NSN is a great resource for anyone with a Mallincam! Even though I never actually even saw a Mallincam before last week, watching the NSN guys made me feel like a 'pro' when mine arrived!
*************************************************************************************
Finally got to give it a good try. Used the 80mm and went wide field for 6hrs last night. Man I love that thing, it performed flawlessly, and fov was amazing. I had more than enough room for the triplet and many wide shots with more than 6 galaxies, m81 and m82 in one shot, the pinwheel and others just amazing. Got my setup fine tuned again from astro-day and gotos were centered all night. Went to mag15 at 56 seconds, could go deeper with a VSS and 112 seconds. Was at it till 3:30 am, good thing I was off today! I really want to take the time to thank you for making my astronomy hobby way more enjoyable and easy to see objects that I would not see with a scope 4 times bigger, I can go to arp galaxies with a 3" scope! With my poor vision (blind in one eye and the other very weak) you have made it easy to see detail in DSO's
Thank you very much,
Rick Kelland
*************************************************************************************
Hi Rock,
I really appreciate all the work you did on the camera, but I appreciate best of all the speed at which you made the upgrade. Now I won't have to be without my MallinCam for very long! I would like to thank you for making such a fine product.Your video camera has been a blessing for us folks who have aging eyesight and more difficulty seeing though an eyepiece. The MallinCam enables people like me the ability to see details that might otherwise go unseen. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Carol Green
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma,
USA
*************************************************************************************
Hello,
I ordered a MallinCam Hyper PLUS Color through Jack H. and received it Saturday after a relatively short wait. I just wanted to say WOW! The camera delivers, and delivers well. I was able to see dust lanes in M51 through my 150mm telescope from my suburban Los Angeles area backyard where visually I am barely able to see the galaxy core. And this with default settings, as I have not yet tried the many possible tweaks to improve performance. In just the first two hours I was able to see many objects I have never been able to see from my backyard with detail that I have never seen even from a dark location.
So I just wanted to say thanks for the great product and all your hard work to get it produced for delivery so quickly. It is going to totally transform my astronomy experience for the better.
Sincerely,
Brendan Fisher
Altadena, California, USA
*************************************************************************************
An emotional moment for me
Last night - who'd have thought that there could be so many clear nights on the Wet Coast? - I looked again at M82 and compared with the view in a 20mm Nagler in my 16"f5 Newtonian. There was actually more detail on the monitor than I could see with the eye. This was at X4 integration.
The big surprise was M81. The night was clear and transparency good, though seeing was so-so. When I was struggling to get the stiff scope to point to M82, M81 kept appearing on the monitor. A boring smudge, just like in the eyepiece. I eventually decided to play around with integration. At X128 I was amazed to see big spiral arms faintly in the field. WoW! I turned on the TEC and flipped the Hyper switch to 7. Hold the PRESS! Huge spiral arms extending outside the field of view, with clots of light and dark indicating dust clouds and lanes. Not Hubble quality, but heck, I'm in a city here, with my own scope, seeing something I had no idea that I could ever see with my own scope.
Why didn't someone tell me this camera was really good? Well, I suppose they did... Imagine the wonder on my 85 year old mother's face when she saw that puppy on the screen! :)
This gives me ideas for my own observing future. I like finding things by starhopping; I like letting those galactic photons soak into my brain. But here is a new sense of wonder - catch the photons that are too faint to register on my aging eyes and see new marvels in the night sky.
Mike Hoskinson
- a believer.
*************************************************************************************
Elusive Moons
On Thu night I went to the RASC Observatory here in Edmonton (AB) to see the comet Holmes through larger telescopes than mine. I did take a good look at the comet of course, but then I switched to a different type of target: the moons of Uranus and Neptune. The outer planets (let alone their moons) are rarely imaged by planetary astrophotographers: their disks are too small (3.6" Uranus and 2.8" Neptune) to show any detail and their moons too faint (< 13 mag) to be captured by a webcam or a firewire camera. I thought that in this case a more sensitive camera like the MallinCam could be useful. This turned out to be a serious test for the MallinCam: being able to show objects fainter than magnitude 13 (Triton 13.5, Uranus moons about 16.5), in close proximity to a much brighter object (Uranus 5.5, Neptune 7.8), under a sky as light polluted as you can imagine (Hunter's Moon high in the sky, -12.93 mag!), with the target low on the horizon (Uranus 30 degrees, Neptune 15).
The Neptune/Triton pair showed up very visible on the screen of my laptop at 7sec integration. After fiddling around with the camera controls to get the best possible image, I moved to Uranus. Uranus was higher in the sky by about 15 deg, but its moons are fainter than Triton. Uranus and two of its moons, one very close to the planet, were again clearly visible at 7sec. I can't seem to be able to figure out which of the five moons showed up on the screen. I checked both Starry Night and the Sky&Telescope's Moons of Uranus utility (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/3310476.html) and they give different arrangements for the moons. Any ideas?
Anyway, if you are interested check here:http://www.cosmicjourney.net/SolarSystem.html and scroll past the image of Mars.
Cheers!
Massimo Torri
*************************************************************************************
Mallincam Outreach Report
The Toronto Centre of the RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) hosted two different parties at our observatory this past weekend. On Friday night we have a group of Boy Scouts and their parents, and on Saturday night we had ~25 people that are enrolled in the Toronto's Centre's NOVA program (New Observers to Visual Astronomy). This was the first time that we used the Mallincam Colour Hyper to enhance our outreach program, and it was a big success.
I brought up a Dell 20" wide screen LCD computer monitor for the display, we were planning to buy a 32" LCD monitor/TV but a few people involved with the project wanted to try one first to see how it would look and function in cold weather, since my computer monitor has video inputs I thought that it would be a good trial.
The Mallincam was hooked up to a Televue NP101 piggy backing on a C-14 on a Paramount. The C-14 was used for visual. With the right eyepiece ( for the life of me I can't remember what size it was!) the FOV was very similar between the image on the monitor and what was in the eyepiece.
A few of our targets for the two nights were M31, M27, M13, M57, Comet Holmes, Alberio, and requests. The President of our club who was hosting just loved to being able point to the monitor while talking about what we were looking at. Most of the visitors couldn't believe that it was a "live" image and a couple of times I shut the camera off just to prove it to them. All of our visitors enjoyed themselves and thanked us for a great evening.
Our Club's President and myself felt that the Mallincam added so much to our presentation and are looking forward to using it again.
A few comments about the LCD monitor, I knew going into this that the resolution wouldn't be that hot for Mallincam, but standing about a yard or more from the screen it looked not bad at all, and on the second night I played with the display size on the monitors menu and shrunk the display to about a 8" square screen and it looked pretty good.
Some of the things we are thinking about in improving the video experience is to split the video signal of the mallincam and have another monitor in the observatory and even another one in the control room for the scope. Also were are going to try a video card in the scopes controlling computer and open a window with the live image so that we can show both the Sky planetary software (it controls the paramount) and the mallincam image at the same time, on the computer monitor in the control room, and maybe even running a parallel monitor in the observatory with a blue tooth keyboard and mouse so that the scope can be controlled in the observatory by one person while they are doing the presentation.
I am suggesting that we might want to upgrade that camera to a Hyper Plus and wireless control for the future.
Cheers
Chas
RASC Toronto Centre
*************************************************************************************
NGC 253 as never before!
While NGC 253 has always been one of my favorite observing targets, my most recent views (with 28" f/3.6 and MallinCam Hyper Color camera) have taken it to #1 on my list...at least for the moment!
I spent years teasing out the 'mottling' and faint details at the eyepiece, never realizing just how much I was NOT seeing.
Since this past new moon, I've been trying to find an image online or in a book that shows what was seen on my video monitor...without success. None of the images I've been able to find really does it justice. The closest I've found is this: http://www.astrocruise.com/n253.htm
With MallinCam at only a 7-second iteration there is so much visual information you can (and I did) literally spend nearly two hours drinking in the detail and still not get it all!
Being able to use both eyes on the monitor gives the galaxy a sense of depth. You can actually (and easily) see the star clouds rising above the galactic plane ! In some areas it almost looks like the huge clouds are casting shadows behind them from the illumination from the core. The nucleus is a pale yellow, banded and cris-crossed by dust lanes and clouds. Other large, dark clouds (that give that 'mottling' effect at the eyepiece) are revealed for what they are! "Jets" of dark material are visble coming out perpendicular to the galactic plane.
It is more glorious than I ever imagined!
Mike
*************************************************************************************
Hi,
Have posted a new image of M1 in both my galleries ("Astroimaging by Tom O" and "Astroimaging and Stacking by TomO"). I really like the subtle colors that came through, even with the single exposure.
My website also now has a MallinCam gallery of all my images at: http://www.equatorialplatforms.com/mallincam.imaging.with.a.platform.html The large thumbnails, all on one page, make for easy selection.
The MallinCam Color Camera is really becoming a hit with my customers. Seems like more and more people are ordering Platforms for use with their MCHP camera. I am hoping the MallinCam gallery on my website will give people a good idea of what they can expect with this wonderful camera when used with their dob on a Platform. Deep sky color imaging made easy. Thank you Rock!
Tom Osypowski
Equatorial Platforms
www.equatorialplatforms.com
*************************************************************************************
Going where (almost) NO One has gone before!
This past weekend I attended the Central Florida Astronomical Association's AstroFest at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve...a fairly dark site...certainly the darkest site I've yet used my Mallican Hyper Color Plus and 28" f/3.6 Starstructure.
During the course of Saturday night, my neighbor was observing M-59, NGC-4638, M-60 and NGC-4647 all in the same field of view with her 16". I took a look at was "reminded" that M-60/NGC-4647 is listed in the Arp catalog as an interactive pair. For some reason I don't remember ever observing them through a large scope...certainly not with a MCHP!
At a 28-second iteration, the spiral structure of 4647 was obvious with much detail within and between the arms. Along with several other observers we remarked at how obviously the arms nearest to M-60 were being perturbed and how dark clouds of gas/dust (?) were being drawn out from the nucleus towards the larger Elliptical galaxy. It was also noted that the OPPOSITE side of NGC-4647 seemed distended with a huge absorption area between the nucleus and the first arm, and that the outer arm on that side was 'stretched and bent' towards M-59! While this last observation may be simply a coincidence, it is
certainly interesting!
We were all so intrigued by the observation that I looked up some images in the Arp Catalogue, several other publications and online. It was then that I discovered that NO ONE had an image that even came CLOSE to matching what we were seeing...not even Kitt Peak with the 2.1 Meter scope! I found an amateur image (60 mins. with a cooled camera and a Takahashi TOA 130) that at least showed some of the spiral structure in 4647..but not much.
This is a door I was HOPING to pass through with the MCHP. The opportunity to do some deep sky observational work that no one else was, evidently, doing. The Big Boys and the HST can only observe a miniscule portion of the thousands/millions of objects. There are (literally) New Worlds 'out there' to discover.
Another grateful "Thank You" to Rock Mallin!
Mike Harvey
*************************************************************************************
Let me say that as a customer and consumer in general that I have never, ever been more pleased with the quality of my purchase, or the unparallelled customer service. Few people are so fortunate as to marry their passion to their profession. Clearly you are so blessed, and all of your customers are beneficiares of your passion. I am a grade above novice and am thoroughly enjoying your superb instrument. Thanks for the response and for my continuing education via yours and others posts.
Tom A Wilson JR
*************************************************************************************
Rock,
While over past 6 months I have only had a few opportunities to really test my MallinCam Pro Dob, those opportunities have resulted in some fabulous hours of both viewing and imaging. I own a 15 inch Obsession dob and even though I use a ServoCat tracking, I have been told for years that alt-az dobs could not ever be expected to generate quality astrophotographs field rotation, inadequate tracking for long term exposures, etc. But my first time out with my new MallinCam proved those doubters wrong at least in my mind.
Not only has imaging become possible (with a level of quality I never dreamed of) but observing has improved so much that you would think I had doubled the diameter of my mirror. I am seeing magnitudes I have only read about until now. Imagine my utter astonishment when I looked into my monitor and saw the Horsehead Nebula as plain as day and from mediocre night of seeing. Orion has become an absolute wonderland of vistas right there on my monitor. And the faint galaxies. This camera is simply amazing!
While I have a lot to learn and a long way to go with astro imaging, the MallinCam has opened new doors for me. And Rock, my recent upgrade to an Ultra has shown me that the customer always comes first with you which is an increasing rarity in the business world today. Thank you ever so much for broadening my horizons.
Sincerely,
Robert R
*************************************************************************************
Hi Rock
Here is a small rundown of my observations with the new settings on the MallinCam Pro-Dob :))
The most beautifull object was the Eagle Nebula (M16)......I felt like I was at the controls of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was that detailed !!!!...I could even see directly on the monitor, the star light that light up the top of the pillars of creation with structure in the entire eagle shape.....Fantastic !!!!!!....Completly blew me away !!!!...no image processing at all...this was live !!!!
Globular clusters (M13, M92, M15) fill the screen with screaming stars....and soooo many of them
M17 (Swan nebula) and M27 (Dumbell neb) were so bright that I had to lower the contrast on the monitor!!!!.....Gorgeous structure and details galore !!!
M17 almost filled the monitor and M27 was 1/3 the size of the screen and I was using the focal reducer all the time to bring my scope down to F3.5
M57 showed easilly both central stars and some faint ones in the ring... the seeing was shitty :))
Vega looked like a Quasar !!!! It was so bright that I also had to lower the gain of the camera to remove it' s glare...What a beacon :)))
M51 showed 4 spiral arms and the bridge connecting the two galaxies was easilly seen....That sucker filled the screen!!!
M31 was sooo big, the bulge filled 1/3 of the screen. The bulge was so big it looked like an elliptical galaxy :)) By scanning around, you could see the division in the spiral arms
M33 was so big that I could only see the centre and 1/3 of it' s circumference on the screenM81 and M82 were quite bright but M82 showed HII regions that were a treat to the eye
This camera is awsome on my 20" Obsession and the platform tracking was better than anticipated. There is sooo much more to look at :))))
Thank you for the suggestion with the proper settings !!!! Boy did I enjoyed my Saturday night !!!!!!! I' m like a kid in a candy store !! :)))
Sincerely
Pierre Tournay
uV. Electronics Inc
*************************************************************************************
Saturday night I tried out the Mallincam. Unbelievable the things that I saw with it. I saw things that I never knew existed. It was amazing to see these objects, while there was a full moon out. This had to be the best astronomy session that I ever had. My mouth is still hanging open.
Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
All the best.
Clear skie
Mark Narwa
*************************************************************************************
After observing with the Mallin*Cam II, I had no hesitation in purchasing a Mallin*Cam Pro video camera. I have used both of these cameras as observing systems extensively, and they produce exquisite images live on a high resolution (800 line) monitor, with a homogeneous black sky background and no sign of amplifier glow. Using an f3.3 focal reducer, the sensitivity of the Mallin*Cam Pro is superb. I have used it both under dark skies with my 8" SCT (native f10), and under light-polluted downtown skies with my remotely controlled 10" SCT (native f10), and I am impressed by the results.
From my downtown backyard, optical observations of deep-sky objects are frustratingly difficult. However, with the Mallin*Cam Pro I can easily see the spiral structure of M51, the detailed concentric structure of the Eskimo/Clown planetary nebula, and the incredible stellar resolution of globular clusters such as M13, M15, M3 etc. Detailed deep-sky observations of galaxies and nebulae of all kinds that I thought I could never observe are now well within my reach, even downtown.
However, nothing can beat a truly dark sky. My mobile telescope is an 8" SCT. Equipped with the Mallin*Cam Pro, classical deep-sky objects such as M8 (Lagoon), M16 (Eagle), M17, (Omega), M20 (Trifid), and M42 (Orion), observed live on the high resolution monitor, are as clear and as detailed as published, professional images. The details of galaxies such as NGC 253 (Great Sculptor) are simply amazing. I have even seen the notoriously difficult Horsehead Nebula (NGC 434), live on screen. Galactic details brought out in live images by the Mallin*Cam Pro range from the dust lanes of M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) to resolving every member of the Perseus A galactic Cluster in a single field of view.
To be quite frank, much as I love to observe at the eyepiece, the Mallin*Cam Pro has totally changed my observing habits. Objects I would never have attempted to observe visually, either from my downtown location or my favourite dark-sky site, now reveal their detailed structure. I can well understand why you refer to it as an "observing system".
Congratulations on producing a fine contribution to amateur astronomy, under all sky conditions!
Simon Hanmer
Ottawa Ontario Canada
*************************************************************************************
I observe with a 14 inch discovery Dobsonian using a Johnsonian EQ platform. Last month I read everything I could about this camera, and after contacting Rock Mallin via e-mail and a nice 1 hour conversation with Jack Huercamp, I decided to take the plunge with purchasing the camera. I received the camera on Saturday, November 6th and went out to use it that night at my favorite viewing site in Joshua Tree National Park in California.
I also own a Stellacam II which I purchased last June. I probably have used the Stellacam II about 30 times.
My preliminary experience with the Mallincam Pro camera was very good. It was such a pleasure to get full sense up in only 2 seconds. This makes the camera so much easier to use with a dob and eq platform. The camera is very sensitive and I believe that it is at least as sensitive as the Stellacam II. However, the camera seemed to have an increased resolution nature about it. The Stellacam II needs to have the gain pushed to reach hi res. Not the Mallincam. So the images are less pixilated for the same results making images on the screen more contrasting and finer resolution. The Mallincam definitely seems to benefit from a higher quality chip and radiant cooling. While it was a cool night, I noticed that the outside cover of the Mallincam stayed very cool. This is different from the Stellacam, which gets pretty warm even on cold nights. The result is that the Mallincam images have virtually no hot pixels. I was imaging the core of the double cluster and one of my cohorts asked if those dots on the monitor where mostly hot pixels (as seen with the Stellacam II)? I had to explain that the new camera does not have the hot pixel problem…..those dots are stars! When Orion came up, I started to wander around the nebula. This is another interesting feature of the Mallincam. I was able to move the telescope around without waiting for a long refresh. So I could explore a quadrant with the camera installed in the scope. Nice feature!
The nights' seeing was mediocre. However, I was able to image on the screen, in real time, the Horsehead Nebula. It was faint but it was there. Not bad at all! Andromeda seemed to have less dark lane then the Stellacam. But with visual examination through the eyepiece, I think this was a result of poor seeing, not the camera.
The only thing I missed with the camera was the hand pendant that the Stellacam has. But then, I didn't miss having that pendant hanging around in the dark either. So it's about a wash there. I need to extensively explore the features in the camera. I will try to report more about the camera through the rest of the season. As it stands now I am selling my Stellacam II. If anyone is interested I can make you a good deal. Finally, don't get me wrong here, the Stellacam II is a great camera and is well suited for use with better tracking than I can achieve with my Dob/platform combo.
Paul Maag
Palm Spring California
*************************************************************************************
Due to the fact I was getting older and also wear glasses, I was having major difficulty with eye strain. The Mallin Cam has been nothing short of extraordinary. Watching the night views through a monitor instead of an eyepiece has cleared my eye strain and brought back the enjoyment of discovering the skies. The views are unbelievable and best of all I can share the views (real time) with family and visitors, l love to hear their oh's and ah's. I still remember with eyepieces, trying to show people what the skies were displaying and then having to go through the pain of refocusing after each visitor had to fine focus for their vision. I have a box that arrived from Meade of a set of eyepieces, I have not used one of them yet. I highly recommend this camera to anyone. I think it's time everyone gets a chance to see what the night sky really looks like. Thanks so much.
P.S. I will be upgrading in the very near future.
Jim Bilodeau
Carp, Ontario, Canada