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CCDCalc - A Visual Calculator for Matching Telescope and Camera
Above: Screen shot of CCD Calculator. Click image for full-size version.
This is a freeware version of a Visual Basic program I developed for my book. The program has lists of telescopes and cameras that allow you to pick a combination and evaluate its performance. The left side (above) allows you to pick equipment from lists, or to customize the equipment parameters (focal ratio, Barlow/reducer, pixel size, bin mode, etc.). The left side also displays the image scale, field of view, and other useful information. The right side of the program shows the field of view of the camera/telescope combination. This gives you instant visual feedback on the usefulness of your selections.
The freeware version has more features than the popular web CCD Calculator found on my personal web site. This freeware version omits some convenience feature of the full (comes with my book) version. It retains all of the feature you need to make useful comparisons with different setups. You can use the program to learn about image scale and to assist you in deciding what cameras will work well with a given telescope.
Note to international users: If your regional settings specify a comma
for the decimal symbol, you will have to change it to a period to use the CCD Calculator.
I am currently working to find a fix for this limitation.
the free CCD Calculator program (3.3MB) [version 1.22]
To install:
- Download the ZIP file using the above link
- Unzip to an empty folder
- Run SETUP.EXE
- Follow the on-screen instructions
Note: You may use (and distribute) the freeware version as you wish. I am releasing it with no strings attached.