TargetTalk

Some of the astronomy people are using CCD pickups at the eyepiece of telescopes so the image can be transferred to a TV screen. This got me thinking about a similar setup on a spotting scope for the FP range. I know there are commercial target systems that function this way, but afaik there are no affordable, portable units(?). If a small CCD head can be found and made to work with a 2" to 3" hand-held TV with LCD screen, a spotting scope could provide a full time display of the target. Have any of you traveled this path before? Any info would be much appreciated.

Here's a link to one of the telescope CCDs so you can see what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, this one is a bit large and may not work over a fixed spotting scope eyepiece.
http://tinyurl.com/wzu7

I shot bullseye with a guy who tried to use his camcorder as a spotting scope. He set up a small tripod, zoomed in on the target and rotated the LCD screen so he coudl see it. It worked well until we got to centerfire, then the concussion caused it to shut down. I don't think it was damaged, but it was definitely too much for the cheap electronics. I doubt it would be a problem for 22 and airguns.

Modifying a digital still camera to fit over the spotting scope eyepiece might work, too. The camera's lens assembly may have to be removed, and shut-off timer disabled. Could be the answer.

What about a webcam? Cheap, small and light. Hook it up to your laptop and you might have a nice view. Or . . . put the webcam on a tri-pod or some other attachment close to the target and 10m of "active" USB wire to your laptop.

Craig

For AP use, I have resurrected an old analog video camera to use in my garage. The camera is mounted behind the firing line and the video output is fed to a 12 inch TV which I can view after each shot. This was much more convenient for me than stringing wire from the target area all the way back.

I doubt most of the older generation video recorders could provide sufficient resolution out to 50 meters for FP use though.

I suppose if the resolution provided by the camera doesnt give you a clear enough picture at whatever distance your shooting, you could put the camera downrange and just run some very cheap RCA wire back to the video monitor - that would be alot less expensive the USB cable which is quite pricey.

The CCD cameras are sensitive to infrared light. Mounting an IR laser on a gun muzzle would permit recording the "invisible" beam for later analysis. This would replicate much of the capabilities found in trainers like the RIKA.

Wasn't there a Radio Shack type security camera and monitor that someone was suggesting here a few years ago?
And aren't there now some wireless baby monitors with camera fairly inexpensive too?

A friend of mine uses an inexpensive security camera for target monitoring. Rigged it to a tripod, a $50 B&W used tv, and voila . . . a very nice monitor.

Craig