QuickCam VC

I purchased a QuickCam VC from Computer Geeks when they had a batch on sale for about USD $15. I keep going back hoping to find another batch, but so far no luck. Up until this, I had been using a Sony DCR-TRV310, a digital videocamera.

The QuickCam VC is similar to the other QuickCams and some detail information on modifying the camer for astronomical imaging can be found at the AstroCam web site. There is one thing you should be aware of if you are going to follow the instructions there for disassembling the camera. The instructions clearly point out that there is a small hole covered by a sticker on ]the camera. In the case of my QuickCam VC, there was no sticker, so finding the hole was easy. What I didn’t fully realize is that the clip you release by poking in the hole is only one of three holes. In fact, you can see this in the photograph the AstroCam site provides of the QuickCam after it has been opened.

Alas, I was too rough or careless when opening my QuickCam VC. After pulling the lens and IR filter off then remounting it, it would not work. I rather more carefully opened it the second time and found what appeared to be a small surface mount resister array that was barely hanging on the PC board. I packed up the whole thing and shipped it as a gift to Bob May (a member of QCUAIG) who has equipment to repair it; he identified it as a tiny op-amp (so much for my electronics knowledge).