Why isn’t my video camera listed on the RSpec camera screen?

For video cameras, use one of the two options listed below.

1. RSpec can communicate with your camera

If your video camera doesn’t appear in the list of cameras, you need to install the camera manufacturer’s DirectShow drivers. (These are also sometimes called DirectX drivers.)

Go to the camera manufacturer’s site to download and install their DirectShow driver.  Not all vendors provide DirectShow drivers.

To directly control ZWO video cameras from RSpec:

1. Install their Camera Driver from this link. And:
2. Install their DirectShow Driver at the bottom of this page: link.

2. RSpec can communicate with SharpCap and then SharpCap communicates with your camera

If your camera manufacturer doesn’t provide DirectShow drivers, RSpec can’t talk directly to the camera.

But, you can still do spectroscopy even without a DirectShow driver by using SharpCap.

SharpCap speaks directly to most astronomical cameras, including ASCOM cameras.  SharpCap doesn’t require DirectShow and it’s free.

SharpCap saves image frames to your disk, where RSpec picks them up, in real-time. To see how this works, watch videos 48 and 49 here.

We’re always happy to answer questions.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us via our contact form: link or via direct email.

Note: Using the two methods above at the same time confuses the camera. If you access the camera from RSpec, you will have to unplug your camera and reboot your computer before you can use SharpCap. And vice versa.