Gina

R.I.P.  "Gina's Ultimate All Sky Camera"

Yes indeed.  I won't call anything "Ultimate" or "Final" ever again!!!  Needing a whole new "group thinking" on this I have passed it over to the main discussion forum DIY Astronomer.

I now need to think about how I proceed.  I have missed my ASC since I haven't had one working so I don't want to give up on it but it seems calling this version "Ultimate" was a mistake.

Been searching the ground all around where the rig fell and haven't found anything.  The lens element has totally vanished.  It could be in the pond I guess but I'm not dredging that!

The cheapest I can find a replacement lens is £65 ?

Nice clear night and this is all I got.  Still high camera temperature because it didn't have time to cool, hence lots of noise.  I could see the orion nebula without a telescope.

The damage!  Looks like I was unlucky with the lens - seems it caught a sharp stone or something.  Been out with powerful lantern and searched the area but there's no sign of the front element of the lens or fragments of it.  Have to look in daylight.

Scratch that - I will not be defeated.  Broken USB socket doesn't mean the camera itself is broken.

Sometimes I don't know why I bother!

Catastrophe!!  Was just testing with the camera on an aluminium tube with bracket/hook to clip on guttering as used before for ASC when the whole lot came crashing down though I don't know how!  I had had it up and taken some images but it wanted focussing, so I brought the rig in and refocused the lens indoors before putting the rig out again.  It seemed secure on the guttering so I closed the window - that's when the whole lot crashed to the ground outside the window.  Result - broken lens and broken USB socket on camera.

I'm not very happy having that large passive cooler on a mast though that is a 1¾" aluminium tube so pretty substantial.  I'm still wondering if a fan would be alright if protected from rain but the humidity would be virtually 100%.

An alternative position for a mast would be with a bracket screwed to the middle framework of the observatory - the dividing wall, which is just as strong as the main corners.  This is where I was thinking of mounting my weather station mast at one time.  Now I've decided not to put it on the observatory but somewhere a lot further away.  Doesn't stop me measuring temperature and humidity in the observatory.

I already have the bracket on the dividing wall 3D printed in PETG and here are some photos of the aluminium pipe mast sitting in the bracket.  This is a 5m length and would be cut in half approx for the ASC.  An advantage of this position is that it would mean a shorter power cable (as well as not needing to move the bracket).

With being out with the observatory the last few days, I've been thinking about where to put the ASC.  I was originally thinking of the apex of the rolling roof where the body of it would be shaded from the sun a lot of the time.  It would also be easy to screw it to the barge boards.  The downside to this, as has been mentioned before, is the trailing power cable as the roof is opened or closed.  The suggestion of mounting it on a mast attached to the NW corner of the warm room has crossed my mind again and I've been looking into this idea.  The mast would need to be spaced away from the wall by 5-6" to allow for the width of the roll off roof.  The mast would have to be high enough for the FOV to clear the roof apex and also the ASC would need a sun shield to keep the direct sun off the ASC body.

The focus isn't too bad - it's just a little bit bigger than a pixel.  Here is half the image.  There is a slight haze in the atmosphere.

Been working on this on and off but not yet managed to separate the nozzle touching the bed from all the other vibrations.

I think it is - I haven't got remote focussing working yet so this was manually focused before the camera was put outside.  I may get the focus sorted out tomorrow.  I think I could do with making more progress on this.

Just a test with camera on a tripod outside my living room window.  15s exposure - camera temperature 4°C - gain 50. 

Screenshot of part of the KStars FITS viewer.

Good points ?

Need to sort out comms problem before I can make any progress.

Good idea - like it ?

I plan to include some all sky camera images and probably time-lapse video.

@carastro  Do you give your talks to astronomers or the general public, Carole.  I ask because my audience will be non-astronomers so doesn't want to be too technical.

Thanks Carole, that's very interesting and gives me more food for thought

Mistake above and editing no longer available - Barnard's Loop is in Orion, of course!