Gina's DIY All Sky Camera - Mark3 - with QHY5L-II-C

[DrRobin]

Cloud coming in again now   Started the AVI recording and EZP crashed   That's twice it's done it tonight!!  I need software that will run the QHY5L-II-C with 20s exposure, dark frame subtraction and capture video without crashing.  I don't mind too much if I need software for daytime and different software for nighttime but I need stuff the actually WORKS and works reliably!

I use AstroVideo by COAA. I wrote a script which runs under AstroVideo (to take images and upload to my website) and then to adjust camera gain and exposure used AutoIt to change camera settings. My night sky camera auto-uploads every 5 minutes to www.drrobin.co.uk/nightskycamera2.htm. It seldom crashes, we loose the power once every couple of months, but doesn't crash inbetween.

If you want my scripts and AutoIt scripts I am quite happy to share?

Robin

Robin

[Gina]

Thank you Robin   I'll check that out and let you know.

[Gina]

Still raining...  Watching raindrops form on the dome, gradually increase in size as more rain gets added and then run off the side beats watching paint dry by a fair margin

[Gina]

AstroVideo has limited resolution :-

image formats up to 768 x 576

I'm running at 1280 x 960 so quite a difference   Pity.

[DrRobin]

Hi Gina,

I am using AstroVideo with a DFK31, running at 1024x768 pixels, no problem at all, everything seems to work correctly.  The screen shows live video on the left and captured [stills] on the right, but it won't scale so it overlays the video over the still, but this is just for display.

My AstroVideo set up camera uploads [stills] to www.drrobin.co.uk/nightskycamera2.htm in 1024x768.

There is a free download, you can use it for 15 days before buying so give it a try with your QHY5 and see if it works?

I did think of looking in to SharpCap for all sky cameras, it has a scripting language......

Robin

[Gina]

Thanks   So their stated limit doesn't apply.  I'll give it a try.

[Gina]

With all the heavy rain over the last couple of days I seem to have some inside my ASC enclosure and now residing on the inside of the dome   So much so that the heater won't get rid of it - must be like a sauna in there!!    Normally, I don't have a problem with dew inside the dome - it's been dew on the outside that has required the heater to clear.  I am going to have to improve the sealing of the case to stop this happening again next time we get heavy rain.

[Gina]

Won't be seeing meteor trails tonight

[JamesF]

Not unless it's a very low one, certainly

James

[DrRobin]

Hi Gina,

Can I ask you a couple of questions about your DHT sensor please? I have just got my hands on one with a controller board and just trying to iron out how to make it work well.

Q1) I understand you have to protect the sensor from rain, did you mount it in an enclosure with plenty of air holes?

Q2) Did you just control the dew heater on humidity or on both humidity and temperature?

I was thinking if humidity is over x (say 90%) and temperature is less than y (say 10C) then turn the heater on. The idea is to stop the heater running through the day whilst it is raining. Of course I could control it from a time clock, E.g. Only on when it is getting dark and humidity is over 90%.

Anyway I was hoping you might be able to give me a few pointers?

Robin

[Gina]

I use DHT22s with Arduino for which there is a DHT library making reading humidity and temperature quite simple.  All the info is on the Arduino web site.

Q1) Yes, sheltered from the rain but exposed to damp air.

Q2)  ATM I don't have my dew heaters automatically controlled - they just have remote ON/OFF control.  With the ASC I only read the temperature currently using a DS18B22 1-wire digital thermometer connected to Arduino Nano and using the "1-wire" library.

Yes, you can calculate dew point and heat to raise the temperature above the dew point.  There are formulae around for this and I've used one in the past forDSLR camera sensors so I can post the Arduino code if you like.  Calculating DP and reducing power where you can saves energy but sometimes it's just not worth bothering unless there are other factors.

HTH - please free to ask if you have any further questions

[RobRob]

Hi Gina. You have inspired me once again to also build a ASC using my shelved QHY5IIL. I have been able to find the same lens on ebay (for a ridiculous cheap price of 22,50 pounds).

But now I'm wondering if I should also buy a 3D printer to follow your path of enginering???

[RobRob]

Gina, would you consider to print the designed internal parts (base plate, gears and focus/aperture control parts)? Of course I'm more than happy to settle the cost for labor, printing and shipping (to the Netherlands)?

I could also get it printed locally when you are willing to make the designes for the parts available... 

[Gina]

Gina, would you consider to print the designed internal parts (base plate, gears and focus/aperture control parts)? Of course I'm more than happy to settle the cost for labor, printing and shipping (to the Netherlands)?

Yes, I could do that

I could also get it printed locally when you are willing to make the designes for the parts available... 

TBH I think that might be quicker and cheaper, not knowing what the cost of shipping would be.  I'll sort out and post the SketchUp and STL files anyway.  I'm happy either way - cost of filament is negligible and I won't charge for labour (I'm very happy to do things for other members ) so that would mean shipping cost only.

I can recommend a 3D printer though they do need a bit of technical aptitude to get them working properly.  The little UP Plus2 is more user friendly than most but also a lot more expensive.

[RobRob]

It would be great when you could share the CAD files. I need to see if I can get similar motors/servo's as you've used to make it all fit.

I'm still dubbing if I should buy a printer (will be useful for future projects as well) or just get it printed locally. I'm leaning towards buying the suggested printer enabling me to do more specials and iterations for experimenting purposes...

Do I understand correctly that you are using SketchUp for the CAD design work?

[Gina]

Yes, I use SketchUp for all my CAD stuff - 3D printing and various diagrams.

The UP printer does have it's quirks - it's fussy about which filament you put in it, some makes jam in the extruder.  They tell you to use their own, proprietry filament which is expensive but quite a lot of the cheaper stuff will work.  All the parts are proprietry and standard RepRap parts won't fit but unless you really hammer it like I have you shouldn't need to replace parts.  In fact I have kept it going without buying any spare parts.  I have posted a number of threads about it on SGL.

[RobRob]

I just received the lens today, I'm very pleased with it icw the QHY5IIL-Color. I need to find a suitable housing as well. Also I'm very tempted to buy a 3D printer seeing all your great projects on this forum, you are a true inspiration!!!

[happy-kat]

Having just started to use SketchUp (I am reasonably proficient with AutoCAD) it is quite intuitive and there are lots of helpful videos on YouTube for the sticky tricky bits.

[Gina]

Thank you RobRob

[RobRob]

I just decided to buy a Lulzbot Mini 3D printer so I should be able to print the parts myself. I would love to use your SketchUp files so I have a nice starting point to get AllSkyCam fitted together. I'll be using two similar stepper motors though (similar to the one you use for the focus control) for the aperture and the focus control so I expect I need to alter your custom parts slightly to make it all work...

[Gina]

Just read a couple of reviews of that printer and it looks pretty good   I'll post the SketchUp files shortly.

[Gina]

Update :-

The aperture control has stopped working and I have brought the unit indoors to investigate.  I wouldn't be surprised if damp was the problem with all this wet weather.  I'll find and post the SketchUp files for the 3D printed parts today hopefully.

[RobRob]

Great, I'll receive the 3D printer tomorrow so I'm quite eager to experiment a bit with it...

[Gina]

Great Rob   I look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

I've found most of the SketchUp files, zipped them and uploaded to DropBox - link here

[RobRob]

I got the files and the printer arrived today as well! Perfect timing!!! Thanks. I'm also printing some parts for my Arduino based motor focuser for my TS 80/480mm scope. Once done I'll start adjusting and printing the sketches you've sent to make the other stepper motor fit as well together with a housing for the ASC...