el-cheapo sky camera

[DaveL59]

well darkness has fallen and the controller has turned on, so far so good as they say...

tho annoyingly the IR illumination for the CCTV now seems to be adding its own effects 😞

Wasn't getting that circular pattern before so I guess will have to open the lid and pop some flocking in to try damp down any IR reflections and maybe shift the smaller dome over a bit more.

Edited October 28, 2020 by DaveL59

[DaveL59]

hmmm contemplating last night's image results I'm thinking a knock while it was all apart or being reassembled may have switched the IRcut filter out, the pink-ish foliage in the trees kinda give it away. Did wonder why the IR lighting was being picked up so strongly on the shed roof edge and trees so was figuring that might have been what happened.

The strong flare at the top edge too as that's the direction of the IR floods. Unfortunately being a webcam it doesn't have an IR switch ability so a dismantle will be needed to sort. Will have to check the trigger volts and see if I can just zap across the trigger wires when there's a long enough dry spell. Tho I do like the tree being partly lit up, adds atmosphere to the night sky view 🙂 but it does obscure parts of the sky elsewhere so I'll have to sort it I think, adding flocking to dull the internal reflections will only help a little unfortunately as these sit in the line of fire from the floods. Might be more reliable to glue an IRcut filter on the back of the lens if I still have any left but I'd rather avoid dismantling as far as poss.

 

[DaveL59]

Temperature controller arrived today so wired up and in a food box (don't have a spare and unfortunately too big to sit in the same box as the LDR one. Upside tho, easy access to the 3 push buttons to maintain settings if needed.

Again an in-line fuse just in case and Y-cabled for the source power. I joined the 2 outputs into a single plug feeding out to the sky dome as I didn't have another Y handy.

Placed the temp probe against the shed glass which should be good enough and set it ti turn on at or below 7C. So hopefully now with darkness or low temp the heating should turn on and keep the dew at bay. None last night but then the shed windows didn't dew up either so no surprise so awaiting a proper dewy night to know if it all works as desired.

Edited October 29, 2020 by DaveL59

[DaveL59]

so with the rain ceased and the sun daring to be lighting up the sky in the SW and clouds looking a lot lighter, I pondered... can I pop the dome off, grab the wire to the IRcut and trigger it to switch, add some flock and get it all back together super-quick?

Luckily I'd already prepared a probe  that could be cludged to fit the plug using a couple component offcuts and wire and duct tape, such a pro huh! The 6v battery pack for the EQ2 clock drive gives a trigger voltage that suits (tested on a spare I have). So out I went armed with these

and a square of flock and scissors of course.

Ladder up and soaked up any standing water with some kitchen paper, popped off the dome, jacked the probe into the plug and applied power briefly to hear a nice click. OK so did it work tho or just whack the filter all the way home? Also tweaked the aim slightly, so inside to check, seems ok but reverse volts and review. Yep was right the first time so reset the IRcut and then trim the flock to suit. Dome back on and clamped down, ladder put away, job done just before darker clouds appear over the horizon 🙂

Hopefully that'll improve the camera view at night, still don't know for sure if the dew control works as no misty nights since installing it.

[DaveL59]

That's much better 🙂

I see the shed windows are starting to mist up on the outside so perhaps I'll see tonight how the dew heating works. 10.7C according to the temperature controller but of course the LDR controller has already kicked in so the dome will have been heating since the light levels dropped off.

Pretty hazy and light cloud up there with only a couple bright stars showing so at the moment not looking like a night for observing.
 

Edited October 31, 2020 by DaveL59

[DaveL59]

and with a clearer sky, not too shabby for a simple webcam. Set to 5fps rate and 1/4 sec shutter, gain 20 and gamma 226 and there we are, stars and Mars.

Can make out the lens in the centre and the 2 "doubles" above it are the IR floods but isn't bad at all really even with the Devil's floodlight rising in the east. Now I wonder if there's an easy way to rig a windscreen wiper to clear the remnants of the rain off that dome...? @Gina any thoughts? 😉 

[DaveL59]

Moon pretty much takes out everything tho (set to auto-exposure, gain=25, gamma=197)

At 1/2 sec with gamma dropped to 148 tho a few brighter pin-pricks do show

[DaveL59]

woke to temps of 2C here, shed windows frosted over but nice clear dome, so the heating seems to have done its work overnight 🙂 Hopefully it manages with colder temps over winter too, time will tell.

[JamesF]

I'm surprised to see that it got down to 0.1C here last night.  Temperatures seem to be dropping very fast all of a sudden.  Winter, as they say, is coming.

And it's a gorgeously clear, bright day today.  I'd deliberately given myself a bit of time off to go out and get a few pre-lockdown errands done, but I might have to see if I can make time for a bit of solar observing too.

James

[davefi]

-0.9C here in sunny Oxfordshire last night (well this morning). Min temp forecast to be back up to 8C by end of the weekend though!

[DaveL59]

will admit it may well have got lower, was certainly crisp last night. But I woke late (ish) a little after 8AM today. Had to bundle kitty up to go off to the vet and after being locked in all night and no food I figured easier on him to have me wake, scoop him up and off than have the tantalising prospect of food and freedom with me roaming about the house. He and his brother seem to have gotten a bit manic trying to get outside last night from the CCTV playback and a few downed vertical blind segments. Luckily I have a repair kit so can sort those easily 🙂 

[davefi]

We wouldn't be able to sleep if we locked ours in, they are far to noisy - honestly I've never heard anything like the noises one makes, babies crying have nothing on our short haired moggy! His brother isn't as vocal, but he will bash the hell out of the catflap until you wake up and unlock it - certainly know who runs our household 🤣 Hope all was OK though.

[DaveL59]

funnily enough mine are similar, Jiji who's at the vet is very vocal, Smokey hardly ever talks even to complain about eyedrops etc and still sounds quite baby kitten-ish when he does. Thankfully the outer flap is in the conservatory so with that door closed I don't hear their attacks on it 😄 Funny how cats don't understand glass even after 5 years, very visual creatures and being transparent it can't be there/exist so why can't they touch the outside. 

Picking him up at 3PM now, went well and he's being very good tho a few more days of lockdown for him which will be "fun"...

[DaveL59]

hmmm out for a smoke and noticed the dome looking cloudy

12.1C according to the temp-controller so might have to up the trigger threshold during this time of year then. Doubt it's just smoke from the neighbour who's been burning again. Odd as no sign of windows on the shed misting as yet tho a distinct mistiness above the distant trees. Will see what happens when the dew heater kicks in which shouldn't be long now the light level is falling. 

[JamesF]

What you need is a camera to allow you to check the state of your all-sky camera.

James

[DaveL59]

6 minutes ago, JamesF said:

What you need is a camera to allow you to check the state of your all-sky camera.

James

haha well the cctv covering the garden does see them, just not close up. 

No deal what they are burning but it's flaring up a lot, in the past has smelt quite toxic too so clearly not just plain wood or card. Hopefully they are nearly done with the refurb and they will stop being a neighbourhood nuisance.

[DaveL59]

Thought I'd report in on the dew heating solution esp now we are into proper cold snowy days. No misting up internally and mostly the domes have stayed clear unless its a very misty night where the bigger dome with USB camera may start to get some forming around the lower edges. So after 2 days of freezing powdery snow you can see it is starting to build up on the domes

Above the USB unit with the resistor heater that is running 24hrs given the low temps. Build up especially on the windward side of the dome.

The older CCTV module one is doing slightly better but this runs quite warm and is a much smaller dome and the module/lens are close to the top of the crown which probably helps.

Not planning to mod the heater strip however as I'd expect making too much heat will be detrimental to the acrylic over time. Not doing too badly I think, all things considered 🙂