what software for your all sky cam please

[iwols]

Hi all just putting together an all sky camera with a asi178mc camera but just wondered what software you used to capture/replay the images,sharpcap any good or is there something better cheers

[Jonk]

It depends what you want to do - do you want to just use it a monitor? Long exposures? Timelapses?

There are various options depending on the controlling hardware (Windows PC? Linux? MacOS? Rpi?).

I have tried all sorts but the best software / hardware combination I have found so far is a Raspberry PI 4 with Allsky software written by Thomas Jacquin https://github.com/thomasjacquin/allsky

It does pretty much everything I need, but like all software, has room for improvement. It also gives me the added bonus of running the PI via a PoE cable, so no local PSU needed or short USB cable to a computer.

It all depends on what you want to do with the images ultimately.

Sharpcap is a good one to start with as it's free and runs probably on most pcs / laptops. If you want a more automated solution, then get used to Sharpcap first then decide which way you want to go.

Incidentally, I have the 178MC and it's great for allsky!

 

[iwols]

tha

4 hours ago, Jonk said:

It depends what you want to do - do you want to just use it a monitor? Long exposures? Timelapses?

There are various options depending on the controlling hardware (Windows PC? Linux? MacOS? Rpi?).

I have tried all sorts but the best software / hardware combination I have found so far is a Raspberry PI 4 with Allsky software written by Thomas Jacquin https://github.com/thomasjacquin/allsky

It does pretty much everything I need, but like all software, has room for improvement. It also gives me the added bonus of running the PI via a PoE cable, so no local PSU needed or short USB cable to a computer.

It all depends on what you want to do with the images ultimately.

Sharpcap is a good one to start with as it's free and runs probably on most pcs / laptops. If you want a more automated solution, then get used to Sharpcap first then decide which way you want to go.

Incidentally, I have the 178MC and it's great for allsky!

 

thanks jonk that reply is better than i could have asked as i have a pi in my obsy with a lan connection,which i would love to use,so you use the 178mc with the pi then and not the dedicated pi cam,does this software do all 3 of the above and does it connect to your pc,got giddy now ,any examples or further advice/suggestions on your set up would be great thanks

[Jonk]

Yes this software shows you a 'live' view every x seconds, saves long exposures (i.e. 60 seconds, long enough for allsky, I use 30 seconds) and spits out a timelapse in the morning, along with a keogram and star trails if clear enough.

For example:

 

If you have a PI connected to a network, then the videos and images stored on the PI (recommend a large SD card or USB drive) you can access the files using filezilla from your PC.

If you are comfortable with Linux (I'm very much a beginner) then this should all be straightforwards.

 

[iwols]

17 hours ago, Jonk said:

Yes this software shows you a 'live' view every x seconds, saves long exposures (i.e. 60 seconds, long enough for allsky, I use 30 seconds) and spits out a timelapse in the morning, along with a keogram and star trails if clear enough.

For example:

 

 

If you have a PI connected to a network, then the videos and images stored on the PI (recommend a large SD card or USB drive) you can access the files using filezilla from your PC.

If you are comfortable with Linux (I'm very much a beginner) then this should all be straightforwards.

 

well downloaded and tried with my temp setup and wow this software does the job superbly def upgrade to the pro version thanks again

[iwols]

regarding the pi i have one setup ruinning an alarm and rain sensor at the minute that my son programmed which i dont really want to disturb,but maybe run another pi eventually if i can work out how to do it,im a none starter with pi,how large is your pi drive and how much imaging can you store cheers

[Jonk]

I went the whole hog and bought a 256gb M.2 drive and a usb3 enclosure. You can then set the pi up to boot from usb rather than sd card, which is more reliable and a lot quicker!

If you want to spend some cash, go to thepihut and you’ll find most of what you need.

I have my allsky to remove files after 7 days, but I suspect that doesn’t even use half of the available space so could push it out if I wanted.

I tend to only keep the timelapse bids, keograms and startrails which are written to a network location in the morning. If I want individual frames, I need to go and look for them and save separately. 

[iwols]

On 11/03/2021 at 20:14, Jonk said:

Yes this software shows you a 'live' view every x seconds, saves long exposures (i.e. 60 seconds, long enough for allsky, I use 30 seconds) and spits out a timelapse in the morning, along with a keogram and star trails if clear enough.

For example:

 

 

If you have a PI connected to a network, then the videos and images stored on the PI (recommend a large SD card or USB drive) you can access the files using filezilla from your PC.

If you are comfortable with Linux (I'm very much a beginner) then this should all be straightforwards.

 

hi jonk how did you import this clip size wise cjheers iwols

[Jonk]

Onto the forum? I just added as an attachment the same way as an image.

[iwols]

how big was the file jonk? cheers

[Jonk]

Not sure I'm not at home to check, but I'm guessing around 10mb?

[iwols]

thanks jonk never realised the upload file was 1gb now ,sure it used to be a lot less thanks

[iwols]

well first try during the day and very pleased with the results ,noticed a bit of reflection when the sun came over but obviously not a problem at night thanks  ,a big thanks to jonk for getting me this far 

 

[Jonk]

Nice - a dome will always cause reflections, even at night especially from the moon or local light sources.

My clip above didn't have a dome, just the lens on top of a tripod, but ultimately I'll have a decent dome and also unwanted reflections.

Is that the 178MC? What lens do you have?

[iwols]

its a 178mc with this lens https://www.allskyoptics.com/store/product/arecont-vision-12-155mm-f2-cs-allsky-lens-1 superb guys to deal with

[iwols]

well first night time shot and well pleased actually captured mono instead of colour,just need to pop the stars a bit more

Edited March 18, 2021 by iwols

[Jonk]

Looking good - you've used raw files instead of jpgs I'm guessing? Hence the bayer pattern.

There are some hot pixels, which is enevitable unless a cooled camera is used, but you're definitely on the right track.

What software did you use for this one?

[iwols]

On 18/03/2021 at 22:43, Jonk said:

Looking good - you've used raw files instead of jpgs I'm guessing? Hence the bayer pattern.

There are some hot pixels, which is enevitable unless a cooled camera is used, but you're definitely on the right track.

What software did you use for this one?

Hi jonk sorry for the late reply I used allskeye great piece of software