New(ish) Cheap all sky camera option!

Stuart1971 · November 8, 2023

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

Did you make your own hole in the box and used an o ring for the dome?

Yes I cut the hole and designed 3D printed an adapter as shown in post above, it has an 10mm upstand inside the dome to stop any moisture that may get under the lip of the dome getting into places it shouldn’t…so there is no sealant under the dome lip so it can easily be removed if needed….

powerlord · November 8, 2023

Tip - if using camera 3, try --denoise off rather than the colour denoise.

Yes, it's more noisy, but you can then clearly see milkyway and stuff like plaeides are much better.

powerlord · November 8, 2023

Tip - if using camera 3, try --denoise off rather than the colour denoise.

Yes, it's more noisy, but you can then clearly see milkyway and stuff like plaeides are much better.

powerlord · November 8, 2023

Tip - if using camera 3, try --denoise off rather than the colour denoise.

Yes, it's more noisy, but you can then clearly see milkyway and stuff like plaeides are much better.

powerlord · November 8, 2023

Tip - if using camera 3, try --denoise off rather than the colour denoise.

Yes, it's more noisy, but you can then clearly see milkyway and stuff like plaeides are much better.

powerlord · November 8, 2023

Sorry..website kept saying wait error so kept trying to post it. 🙄

powerlord · November 8, 2023

@Stuart1971150mm lens ? That can't be right surely ?

I just got my cheap hq camera and a few cheap old lens from ebay so gonna have a play with those. Not for allsky, just fun.

Stuart1971 · November 8, 2023

Sorry 150 degree…..😂

powerlord · November 8, 2023

52 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Tip - if using camera 3, try --denoise off rather than the colour denoise.

Yes, it's more noisy, but you can then clearly see milkyway and stuff like plaeides are much better.

Budgie1 · November 10, 2023

First proper clear night last night to be able to test the camera.

A bit pixelated but you can see the Milkyway clearly, plus all the satellite trails.

adyj1 · November 10, 2023

I'm impressed with what these pi cameras are able to achieve...

powerlord · November 10, 2023

2 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

First proper clear night last night to be able to test the camera.

A bit pixelated but you can see the Milkyway clearly, plus all the satellite trails.

wow that's awesome. Did you set gain to 16 and 30 secs or is it automatic? I want to try same settings as you are getting much more details. And what is your stretch set to if using ?

for pixilation, just up the bitrate - the standard bit rate or rubbish. I think I put mine up to 20000.

here's my settings - be good if you could post yours ?

settings.json:

{
    "takeDaytimeImages": "1",
    "saveDaytimeImages": "1",
    "dayautoexposure": "1",
    "daymaxautoexposure": "29000",
    "dayexposure": "500",
    "daymean": "0.5",
    "daymeanthreshold": "0.1",
    "daybrightness": "0",
    "daydelay": "1000",
    "dayautogain": "0",
    "daymaxautogain": "16",
    "daygain": "1.123",
    "daybin": "1",
    "dayawb": "0",
    "daywbr": "2.5",
    "daywbb": "2",
    "dayskipframes": "5",
    "dayTuningFile": "/home/powerlord/imx708_wide.json",
    "nightautoexposure": "1",
    "nightmaxautoexposure": "29000",
    "nightexposure": "29000",
    "nightmean": "0.2",
    "nightmeanthreshold": "0.1",
    "nightbrightness": "0",
    "nightdelay": "1000",
    "nightautogain": "1",
    "nightmaxautogain": "16",
    "nightgain": "3",
    "nightbin": "1",
    "nightawb": "0",
    "nightwbr": "2.5",
    "nightwbb": "2",
    "nightskipframes": "1",
    "nightTuningFile": "/home/powerlord/imx708_wide.json",
    "config": "[none]",
    "extraArgs": "--autofocus-mode manual --lens-position 10.19 --denoise off",
    "saturation": "1.0",
    "contrast": "1.2",
    "sharpness": "0.0",
    "width": "0",
    "height": "0",
    "type": "99",
    "quality": "100",
    "filename": "image.jpg",
    "flip": "2",
    "notificationimages": "1",
    "consistentDelays": "1",
    "timeformat": "%Y%m%d %H:%M:%S",
    "latitude": "52.04N",
    "longitude": "1E",
    "angle": "-6",
    "takeDarkFrames": "0",
    "useDarkFrames": "1",
    "locale": "en_GB.UTF-8",
    "debuglevel": "1",
    "useLogin": "1",
    "alwaysshowadvanced": "0",
    "overlayMethod": "1",
    "showTime": "1",
    "temptype": "C",
    "showExposure": "0",
    "showGain": "0",
    "showBrightness": "0",
    "showMean": "0",
    "showFocus": "0",
    "text": "",
    "extratext": "",
    "extratextage": "0",
    "textlineheight": "30",
    "textx": "15",
    "texty": "35",
    "fontname": "0",
    "fontcolor": "255 0 0",
    "smallfontcolor": "0 0 255",
    "fonttype": "0",
    "fontsize": "7",
    "fontline": "1",
    "outlinefont": "0",
    "displaySettings": "0",
    "showonmap": "0",
    "websiteurl": "",
    "imageurl": "",
    "location": "",
    "owner": "",
    "camera": "RPi Module_3",
    "lens": "",
    "computer": "",
    "cameraType": "RPi",
    "cameraModel": "Module_3",
    "lastChanged": "2023-11-06 19:33:00"
}

config.sh:

#!/bin/bash

# X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X

# For details on these settings, click on the "Allsky Documentation" link in the WebUI,
# then click on the "Settings -> Allsky" link,
# then, in the "Editor WebUI Page" section, open the "config.sh" sub-section.

# X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X

########## Images
# Set to "true" to upload the current image to your website.
IMG_UPLOAD="false"

# Upload the image file as "image-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.jpg" (true) or "image.jpg" (false).
IMG_UPLOAD_ORIGINAL_NAME="false"

# If IMG_UPLOAD is "true", upload images every IMG_UPLOAD_FREQUENCY frames, e.g., every 5 frames.
# 1 uploades every frame.
IMG_UPLOAD_FREQUENCY=1

# Resize images before cropping, stretching, and saving.
IMG_RESIZE="false"
IMG_WIDTH=2028
IMG_HEIGHT=1520

# Crop images before stretching and saving.
CROP_IMAGE="false"
CROP_WIDTH=640
CROP_HEIGHT=480
CROP_OFFSET_X=0
CROP_OFFSET_Y=0

# Auto stretch images saved at night. The numbers below are good defaults.
AUTO_STRETCH="true"
AUTO_STRETCH_AMOUNT=10
AUTO_STRETCH_MID_POINT="10%"

# Resize uploaded images. Change the size to fit your sensor.
RESIZE_UPLOADS="false"
RESIZE_UPLOADS_WIDTH=962
RESIZE_UPLOADS_HEIGHT=720

# Create thumbnails of images. If you never look at them, consider changing this to "false".
IMG_CREATE_THUMBNAILS="true"

# Remove corrupt or too dim/bright images.
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES="true"
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES_THRESHOLD_LOW=1
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES_THRESHOLD_HIGH=90

########## Timelapse
# Set to "true" to generate a timelapse video at the end of each night.
TIMELAPSE="true"

# Set the resolution in pixels of the timelapse video.
TIMELAPSEWIDTH=3840
TIMELAPSEHEIGHT=2160

# Bitrate of the timelapse video.
TIMELAPSE_BITRATE="20000k"

# Timelapse video Frames Per Second.
FPS=30

# Encoder for timelapse video.
VCODEC="libx264"

# Pixel format.
PIX_FMT="yuv420p"

# Amount of information displayed while creating a timelapse video.
FFLOG="warning"

# Set to "true" to keep the list of files used in creating the timelapse video.
KEEP_SEQUENCE="false"

# Any additional timelapse parameters. Run "ffmpeg -?" to see the options.
TIMELAPSE_EXTRA_PARAMETERS=""

# Set to "true" to upload the timelapse video to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_VIDEO="true"

# Set to "true" to upload the timelapse video's thumbnail to your website at the end of each night.
TIMELAPSE_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="true"

###### Mini-timelapse
# The number of images you want in the mini-timelapse. 0 disables mini-timelapse creation.
TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES=0

# Should a mini-timelapse be created even if ${TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES} haven't been captured yet?
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FORCE_CREATION="false"

# After how many images should the mini-timelapse be made?
# If you have a slow Pi or short delays between images,
# set this to a higher number (i.e., not as often).
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FREQUENCY=5

# The remaining TIMELAPSE_MINI_* variables serve the same function as the daily timelapse.
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_VIDEO="true"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="true"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FPS=5
TIMELAPSE_MINI_BITRATE="1000k"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_WIDTH=1014
TIMELAPSE_MINI_HEIGHT=760

########## Keogram
# Set to "true" to generate a keogram at the end of each night.
KEOGRAM="true"

# Additional Keogram parameters.
KEOGRAM_EXTRA_PARAMETERS="--font-size 1.0 --font-line 1 --font-color '255 255 255'"

# Set to "true" to upload the keogram image to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_KEOGRAM="true"

########## Startrails
# Set to "true" to generate a startrails image of each night.
STARTRAILS="true"

# Images with a brightness higher than this threshold will be skipped for
# startrails image generation.
BRIGHTNESS_THRESHOLD=0.5

# Any additional startrails parameters.
STARTRAILS_EXTRA_PARAMETERS=""

# Set to "true" to upload the startrails image to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_STARTRAILS="true"

########## Other
# Size of thumbnails.
THUMBNAIL_SIZE_X=100
THUMBNAIL_SIZE_Y=75

# Set this value to the number of days images plus videos you want to keep.
# Set to 0 to keep ALL days.
DAYS_TO_KEEP=14

# Same as DAYS_TO_KEEP, but for the Allsky Website, if installed.
WEB_DAYS_TO_KEEP=0

# See the documentation for a description of this setting.
WEBUI_DATA_FILES=""

# See the documentation for a description of these settings.
UHUBCTL_PATH=""
UHUBCTL_PORT=2

# ================ DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ================
ME2="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"

# CAMERA_TYPE is updated during installation
CAMERA_TYPE="RPi"
if [ "${CAMERA_TYPE}" = "" ]; then
   echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: Please set 'Camera Type' in the WebUI.${NC}"
   sudo systemctl stop allsky > /dev/null 2>&1
   exit ${EXIT_ERROR_STOP}
fi

IMG_DIR="current/tmp"
CAPTURE_SAVE_DIR="${ALLSKY_TMP}"

# Don't try to upload a mini-timelapse if they aren't using them.
if [[ ${TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES} -eq 0 ]]; then
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_VIDEO="false"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="false"
fi

if [[ -z ${SETTINGS_FILE} ]]; then       # SETTINGS_FILE is defined in variables.sh
   echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: SETTINGS_FILE variable not defined!${NC}"
   echo -e "${RED}Make sure 'variables.sh' is source'd in!${NC}"
   return 1
fi
if [[ ! -f ${SETTINGS_FILE} ]]; then
   echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: Settings file '${SETTINGS_FILE}' not found!${NC}"
   sudo systemctl stop allsky > /dev/null 2>&1
   exit ${EXIT_ERROR_STOP}
fi

# Get the name of the file the websites will look for, and split into name and extension.
FULL_FILENAME="$(settings ".filename")"
EXTENSION="${FULL_FILENAME##*.}"
FILENAME="${FULL_FILENAME%.*}"

CAMERA_MODEL="$(settings '.cameraModel')"

# So scripts can conditionally output messages.
ALLSKY_DEBUG_LEVEL="$(settings '.debuglevel')"
# ALLSKY_VERSION is updated during installation
ALLSKY_VERSION="v2023.05.01_03"

CONFIG_SH_VERSION=1

Budgie1 · November 10, 2023

I have the gain & exposures on auto but I have the max gain set to 16 (the max for the camera I think) and the max exposure to 30 seconds.

The auto-stretch is set to 20 with 10% mid-point setting.

I also have it set to reduce the size of the images to 900 x 506, which is to make the upload video smaller for my website.

Thanks for the tip about the bit rate, I'll also try upping the frame rate to 30 as well. :thumbsup:

Here's the config.sh

#!/bin/bash

# X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X

# For details on these settings, click on the "Allsky Documentation" link in the WebUI,
# then click on the "Settings -> Allsky" link,
# then, in the "Editor WebUI Page" section, open the "config.sh" sub-section.

# X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X


########## Images
# Set to "true" to upload the current image to your website.
IMG_UPLOAD="true"

# Upload the image file as "image-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.jpg" (true) or "image.jpg" (false).
IMG_UPLOAD_ORIGINAL_NAME="false"

# If IMG_UPLOAD is "true", upload images every IMG_UPLOAD_FREQUENCY frames, e.g., every 5 frames.
# 1 uploades every frame.
IMG_UPLOAD_FREQUENCY=2

# Resize images before cropping, stretching, and saving.
IMG_RESIZE="true"
IMG_WIDTH=900
IMG_HEIGHT=506

# Crop images before stretching and saving.
CROP_IMAGE="false"
CROP_WIDTH=640
CROP_HEIGHT=480
CROP_OFFSET_X=0
CROP_OFFSET_Y=0

# Auto stretch images saved at night.  The numbers below are good defaults.
AUTO_STRETCH="true"
AUTO_STRETCH_AMOUNT=20
AUTO_STRETCH_MID_POINT="10%"

# Resize uploaded images.  Change the size to fit your sensor.  
RESIZE_UPLOADS="false"
RESIZE_UPLOADS_WIDTH=900
RESIZE_UPLOADS_HEIGHT=506

# Create thumbnails of images.  If you never look at them, consider changing this to "false".
IMG_CREATE_THUMBNAILS="true"

# Remove corrupt or too dim/bright images.
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES="true"
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES_THRESHOLD_LOW=1
REMOVE_BAD_IMAGES_THRESHOLD_HIGH=90


########## Timelapse
# Set to "true" to generate a timelapse video at the end of each night.
TIMELAPSE="true"

# Set the resolution in pixels of the timelapse video.
TIMELAPSEWIDTH=900
TIMELAPSEHEIGHT=506

# Bitrate of the timelapse video.
TIMELAPSE_BITRATE="2000k"

# Timelapse video Frames Per Second.
FPS=20

# Encoder for timelapse video.
VCODEC="libx264"

# Pixel format.
PIX_FMT="yuv420p"

# Amount of information displayed while creating a timelapse video.
FFLOG="warning"

# Set to "true" to keep the list of files used in creating the timelapse video.
KEEP_SEQUENCE="false"

# Any additional timelapse parameters.  Run "ffmpeg -?" to see the options.
TIMELAPSE_EXTRA_PARAMETERS=""

# Set to "true" to upload the timelapse video to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_VIDEO="true"

# Set to "true" to upload the timelapse video's thumbnail to your website at the end of each night.
TIMELAPSE_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="false"

###### Mini-timelapse
# The number of images you want in the mini-timelapse.  0 disables mini-timelapse creation.
TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES=0

# Should a mini-timelapse be created even if ${TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES} haven't been captured yet?
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FORCE_CREATION="false"

# After how many images should the mini-timelapse be made?
# If you have a slow Pi or short delays between images,
# set this to a higher number (i.e., not as often).
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FREQUENCY=5

# The remaining TIMELAPSE_MINI_* variables serve the same function as the daily timelapse.
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_VIDEO="false"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="flase"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_FPS=5
TIMELAPSE_MINI_BITRATE="1000k"
TIMELAPSE_MINI_WIDTH=1014
TIMELAPSE_MINI_HEIGHT=760


########## Keogram
# Set to "true" to generate a keogram at the end of each night.
KEOGRAM="true"

# Additional Keogram parameters.
KEOGRAM_EXTRA_PARAMETERS="--font-size 1.0 --font-line 1 --font-color '255 255 255'"

# Set to "true" to upload the keogram image to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_KEOGRAM="true"


########## Startrails
# Set to "true" to generate a startrails image of each night.
STARTRAILS="true"

# Images with a brightness higher than this threshold will be skipped for
# startrails image generation.
BRIGHTNESS_THRESHOLD=0.1

# Any additional startrails parameters.
STARTRAILS_EXTRA_PARAMETERS=""

# Set to "true" to upload the startrails image to your website at the end of each night.
UPLOAD_STARTRAILS="true"


########## Other
# Size of thumbnails.
THUMBNAIL_SIZE_X=100
THUMBNAIL_SIZE_Y=75

# Set this value to the number of days images plus videos you want to keep.
# Set to 0 to keep ALL days.
DAYS_TO_KEEP=7

# Same as DAYS_TO_KEEP, but for the Allsky Website, if installed.
WEB_DAYS_TO_KEEP=0

# See the documentation for a description of this setting.
WEBUI_DATA_FILES=""

# See the documentation for a description of these settings.
UHUBCTL_PATH=""
UHUBCTL_PORT=2


# ================ DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ================
ME2="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"

# CAMERA_TYPE is updated during installation
CAMERA_TYPE="RPi"
if [ "${CAMERA_TYPE}" = "" ]; then
	echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: Please set 'Camera Type' in the WebUI.${NC}"
	sudo systemctl stop allsky > /dev/null 2>&1
	exit ${EXIT_ERROR_STOP}
fi

IMG_DIR="current/tmp"
CAPTURE_SAVE_DIR="${ALLSKY_TMP}"

# Don't try to upload a mini-timelapse if they aren't using them.
if [[ ${TIMELAPSE_MINI_IMAGES} -eq 0 ]]; then
	TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_VIDEO="false"
	TIMELAPSE_MINI_UPLOAD_THUMBNAIL="false"
fi

if [[ -z ${SETTINGS_FILE} ]]; then		# SETTINGS_FILE is defined in variables.sh
	echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: SETTINGS_FILE variable not defined!${NC}"
	echo -e "${RED}Make sure 'variables.sh' is source'd in!${NC}"
	return 1
fi
if [[ ! -f ${SETTINGS_FILE} ]]; then
	echo -e "${RED}${ME2}: ERROR: Settings file '${SETTINGS_FILE}' not found!${NC}"
	sudo systemctl stop allsky > /dev/null 2>&1
	exit ${EXIT_ERROR_STOP}
fi

# Get the name of the file the websites will look for, and split into name and extension.
FULL_FILENAME="$(settings ".filename")"
EXTENSION="${FULL_FILENAME##*.}"
FILENAME="${FULL_FILENAME%.*}"
 
CAMERA_MODEL="$(settings '.cameraModel')"

# So scripts can conditionally output messages.
ALLSKY_DEBUG_LEVEL="$(settings '.debuglevel')"
# ALLSKY_VERSION is updated during installation
ALLSKY_VERSION="v2023.05.01_03"

CONFIG_SH_VERSION=1

And here are the settings.json

{
    "takeDaytimeImages": "1",
    "saveDaytimeImages": "1",
    "dayautoexposure": "1",
    "daymaxautoexposure": "30000",
    "dayexposure": "500",
    "daymean": "0.5",
    "daymeanthreshold": "0.1",
    "daybrightness": "0",
    "daydelay": "30000",
    "dayautogain": "1",
    "daymaxautogain": "16",
    "daygain": "1.123",
    "daybin": "1",
    "dayawb": "1",
    "daywbr": "2.5",
    "daywbb": "2",
    "dayskipframes": "5",
    "dayTuningFile": "",
    "nightautoexposure": "1",
    "nightmaxautoexposure": "30000",
    "nightexposure": "10000",
    "nightmean": "0.16",
    "nightmeanthreshold": "0.1",
    "nightbrightness": "0",
    "nightdelay": "30000",
    "nightautogain": "1",
    "nightmaxautogain": "16",
    "nightgain": "8",
    "nightbin": "1",
    "nightawb": "1",
    "nightwbr": "2.5",
    "nightwbb": "2",
    "nightskipframes": "1",
    "nightTuningFile": "",
    "config": "[none]",
    "extraArgs": "",
    "saturation": "1",
    "contrast": "1",
    "sharpness": "3",
    "width": "0",
    "height": "0",
    "type": "99",
    "quality": "95",
    "filename": "allsky_latest.png",
    "flip": "0",
    "notificationimages": "1",
    "consistentDelays": "1",
    "timeformat": "%d%m%Y %H:%M:%S",
    "latitude": "56.7N",
    "longitude": "5.2W",
    "angle": "-6",
    "takeDarkFrames": "0",
    "useDarkFrames": "0",
    "locale": "en_GB.UTF-8",
    "debuglevel": "1",
    "useLogin": "1",
    "alwaysshowadvanced": "1",
    "overlayMethod": "1",
    "showTime": "1",
    "temptype": "C",
    "showExposure": "1",
    "showGain": "0",
    "showBrightness": "0",
    "showMean": "0",
    "showFocus": "0",
    "text": "Allsky Camera",
    "extratext": "",
    "extratextage": "0",
    "textlineheight": "30",
    "textx": "15",
    "texty": "35",
    "fontname": "0",
    "fontcolor": "255 0 0",
    "smallfontcolor": "0 0 255",
    "fonttype": "0",
    "fontsize": "7",
    "fontline": "1",
    "outlinefont": "0",
    "displaySettings": "1",
    "showonmap": "1",
    "websiteurl": "",
    "imageurl": "",
    "location": "",
    "owner": "",
    "camera": "RPi Module_3",
    "lens": "N/A",
    "computer": "Raspberry Pi 4, 4GB",
    "cameraType": "RPi",
    "cameraModel": "Module_3",
    "lastChanged": "2023-11-06 21:22:36"
}

Stuart1971 · November 10, 2023

Got mine up and running tonight, should have Timelapse tomorrow to share…but need a new lens, the only stars that are round are in the centre, all others are awful shapes, any ideas please for a new decent lens…??

I may need to mess with gain and exposure settings too, tried auto but was just going for the longest I set it at, and lowered the gain, but stars were more trailed so west back to manual…

Edited November 10, 2023 by Stuart1971

powerlord · November 11, 2023

That looks OK. Look at pleiades top left - stars look good ?

Budgie1 · November 12, 2023

So, I had another cracking night last night to test out the new settings, Bit Rate 20000k & Frame rate of 30fps.

It's the first time my Star Trails image has worked, I experimented with the Brightness_Threshold and set it at 0.2 for last night and this is the result:

I may have to do some more experimentation as that seems a little too bright.

As for the video, well I'm impressed with it for a £36 camera. The stars are nice & sharp, there's little pixelation now the setting has been altered (thanks @powerlord for the pointer) and you can even see high level cloud towards the end of the night, which I couldn't see when I was out there! The only thing that stops it being perfect is the water droplet on the dome, I wonder if something like RainX would help?

Enjoy, I'm keeping this one.

Budgie1 · November 27, 2023

For some reason I thought I'd run last nights video from the Allsky Cam and discovered Aurora on it! I was out imaging last night I didn't see anything, or maybe I just wasn't out there at the right time.

This time the Aurora is red and occurred around 18:33. In the video you'll see three bursts of red, before the Moon wipes it out, if there was more.

And here's a couple of stills showing the best from it.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Budgie1
Spelling

happy-kat · November 27, 2023

Thanks for sharing your all sky, it was good to see your time, caught it here at 6:30-6:31 but that was more to do with when went outside and when came back in, looks like that was by fluke the best time.

January 13

Stu and everyone, I just want to thank you for all the info you gave out on here. Some years ago I wrote my own all sky software, but the capture part only supported uvc and asi cameras (oh and svbony sv305). Never really considered rpi cameras tbh. But this got me going. So I went and gor the model 3, the enclosure and a fresh 128gb card (I still have a couple unsed rpi4's) and installed the software and put the camera together. I'm still waiting for the rpi4 case so I can do what Stu did and put it all in a combined enclosure, but I did the McGuyver thing and put it in a taped plastic bag for now. It survived a pretty good Arizona windy storm so far lol. Here's a timelapse from that day, I'm still faffing with the settings though:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/co7EgZ6wGMBHWJjC8

This is a Bortle 4 part of my skies. They vary 4-5 depending which way you look.

So, some comments on the kit and software:

- The camera is surprisingly good! Yes, it's noisier than the asi290mc I also tried with this software (similar f ratio lens) but at basically one quarter the pixel area I expected it.

- I tried binning the image in software using the 2x2 option. But then I ended up with an image about 1/4 the width and 1/4 the length. I think something is amiss? I don't want the full image and I was hoping to somewhat mitigate the noise by binning. Instead I had to use the image size parameters in the section for both night and day settings. I don't know if that benefits much in noise reduction though.

- The case assembly instructions don't match what's in the box, nor Stu's pics. Mine came with extra pieces, a front and back black painted cover to sandwich the model 3 camera between. That provides the two tabs and holes that fit into the base of the case. It's actually a nice thing, as it reduces reflections from the camera board onto the inside of the transparent dome. But they need to add that to the instructions. Also, the base and dome hold down ring come preassembled and they're a pain to pry apart. I thought I would break them getting them apart but they finally came free. The grommet also needs to be sliced to get the ribbon through it and I made a bit of a mess doing it with my shaky hands.. Wish they presliced it. The case did get some dew inside after the storm, probably from my bad grommet slicing. I need to apply some silicone grease and see if it helps.

- I tried installing bullseye, allsky and libcamera. But for some reason I could never get libcamera to work properly. No idea why. So, instead, I installed bookworm 64bit and everything works. One addition I would make to the instructions if you want to use ssh straight off the bat is after you've flashed the sdcard, you need to enable ssh as it's disabled by default. For this, you reinsert your card into your pc, locate the bootfs partition (I think it's fat32 so it's readable as a disk from anywhere) then create an empty file in the top folder called ssh and save it. That's it. Now when the rpi boots with that card ssh will work.

- Faffing about with contrast and such I think I got it about as good as I can get it. I'll see come summer whether the milky way will be visible, but I could almost see a hint of the winter one just next to Orion. Could be my imagination though. Either case, I'm encouraged. I've been using the svbony sv305 as my allsky camera (ok, most sky, as I like monitoring the ground as well as sky) and this option is much cheaper and has a suitable enclosure I don't have to muck with too much.

I look forward to getting it all put together and mounted somewhere more permanent, like the shed in the background. As you can probably tell I'm building a home at present and like the idea of keeping daily timelapses of my project, complete with night skies. And this seems like a great way to do it.

Daniel

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