Home Made & DIY All Sky Camera ideas

I would like to put up an all sky camera, to monitor and record meteors, fireballs and any other naked-eye visible phenomenon.

But I am the classic penny pinching astronomer.  The cheapest low-end all sky cameras I found online cost $400, and the high end is more than $2000.  Some still require additional components to connect to a computer.  So I’m looking for a way to do all sky observing on the cheap.

The obvious criteria would include:

• Low cost (Astronomy penny pincher, duh)
• A view from horizon to horizon, or nearly so.  Let’s say 160 degrees minimum view.
• Weatherproof, sturdy enough to leave outside all the time
• Easy to construct – common components
• Good light sensitivity – hopefully to view to magnitude 5 or 6

One popular trick long used has been to point the camera down onto a a convex mirror, or a polished chrome hubcap to get a fisheye view of the sky, horizon to horizon in all directions, or nearly so.  This would certainly work, though it strikes me that you’d have to keep the mirror or hubcap clean, taking windex to it every few days at a minimum.  I was hoping for a direct sky view, perhaps through an acrylic dome or a lens that can be exposed to the sky, to the sun and left out all the time.

My first thought was to use a webcam.  Advantages are that they're cheap, and plug directly into a USB port with no additional interfaces required.  If I were to use a CCTV camera, I’d have to convert the analog video signal from the camera to some sort of storable, analyzable digital signal.  This is done with a video capture card for your computer, or a USB dongle that turns the analog video into digital signals the computer can record and analyze.  They’re cheap enough, so this is certainly a viable option, not off the table.

Some web searches turned up, of course, some really cool stuff.  There are networks of all sky cameras (www.allsky.com) and plenty of networked live and recorded cameras.  NASA has a network at (http://cams.seti.org/easyCAMS.html ).  All it takes to participate is about $700 in equipment, plus a dedicated computer with two external hard drives.  On the plus side, their software is free, and they’re doing some amazing science with this low end stuff.

There are also a few websites where helpful fellow amateur astronomers have posted instructions for how they built their all sky cameras.  For example, Chris Peterson’s Cloudbait Observatory site, (http://www.cloudbait.com/projects/allskycamera.html) or Michael Morris’ very workable DIY effort (http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/159282-another-diy-all-sky-camera/),

It also seems this topic was covered in a Minnesota Astronomical Society meeting in Nov 2011. (http://freemars.org/mnfan/MAS/2011-11-Nov-Meeting/).  One photo I love is http://freemars.org/mnfan/MAS/2011-11-Nov-Meeting/2011-11-03-044.jpg  which appeals to my inner penny pincher astronomer.

The best example of what I was shooting for, however, was from the Oak Grove Observatory website at (http://www.oakgroveobservatory.com/diy_allsky.shtml ).  Here are instructions for how to build an all-sky camera using webcam for about $30.  Now we’re talking about some serious penny pinching.  This camera fits into a piece of PVC pipe, a front-door viewer peeks out the top, and one USB cable trails out the bottom.  It’s weather proof, rugged as heck, and if you can keep the USB run short, very penny-pinching.

Sadly, the camera he used, the Quickcam 4000 Pro is no longer available so cheaply.  I found one for $40 used.  And the follow on cameras aren’t as light sensitive.  Oak Grove notes that the Quickcam 3000 and QC zoom will also work but you may have trouble with the drivers.  These cameras can be found fairly cheaply on Amazon.

One key point I will emphasize is the need for a webcam with focusing threads.  If the camera is a fixed-focus, you will not be able to adjust to get the image in focus.  An auto-focus webcam will not work for this purpose.

Capture software is another post.  I’m still working on this.  It seems there are several dedicated meteor detection programs available, as well as motion detection and capture programs like SupervisionCam available for free.

So far I've had limited success.  The resolution of the low end cameras is poor, and the light sensitivity is low, even those that have very low lux ratings.  Also some are rated 0 lux, but assume you'll have some sort of infrared lighting.

I did succeed in modifying a 'dummy' security camera dome to take a camera.  The plastic dome and base cost $4.  I had to purchase a 50 foot extension camera cable, which cost $8 and had two wires, one with BNC ends and one for power.  The power cable fit, but the BNC required an adapter, BNC to RCA.  That was another $4.

Still experimenting.  Photos to follow.

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CES 2013 Another Awesome Electronics Show

Went to CES 2013. Awesome show.  Saw tons of neat gadgets, met friends & networked, ate way too much good food, picked up swag like nobody's business, and walked my legs off.

Some highlights: The Gibson tent was a hoot.  Play guitar?  Walk in, pick up an instrument and play as long as you like with nobody to bother you.  I played guitars way more expensive than I can afford.  Also met Felicia Day and got photos.  Super cool.

Medical & Fitness tech is going on the consumer market, whether it's pulse rate while exercising, blood oxygen monitoring, pace & pedometer through bluetooth or listening to music and monitoring your vitals while swimming.  We saw earbuds that monitored your pulse and blood oxygen, which is an excellent idea since you're likely wearing earbuds anyway while working out.

3D printing is going to change the world.  This tech is still in infancy, but there are more and more companies doing it, and it's exciting as heck.  For less than a PC cost just a few years ago, you can get a 3D printer that will print a part 6"x6"x11" out of cheap plastic wire like you load into your weed-eater.  Think cheap plastic stuff is good now?  Wait until all the innovators in the world can just wack out a model of anything they can think of.

Camera drones for the masses.  For $300 you can get a stabilized helicopter drone with gps and a camera.  What's not to love?  At the show they demo these things by having 4 or 8 of them dance in the air to music, but the real demo is that they're stable, predictable and programmable.  Awesome.

The really cool thing about CES is that each year we see incremental improvement in all the already existing products.  TVs went from 320 scan lines to 525 to 720 to 1090 to 4096 and now, in the 8K TVs there are 8192 scan lines.  It's magnificent.  And the OLED televisions have such stunning contrast it's like you're looking at the real world.  I don't even watch TV, and I'm impressed.

Another great show, bigger than ever.  My only complaint: Not enough chairs.  There need to be places for the show participants to sit down.  It's so tiring, and you see people sitting on the floor everywhere just taking a break.

Signs Of A Cold Fusion Hoax-or- That’s not cold fusion! That’s just a jar with a light bulb..

There’s been a lot of fuss on the internet lately about a new cold fusion invention in Europe. If the inventor is legit, he’ll be a multi-trillionair, which won’t mean much because the money will be worthless when our oil based economy collapses.  In fact he'll likely be excoriated for ruining the world economy, despite having brought prosperity for all.

However the more I read about E-CAT and Andrea Rossi, the more I suspect a masterfully well-crafted hoax.

Top Ten Signs of a cold fusion hoax:

1. It’s too good to be true.


2. Operates on no known laws of science, but violates several.


3. There’s a secret ingredient that can’t be publicly released because of a government plot, rule or conspiracy.


4. Unlimited power from common ingredients with no toxic waste. Carbon free!


5. Discovery made in some backwards country where they speak some devil’s tongue or squiggle language.


6. Confirmed in some other third-world country that has yet to adopt indoor plumbing.


7. We’re building a test plant in still a third third-world country. Wow. Greece. Nice.


8. The main ingredient appears to be hype.


9. “..but that’s not all! A byproduct of our reaction is metallic copper” which just happens to cost nearly as much as gold used to. Alchemy works. Just ask us.


10. Touted with religious fervor by your favorite conspiracy-theorist friend. That’s a dead give-away hoax right there.
    
    When I can buy a cold fusion box at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, hook it up to my house and cast off the power company’s wires, I’ll cheerfully, gleefully, happily eat my words.

I'm a college student!

I've taken the plunge and become a college student. I'm enrolled in Excelsior College in upstate New York. I'm in the Phoenix, Arizona area, but nowadays this isn't a problem. I'm really excited about this!

They're currently evaluating my previous college, military training and industry training with intent toward a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology. I'm using the EPCE program through my company, Arizona Public Service. That stands for Energy Providers Coalition for Education and is in response to the dearth of trained people to work in the energy business in the coming years. Just in nuclear power alone there will be a need for tens of thousands of new workers over the next few years.

Having been in the nuclear power business since I was 18 years old, I recognize the value of the degree. A degree requirement is on nearly every job posting in the nuclear business. And I don't have one. Yet.

Update: I got the degree.  It took nearly 4 years, but in August 2011 I graduated with a BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology.  Woot!

My writing

Did an article on playing music together as a family. It made cover story in The Link Homeschool magazine. It's here

Did an article for a couple of pubs including Family Times magazine on integrating ham radio into your homeschooling. It's around the web, and can be read here


Did an article on our homeschool group's toothpick bridge contest, which made Homeschool Dad magazine. The magazine is no longer being published, but the article can be found here.

And I've done numerous articles for homeschool pubs on various topics. One was on inlcuding academic and science contests into your homeschooling. It was in The Modern Homeschooler, a magazine that came out on CD.