So I’ve upgraded the ASI120MC camera in the allsky kit to an ASI178MC

This is an upgrade from a 1.2 mega-pixel (1280×960) to a 6.4 mega-pixel (3096×2080) resolution. It’s a bigger sensor but with a smaller 2.4 micrometre pixel size. It also has a lower (1.4 – 2.2e) read noise compared with the ASI120MC (4.0 – 6.6e).

The first results are quite promising. The camera is certainly running hotter than the previous one.

I have also upgraded the indi-allsky software, and it now features a star-trail timelapse. It also has some interesting new features, which I have not yet worked out fully, so have not enabled them yet.

Here are the first video results:

I shall be testing the stacking features as well as the meteor / airplane detections. I have also applied a custom detection mask, which should improve various calculations and hopefully improve the results.

I have also re-aligned the overlay in the public website, which you can access here.

Set up the camera for the first time in a while. Probably need to redo my darks though.

I have finally changed the overlay on the all sky camera to match (somewhat) the orientation of the stars for when I place it. I guess this improves the educational value of the system.

There are a few improvements left to do, some of these will obviously depend on budget:

• Waterproofing.
• Better Camera.
• Better Lens.
• Permanent location.

https://coochey.net/allsky/

Well, we still have some issues with the Moonmode deactivation in the software. I’ve upgraded the firmware on the camera and am in discussions with the backend developers about where the bug might lie. It is possible that we may just disable the transition into and out of Moonmode to get over the bug.

Here is a timelapse from last night, unfortunately, the moon is in direct view for most of the night, so gain setting had to be set low to avoid over-exposure.

So – the new INDI AllSky backend is now up and running. Running outside in an ambient temperature of around 11 degrees C. The sensor appears to be stable at 19.2 degrees C. So hopefully the resistors will keep the dome above dew point.

I’ve managed to, at least, get the live image uploaded from the new backend to the coochey.net website, so you can still view the live view here.

We will see whether the videos / startrails & keograms upload properly, although I suspect that I will have to re-apply some of the sealant.

I will also have to re-do all the dark frames again, I may sort that out this evening.

So, I left it running overnight, and we hit some issues. Thankfully it was mostly dry, but there was a lot of dew.

I have now mounted 4 100 ohm resistors within the dome, and attached them, in parallel, to the 3.3V line on the Raspberry Pi. It should give me 0.43W of heat to the dome area. They’re connected to a breadboard, so I can easily disconnect one of the resistors if it gets too hot, or I can move to the 5V line on the Raspberry Pi for 1W of heat.

I’m unsure if there was just too much water, or if I was out of focus or something, or perhaps seeing overnight just wasn’t any good.

I’m also unsure about the handling of the ASI120MC-S camera by the allsky software. It could be that I need a better camera (this is the cheapest you can get really). So an upgrade to something like an ASI178MC or ASI178MM might be in order.

One thing I will be trying now, is to use my USB 500GB SSD drive, with a new install of Raspberry OS Buster (10), and try out the indi-allsky web package. It may allow me to change some settings that are not functioning ideally on the standard allsky package. Of course, this change will probably mean the Allsky camera website will not be updated in a while until I fix things to upload properly.

Equipment has been drip feeding to complete a build. I’m currently testing powering the Pi4 and the ZWO camera via a SkyWatch 17mAh PowerTank. I am hoping that this would allow me to run the All Sky camera for a whole night without needing mains power.

Items I have:

• CCTV clear dome
• Some Steel brackets
• Various M3, M4, M6 Nuts and bolts
• A 12V –> 5V 3A USB power converter
• Various Cables
• Pi4 4GB
• ZWO ASI120MC-S
• Cigarette Lighter 12V Power plug & cable

Items I’m waiting on:

• PVC Junction Box (hopefully arriving today)
• Power Connector Strips (collecting later)
• Holesaw Kit for my drill (collecting later)
• Cable Glands for sealing the power lead (arriving tomorrow)

Hope to get an initial build done over the weekend..

Some initial test show that:

• Current ambient temperatures allow for enclosed operation without the need for any additional cooling.
• The PowerTank can probably last 24 hours without needing a recharge.

Just one hole so far needed into the junction box. Hopefully the last one.

I have some issues, as we’re running inside the conservatory there are reflections whenever the inside lights are turned on. Also some graininess with the ASI120MC camera, so switching to mono Y8 mode for future acquisitions. I will also stop saving daytime images (live daytime view still available), but the daytime images are not useful for me for keogram / startrail or timelapse videos really.

I’m going to be tinkering with my old ASI120MC mini as an All Sky Camera, currently just have it indoors and looking out the conservatory.

We have some clear skies forecast for tomorrow night, so may see if I can mount it outside.

The sub-website for the All Sky Camera can be found here. It will take some tweaking to get everything functioning correctly. Very much still in testing at the moment.

I’m ordering a weather proof junction box, an acrylic clear dome and some miscellaneous parts to house the system so that it can be mounted outside to get a fuller view of the sky. I will probably be putting the camera in monochrome as well, as the pictures can be a bit grainy when in colour.

The software runs on the Raspberry Pi, and some methods to build a similar project can be found in and around here.

I’ve decided to build and host the kstars handbook on my site, mostly for my own benefit, as when I tend to look for this online I tend to find out of date version.

My own version can be found here.

I’ll try and update it from git from time to time.

I ordered some photo items from a supplier, and the supplier sent these via a courier “DX Express”, I had heard of DX, I think through having had some third party experience where they’re the preferred supplier for the couriering of legal documents etc…

Not been too impressed, still not received the goods, and their tracking information appears to show that the items have been traversing the local area for a couple of days, so not really making much of an attempt to deliver, but rather continue to risk damage rolling across the Devon hills.

Here is the latest on their tracking page:

Hopefully, third time lucky, otherwise we will rename DX (Delivered Exactly), to DXWWCBB (Delivered Exactly When We Can Be Bothered).

Update: They did finally manage to deliver on the 9th December.

It has been a while since posting anything. It has been unfortunate that the weather has just not been amenable to allow for any serious amount of viewing.

However, things may change, and the new moon approaches on the 4th December where I will have some spare time to take advantage if the clouds do clear.

I do, however, appear to be in a lucky location for an event that will happen on the 16th December. The 67.3km diameter asteroid, designated (11395) 1998 XN77, which orbits between Mars and Jupiter, will occult a visible star (magnitude 5.5) in the Cetus constellation (HIP 12148).

If the weather is dry and clear then I might be able to set up the telescope and camera to track HIP 12148 and take a video to see this “mini-star eclipse”.

The event at a glimpse

* date and approx. time of event: 2021 Dec 16, 21:10 - 2021 Dec 16, 21:29
* geocentric midpoint of event [JD]: 2459565.38883333
* magnitude of target star: 5.50
* magnitude drop [mag]: 11.76
* estimated maximum duration [s]: 7.210
* Moon: 95 % sunlit, 22° distance
* Sun: 134° distance

This is truly captivating.