Excellent instructional video. I've been looking at a few different takes on putting together an all sky camera but I think this is by far the clearest and most sensible instructional video I have seen. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience Logan.
Great Logan, this is also on my project list, in fact already got the dome for it, but that is as far as I got so far, too busy with other stuff like the obo power system!
Thank Dave. Hopefully you got the domes with the descent sized lip and the screw holes and wont have to print surrounds like I did. Now I just have to find somewhere to set it up more permanently. Clear skies.
Fun! I currently have my ZWO OSC connected to my laptop using ASI Studio to take time lapse footage from within my SkyShed on clear nights. It works great, but after watching your video, I think it is time to move up to the next level with AllSky and a Raspberry PI. Thank you!
Thanks David. It's a pretty straight forward build (even I could make it 😅) and since you already have the ZWO OSC, that's the bulk of the cost right there (unless you also need the wide angle lens). I'm hoping to position the alksky camera in a more elevated position so there is not as much interference from surrounding light. I also need to tweak the focus a bit as I focused on the ceiling of the house during setup and need to adjust it a bit better for the sky. Clear skies.
Thanks Glenn. Yes an allsky camera would finish off your magnificent obsy build nicely I think. It also looks like you have a ton of sky in your new location which will suit the fisheye lens too. Clear skies.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked the video. Yes the Keogram is a good quick way of getting an overview of how the sky was overnight so you then know the reason why there were a bunch of crappy exposures in the set. Clear skies
Great video and super build. My only suggestion would be to cover the top of the case, under the dome, with a flat black paint or material. The grey shiny case May cause reflections even from the moon.
Excellent info and nice result on the custom build Logan...I'm also jealous of your serious work bench area and tool collection! ;) Have a great week mate and have fun with the All Sky!
Nice job Logan I've got am old QHY colour camera with lens that I'll be using so it will be plugged directly into the mini pc when I finally get round to building one although it will have some dew control fitted to it. Chad from patriot astro has uploaded some great videos regarding NINA etc in the past always found them to be very useful. Great video as always clear skies
Thanks Tich. Yes I think I am not going to get away with not having a dew heater in there as we get a ton of dew most night and I don't think the heat generated from the Pi will be enough. This one night of testing just happened to be no-dew night which is actually quite rare. I've learnt quite a lot from Chad's videos in the past when it comes to NINA. Clear skies.
Great job, a heater ring may well be needed inside the dome to keep the condensation from inside, I had to put one in mine, or the dome was steaming up inside…
Thanks. Yes I agree, I think a heater ring is going to be needed as we get dew here most nights. Just so happened, the night I ran it for the video had no dew.... go figure. Which dew heater ring did you get? The ZWO one?
The images are on the Pi but you can view them on the website. You can delete the images and Timelapse etc from the Pi but it appears that the Timelapses, Keograms and Star trail images are uploaded to the website as I can still view those and download them even if I delete it from the Pi. There are two ways of viewing the images, timelapses etc but the video by Patriot Astro goes through all that fully.
Logan, you dome looks exactly like mine would it be possible for you to supply the STL files for the 3-D printed mounting ring? Came out real nice using the same camera with the power over ethernet option.
Sure no problem. I did several test prints for size and I think this is the one that fitted the best but you might need to tweak the percentage dimensions when printing to make sure it s a good fit. It doesn't print with holes for the screws as I drilled those myself. You can grab the .stl file from here www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dxkdnhdwssqv7dn09iiih/Dome-2-bigger4.stl?rlkey=iorjytywk25qxi9g9iqefnq34&dl=0
Just found this now, since I'm setting up one of these cams at my place in Oamaru. Any tips on how to set up a website to post the images to? No one seems to cover that aspect of the project.
I'm not sure about how to set it up with a website for posting to the internet so it can be viewed from anywhere but if you check out Patriot Astro and his video about setting up an allsky camera, I think he mentions near the end about getting the images out onto the net as he shares his allsky camera's view online but from memory you might have to pay for the service. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7TGpGz5SeVI.html
The Pi I bought came with an adapter cable which was power plug on one end and USB C on the other. So mine is providing 5v and 3.0 amps (I understand you can use 2 amps but it might struggle running peripherals). I did try with a 5v 2.1amp but the Pi showed it was throttling so I'd recommend using one with 3amsp output.
Thanks. Yes it is for outside. My plan is to have it off during the day and only on at night when it is cooler. So far, after one night with dew, the camera dome stayed dew free but will need a few more nights before I decide if I need more air movement around the enclosure. If heat starts to be a problem I do have a small 3d printed exhaust I can attach to the camera but that would make it somewhat open to the elements (but downward facing so no rain can get in).
Just a pretty standard waterproof enclosure a bit like this one but just make sure it's big enough for how you are setting up the Pi and camera and cable etc. Mine was 222mm x 146mm x75mm. www.amazon.com.au/POWERTOOL-Waterproof-Electrical-Instrument-Electronic/dp/B089R64SS8/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=19OSBO1WINMB2&keywords=waterproof+enclosure&qid=1684029595&sprefix=waterproof+enclosure%2Caps%2C221&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFaWEtGWlBXMlpNQjEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA4MjMzNzUzQllDQlc1UE8wNDdMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QUJFU0pHQ1ZTQkpHTiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
