About
About the Spacescan Observatory
Background
Whilst cruising through the astronomy websites one rainy night in 2007, I came across a page on the Armagh Observatory’s website. This set an idea going…
After some considered thought, several months later I had a Watec 902H2 Ultimate security camera. This 1/2 inch monochrome CCD camera is not only very light sensitive but also quite small, useful, as I have a limited amount of space available to me!
A trawl of the internet had made me aware of several pieces of software that would help me capture the images I desired. In the end, I chose the HandyAvi software, due to a compromise between purchase cost, features and PC requirements. As luck would have it, I already had a very useful mini ITX PC available, that originally powered my weather station.
Thus was born the Spacescan Observatory, located at 53.1°N, 1.6°W.
My location in the UK, is right underneath the main north/south airway for the UK, as well as being just to the east of one of the primary approach paths to Manchester airport. This can cause several “false” triggers a night due to aircraft navigation lights. However, these are easy to identify due to their “strobe” lighting and relatively slow movement across the sky.
Spacecam – Mark 1 (Sept 2008)
The original night sky (or spacecam if you like) consisted of the Watec coupled with a F1.4 1.6 – 3.4mm wide-angle CCTV lens obtained via Ebay, encased in a waterproof electrical enclosure I had in my junk cupboard. The dome was also obtained via Ebay and was extracted from a system intended to house a small cctv camera. A large amount of silicon sealant was used to ensure a fully waterproof assembly!
Although this lens is relatively slow (small aperture) and is intended for smaller 1/3 inch sensors, it still produces acceptable (to me) results. This system was used between September 2008 and March 2009.
Spacecam – Mark 2 (March 2009)
In March 2009, Mark 2 went on-line after I managed to purchase, at a very reasonable sum, a 6.0mm F0.8 1/2″ lens, again from Ebay. This lens has been the preferred choice of a number of observers for several years and now having one, I can see why… its captures so much more light!
However, that light capture came at a price – a much reduced field of view. Great if you can aim the camera to somewhere near an horizon but in my location that is not possible – I can only see the one third of the sky directly over my back garden!
The new lens was mounted in a very secure Denard housing and aimed roughly due north at around 70 degrees to minimise exposure to the sun during daylight hours. Not that such a housing is a necessity but rather that I already had one in the cupboard…
Spacecam – Mark 3 (Sept 2009)
After some very disappointing results, I came to the conclusion that whilst the F0.8 has fantastic light grasp, the field of view was just too restrictive. I spent some time thinking about what I could
do and decided to re-install the wide angle lens. As luck would have it, whilst trawling E-bay, I came across an advert for a very reasonable sum a Tamron 3mm F1.0 lens.. although not design for 1/2″ sensors it looks like it could be a good compromise – only time will tell.
I also came across a large dome enclosure (250mm), intended for use inside buildings but with a bit of re-engineering and my favourite tube of sealant, I have co-located both my weather-cam and my spacecam on top of the shed. There is even space left over for at least one more camera…
Video Capture
The camera feeds a generic USB video grabber connected to a 1.6GHz Intel D945GSEJT ITX PC, running Windows XP SP3. This is a low power PC which I hope to run of solar power eventually
The PC runs Windows XP SP3 Home Edition. A cheap plug-in mains timer ensures that both the PC and camera are off during the day. Switching the power off to the camera causes the lens iris to shut, thus protecting the sensitive 
sensor from damage caused by the sun (UV radiation).
The HandyAVI software is configured to automatically start in meteor capture mode and a simple “scheduled event” instructs the PC to shutdown cleanly before the timer disconnects the power to both the PC and Watec camera.
On trigger, the software captures a number of frames and then uploads a small WMV file direct to this website. Every few nights, I look at the events and manually add them to the archive page, after adding logo’s etc. The intention is to automate this last process further in due course.
Update – April 2010
I have changed the skycamera back into directional mode – as opposed to All-Sky. This has been on the cards for a while, mainly due to [very] local light pollution. The camera is now pointing due north and using the 6mm F0.8 lens, has a field of view of something like 56 x 43 deg. (H x V).
A replacement 24/7 All-Sky Camera is being setup that will replace the current weather cam and that will also provide some [limited] motion detection – more news and pictures to follow on that project.
Update 26 June 2010
I have moved the cloud camera from looking directly overhead to north facing. The reason for this was due to excessive heating of the camera during daylight hours. I hope to write a script in the next few days that will append weather data and produce simple 24hr movies.
The hardware for the new 24/7 all sky camera is acquired – it should be operational by the autumn.
Please use the discussion area to post comments.
© spacescan.co.uk 2010