Building an All Sky Cam setup Questions

[TheButcher]

Hey all,

I have decided to pursue an ALL Sky Cam setup for a few different reasons and was wondering if anyone has any experience and recommendations on materials or examples of yours.

Aside from an All Sky using a ZWO camera for the main imaging meteors/time lapse and such, I figure it could be great for a Security Cam when my Mount is outside and to monitor clouds when I am indoors imaging to check condition. I will make it so it can be rotated and such. And also have it to monitor my summer garden with tomatoes and Vegetable to see whos been munching on the veggies and pecking at my tomatoes. A couple years back I used my GoPro to find the culprit who ate the leaves on some of my veggies (It was a family of Rabbits and I saw where the varmints made their entry ).

So with that said, I plan on being able to switch out cameras for the chore. But mostly I will have one of my ZWO's in at night and on occasion during the day put some cheap camera in to watch storms overhead and daytime pests

So what materials do you think I would need to make this happen and also water proof (when I put another cam in).


So far I just bought a Rasberry PI 4B wireless 4gb to run everything remotely and I have AC Power availability. So with the Rasberry in there I want to make it waterproof.

Next on which I would love suggestions for is

1.) What kind of Clear Dome would you recommend to shield the camera?
2.) To fight the dew, Would the heat from the Rasberry PI suffice or do you think I need another heat source?
3.) Project Box/Enclosure and what size or should I use like 6-8" PVC Pipe cut to about 6-7 inches or so? (I saw a bunch of examples of both)
4.) What program would use, The Rasberry runs on Linux so it would have to be Linux compatible at least I think.

So if anyone has built one I would love to hear what you have done

Thanks All,

[Graeme1858]

Hey all,

I have decided to pursue an ALL Sky Cam setup for a few different reasons and was wondering if anyone has any experience and recommendations on materials or examples of yours.

Sounds like a great project Brian.

[mention]Aratus[/mention] Has one of these in his back garden.

I have no experience of all sky cam setups (yet) but I shall certainly be watching how yours evolves!

Regards

Graeme

[TheButcher]

Thanks Graeme,

Yeah it should be fun to build and watch. a couple months back Put my ZWO on a tripod and all sky lens on out back for the meteor showers and thought it was really neat and watching it remotely inside while my main scope was imaging.


It seems like most people are using the Rasberry Pi's in the build. They are only $35-$65 USD and is a tiny computer board that runs Linux but reading how people are putting WIn 10 on them. The Latest one the Rasbbery PI 4 has (1-4gb of Ram option), 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 regular 2.0 USB, 2 mini HDMI ports and is wireless 2.4/5.0 ghz with a Quad core computer for $65. So there no joke, I can see me eventually working it's way into my imaging setup. It takes an 8GB-256gb Micro SD card which I have some laying around. But also read that people are hooking up SSD's to them.


So far I got a the kit with the Rasberry 4 PI (4gb) version and it needs a special HDMI micro adapter and power plug there about $10 each but the kit for $82 that I got included them. The kit came with that along with a case (you can pick many cases but I just got the original since I will be modifying it.)

I also ordered a clear acrylic Dome (meant for cctv & security cameras that is about 3 inches wide for $12.) It Is just a half bubble with a small flange around it with screw holes to mount it over the enclosure that I will use. I looked at different types and this one seems to have the highest transparency of >94% for my budget5 and is meant for camera.

I am going to wait until it arrives on Saturday before I choose the type of waterproof housing for it. I got to see how far the cables stick out and such. I also don't think it will need dew heaters since the Rasberry Pi generates Heat but that will be by trial and error and figuring out how to not let it get too hot while still remaining waterproof.

So as far as pricing this seems like an under $100 project (minus the camera that will be used in it, but a simple ZWO120 should work great.) Also I have seen people hook up different types of cameras that plugs directly onto the board easily for cheaper cost.

As I build it I will post the images of the parts and such.

[Dragonsfire]

I bought this from Amazon for the weatherproofing.
Can be mounted on a pvc pipe.

[TheButcher]

I bought this from Amazon for the weatherproofing.
Can be mounted on a pvc pipe.

That looks like a nice size for it, if the one I ordered doesn't work out I may give that a try. Also that is great to ward people off as well in addition when they see that with it blinking.

Thanks Dragon

[TheButcher]

Some updates

Well I got my first part in for the setup. The Rasberry Pi 4 with 4gb. (Although they just came out with the 8 GB version last week I am gona stick with this for now for only $60) The accessories cost half the price of it. You have to get a USB c power adapter and HDMI micro to HDMI adapter or cord. Some Heat sinks and a (case "not necessary) but nice to have since I will be using the bottom half for mounting. The complete kit cost only $82 and I had it up and running in under 20 min.

I am using the Linux Rasbarian OS that they recommend and I got it to remotely connect into my home network and can view and control it from any of my computers which is a plus. I just got to type in the IP. The wireless range of the built in 2.4/5ghz adapters seems really good so far.

Now the fun stuff, getting it to work with the ZWO. There are ways of doing it, I just got to do the proper research and have the correct cam. I read that some people had issues with the 120, but that could just be the mini. But going to try to hook up my 290 and 385.

After that I got to figure out how I am going to live stream it to my network with capture software. As I want this to be outside all the time. Also as far as the security cam part. They sell IR night vision cams for this that directly hooks into the Rasberry PI board. There only like $15-$25 so I will probably ad one of them to the side facing where my mount and stuff is.

I also ordered the main enclosure case, it cost $30 that should come early next week (I saw some for around $12-$15 but they may of been too small for it. I opted for a 10"x7"x5" and it has an open door style and waterproof junction box.

[TheButcher]

It is starting to come together as I receive the pieces, kind of getting costly, I got the Waterproof lockable project box for $33, the Securty Camera Dome $14 A varaiety of nuts, About $25 for Bolts, nuts, washers, rubber washers to make it sealed and such. Got some wood for making the mount. For now it will be rigged up with my Tomatoe cages with wood 2x2's for reinforcement.

Now just waiting for the waterproof all weather exhaust fan $22 that I am gona put on the bottom since it will be baking. And waiting for some more electrical stuff such as cable glands and the main power cable. Oh and I had to order a new Micro SD card, I broke my Samsung Pro when mounting the modded CPU fan for the Rasberri.

But I think it should be up and running by the end of the weekend. The software that I am using is actually a script created by https://github.com/thomasjacquin/allsky

It seems really neat and I had it up and running before I broke my sd card. It basically runs it self and has pretty cool features.

Anyway here are some photos of the box and stuff. Right now I got my 290mm in there but still not sure what camera I will put it in since I use that for guiding all the time and will be using it for planetary. In the photo for the Dome, I left on the cellophane and put some painters tape just so I don't scratch/ruin it yet

[yobbo89]

Looks like a good project, I'll follow this thread

[TheButcher]

Well here is an Update on my project. I have been working way to long on this (Mainly software testing) But it is near completion. As far as the software in it, I decided to install Astroberry over the Raspian OS on the Rasberry Pi 4 (So in English, Astroberry is a software package that loads over Raspian the main Software which is based on Linux). And my main goal was to make this go live every night from my website and on youtube. So after hours and hours of research I figured out how to put OBS studio on Astroberry (the main OS). And did some tests indoors and things went well. The cool thing about the Astroberry OS is that it acts like a server and I can connect to it very easily through my router from any computer and it can even supply a hot spot for wifi and has Blue tooth. Anyway So now I got the OS up running OBS studio broadcasting to YouTube Live Stream and it is running Firecapture's latest version. Astroberry has some other capture programs but I like FC. Plus I want to make time lapses out of the files the next day. Oh yeah and the Micro SD card is a 128gb Sandisk Extreme.


As for the Camera, I am gona be testing out my ZWO 290mm and ZWO385 and then decide what route to go with then either get a 120mm or a 224mc? I just don't know what will be better as I plan on doing 0.5-5 sec exposures. I know the 290mm can handle .05 sec as I tested it a couple of months back with an All Sky Tripod setup. By the way does anyone know when The ZWO's will be back in stock, everyone is out of them pretty much.

As far as the hardware, I just got to do some tests on what I am going to do with the bottom waterproof exhust fan. I do plan on making some kind of extender to protect it from moisture but not sure if it is necessary as it blows out pretty powerful and not worried about moisture in the fan, but if it gets inside the box and causes issues (Any suggestions?). I know it will need it during the day to combat the heat so maybe at night I will make some kind of cover. As far as DEW, I think the ZWO puts out enough heat and same with the Rasberry pi 4. I also need to silicone the dome still, but that will be last. Paint it? Hmm I live in a condo where houses are right next to each other and backyards facing backyards so I kind of want to blend it in with my backyard. And as far as the security camera, I am thinking about just making another one but smaller and much cheaper acroos my yard to keep an eye on things.

Initially I made a simple wooden frame around it as seen in photos and going some how put it near and above my 10 tomato plant cages. The cages are about 5ft high but the tomates reach about 6-7ft. So gona put just above that height. I would love to put it higher but can't where my surroundings are. But I should still have a nice view of the sky for now to capture some meteors and some cool time lapses and maybe some UFOs lol.

I put some new photos below. As far as the Rasvery Pi case, I had to drill a hole in the top case and put a tiny fan in there. The temp went down from 80c to 55c, then I decided to put a small heat sink I found laying around and rest it on part of an old Graphics card that did not work to dissipate the heat some more so it dropped to 48c, When I put that fan on then it dropped to below 40c.

Thx for looking