(meteorobs) Colour camera advice for Sandia system?

stange stange34 at sbcglobal.net
Wed Aug 27 13:41:07 EDT 2008


Kim,

On my third system using a 15 inch dome mirror, I found putting two car tail 
light bulbs(lower intensity terminals, not high) in parallel from a 12 volt 
transformer which is turned on by a good garden light timer works well. I 
set the timer to come on at 12 midnight and to go off an hour after sun-up.

Prior to that, the dome fogged up, especially after 4AM. The light bulbs are 
spaced about 5 inches apart and are seated just outside of the center 
line(zenith) on the dome base board. No fan was needed. Be sure current 
rating of timer transformer exceeds the current ratings of the bulbs. Most 
good garden timers have sufficient power to light many smaller bulbs. Use a 
standard trailer tail light socket to hold the two bulbs.

There is no light leak through the dome on mine. If there were a light leak 
from scratches inside the dome, paint that underside flat black over the 
scratches.

Simple is best.....
YCSentinel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kim Hay" <cdnspooky at persona.ca>
To: "Alister" <aling at telus.net>; "Global Meteor Observing Forum" 
<meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: 2008/08/27 07:08
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Colour camera advice for Sandia system?


> On 20 Aug 2008 at 20:15, Alister wrote:
>
> Share your info Alister.  We have a concam and ccdsoft program from
> Robert Nimeroff running all night, its black and white and works very
> well. Still have issues with our domes fogging up, not sure what to
> do , we have a fan setup and a 5 watt heater in there, but still
> getting fog.
>
> We keep getting nice plane images, and we did ick up a few Persieds
> but no fireballs yet.  We run from around 9:00 pm and have it set up
> for 4 minute images, which should take it till around 5:00 am.
> Unfortunately its all manual , and we are looking for an automatic
> setup, running under linux.
>
> So, what software and hardware are you using Alister?
>
> Anyone have any suggestions.
>
>
>
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've been running a Sandia setup on loan to me, from my backyard.  (video
>> camera pointing down onto a hemispherical mirror).
>> I've been thinking about splurging to get a colour camera, so that when
>> aurorae return, I can playback in full colour. I've recorded a few in 
>> black
>> and white, but it would be nice to get them as they are. Any (reasonably
>> priced) recommendations, along with appropriate focal length lens?
>>
>> And would it be of use for video meteor recording, if later the Sandia 
>> setup
>> is supposed to be returned?
>>
>> Contact me off-list.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Alister.
>> Alister Ling
>> Edmonton, Alberta
>> Canada.
>>
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>
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