(meteorobs) Looking for advice choosing fireball cameras (video)

[Ed Majden]

Leo:     
     I suggest you do a search for the University of Western Ontario Meteor Group.  Look under the ASGARD All-Sky Camera Network for more details.  This is how professionals do it.  Probably much too expensive for amateurs to do. I am an amateur and part of the Sandia All-sky Network. Do a search for the NMSU All-Sky Meteor Network and click on Imagery and it lists the various stations.  I'm under British Columbis - Courtenay node53 where you can see some of my detections. Also have a look at -  www.bcmeteors.net/  - to read about our B.C. Network which started in 1998 with four stations but now has expanded across the Province.  This should give you a good idea of how to do this. Chris Peterson runs an extensive network in the U.S. so provides good advice on this. I see your in contact with him.  Dr. Ian Halliday, NRCC, ran a network called MORP using film cameras.  MORP was the Canadian Network and it recovered the Innisfree Meteorite, the third meteorite recovered with a known orbit.  The first was Pribram recorded by the Czech Network, and the second, by the American Prairie Network which recovered the Lost City meteorite.  If you do a search for these meteorites you will find more information.  Sadly both the Prairie Network and MORP were shut down.

Ed Majden - Amateur Meteor Spectroscopy
www.bcmeteors.net/ 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: LEO STACHOWICZ 
  To: Meteor science and meteor observing 
  Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 11:00 AM
  Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Looking for advice choosing fireball cameras (video)


  >What are your scientific goals?


  To help determine orbits and recover meteorites.


  >Do you really need the resolution 
  >afforded by multiple cameras (a setup that will introduce many 
  >management and processing challenges)?

  Probably not (from a scientific point of view), but I like the idea of being able to capture detailed footage of fireballs purely because such footage fascinates me!

  If the challenges are too great, I might have to reconsider, but I was hoping that it could be done on a single PC, and UFO Capture would only save the interesting bits of footage (thus alleviating most of the data storage/processing issues). I guess from your answer that you are hinting that this is not the case though!


  >At the least, if you want meteors and stars in your data, do not use a 
  >color camera. All of the Sony HAD based B&W cameras have similar 
  >sensitivity, and all are a LOT better than any of the color camera 
  >choices. A color sensor reduces both sensitivity and resolution while 
  >adding little or no useful data. (Sense-up modes are not useful for 
  >meteor work.)

  I had a feeling that this might be the case. Thanks for the info Chris.

  Leo


  On 10/5/2012 6:54 PM, LEO STACHOWICZ wrote:
  > Hello all,
  >
  > I have been toying with the idea of setting up my own cameras to record fireballs for a while now, but have been waiting till I can move to a rural location. Well, I'm in the process of buying just such a property, so I want to find a few cameras, but I have a few questions about what equipment would be suitable.
  >
  > To begin with, rather than just a single all-sky camera, I'm thinking of having multiple cameras covering as much sky as possible. I figure somewhere between 5 and 8 cameras should do, depending on what lenses are available.
  >
  > I've been looking at CCTV type cameras that have relatively high sensitivity/resolution and large CCDs (ideally 1/2"), but I don't have a huge budget, so I will probably end up buying most of them in used condition.
  >
  > I figure that they don't need to be too sensitive as I'm after fireballs, but I still want some star detail. So my first question is - what kind of specification cameras are others using?
  >
  > I've seen some nice footage in the past from the Spanish Fireball Network. Anyone know what spec. cameras they are using?
  >
  > I decided to take the plunge and picked up a Samsung SDN-550 camera which seemed an ok deal: http://www.buythis.co.uk/open_product.asp?pid=1687&catId=61&source=Froogle
  >
  > Main features:
  > - 0.3 Lux at F1.2(color),0.01Lux(B/W), 0.002Lux (Sens-up)
  > - 1/3" Sony Super HAD color CCD
  > - Ultra High Resolution of 530TVL(color)/570TVL(B/W)
  >
  > I've also got my eye on a Bosch LTC 0610: http://www.buythis.co.uk/open_product.asp?pid=1687&catId=61&source=Froogle
  >
  > ...which looks like it will be a bit better (1/2", 0.008 lux, 540 TVL ).
  >
  > I suppose one of these (Mintron 12V6HC-EX or WATEC WAT-902H2) would be the best option, but they are a little out of my price range, unless I can find a nice used condition example or two: http://www.modernastronomy.com/camerasAstroVideo.html
  >
  >
  > In terms of lenses I'm thinking along the lines of 4mm F 1.2 on 1/2" sensors, but so far I've only come across zoom lenses, and I'm also not sure if I should be looking for manual or auto aperture lenses? I suppose having auto aperture lenses would be a good idea for daylight-fireball monitoring.
  >
  >
  > The other thing I'm not sure about is how to record/time-stamp the footage from the cameras. Can I use a single PC (with an 8 input capture card) running UFO capture for this?  I expect I'll have to build a dedicated PC for this purpose, so any tips on what minimum spec to go for would be helpful.
  >
  >
  > Clear skies,
  > Leo

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