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Re: (meteorobs) rotating shutter mania
In a message dated 96-07-09 22:06:41 EDT, you write:
<< That sounds like what George makes. The blades are just big enough to
cover
the camera lens. I'll talk to George about production.
Kevin
>>
For unguided camera's, you can maintain a smaller blade...but I have a guided
camera that moves...With a small blade, it's possible that the camera can
move partially out of the blades coverage. Thus, I made a little larger
blade to buy me some time as the camera moves. Having the big contraption
mounted onto a sturdy tripod enabled me to move the camera any direction I
want and still be able to easily conform the rotating shutter to cover the
lens. I have no problems with it in that respect. The one thing you want to
make sure about is maintaining a constant RPM. I've noticed after getting my
Strobe light, that RPM's can change a lot during the course of the night...as
the usage of electricity varies. I'm sure there are ways of maintining this,
but I knew for sure that if I had a strobe light, I can determine RPM's at
any time desired...Thus I check RPM's before and after the nites usage...and
again right after a significant fireball has crossed the camera's field.
Another problem I had was having an under powered motor for the shutter.
After I got the blades on...with a lot smaller fan, I had to spin the blade
to get it started. I was afraid of an eventual motor burn out that I decided
to jump up to the larger motor from the get go. Other than being a little too
fast, I've had no real complaints from the photos that I make using it. The
fast meteors seemed to work with it just find...I have yet to catch anything
slow with it yet, but expect to experience some problems then..dot it's
definitely a trade off I guess. If I ever catch a slow meteor I'll share what
the results are.
George Z.