All Sky Cam

[Martin Pugh]

Hi folks
the availability of commercially made ASCs seems very, very limited. I think the Starlight Xpress Occulus is the only one I could find and that is 700GBP.

So are folks doing DIY cameras or do you know of a product out there that does the job?
thanks
Martin

[AstroViking (Steve)]

Hi Martin,

There was a pretty good write-up of a DIY all-sky cam over on the American forum. All up, I think the project cost him under USD$200.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8...less-than-200/

Cheers,
V.

[Martin Pugh]

Great info. Thanks.

[Joshua Bunn (Joshua)]

Check out this to, Martin. Many have been using this, including myself for years, it works great. Its by Thomas Jacquin



https://github.com/AllskyTeam/allsky

[AnakChan (Sean)]

All Sky Optics did sell a kit but you'd still have to supply your own camera and Pi. It sounds that they can do a complete custom build for you too.

But it's fun to do your own build. It's not too difficult. I built mine around the ASI678MC and used Aaron Morris' All Sky as it seemed more maintained than TJ's.

[JA]

Originally Posted by Martin Pugh

So are folks doing DIY cameras or do you know of a product out there that does the job?
thanks
Martin

Hi Martin,

I'm sure this combo, or similar, plus a little adaptation would fine...

Dome



Camera



For completeness test the dome for simulated rain prior to use and/or add sealant preferably on the inside, if possible, at the interface between clear dome cover and housing. The dome is specified as 90mm in height and so should easily house the camera with its all-sky wide angle lens probably 40-45mm in height. If you want to get the cable out from the base of the dome cover and keep the camera on axis with the dome centre (preferable) then you may need to use a right angle USB plug cable due to clearance with the inside side of the dome housing.

Best
JA

[joshman (Josh)]

I've just put together one over The Christmas holidays, using the instructions here:
https://diyodemag.com/projects/all_s...i#downloadable
as a base. I've noticed a few errors/changes that needed to be made with the current RPi operating system. If you're a little savvy then this could work for you.



Otherwise, I've had success in the past running the Thomas Jacquin Allsky software on a Raspberry Pi Zero2. only just though. you'll need to disable some of the extras, but it is doable.


Otherwise, a RPi4 and 4Gb of ram is more than capable. Get a POE hat with a fan, and a POE injector to make powering it easier. The RPi HQ Camera works well enough, and this lens provides full 180 sky view with the HQ camera.


A cheap Security dome from Ebay or Amazon, and a little bit of ingenuity can get you a nice little Allsky Camera setup.


I've built mine in a piece of 100mm water pipe.

[Martin Pugh]

thanks for all the replies.

[Paul Haese]

Martin,

we are using the Thomas Jacquin allsky. It's been operating perfectly fine for 3 years or so now. They are easy to build and install software. The latest software is pretty good too.