After having great success with adding an electronic finder (60x40 degree FOV using a 6 mm C mount lens) to my GSO RC8, I decided to assemble my own all sky camera to get a better idea of live sky conditions outside the house/tent.
I ordered a 1.25 mm f/2 185 degree FOV fisheye lens
from China. The lens is designed for 1/3" sensors with C mount, which I attached to the QHY using a C-to-T mount adapter ring.
I bought the dome - case only -
from Jaycar. I've thrown in a spare dew heater for 1.25" eyepieces, which will hopefully keep the dew off the dome. I'm still waiting to receive a
12V dimmer from eBay which I'll use to regulate the dew heater.
There's a 5 metre USB extension cord attached to the QHY5 which will connect to my imaging laptop inside my observatory tent.
The image quality is very good, but I'll have to wait to test it out on the stars (cloudy here). Unfortunately, I'd assumed that the advertised "185 degree field of view" referred to the diagonal axis (6 mm on 1/3" format) - but it turns out the lens provides the full field of view on the vertical axis (3.6 mm). In hindsight, I should have ordered the 1/2" version of the lens instead.
My todo list:
* Set up automated capture and internet upload (when my observatory is set up at home).
* Replace the QHY5 with an ASI120MC colour camera. I need the QHY5 for wide field autoguiding, plus the ASI has a convenient 1/4" mounting hole at the bottom and USB connector on the side. I think the exposures would be short enough for me to image during the day, and I could use it as a meteor camera (in video mode).
* Use the linear actuators I have left over from a previous project to be able to adjust the camera tilt remotely.
* Upgrade the lens to something faster & higher quality, e.g. the
Fujinon 1.4mm f/1.4 lens used by the SBIG ASC.
As an aside, after doing all this I noticed that the QHY5L-II and ASI120MM cameras now ship with the option of a fisheye lens and mounting brackets/tripod by default. Must be getting popular!
PS: if I won the lotto, I'd attach this
220 deg FOV lens to a full-frame DSLR and use that as my all sky camera
