Geminid meteor shower

Hi Mike,

Great captures and very interesting detail from the SonotaCo Capture analysis software. I am running an all-sky camera on my roof top (links below - see OchraSouth), using HandiAVI to capture 'meteor events.' It works (after a fashion) but is plagued by clouds, aircraft and spiders causing false trigger events. The result is that I end up with several gigabytes of uncompressed AVIs each morning. Fast forming/moving clouds are the real killer for me. How do you find the SonotaCo Capture software with these sort of 'noise' sources? If this software can overcome this problem I'd be very tempted to buy it... though I'd also have to upgrade the capture PC, which is an old 800MHz box I rescued from a skip. SonotaCo Capture seems to need a pretty high spec processor to run smoothly. I'd be very interested to hear how you get on with this software.

Phil.

Hi Phil, hope you are well
I understand the frustration of having gigabytes of useless information from the early days, so I can sympathise with you there. OK, I can give you good news first; you can download SonotaCo Capture software (V2.22 is latest release) for free and use for a trial period of 30 days without functional limitation, after that if you are happy with the program you can purchase, I think I paid 125 Euro, details of licence key will be sent by email. The analyser program is free to individual researchers (latest version is V.225). All the software can be downloaded here: sonotaco.com/soft/e_index.html#ufocv2

I have since fine tuned the capture software to eliminate most of the annoying occurrences you mentioned (without reducing the effectiveness of detection of meteor and other atmospheric phenomena) and can provide you with all the settings to get you started. Still learning the analyser software program but I have made some progress in this area and can share with you. I also have hardware recommendations to improve your system I can share with you also.

OK, the bad news (sorry Phil), you will definitely have to upgrade your PC, The incoming data stream places heavy load on the CPU especially at high resolution, e.g., 720 x 576 and your HDD must be fast write speed otherwise you end up with incomplete AVIs that cannot be analysed. My computer spec is Intel CoreX2 @ 2.13 GHz with 2 GB RAM, 32 bit OS Vista. I run two cameras at full resolution on the one PC but I am pushing it to its limits at that. Canopus frame grabbers are excellent choice.
Any other questions Phil or if I can help out in any way with your project please ask or PM me if you wish. BTW I am in Meath so if you are in the area please call in and I can show you how it all works.

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Clear skies and best wishes
Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that encouraging news - it's good to know that someone has cracked (or at least reduced) the hit rate on false trigger events. I'll download the SonotaCo capture app and trial it on my laptop, which is my fastest machine at the moment. I'd be very grateful to use your application settings as a starting point as there appear to be a lot of things to fiddle with - so please let me have 'em! I'd also welcome your thoughts on improving the hardware. I know there are newer (lower lux) cameras on the market since I got mine, but all suggestions are welcome.

I knew I'd have to upgrade the capture-PC on my system eventually and I have been trawling the Dell outlet on eBay.ie for returned computers - there are some great deals to be snapped up if you keep your eyes peeled. I'm going to treat myself to a top-end box in February (my birthday) when my piggy-bank is released from the Christmas(R**e)-Crisis Centre's intensive care unit... it's feeling a bit abused at the moment! The best deal I've seen so far is a Dell Xeon 6.4GHz (2x 3.2GHz) box for €200.

You're in Meath? Hmm... that's just about far enough away from me (near Bray) to be able to combine any simultaneous captures and do some useful triangulation work on bolides... food for thought!

Let's keep in touch!

Phil.

Hi Phil, I hope Santa will be good to you this Christmas and bring you lots of astronomical and computer goodies.

OK, the capture software settings I will send you by email this evening, I will PM you shortly with contact details and you can contact me directly. “Dell Xeon 6.4GHz (2x 3.2GHz) box for €200”, that’s a Super Computer at a super price, just ensure you have also adequate RAM, fast write speed HDD and Firewire capability added in there for good measure. Make sure that your PC is regularly updated its system time through the internet as a time stamp will be placed on all video frames by the capture software program, this is required when working with other stations.

For meteor station hardware I would highly recommend that you get your hands on a high speed aspherical CBC Computar f0.8 lens, either 3.8mm, 6mm or 8mm, although they are becoming rarer than the lesser spotted Celtic Tiger as they have been discontinued a while back. The 8mm f0.8 lens will give you a FOV of 33 x 45 degrees of sky for ½” CCD Camera, and a 6mm f0.8 which will give you a FOV of 43 x 69 degrees of sky for ½” CCD Camera. I used previously a 2.6mm f1.0 high speed aspherical lens which gave me a FOV of 122 x 144 degrees of sky for ½” CCD Camera. This means Phil you might have to climb that chimney again, dressing in red is appropriate at this time of year but the neighbours will no doubt be confused!

It is generally not recommended to use fisheye lens for video meteor recoding due to less accurate data, does not detect fainter meteors and therefore orbital determination becomes more difficult during analysis. The wide angle lens is good for general recording of brighter meteors where accurate data extraction is not important.
My mounted cameras are both 8mm f0.8s, the lens are enhanced for very low light conditions and IR. The camera you have Phil is impressive and seems to be as good as the gold standard Watec-902H Ultimate, your camera is EIA standard @30fps, which is no problem for the capture software, the full resolution will be 720x480 if I am not mistaken. Canopus ADVC 110 is excellent; you will never have to change, I use Canopus ADVC 55.

Clear skies
Mike

Very interesting discussion here.
What kind of money are we talking to have one of these cameras up and running?

Michael.

Hi Michael
This is a list with rough pricing, the equipment is what I am recommending for you but it is always good to find out what other persons are using for their stations and of course you can shop around for better bargains but this will give you a good idea to start with.

1. Camera: I recommend ½” CCD Watec 902H Ultimate or ½” Watec 902DM2S. Price each approximately 400 - 500 Euro.
2. CBC Computar 3.8mm, 6mm, 8mm or 12mm high speed aspherical lens (f0.8 – f1.0) enhanced IR and for very low light conditions. Price each approximately 200 Euro.
3. Frame Grabber; Canopus ADVC55 / Canopus ADVC110, (6 pin Fire wire to PC). Pricing approximately 200 Euro, or K-World Frame Grabber (USB 2.0) Price each approximately 50 Euro.
4. Male BNC to Male S-VIDEO cable (25ft lengths). Price each approximately 20 Euro.
5. Camera housing, I purchased two TPH1000 Genie outdoor semi-cabled units. Price each approximately 75 Euro. You could always do what Phil did and build your own acrylic dome housing.
6. Software, recommend SonotaCo UFO Capture V2, Pricing approximately 125 Euro but you have free 30 day trial first. You could also look at “MetRec” software Michael which is free but will only work with “Matrox” family of frame grabbers if I am not mistaken.

Clear skies
Mike