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Post by BillW on Mar 5, 2012 19:30:41 GMT
Bugger,
Missed it. Went over the field of view of my watec camera!
Looking at other video's of it, it must have been a very shallow entry for such a duration. Is there any footage of the terminal point?
I wonder if it was a piece of de-orbiting space junk rather than genuinely meteoric.
cheers,
Bill.
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Post by stewartw on Mar 8, 2012 8:30:12 GMT
Both of my cameras were operating but neither of them captured it which was a surprise to me as the system can get down to magnitude 5.5 at 25fps and regularly picks up faint meteors (as well as birds, insects, falling leaves, satellites, aircraft, lightening, firework flashes ...) I therefore assume that the object passed outside of the FOV which is a puzzle as initial reports suggested it had a North to South trajectory over the length of the country. One of my cameras has a horizontal FOV of 43 degrees and is pointed about 7 degrees to the right of Polaris at an altitude of 45 degrees. Based on www.popastro.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16810 I suspect it was to the right of the FOV BUT I do have a second camera that point east and it didn't get it either ... I suspect it may have been just under the FOV  Ah well ... maybe next time. William |
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Post by BillW on Mar 9, 2012 9:35:37 GMT
Hello William,
Welcome to the forum.
The SonotaCo forum is great. I've been reading it ever since I started using UFO but never joined until a couple of weeks ago!
Your set up sounds great. I'm quite envious as I'd love to get my hands on some of these fast 0.8 lenses. The difference between these and the f1.0's and f1.2's is quite noticeable.
I started with the intention of using MetRec but couldn't get the right frame grabber.
I put a posting on the IMO board just to see how many people are using UFO capture and was astonished by the response. You've probably seen the recent list of groups also given on the SonotaCo board.
I'm hoping that I'll get a break with the weather for the Lyrids this year as I'd like to try out my new rotating shutter.
Cheers,
Bill
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Post by stewartw on Mar 9, 2012 16:22:50 GMT
Hi Bill,
>I'm quite envious as I'd love to get my hands on some of these fast 0.8 lenses.
I got lucky - happened to be in the right place at the right time when the vendor decided to have a clear out.
>I started with the intention of using MetRec but couldn't get the right frame grabber.
If you send Sirko (MetRec developer) an email he sometimes has some available for sale.
>I'm hoping that I'll get a break with the weather for the Lyrids this year as I'd like to try out my new rotating shutter.
Yes, February was poor - my setup is permanent so I don't have to set it up / take it down ... but even then each camera only managed 28.25 productive hours where the limiting magnitude was 4.5 or better.
Is the rotating shutter a custom build for a DSLR system?
Best regards
William
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Post by BillW on Mar 10, 2012 20:05:18 GMT
Hi,
I might change to MetRec in the future but I've no plans do to so at the moment. Geert over in Armagh also told me the he generally has some cards available.
The shutter is nothing fancy, the motor has a basic voltage regulator to maintain and even speed and I made made the blade from some thick plastic sheet. Knocked up a bracket to attach it to the tripod column and with a home hade mounting plate with two ball heads on it I can have two camera's using it. Pretty rough and ready but it should work.
cheers,
Bill.
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Post by leolion on Mar 18, 2012 18:06:16 GMT
Hi Bill & William , I'm collecting any data I can glean for the long path fireball of March 3rd and though you were both actively imaging neither recorded it ! Pity that ( as I could have been active myself as I'd had an 18 hr day and iffy sky too) . I had a 2.3 mm f 1.4 lens I was about to 'play' with to find out its limitations . In both case the azimuth and elevation of your field frame corners defines where the fireball was not . This is useful information of an objective nature (like minor planet occultations where you don't get a positive but define where the minor planets shadow path was'nt so refine its path (!!!!).
William , I would be interested in triangulation work with you from Elland , West Yorkshire as would my friend ARP from north of Leeds . I have Watecs , Mintrons and various lenses (inc 2 x 3.8 mm f 0.8 s I may have a 6 mm f 0.8 somewhere in the collection too. Bill knows me and also ARP . PM me if you wish, Len E
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Post by stewartw on Mar 18, 2012 19:58:20 GMT
Hi Len,
Will dig out the parameters for the FOV edges and post them here.
In the meantime would be very interested in the potential for a triangulation collaboration - will send a PM.
Best regards
William
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Post by stewartw on Mar 23, 2012 13:49:52 GMT
Apologies for the delay - work getting in the way again.
I operate two cameras, each are fixed (ie do not track the sky) and the alt / az hasn't been changed.
The rectangular FOV of the north facing cammera is bounded by:
Top Left:
Azim: 333°02'56.542" Alt: +60°06'26.045”
Top Right:
Horizon: Azim: 65°18'00" Alt: +58°30'22"
Bottom Left:
Horizon: Azim: 352°44'26" Alt: +32°00'55"
Bottom Right:
Horizon: Azim: 43°53'43" Alt: +30°51'46"
The rectangular FOV of the east facing cammera is bounded by:
Top Left:
Horizon: Azim: 48°11'32" Alt: +57°03'49"
Top Right:
Horizon: Azim: 135°02'39" Alt: +56°30'51"
Bottom Left:
Horizon: Azim: 66°07'14" Alt: +27°56'37"
Bottom Right:
Horizon: Azim: 116°27'47" Alt: +27°26'19"
As already mentioned, neither camera picked up the fireball either directly (with a trail) or indirectly (lens flare / brightening from something just outside the FOV).
PM me for my location.
Best regards
William
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