Night Sky Video Observation Equipments  Video cameraVideo camera  LensLens  A/D converterA/D converter  PC for UFOCapturePC for UFOCapture  Housing/MountHousing/Mount  Diffracting grating (optional)Diffracting grating (optional)

Video camera Most popular cameras for night sky motion detection*. - Monochrome high sensitivity c/cs mount CCD camera (NTSC/PAL) ex. Watec Neptune 100, Watec 902H2 Ultimate Rarely used cameras (low sensitivity) - Color high sensitivity c/cs mount CCD camera (NTSC/PAL)Color high sensitivity c/cs mount CCD camera ex. Watec 221S, 231S2,250D2 - Hi definition (not compressing) digital interface camera (resolution is limited by UBS2.0/IEEE1394 bandwidth now) ex. Imaging source DMK31AF03AS Expected cameras (still having noise problem on low cost models) - Monochrome EM-CCD cooled camera. - Color 3 EM-CCD cooled camera ex. GOTO NC-R550a * Hi sensitivity( S/N), Fast frame rate (>= 25fps) is required for motion detection. Frame staking cameras, CCD still cameras, web cams, compressing cameras or camera that has persistence of image are not usable.

Color camera capture sample Watec 250D2 + Yakumo 17mm F0.95 Watec 231S + 25mmF0.95 ..

Lens Most popular lenses * (discontinued) CBC HG0608FCS-HSP 6mmF0.8 CS mount : 60degFOV for ½” CCD : best wide view lens. CBC HG0808FCS-HSP 8mmF0.8 CS mount : 45degFOV for ½” CCD : best standard lens. CBC HG1208FCS-HSP 12mmF0.8 CS mount : 30degFOV for ½” CCD : most accurate lens. CBC HG0308FCS-HSP 3.8mmF0.8 CS mount : 90degFOV for ½” CCD : suit for zenith direction. Substituting lens FUJINON YV2.7x2.9LR4D-SA mm (varifocus) F can be used in range of 5 to 8mm with ½” CCD Narrow lenses ( suit only for the close up of a part of a meteor trajectory or TLE ) YAKUMO YMV1795N 17mmF0.95 C mount manual iris YAKUMO YMV2595N 25mmF0.95 C mount manual iris

Lens selection guide Iris type auto iris lens (dc/video) is widely used, because they protect CCD from direct Sun light, and reduce the effect of Moon light and climate change. F (aperture) F < 1.0 is required. There is big difference between F0.8 and F1.2. f (focal length) /FOV width 30deg to 90deg lens are selected because of their measurement accuracy. FOV (deg) f (mm) ½”CCD Basic accuracy (deg/pixel, H=720) UA2 Typical accuracy (deg / 0.3pixel) S.M. magnitude (on 902H2U) CommentF < 1.0 is not available. Bad accuracy. Usable only for zenith direction Best lens for video meteor observation. Start or end point becomes outside of FOV too often ( 6mm lens x mm zenith lens almost cover all sky. Earth rotation = deg/sec )

A/D converter Requirements for UFOCapture -The device driver must provide un-compressed brightness information through DirectShow video capture interface on Windows. ( so called software encoding type capture device that uses a inner video format one of UYUV,YUY2,I420,IYUV,YV12,DVSD,DVHD,RGB8,Y800 ) -The driver should support multiple simultaneous operation if you want run 2 captures on 1 PC simultaneously. (Microsoft ’ s built-in IEEE1394 capture driver supports this) Recommended Model (Windows 2000/Xp/Vista/7) IEEE1394 video capture device. Ex. Canopus ADVC-55 Other possible models ( depend on the Windows version and TV format of the country ) USB2.0 capture device. PCI capture board. Card bus capture card. .. ..

PC for UFOCapture Requirements of UFOCapture (UFOCapture uses almost full performance of latest PCs) - OS: Windows 2000/Xp (recommended) /Vista/7 (all background task should be stopped) - CPU: Pentium4 >2.5GHz, Pentium M/Core series > 2.0GHz - HDD: fast inner 7200rpm drive > 80GB (500GB – 1TB/year station) (also HDD is the best long term preserving device of original videos). - Time keeper: NTP or GPS time keeper should be used. Requirements of 2 cameras on 1 PC -Capture device supports multiple simultaneous operation. -CPU should be multi core or HT -HDD should be dedicate drive for each camera -One IEEE1394 interface chip should be used for one camera only.

Housing and Mount Nagano1(by Masuzawa) : 5 cameras Weather proof housing is very important for stable observation. Also more rigid camera mount is preferable not to be vibrated by wind. (Direct Sun light did not harm cameras with auto iris lens, ever.) .. .. Tokyo1(by SonotaCo) : 8 cameras

Diffracting grating Spectrum of fire balls can be taken by using transmission type diffracting grating. Here is a sample of using Edmond ’ s 500 lpm polyester grating film in front of 3.8mm and 6mm lens. 500lpm + 3.8mmF0.8+ ½” CCD 500lpm + 6mmF0.8 + ½” CCD May be this will be very beautiful if using an ultra hi-sensitivity color camera! It will be a meteor with rainbows. .. ..