Runcam night eagle Astro edition A low-cost high-sensitivity camera for new observers and replacement of the PC164C-EX2 By: Tony George For the 2017 IOTA Conference

specifications Model RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition Image Sensor 1/1.8" Black & White CMOS Sensor Horizontal Resolution 800TVL Lens 140° F2.0 Video Output CVBS Composite Video Blanking and Sync. – NTSC/PAL switchable on OSD menu OSD Set Yes OSD Dongle provided S/N Ratio >50dB Night Shutter Speed NTSC: 2/59.94, 4/59.94, 8/59.94 PAL: 2/50, 4/50, 8/50    Min.Illumination 0.000005Lux@1.2F Day/Night Only Black & White Power Input 5-17 VDC Housing Material Magnesium Alloy Net Weight 14.5g Dimensions 26mm * 26mm * 28mm

Osd menus

Good images with no hot pixels! In the above UCAC4 catalog star chart, stars down to 14th magnitude are readily apparent as small dots without magnitude labels. In a Registax stacked image of the same field of view, stars down to 13.8 magnitude are clearly apparent, as are many stars at 14.0 magnitude. Stars below 14.0 are visible with one 14.8 magnitude star visible.

Built-in zoom allows close examination of focus

Brightness and gain controls allow management of image brightness and contrast Moon with max gain and max brightness Moon with max gain and min brightness

RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition Camera Scale Factor Determination Field of view analysis RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition Camera Scale Factor Determination   Image Scale Camera Plate Scale between stars Arc Seconds Arc Minutes WAT910HX 13 948 15.8 RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition 14 881 14.7 PC164C-EX2 17.5 705 11.7 RunCam OWL Plus 12 1028 17.1

Camera limiting magnitude analysis Estimate of Camera Limiting Magnitude vs. Telescope Aperture – RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition (based on comparison testing to the RunCam Night Eagle) Telescope Aperture assuming f3.3 (inches) Limiting Magnitude Original Night Eagle Limiting Magnitude Night Eagle Astro Night Shutter 1 Limiting Magnitude Night Eagle Astro Night Shutter 2 Limiting Magnitude Night Eagle Astro Night Shutter 3 12 13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 10 12.6 13.1 13.6 14.1 8 12.1 6 11.5 12.0 12.5 4 10.6 11.1 11.6 2 9.2 9.7 10.2 10.7

Camera Linearity Analysis

Other factors Field phasing: Light Leak: the stock RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition does not sync the fields to a start-of-frame time. Associated field may occur in two sequential frames For highest timing accuracy, the video must be analyzed at the field level and the fields recombined via occultation timing extraction software such as Occular, R-OTE, AOTA, or PYOTE Light Leak: The chip is so sensitive, it can see the smallest light leak. Even though we use the camera in the dark, flashlights might affect critical observations at the wrong time. We recommend sealing the back of the camera and wiring areas with opaque tape, such as metal insulation tape.

Light leaks can be solved in three steps Seal case edges with metal tape Plug screw holes with mounting bracket and screws Use metal tape to seal around wiring harness

Calculation of Camera Delay Correction (seconds) Rolling shutter requires variable camera delay corrections based on ‘Y’ value of star position on camera chip Calculation of Camera Delay Correction (seconds)  PAL NS1 Correction -> =( 74.24+(-0.063143 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001 NS2 Correction -> =(114.12+(-0.062652 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001 NS3 Correction -> =(194.94+(-0.062463 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001 NTSC =( 69.03+(-0.066744 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001 =(102.68+(-0.067282 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001 =(169.24+(-0.066563 * Y-POSITION)) * 0.001

Cost (IOTA repackage) Ted Blank will discuss the cost of the camera and/or kit package in his presentation

Where to purchase: The RunCam Night Eagle Astro Edition is currently not in stock on the RunCam website. IOTA has arranged the bulk purchase of cameras as needed. Cameras are available for resale through Ted Blank.

References ArtStar test results for: RunCam Owl Plus, Bob Anderson September 22 2016, IOTAoccultations https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IOTAoccultations/files/Light- curve-analysis-papers/RunCamOwlPlus-report.pdf Test report: RunCam Night Eagle Astro (prototype), Bob Anderson, 20 April 2017 http://occultations.org/documents/RunCam-Night-Eagle-Astro-test- report.pdf Testing RunCam Night Eagle, Tony George, December 2016, The RunCam Night Eagle CCD Video Camera is tested against three other cameras: WAT910HX, PC164C-EX2, and RunCam OWL Plus http://www.occultations.org/documents/NightEagle-Comparison.pdf Dunham Hyades Comparison, David Dunham, January 2017, Test of RunCam Night Eagle vs PC164C-EX2 on the Hyades star field without and with 0.5X focal reducers (two suppliers) http://www.occultations.org/documents/HyadesComparison.pdf