With the saying “you can never have enough meteor cameras” ringing in my ears, I recently (June 2024) decided to build my own Allsky camera (see photos below). There are a lot of ‘build your own’ guides on the web, none of which I followed exactly, but the one I took most inspiration from can be found here.
My Allsky camera setup utilises a Raspberry Pi 4b, with a High Quality Camera and a 12MP (2.7mm, F2.5, 1/2.3″) wide angle lens. The system operates using the open source AllskyTeam software, which I highly recommend as it is easy to install and operate. The junction box and the Perspex dome were both brought online, along with the disassembled dew heater strap which you can see snaking around the camera. A number of silica gel sacks were placed in the dome, as well as in the main junction box to help prevent dew forming inside the dome.
The system is designed to be portable, so I can take it with me when I go on my travels. Currently, though it is stuck out of the same dormer window my digital camera setup looks out of. I opted to use a wide angle lens (field of view – 184.6°/140°/102.6°) rather than a full 180° by 180° fisheye lens, which a lot of home builds use, because it reduced the number of obstructions in camera shot.
Below are some of my favourite images from my Allsky camera
A rather interesting star-trail image from the night of the 12th September 2024. The camera is looking NE over Plymouth. The North Pole Star can just about be seen at the centre of the star trail. The image is a stacked image from around 500 individual images captured throughout the night.The rather irregular coloured trials are from helicopters, which were very active in the area early in the evening.A star-trail image from the night of the 29th August 2024. The camera is looking NE over Plymouth. The North Pole Star can just about be seen at the centre of the star trail. The image is a stacked image from around 500 individual images captured throughout the night.The large, right ascending, trail is the moon, at 19% full.The first meteor caught on my all-sky camera. The more information about it can be found here. Note the time stamp on the image is BST. GMN images use UTC.A stacked image from a cloudy night on the 23rd July 2024. Kind of spooky looking in my opinion.A star-trail image from the night of the 13th July 2024. The camera is looking NE over Plymouth. The North Pole Star can just about be seen at the centre of the star trail. The image is a stacked image from around 500 individual images captured throughout the night.A satellite flare caught on camera from early in the morning on the 16th June 2024. A lot of people will mistake these flashes for meteors, but the very long duration, slow increase in brightness, which slowly fades away, are some of the characteristics of a satellite flare rather than meteors.
Time lapse videos
Below are some of my favourite time lapse videos captured using my Allsky camera
A very short display of the aurora borealis from just before midnight on the 12th August 2024A very short display of the aurora borealis from early in the morning of the 12th August 2024. Look to the left above the chimney pots.Time lapse video from the night of the 13th July 2024Time lapse video from the night of the 11th July 2024
