Anyone can set up a UFO/Meteor Automatic Tracking Station for less than $200 US - Interested?

I've been thinking about this lately since I have a meteor cam and thought that people who live in UFO hotspots might be interested in setting up similar installations to catch their anomalous aerial phenomena.

The camera I use is very sensitive (it can resolve stars at night) and covers a wide area of the sky looking straight up (using a wide angle lens). The camera feed is sent into an old PC which is on 24/7 and running some motion detection software which automatically records any object in the field of view which moves, appears or disappears.

I can then view whatever it sees whenever I want. I usually check every couple of days.

My setup is similar to this one from France but I use a standard fixed mount.
Automated sky tracking to catch UFOs


This is the software suite I use. The aptly named "UFOCapture":



Over the years I've caught some nice meteors. No UFOs, though plenty of bugs, birds and high altitude planes. I don't live in a UFO hotspot though so if you do, who knows what you might pick up. It's worth a shot isn't it?

Is there any interest in a discussion of what it takes to set up something similar for you? I can keep it as non-technical or technical as you see fit.

reply to post by JadeStar


Hi JadeStar.

May I ask, when you say old PC, how old are you talking? I have 2 machines sitting around doing nothing, but they both run windows XP. Is there a certain requirement for the PC to be used. I'm certainly interested in learning more.

What I would actually like is a camera with an Doppler IR overlay feature that allows me to pinpoint slight variations in the temperature of the daylight sky at various altitudes to see and track meteors (and UFOs) when they enter the atmosphere during the day.

reply to post by MissBeck


If they're running xp they'll be more than capable. They could easily handle stills or video.

reply to post by JadeStar

Count me in too! Make it as non-technical as you can! I want to be able to take pics of stars/milky way. I live way out in the country and have no idea what to do to achieve this!

Thanks in advance!

reply to post by VoidHawk


Thankyou! Seems a shame to have them just sitting there, when they could be put to use.

MissBeck
reply to post by JadeStar

 

Hi JadeStar.

May I ask, when you say old PC, how old are you talking? I have 2 machines sitting around doing nothing, but they both run windows XP. Is there a certain requirement for the PC to be used. I'm certainly interested in learning more.

I use an old Dell Latitude 810 laptop running Windows XP.

I was going to give it to goodwill or throw it away then I decided to repurpose it for this.

Thats the cool thing, this software does not take a ton of processing power. What you DO however need is a decent size hard drive to store video clips if you want to keep a large archive. I have a 2 TB MyBook external USB which the video goes to.

I never touch the PC, its always on in a back room near where the video and power cable comes into the house. I just use remote desktop to connect to it.

reply to post by JadeStar


My old laptop is a Toshiba Satellite, and not the quickest machine, but I could purchase an external HD for it. Count me in.

MissBeck
reply to post by VoidHawk

 

Thankyou! Seems a shame to have them just sitting there, when they could be put to use.

Um hmmm. Exactly

I remember my dad saying to my mom, "hey look, she used that old dell for something after all."


Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle.


I will put together a little shopping list and very non-technical "how-to" later tonight.

MissBeck
reply to post by JadeStar

 

My old laptop is a Toshiba Satellite, and not the quickest machine, but I could purchase an external HD for it. Count me in.

Awesomeness.

I found that the most expensive part of my setup is the camera itself. Just any old webcam or security camera won't do.

reply to post by JadeStar


Looks like my daughters new telescope for Christmas is out the window!

Mommy has a new project!

superman2012
reply to post by JadeStar

 

Count me in too! Make it as non-technical as you can!

I'll do that.

I want to be able to take pics of stars/milky way. I live way out in the country and have no idea what to do to achieve this!
Thanks in advance!

Have you checked out the Astrophotography thread on ATS? There are some very good people there who can help you out with this.
ATS: Calling all Astrophotographers, all skill levels. Post your work.

reply to post by JadeStar

Thank you very much!

MissBeck
reply to post by JadeStar

 

Looks like my daughters new telescope for Christmas is out the window!

Mommy has a new project!

Oh no!!!!

Don't do that

Who knows, you buy your daughter that telescope and she ends up growing up to become a leading astronomer who makes a massive discovery.

I know my dad buying me my first telescope is what sent me on the career path I'm on in Astrobiology.

Lol, I shouldn't have posted this thread so close to Christmas!

reply to post by JadeStar


Well, she's only 4 at the moment, so maybe I can downgrade this years one.


Right, bed time for me but I will check out your list in the morning. Quite excited now!

MissBeck
reply to post by JadeStar

 

Well, she's only 4 at the moment, so maybe I can downgrade this years one.

Right, bed time for me but I will check out your list in the morning. Quite excited now!

Ok, well the best thing might be to forgo the telescope for now and get her interested in your meteor research You can show her some of the really pretty ones and that might just be the spark that drives her interest in the telescope you later buy for her.

I'd get her a Galileoscope if nothing else. They are cheap, durable, easy to maintain (made for kids and elementary school students) and you can see the sky as Galileo did. Or even better.

I'd have to shut it off on garbage day. Unruly Flying Ornery crows come out and feast when the garbage is out.

Here my latest catch with UFO Capture
have a few more on you tube

reply to post by Trillium


Very cool. I look forward to JadeStar's explanation so I can do this myself!

Ok, this post has to be shorter than I thought because something came up but I can go into more detail in a subsequent one which will go into some good choices for each thing.


Basically the things you will need to get up and running in order of importance are:

1. Very Sensitive Low Light Camera
2. Wide Angle Lens which fits your Camera
3. Outdoor Enclosure for Camera
4. Tracking Software
5. Power Supply, cables and other misc. items including heater/cooler for enclosure.


The most important thing is the camera. You can't just use any old webcam or security camera. Avoid anything that has IR emitters on them as well.

I use a Watec WAT902H Ultimate as many other meteor trackers do however another good choice is the SuperCircuits PC164CEX-2.

Plan on spending between $100-175 for the camera.

Check into other cameras meteor hunters use because basically we're doing the same thing for our "UFO" tracking station. You want low light and ultra sensitive. Do not worry about color. The key is sensitivity. If you can see stars then most likely it can be used for our purposes.

A good blog about this stuff is the Transient Sky blog: transientsky.wordpress.com...

He even named his meteor tracking station: SALSA short for "“Search for Alien Lights over Southern Arizona”.

That's pretty much it for now. I'll have more tomorrow and in the days ahead.