The Straight-Up Cam

[Turtle]

I have kept this idea at bay for several years, as well as any attempt at implementing it. Here at least is the idea and pehaps letting it out may motivate me to implement it.

The idea is to set my video camera pointing straight up and using the Interval-Record option acquire a set of images for comparison. Most camera tripods - and home telescopes as well - do not permit travel far enough to point the instrument at the Zenith, so I have to come up with a little support table yet.

Part of my thinking is that the atmosphere is at its "narrowest" when looking straight up, so whatever I photograph is less susceptible to atmosphereic optical effects. Another part is that few if anyone is doing this.:hihi: Whether you have an optical instrument or not, looking straight up is uncomfortable and/or requires special support & patience.

So, the idea is out & I may or may not implement it. I offer it for your consideration.:ud: :) :cup:

[infamous]

So, the idea is out & I may or may not implement it. I offer it for your consideration.:cup: :) :hihi:

I say "go for it man"......... And I have a question sir Turtle, are you speaking about taking time lapse pictures to create an hour by hour record of overhead objects? Sounds like a good way to check for UFO's, IMHO.............Cool my friend, cool,.................Infy

[Turtle]

I say "go for it man"......... And I have a question sir Turtle, are you speaking about taking time lapse pictures to create an hour by hour record of overhead objects? Sounds like a good way to check for UFO's, IMHO.............Cool my friend, cool,.................Infy

 

Done & done! Yes, time lapse. I have a Sony Digital Handycam & it has a menu option called Interval which lets you choose among 4 delay periods (30 sec, 1min, 5min, or 10 minutes) as well as four record times (2sec,1.5sec, 1sec, & .5 sec) I have the camera set to record 2 seconds every 5 minutes; it is pointing straight up with the top of the view oriented North.

UFO's, meteors, contrails, aircraft, clouds, stars....I plan to catch a bit of each.:cup:

The camera setup is temporary just now, with it propped on a stool with a duffel bag wrapped 'round it, the power supply on the ground, & a live feed cable running through the window to a TV.:hihi: :doh: :lol: :lol: Nothing to report so far but clear blue sky. Weather permitting, I may try to keep it out as is for several days.

Thanks for the prodding Infamous; just what I hoped for.:ud: The Straight-Up Cam is now operational.:)

[infamous]

Thanks for the prodding Infamous; just what I hoped for.:hihi: The Straight-Up Cam is now operational.:)

And we are witness to history in the making, you're the man Turtle, you're the man.........................Infy

[Mercedes Benzene]

Excellent idea Turtle!

That's a very, very good idea.

 

I'm going to have to try that myself.

In the mean time, would you mind keeping us updated every so often with pictures of interesting... things.

:)

[TheBigDog]

Ideally I would do the experiment with two cameras a measured distance apart taking photos in sync with each other. You could then use triangulation to get the altitude of things you see my locating them in the simulantanious frames. Some method of initial calibration would need to be performed.

 

Bill

[Turtle]

Excellent idea Turtle!

That's a very, very good idea.

Credit where credit is due, and in this case my Straight-Up Cam idea is an expansion of a suggestion by my housemate Ace. To whit, when I was doing all the bird photography with the camera in a weatherproof enclosure, Ace suggested I set it upright with plexiglass over the lens opening & sprikled with bird seed in order to get close-ups of the undersides of the birds.:lol: Thanks Ace!:lol:

Ideally I would do the experiment with two cameras a measured distance apart taking photos in sync with each other. You could then use triangulation to get the altitude of things you see my locating them in the simulantanious frames. Some method of initial calibration would need to be performed.

Excellent observation B! I don't have the equipment for that (yet:hyper: ), but I plan to do some calibration by holding a yardstick in the field of view until it exactly fills the frame side-to-side (then top-to-bottom), then measuring its distance from the focal plane of the lens. This is enough to determine the angle(s) of the cone of field-of-view. A couple of sightings of aircraft of known size overflying at a known altitude & I can have a rough rule of thumb at least.

My multi-camera scheme I mentioned is for viewing/recording clouds in the visual spectrum & uses 4 cameras. Three are at the corners of an equilateral traingle spaced a kilometer or more appart, with the fourth a straight-up-cam in the center of the triangle. The three corner cams are all focused on the same point directly above the straight-up-cam. The signals then need combining via computer software to form a three-dimensional view of the clouds.:cup:

So, this brings us up to the current experiment. As the 1 hour tape running at the 2sec/5min interval records about 3 days of activity, I am camping in the living room now at least that long. I have brought in my 13" TV with VCR so I can record 6 hours nonstop of the live feed. I then review the tape in FF (takes about 20 min) for any "hits" before rewinding the tape & re-recording it. The biggest potential problem is catching something good on the VCR but missing it on the camer's digital tape between record intervals; this because I can't put the VCR images onto the computer.:ud:

At night, I set the camera to either Nightshot or SuperNightshot infrared mode, where the Super mode keeps the shutter open 4 times as long & results in a brighter but jerky image.

Nothing but blue sky, a lone lingering cumulus cloud, & an over-flying bug to report so far.:hihi: :)

[Turtle]

I have bungy'd the camera to the stool and weighted the bottom. In the few minutes that took I realized I am unavoidably gathering another set of data, which is the amount, type, & rate of fall of particulates out of the atmosphere. I found them nicely displayed on the up-pointing lens.:) :eek_big:

[Turtle]

The straight-up camera project now has an official designation: Project SUC.

I don't expect to have any photos for at least 3 days, unless I capture something extraordinary. I already utilized SUC to spot a flock of 12 geese overflying & heading North.

On the technical side, I have turned off the digital zoom & have the camera zoomed out to its max (normal lens). I have automatic exposure on, and manual focus on with focus at infinity. The SUC is on the road to discovery.:eek_big:

[Turtle]

The bungy idea didn't work well as some of the camera controls are on the back that I treated as a bottom. Tomorrow I plan to design & build a custom SUC enclosure to accomodate the circumstance. I have some concern as well about condensation developing on the SUC overnight.

Clouds moved in for awhile & then cleared & I have my first view of the stars. (The SuperNightshot mode is required for star observations.) I have the star Vega in the constellation Lyra just South of my frame center.

I have noticed that a part of the house eve is in the frame & so provides a perfect scale as the rafters are on 2 foot centers; tomorrow I'll measure the height of the eve from the SUC's focal plane.

This concludes this irregularly scheduled SUC report.:) :eek_big: :cup:

[Turtle]

I have interrupted the experiment in order to construct a SUC enclosure, so I took the opportunity to grab the first stills from the project.

The first is an infrared image of the star Vega in Lyra taken last night.

 

The second is clouds & a contrail I captured this morning.

 

It is very curious seeing the clouds from this perspective. [i.e. looking straight up at them] Clearly they are clouds but the boundaries look peculiar in comparison to the normal & expected layering when viewing clouds with an outward look of 45° or less.

At any rate, I expect to go operational again with 2 or 3 hours.:circle:

:) :circle:

[Turtle]

I have interrupted the experiment in order to construct a SUC enclosure, so I took the opportunity to grab the first stills from the project.

...

At any rate, I expect to go operational again with 2 or 3 hours.:friday:

:) :circle:

 

The new is complete. Little more than a foil covered cardboard box, it suffices for a 3 day experiment.

I invite & welcome any SUC images from you all, whether from still or video cameras. You needn't take any other great means than to lay on you back outside, head pointed North, with your camera for a minute or two & snap a photo. :circle: :xparty:

[Mercedes Benzene]

Very clever Turtle. Once again, you AMAZE me.

Anyway, nice enclosure, and I especially like the picture of the clouds.

You have very pretty skies wherever it is you live.

[Turtle]

Very clever Turtle. Once again, you AMAZE me.

Anyway, nice enclosure, and I especially like the picture of the clouds.

You have very pretty skies wherever it is you live.

Roger Mercedes. I live in Vancouver Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon.

It has been brought to my attention that while the project title clarifies the Z axis with Straight-Up Cam, it leaves the X & Y axes ambiguous. To clarify, the X & Y is Top-of-frame Oriented North. I have authorized the project title change to Straight-Up Camera Top-of-frame Oriented North & the acronym SUCTON. Please title submitted project images with the SUCTON prefix. Thanks for you cooperation.

SUCTON Management Team

[Tormod]

You are possibly the most amazing scientist we have on board, Turtle. :)

[InfiniteNow]

I see Turtle as a bit of the stereotypical "mad scientist." Always tinkering with things, creating little gadgets, moving back and forth, scribbling things on paper, experimenting... I am a bit envious that I don't have more time to do the same myself. Khua, solar oven, katabatak painting, monitoring mt. st. helen's, upward looking cameras, even makes julienne fries! :D

 

Bravo good sir, and cheers! :)

[Turtle]

I see Turtle as a bit of the stereotypical "mad scientist." Always tinkering with things, creating little gadgets, moving back and forth, scribbling things on paper, experimenting... I am a bit envious that I don't have more time to do the same myself. ...

By jove, you have struck the flame on the Bunson burner Now. :eek: I am certifiably as mad as a Hatter.:doh: As to your wish for more time, it is a bit of a paradox; you see I have the time for my science only because I am mad. Were it otherwise I would be echoing your lament. Caught in Catch 22 as it were.;)

Nonetheless, with a gallimaufry of unfinished projects littering the trail behind me, it is reassuring to think some find value in it. Which brings us to the SUCTON unit update. I report all systems performing nominally, with current conditions cloudy. I may add a plasticine port to the top of the unit to facilitate its operation by a remote infrared control as this control allows immediate swithching from interval record mode to full record.

This concludes this episode of mad ramblings & scientific examination of Project SUCTON.;)