Star Cam / Meteor Cam - C320WS
I am using a C320WS camera as a star cam / meteor cam. It works quite well by setting it to Day Mode and disabling the Status LED so that neither the Status LED nor the InfraRed LEDs attract and illuminate bugs. Being in Day Mode, it records in Full Color Mode, even at night - resulting in some nice captures of meteors and in some cases, the colored trails (usually green) they leave behind them (not to be mistaken for the apparent trails caused by slow shutter in low light and / or image compression).
It works quite well, but I'm sure it could be better with some tweaks to the firmware for image quality / compression. Even better, if there was a "meteor detection mode" as an option.
There are quite a number of amateur astronomers and sky watchers who have cameras set up for catching meteors, auroras, satellites and other interesting events. Some build their own cameras. I have found the C320WS to be a good, affordable option, and as well as being waterproof (IP66), the warmth generated by the camera itself is sufficient to prevent condensation forming on the lens. Most home made star cameras have a dew heater added.
It would be great if TP-Link could consider this application as I'm sure there would be a niche market. I have already had others contact me wanting more information about my Tapo camera after seeing my meteor captures in my YouTube videos. Example video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dr4w23xdw8
Additional suggestions would be Power over Ethernet as an option, and 12 volt rating instead of 9 volt.
I would welcome any feedback and suggestions from others who are interested in using Tapo cameras as Meteor Cams.
- Copy Link
- Subscribe
- Bookmark
- Report Inappropriate Content
Same here, we're near the border with Scotland so 55 degrees north, it doesn't get fully dark at night, just goes like twilight between about 11.30pm and 2.30am. I have been manually adjusting the ContaCam/task scheduler to turn on and off with the seasons changing, currently it is on from 11.45 - 03:00. I do miss the dark nights in mid summer but we do get to see some noctilucent clouds so that's a consolation !
Loving that dragonfly btw !
Cheers
G
- Copy Link
- Report Inappropriate Content
Information
Helpful: 4
Views: 3120
Replies: 31