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Equipment Discussions >> Observatories

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mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: MrKrink]
#5033593 - 01/23/12 08:48 AM

Quote:

Did you get the new WSentinel program from me? It may just be for WinXP.

I downloaded the latest from the NMSU site...WSentinel 1.1.15 dated November 11,2011.

I do get a message on opening "Creating video mixing renderer 9 failed"

I know that is part of the directx9 environment.... what version are you running?

Post Extras:

Roy Salisbury
professor emeritus

Reged: 05/26/09

Loc: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5034250 - 01/23/12 04:39 PM

Well, I guess I will be doing a lot of testing to get it working. The computer I planned on using does not even have slots for internal cards (its a Mac Mini). Running XP is not an issue if I have too (I already use Parallels for my Win7 x64 instance). I've sent email asking about the specs of the system and other than one email I got thee other day that it was "ready to ship", I have heard nothing about the requirements or software.

Roy

Post Extras:

mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: Roy Salisbury]
#5034330 - 01/23/12 05:44 PM

Quote:

Well, I guess I will be doing a lot of testing to get it working. The computer I planned on using does not even have slots for internal cards (its a Mac Mini). Running XP is not an issue if I have too (I already use Parallels for my Win7 x64 instance). I've sent email asking about the specs of the system and other than one email I got thee other day that it was "ready to ship", I have heard nothing about the requirements or software.

Roy

hmmm... that could be problematic

I honestly don't think you will get that configuration to work for a multitude of reasons. You might be able to get the camera to function but I have not seen many analog to digital usb adapters that work real well. That itself brings another wrench into the mix... even in a windows system. Now couple that with the fact that you are running Windows7 in a Mac environment with software designed for Win XP and have them all play nice with one another.

Let us know how it goes... I do have a couple of Mac programmers on staff here that I can bounce questions off of.

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: Roy Salisbury]
#5034401 - 01/23/12 06:32 PM

Quote:

Well, I guess I will be doing a lot of testing to get it working. The computer I planned on using does not even have slots for internal cards (its a Mac Mini). Running XP is not an issue if I have too (I already use Parallels for my Win7 x64 instance). I've sent email asking about the specs of the system and other than one email I got thee other day that it was "ready to ship", I have heard nothing about the requirements or software.

Roy

I thought we had pretty much covered the system requirements here. You have to have a computer dedicated to the camera system with >500GB hard drive.

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5034410 - 01/23/12 06:36 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Did you get the new WSentinel program from me? It may just be for WinXP.

I downloaded the latest from the NMSU site...WSentinel 1.1.15 dated November 11,2011.

I do get a message on opening "Creating video mixing renderer 9 failed"

I know that is part of the directx9 environment.... what version are you running?

I never got the software from the website to work. Joe Chavez sent me a different version and it worked find.

Post Extras:

Roy Salisbury
professor emeritus

Reged: 05/26/09

Loc: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5034416 - 01/23/12 06:41 PM

I'll try a few BNC to USB adapters that I have. If not, I'll look for others. Getting XP running under a virtual instance is a snap. And my Mac Mini has plenty of memory and CPU for it.

Roy

Post Extras:

Roy Salisbury
professor emeritus

Reged: 05/26/09

Loc: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: MrKrink]
#5034421 - 01/23/12 06:46 PM

Quote:

I thought we had pretty much covered the system requirements here. You have to have a computer dedicated to the camera system with >500GB hard drive.

A dedicated computer with >500GB matches exactly what I have. But here is what your "requirements" miss:

* Must have a PCI slot for a capture device capable of connecting the camera via a BNC connector.
* Must run windows XP.

Roy

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: Roy Salisbury]
#5034441 - 01/23/12 07:06 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I thought we had pretty much covered the system requirements here. You have to have a computer dedicated to the camera system with >500GB hard drive.

A dedicated computer with >500GB matches exactly what I have. But here is what your "requirements" miss:

* Must have a PCI slot for a capture device capable of connecting the camera via a BNC connector.
* Must run windows XP.

Roy

Thanks for pointing that out, I missed it. But one correction, you CAN run Win7, you just have to have a different video card.

I am not sure and I am skeptical it will work with out having the card. BECAUSE, the card had 4 ports on it and it HAD to be connected to the one closest to the motherboard.

Post Extras:

mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: Roy Salisbury]
#5034453 - 01/23/12 07:14 PM

From the word doc sent to me by Richard Spaulding at Sandia.

"PC Requirements
The PC used to run the WSentinel must meet the minimum requirements:

1 GHz Processor
1 GB Ram
750 GB Disk
CDROM drive
1 Spare PCI slot available

The software currently runs only on Windows machines. XP is the preferred version to run with the software. "

Post Extras:

mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: MrKrink]
#5034458 - 01/23/12 07:16 PM

Stuart -- if you click the 'Help' button in WSentinel then click 'About" it will tell you what version you have.

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5034607 - 01/23/12 09:08 PM

Quote:

Stuart -- if you click the 'Help' button in WSentinel then click 'About" it will tell you what version you have.

They must have updated the website, mine is 1.1.15 too. He emailed me that one directly.

Post Extras:

Roy Salisbury
professor emeritus

Reged: 05/26/09

Loc: Las Vegas, NV

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5038110 - 01/25/12 10:30 PM

Quote:

From the word doc sent to me by Richard Spaulding at Sandia.

"PC Requirements
The PC used to run the WSentinel must meet the minimum requirements:

1 GHz Processor
1 GB Ram
750 GB Disk
CDROM drive
1 Spare PCI slot available

The software currently runs only on Windows machines. XP is the preferred version to run with the software. "

I never got anything like that when I inquired about the camera. So if it ever shows up I'll try my best to get it to work, but may just have to send it back and go for one of the commercial options.

Roy

Post Extras:

njrusty
member

Reged: 03/17/06

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: MrKrink]
#5047923 - 01/31/12 01:12 PM

Great job on mounting. Could you please share your mounting parameters you used? I'd like to duplicate how you installed your system; 90 degree PVC pipe...etc.

I just received my camera system today, but with no instructions, documentation...etc. But, looking forward to installing the system this weekend.

Russ

Post Extras:

wolfman_4_ever
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/11

Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5048051 - 01/31/12 02:07 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I do get a message on opening "Creating video mixing renderer 9 failed"

I get this same error running on xp sp3 x32 running wsentinal 1.1.19 Any idea on how to fix this? I don't see anywhere in the program where to change the inputs for the coax either... AM i to guess which one I plug it into?

Post Extras:

wolfman_4_ever
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/11

Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: wolfman_4_ever]
#5048149 - 01/31/12 03:01 PM

Nevermind. I got it..

Post Extras:

mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: wolfman_4_ever]
#5048419 - 01/31/12 05:28 PM

Quote:

Nevermind. I got it..

Do tell... What did you do differently?

Post Extras:

wolfman_4_ever
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/15/11

Loc: El Segundo, Ca, So. Cal

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: mrramsey]
#5048525 - 01/31/12 06:18 PM

I think the sentinal program is set for a certain port on the back. I ended up just pluging in the BNC connector on each port and starting the program until the video popped up. That error comes from not being able to detect data on the port. at least for me it was.

Edited by wolfman_4_ever (01/31/12 06:20 PM)

Post Extras:

mrramsey
super member

Reged: 11/19/11

Loc: Hudson, Oh

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: wolfman_4_ever]
#5048637 - 01/31/12 07:26 PM

Quote:

I think the sentinal program is set for a certain port on the back. I ended up just pluging in the BNC connector on each port and starting the program until the video popped up. That error comes from not being able to detect data on the port. at least for me it was.

Hmmm. I get it on every port. I know there is a signal because the wintv application sees it.

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? new

[Re: njrusty]
#5048914 - 01/31/12 10:14 PM

Quote:

Great job on mounting. Could you please share your mounting parameters you used? I'd like to duplicate how you installed your system; 90 degree PVC pipe...etc.

I just received my camera system today, but with no instructions, documentation...etc. But, looking forward to installing the system this weekend.

Russ

Not really much of anything. Two 4"closet flange, 90° 4"L, and enough 4" pipe to get it around the overhang. I used to bolts with wing-nuts to secure the 2 closet flanges together. Very simple. Make it easily removable, I have had to take mine down and put it back up about a dozen times until I got the gain and video level set. If you are in a very dark site, there won't be much visible if there are no other light until an event occurs.

Post Extras:

MrKrink
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/20/09

Loc: Lawndale NC, USA

Re: Source for cheap all-sky cam? [Re: wolfman_4_ever]
#5048915 - 01/31/12 10:16 PM

Attention: the BNC HAS to be connected to the port CLOSEST to the motherboard to work.

Post Extras:

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