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Set to 250 msec shutter and gain 65 to capture this morning. Companion M110 is just visible as a small smudge above M31

We didn't have a cloud clearing for the solar eclipse, but the night after, dark conditions made even a glimpse of Milky Way glow possible through wispy clouds. 01:50 into video, numerous satellites are traveling (east) down & across the sky. 02:17 to 02:23 the fuzzy core of Andromeda galaxy...

Captured on an EmpireTech PTZ5A4M-25X last night. Orion had dropped low enough for the PTZ to aim at sword. Had to run with shutter speed 750 msec, but got some interesting footage. Might have to modify this PTZ to give it some more upward tilt range. The stock position sensor configuration...

Pacific Northwest is notorious for our cloud cover. Bummer when they hide the sun, but clouds can also beautiful, particularly here just before they run up against the cascade mountains. Here are 12 hours of sky coverage looking west. Look carefully and you'll see Orion, Sirius, and Menkar peek...

Having this recording 24/7 for scenery rather than security has been a big thumbs up from the wife. Glad I decided to try one even if I'm late to the party. Sorry, Youtube adds considerable banding when they recompress the video, especially if you view in downsized 1080P. Looks better if 4K...

Clear conditions allowed capture of even more satellites on Loryta IPC-Color 4KT

Reporting success running three Loryta turret cameras off one POE+ line using this 1 in 3 out POE extender/switch. Runs all three cameras just fine even with their IR illumination on. Unit is amazingly small. Fits inside a Zippity No-Dig Vinyl fence post when oriented with ethernet sockets...

Did some experiments with varying shutter times from 200 to 1000 msec. The longer times are possible using CGI commands, but counterintuitively, the camera actually gets better star captures with shortish exposures rather than super long. On mine 225 msec with a gain of 50 gave the most stars...

There is a time setting firmware bug for doing daylight savings time by week in the PTZ5A4M-25X under the 2023/08/04 firmware on EmpireTech site. The firmware refuses to accept 0200 as the end of DST time. It will accept 0100 and 0300, but will not select the correct 0200 in popup menu. Also, if...

A venerable 2 mp 1/2.8" Starvis PTZ vs current 4 mp 1/1.8" sensor. These are caps at equivalent time of night. New 1/1.8" sensor is astonishingly sharper and much more light sensitive. Yes, the price difference is justified. SD49225T-HN at 30 msec shutter. Loryta PTZ5A4M-25X 16.667 msec...

Crop from Loryta IPC-T54IR-ZE IPC-T5442T-ZEB 4MP varifocal turret (original generation) SecuritySpy's AI animal motion detection recognized the hawk and grabbed the source clip.

Finally, got a clear night for the Color 4KT. (View at 4K on YouTube)

Even the old 2MP SD49225T-HN 2MP PTZ still has its uses. Here a Color 4KT 3.6 mm is the spotter. Then zoomed in almost to 25x zoom

This is from an eastward facing camera at about 4:00 AM. I noticed a couple slow moving objects moving vertically downward and thought satellite. Then, I noticed there were multiple when scrubbing through the video. Did a time lapse of about 30 minutes and found so many that I have a hard time...

Here is a night shot with 300 ms shutter exposure on 2021 IPC-T5442T-ZE 1/1.8" 4MP turret. The darkest star I identified in the image is HIP 7224 which is a magnitude 11.729 star. There may be darker ones in the image, but they are below what I can ID using StarWalk. It isn't the latest...

Because it rains a lot here in the Pacific northwest, my turrets need a little help to control how many raindrops land on their glass. I add aluminum brims to them and it makes a big difference. Doesn't make it zero, but definitely reduces rain hits to a small fraction. Mine are made using...

Really nice interplay as the morning warmed up today. I need to set up some cameras framed specifically for beauty shots instead of just by-catches.

These frame captures tell the story. With extra lighting or shorter distance, the differences would be less, but here are the three aimed down a dimly lit street. All three cameras are units purchased from Andy. Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 (series 1) Empire IPC-B52IR-Z12E-S2 was a definite step...

[EDIT] Will refer to this camera as Alpha for this thread [End EDIT] Reporting a successful fix of an ailing Dahua SD49225T-HN. It wasn't suffering the dreaded rebooting, but was beginning to routinely lose IP communications for a few seconds after any large, rapid PTZ maneuvers. Basically, it...

I have several Dahua PTZ SD49225T-HN that are aging. The Empire Tech PTZ5A4M-25X looks like a nice replacement for them, but I would like to re-use the existing mounting arms and ceiling adapters. Are they the same size neck mount? I know the bigger PTZ's use a larger diameter mount, but the...

A bit more fun with by-catches from the security system. Sorry, had to upload as YouTube links. Files are simply too large for forum acceptance. First is about 8 hours from a crop of a 2MP IPC-B52IR-Z12E S2. Only about the top 60% of frame was used for the time lapse. Hence, downrez to 1080P...

I first noticed a difference in how visible light appears in one camera, but not as much in the other when my Z4-S3 and Z12-S2 are in B&W mode. They don't see the same image. It was not just a light level / sensitivity issue, but their sensitivity to visible light differ. The following two image...

Sometimes security system scenes are pretty, rather than just security related material.

In one of my mounting locations, a single Z12 is about to gain a partner to improved simultaneous vehicle, surroundings, and license plate capture. Currently, a single camera junction box is in that location. It is Tap Conn'ed into cement and I was not wanting to drill more holes to add another...

Anyone have a solution to enable day/night settings on the Web 3.0 interface of HFW5241E-Z12E-S2 (Purchased as Loryta IPC-B52IR-Z12E S2) I replaced two of my older Z12's with the new v2 model. Yes, the picture is MUCH improved for both day and night, but for some reason the day/night color...

Achieved a capture tonight from one of my Dahua SD49225T-HN PTZ’s. Tonight was the perfect condition to both see and LOCATE Uranus. It is the dot just to right of arrow. Shut off camera IR illuminator to make this shot. You can't see a disc, but even getting Uranus as a dot was plenty amazing...

After about six years exposure to elements, Z12 camera was internally fogging with moisture. This is the 2nd unit I have repaired in this manner. My prior repaired unit has been back in service x 2 years without further issues. This procedure only addresses the two gaskets. I have not needed to...

I have two PTZ's on a post that are used for license plate capture, but of course that means they get basically no scenery at night. Adding two more cameras was the solution for getting simultaneous license plate exposure and visuals of vehicles. The problem was mounting two more cameras without...

Microphone power output mod for a SD49425XB-HNR (running on POE+ power) to provide 12 volt microphone power. Much as I did for the SD49225T-HN, in Modification - SD49225T-HN Add External Microphone Power The resultant power out the DC input jack of about 25 ma powers a Microseven M7WP-MIC. The...