Instructions to Managing Schools

How to Access your Local All-sky Camera

Only designated schools will have access to the cameras. This is a position of responsibility!

Some schools will have the cameras actually in their classroom, in which case no remote access is required. The teacher might want to set up a password for the computer just for security's sake.

If the camera is set up at a remote location (i.e., in another building or 100 km away!) you will need to access the computer through the internet. We suggest you do this using Windows "Remote Desktop Access". You will need the IP address of the computer attached to the camera and a password to gain access. These will be given to you by your teacher once they are enrolled in the programme.

Access to the following cameras can be done using Windows Remote Desktop Access: Fredericton, Saint John, Miramichi.

1. Go to the Windows Start button --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Communications --> Remote Desktop Access (you might want to create a shortcut to this program and put it on the Desktop to save time!)
2. Insert the IP address of the camera and the password.
3. You will now have access! You can check the results, and post the interesting ones to a central website, by following the instructions below.

How to check the camera data for interesting events (meteors, fireballs, lightening etc)

There are two ways to check the camera data: 1) using the UFO Capture software, or; 2) just browsing the files using Windows Explorer. UFO Capture allows you to check the captures individually which can be time consuming, so we recommend using Windows Explorer.

Using Windows Explorer. The files are stored on an external hard drive attached to the remote computer.

1. First check to see when the files were last checked, so you can start checking files from that date. There is a file called 'Checkers Log' on the Desktop. Double click on this file and it will open. Check to see when the files were last checked so you know from which date to start your check.
2. Open Windows Explorer using the 2010 folder on the desktop, then go to the month and the day containing data you want to check. UFO Capture generates a new folder for each day, so it makes finding captures easy. When you have opened the folder for the first day of interest, it is easiest to check the results in "thumbnail mode". If you see a list of filenames instead, go to 'View' at the top of the screen and click on 'Thumbnails'. This shows the camera captures as small images called thumbnails.
3. Note that there five files associated with each capture:
   • an xml data file
   • an AVI video file
   • and three image files, all with the same name, except the last letter is different (M, T and P). The T file is a small thumbnail image of the event (showing with a box the region of the image in which movement occurred)
   • The M image file is a 'stacked' image. This means that many frames of low light intensity are stacked on top of one another to intensify the light. This makes stars more visible, but also makes this file quite large. The stars (and specks of dirt on the housing!) are shown as blue dots and the brightest moving object is shown in red. This is the easiest file to check for meteors/fireballs because it shows you how the bright object moved across the camera's field of view. If it scribes a straight line across the image it is more likely a meteor, fireball or satellite than a bird, snowflake or an insect! Planes also fly along straight lines though usually aren't moving fast enough to trigger the camera, unless they are flying low. They have flashing lights too, which show up on the image, so you will easily distinguish them from useful data.
   • The P image is just a greyscale jpeg of the object. Being larger than the thumbnail it is more easily viewed.
   
   Delete the non useful data, taking care to leave all the files associated with the data you want to keep.
   
4. When you have finished checking the data you should enter which dates you have checked in the Checkers Log. Enter your name, which dates you checked and whether you found anything interesting. Save the file and close the program you used to edit the file. That's it for checking!

How to Upload interesting events to the central website

So, you found something interesting: a bright linear track that may flash. This could be a fireball or a bright meteor. To upload this data to the central website you first have to log on to the site using the ID and password provided to you by your teacher.

1. Go to the AllSky.ca main page and then to the Upload page. Enter your ID and password for access.
2. Follow the instructions to upload the files required. You wont be asked to upload the video file because it is so large, but keep it anyway on your hard drive. Upload the xml file, and the M, P and T jpegs. You will be asked to write a note defining what you think the object is, a meteor, fireball, lightening etc, and other comments and your email address. If we need more data or the video file, we can contact you using the email address you provide. It won't be posted to the website.
3. Check the files uploaded fully by seeing if they appear in the sorted list of captures linked from the homepage.