And now it all felt rather sudden! I wanted to meet up with Dietmar, like we had originally planned, in the city. I.e. before we returned to the CAO. My schedule had not worked out any time sooner. It was true that the weather had not been terribly cooperative in April. But now I was feeling a little guilty about hanging onto the MallinCam kit so late. Here it was, the beginning of "the season." The MallinCam really needed to be back at the observatory for people, supervisors or members, to use (although, one could argue that a very small select group knows how to use it). I was planning to head north in a one or two days for an occultation (Mabella) and it was a logical time to conclude the MallinCam loan. Giddy up.
All that said, while excited to conduct our testing, I had not done much in terms of final preparation. That is, I had not read through any of the materials on using the Night Sky Network. I had not broadcast on NSN. There were a lot of unknowns. Meanwhile, work, chores, unpacking, paperwork, life, and bad weather was happening.
Yes, I had the MallinCam working with the MCC control software and the new control cable (with my netbook anyway). So the physical setup piece was in hand.
Yes, I had our NSN account configured. But then I paused, anxiety growing. What the heck did I use for credentials when I set up the account?! Had I recorded it somewhere? My mind was blank. I had a sinking feeling I had not documented it...
I started rummaging through my notes but couldn't find anything. Checked my palmtop, checked the netbook, checked Evernote. Nothing. Started, in the morning, trying to get in. Tried several times logging in without success. I was guessing at the password. I couldn't see a "reset my password" function. They had changed the system, done a big upgrade, in the meantime. Would that affect things? A little after noon, while at a client site (fortunately with open internet access), I sent a message to the MallinCam Yahoo!Group, asking for log-in help. A little before 6, Craig Freeman suggested I message Jim Turner. At 6 PM, I emailed Jim directly. I continued to try logging in. If I remember correctly, it turned out to be a case-sensitivity issue (dagnamit) and, a few minutes later, I told Jim I had figured it out. Still, he offered to watch for our channel to go live. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute!
I forwarded Jim's notes (and Word doc attachment) to myself. I grabbed the MallinCam "toolbox," including "green" control cable and AVerMedia card, the ASUS netbook (Littlejohn), and the Dell laptop (Kim-chi). I intended to use the Dell to simulate our experience at the Geoff Brown Observatory where a similar computer is used to drive the Paramount.
As I arrived at Dietmar's and starting backing into his driveway, I spotted him from the back of the house. He had already set up his (new) mount and 'scope on the pier. He had a little table out and two chairs. In short order, I had bolted up the camera to the small refractor (piggybacked on the RC tube), I had the video cable connected from the BNC to the video capture card in the Dell laptop, and with the camera powered I was seeing an image. When I uncoiled the new control cable, I suddenly remembered that I had forgot to bring a USB-serial adapter. Fortunately, the Dell has an oldie-goldie serial port! As it grew darker, stars—and Saturn—peeking out, I realised that I did not have the control software on the Dell. Once loaded, we were able to control the camera. I changed the text title to verify the connection.
Without any bright objects, it took us a little while to get to focus.
The evening air was cooling off. In my haste, I had forgotten to bring another sweater or coat. Dietmar lent me one of his while he put on his ski gear. Despite not feeling well, Millie brought us cookies and hot chocolate.
I started to quickly read (er, skim) the "How to broadcast on NSN" document. While I tried to fire up the NSN site. I wasn't getting a picture. There was an error message about a call connection. I didn't see the bandwidth or latency responses. Happily, some people jumped in and helped us out. And slapped our hands along the way... for not following the guide carefully.
Man, I know! I'm in the computer training business. I'm always yelling at people to RTFM. I felt bad...
We learned that it was very important that the AVerMedia video software and MallinCam Control software not be running as one logs into the NSN system and begins the broadcast. The Flash software may detect things improperly in this situation. We fiddled with AmCap but I didn't think it necessary in the end.
At last, we were up and running. Dietmar chose Messier 3 for our test subject. I saved the chat log...
Welcome! NetConnection.Connect.SuccessI had phoned Tony at 11:04 PM and got him to log into NSN to view our simulcast. He could see the globular! We were all very pleased. I wanted to contact Katrina but alas I didn't know how to reach her. And it was late.
You are broadcasting on channel RASC TC CAO
Welcome! NetConnection.Call.Failed
RASC TC CAO: hello sports fans
RASC TC CAO: i thank everyone for their help and patience
RASC TC CAO: this was meant to test broadcasting
RASC TC CAO: the capture card
RASC TC CAO: the control cable and software
RASC TC CAO: SkyWatcher 80mm
RASC TC CAO: with 2" extension tube
RASC TC CAO: 500mm
RASC TC CAO: MallinCam Hyper Color
RASC TC CAO: atop AP900 mount
RASC TC CAO: controlled by TheSky
RASC TC CAO: Etobicoke (Toronto) Ontario
RASC TC CAO: thin cloud
RASC TC CAO: average seeing
RASC TC CAO: cool, 5 degrees C
RASC TC CAO: no wind
Dietmar: can you make it bigger
RASC TC CAO: i'm zoomed to max
RASC TC CAO: 8x
RASC TC CAO: let me use the big scope!
RASC TC CAO: slewing to M13
Tony here: goody
Tony here: Whoa
TacomaSky: Got it all working great stuff
RASC TC CAO: still some things to noodle on
RASC TC CAO: but proof of concept is good
TacomaSky: Super
RASC TC CAO: correction, going to M3
TacomaSky: LOL
TacomaSky: Both very nice targets
Tony here: There yet?
TacomaSky: Patience Tony
TacomaSky: LOL
RASC TC CAO: thar she blows
TacomaSky: Woo Hoo
Tony here: Very nice!
TacomaSky: A Very nice view
Tony here: Thanks for the show...
RASC TC CAO: thanks for tuning in
RASC TC CAO: ok
RASC TC CAO: going to sign off now
TacomaSky: what scope is this?
RASC TC CAO: SkyWatcher 80mm
TacomaSky: Sorry Okay thanks for the views
TacomaSky: TY
TacomaSky: Great start
TacomaSky: gn
RASC TC CAO: clear skies all
And that was our prime objective: to ensure we could broadcast on NSN with our MCHC. Dietmar was satisfied with our proof of concept.
I headed home to send a big thank-you to the MallinCam Yahoo!Group.
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