The most essential accessory for astrophotography, after a camera, scope and mount, is a remote shutter release to reduce vibration. A remote control is even more useful if it can trigger a series of exposures at preset intervals and of preset duration. With my Nikon Coolpix 4500 I used a Palm PDA and serial lead with the excellent CoolRemote soft
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ware. I`ve recently bought a Canon 350d DSLR (this model is also sold under the ghastly name "Digital Rebel xt") and soon found some software called PalmDSLR. However, some electronics is needed to connect the Palm serial port to the camera`s remote control port. There are several web sites showing how to build an interface. I found those from Cyrille Thieullet (the author of PalmDSLR) and Michael Covington particularly helpful. I decided to make a dual purpose remote control. It has push buttons for manual operation as well as an RS232 socket to connect to a Palm PDA (or other computer) for automated control. Here is a circuit diagram: I built the adapter in a small plastic box, about 80x50x20mm in size. For neatness I wanted to use a lead with a moulded on 2. 5mm jack plug. I considered buying a suitable ready made audio or video lead and cutting the unwanted plugs off, but found I had a suitable lead already, attached to an unused mobile phone "hands free" set. The lead enters the box through a grommet to give some protection. Here is the remote control connected to camera and PDA. The camera can be focused by pressing the black button, then the shutter can be operated by pressing the red button or by the PalmDSLR program running on the PDA. Finally, a brief word about choice of Palm model. I had intended to use PalmDSLR with my shiny new Tungsten E2, but soon discovered that this model, and others with the...
This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
Many times for various reasons we forget or can not water the plants that we have in our homes. And many humidity sensors units just notify us with a beeping sound or with a flashing light, that the pot needs watering. But what if we are away from home? This....
The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....
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