Advice Needed-All sky cam/fisheye

Hi, something i wanted to do a long time ago was to broadcast a skycam. I dont really know alot in this area of what to buy/price or how to get it. All i really want it for is to pick up Auroras. It doesn't have to be a fish or any big set-up. Anything that would do my job and as im still at school something that wont break the bank by a long shot. Any suggestions?

Conor,

Sounds like a modded webcam would be the job for what you want. With the ability to do longer exposures you could get auroras etc real easy. with a couple of seconds exposure. You could just use the standard webcam lens. Have a look at my thread in the astrophotography forum which describes the process.

Conor/Dave,

Check out the Peleng fish-eye lens (180-d field of view) on eBay (US) which sells for around $180 ... I have had this lens in mind for some time.

It would be ideal for aurorae, meteor showers, widefield milky way shots, all-sky monitoring etc.

Anthony.

Thanks Guys a big help.

Conor, some people I've heard of use a round mirror!! you know those curved one's that people use outside their driveways of their houses to see around a bend in the road! People have used them with a webcam/camera pointing downwards at them to record meteor showers/auarora, and they do cover 360 degrees of sky

Keith..

Thats such a great idea. ok i was looking at them cams on ebay and there £140(but now) not bad atal. And also the manual setup. I would interested in gettin one of them mirrors and then changing my webcam. Dave do you know of anyone who could do it for me and what webcam i would need. Would it have to be top of the range?