DIY cameras

caelum does not need AMASC01. Any Linux machine with a camera that one of the backends can drive will run the whole stack. This page is a starting point for building your own; it is community-supported and not tested by the maintainers the way AMASC01 is.

A typical build

Part	Recommendation
Computer	Raspberry Pi 4 or 5. Anything that runs Linux works for opencv; picamera2 needs a Pi
Camera	Raspberry Pi HQ camera (IMX477) or another libcamera-supported module, for the picamera2 backend
Lens	A fisheye that covers 180° on the sensor you chose (for the HQ camera: C/CS-mount, ~1.5–2 mm)
Dome	Acrylic or glass dome over the lens
Dew heater	A heater around the lens under the dome. AMASCHR02 (below) is self-regulating (PID, 8–14 V) and needs no software
Storage	A good SD card or, better, USB/NVMe SSD — caelum writes continuously
Power	PoE HAT or a supply rated for the Pi plus heater
Network	Ethernet if possible; upload can tolerate a poor link but the web UI is nicer with a good one

AMASCHR02 — an autonomous dew heater ring for camera modules under a dome

Things that bite

• Manual exposure is mandatory. caelum disables the camera's auto-exposure and runs its own loop. A camera whose driver will not accept manual exposure and gain cannot be controlled properly — this is common with cheap UVC webcams. See the opencv caveats.
• Dew. An unheated dome fogs up on most clear nights, exactly when you want images.
• Heat in sunlight. A sealed box in the sun gets hot; plan for ventilation or shading of the electronics.
• Time. Exposure control is driven by the sun's altitude, so the clock must be right. Without a network, add an RTC.

Getting started

1. Install caelum as in Getting started, choosing --camera picamera2 or --camera opencv.
2. Set your observing site (location.lat, location.lon) in the config — sun and moon geometry depend on it. See Concepts.
3. Check the first frames in the web interface and widen the exposure presets if your optics are slower or faster than the defaults.

Built something that works? Share it in the repository so it can be listed on Supported cameras.

Prefer not to build one?

AMASC01 is a finished, tested caelum camera — and buying one funds caelum's development.