How to connect in the field?

[givoly]

I've set up AllSky on a Pi at home, connected to Wifi. I tested it and saw it works well and automatically. So I took it to a Bortle 3 sky with me and placed it on the roof of the car staring up during a meteor shower.... however, upon looking at the results, it was clear NOTHING was recorded.

I don't know why this is, but I'm speculating that perhaps the software did not connect to the home access point in the field and didn't start capturing.

1. Is that the case? That the software requires connectivity to a home WiFi? I
2. If that is the case:
   a. Can it be changed so it operates in the field without network connectivity?
   b. Can it be changed so it sets up the Pi as an access point, in case it doesn't connect to a known network?
3. If that is not the case: What else might be causing it not to work in the field?

I searched the wiki / instructions / discussion for the keywords I thought might help here, but couldn't find anything...

[EricClaeys]

@givoly Other than to install the software, Allsky doesn't need a network. By default it saves nighttime images to ~/allsky/images. If you want to save daytime images as well there's an option in config/config.sh - it's described in the "Settings" Wiki page.

Where did you look that made you think NOTHING was recorded?

I believe a Pi can be set up as an access point, but that's outside the scope of Allsky.

The definition of "daytime" and "nighttime" is done via a combination of latitude, longitude, and angle - there's a Wiki page that explains that as well.

[givoly]

Thanks, @EricClaeys for the response. I checked in "Images" both on the web GUI and also by ssh and inspected the directory - nothing was recorded though the Pi was operational all night... It was configured to daytime capture but not saving of those images. Nevertheless, it didn't work all night. Could it be that it has a timezone issue that it doesn't know whether it's day or night and therefore, didn't record? it appears as though it just didn't work at all... perhaps there's a log file I might check to see all activity and see what it might have complained about?

[EricClaeys]

@givoly, Did you check out the Wiki page on daytime, nighttime, and angle? I suspect your settings are such that it always thinks it's daytime.

When you think it's nighttime, do the following to get log info:

sudo truncate -s 0 /var/log/allsky.log

Temporarily set your Debug Level to 4 in the WebUI, then let it go a few images, then attach /var/log/allsky.log to your reply.
You can then set the Debug Level back to whatever it was.

The log file will show me your options and show me any errors (I don't expect any). I hope to also determine if the software thinks it's DAY or NIGHT.

[jcauthen78]

I ran into similar quirks when I took my camping pi out with me - I had to manually set the date & time each time (pain in the ass).

from Adafruit (and a few other search results):

"To keep costs low, the Raspberry Pi does not include a Real Time Clock module. Instead, users are expected to have it always connected to WiFi or Ethernet and keep time by checking the network."

These days I have a small 12v router that i take camping also, after I boot the Pi up it connects to the camping router, as does my laptop. Haven't had to manually set the time since then. There's no internet most the places I go, so it's the solution I've been using. I attempted doing a RTC, but didn't have success so I moved on away from it.

It may not be a fix for everyone, but it resolved my issue and I haven't had to manually set the date/time since.

[Dentonknifeworks]

For my camping Allskys, I use this.
https://www.raspberryconnect.com/projects/65-raspberrypi-hotspot-accesspoints/183-raspberry-pi-automatic-hotspot-and-static-hotspot-installer
I use option 3 for it will tell you the IP address that you will need for VNC or web UI if you have it installed.
Connect to the hotspot with a laptop, tablet, or phone. Use VNC to connect to the Allsky and set the time using the terminal.
sudo date -s 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS'

This also allows you to connect to the WEB UI if you have it installed.
The wifi on the PI is short range so it's best to be next to it.