Meteor Tracker; see image at 
http://www.gvarros.com/meteor_tracker.jpg

The Meteor Tracker is a computerized high speed optical tracking system
that allows high resolution imaging of meteors.  It uses two cameras;
one with a wide field of view (FOV) to detect and track the meteor 
and the other with a narrow FOV to image the meteor.  Tracking is 
accomplished using bi-polar stepper motors that drive a rocker box 
holding the high resolution camera.   The wide FOV camera's NTSC 
signal is fed into a Windows based PC where a program monitors the 
video frames for motion.  Once a detection occurs, commands are 
sent via the parallel port to drive a dual stepper motor controller 
that in turn drives the stepper motors which point the rocker box 
and high resolution camera.  This detect and slew process is repeated 
until the meteor is no longer detectable.  

The detection and tracking software was written in C++ and runs on 
Windows PC's and is highly configurable. It allows any wide FOV 
camera's signal to be processed and thus drive the high resolution 
camera.  This means that the system can use the video signal
from any wide field camera as long as they are oriented on parallel 
planes and centered on the same spot in the sky. The software has
proven to be completely stable and can run all night unattended.

The computer currently used is a 333 mhz Pentium II with 64 mb ram. 

The wide field camera system currently consists of a Gen II image
intensified camera with a 75 degree FOV. A Supercircuits PC-23-C 
is used afocally with the intensifier, to obtain the view which
is fed into the PC as NTSC video.

The high resolution camera is also a PC-23-C with a 7 1/2 degree 
FOV.

The stepper motors are common Type 2 bi-polar stepper motors with
a maximum no-load speed of 10,000 steps per second at 400 steps 
per 360 degrees. 

The stepper motor controller is inexpensive and readily obtainable.

Future plans for the system include experimenting with larger 
stepper motors that can be driven faster than the current ones 
used.  Experiment with higher gear ratios for drive motors which
will allow smoother or more fluid tracking.

Replace the wide FOV Gen II intensified camera and PC-23-C video
camera combination and the high resolution camera with Watec 902H
low light level cameras. This will allow another mount to be built
that is more compact than the existing one. 

Other future plans include experimenting with a "mirrored" 
tracker system that can be placed in front of the objective of
a large high resolution fixed instrument thus eliminating the 
need to slew the instrument.