Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - March 2005
====================================================

March was a nice example for how different the observing conditions in Europe
may be. As in previous years, Ilkka Yrjola of Finland experienced his annual 
peak result with an amazing 25 observing nights. On the other hand, Stephen 
Evans in England complained about poor weather with only three clear nights, 
and in the Netherlands the situation wasn't any better. A few hundred 
kilometers south east (near Bielefeld / Germany) the weather improved clearly, 
and another few hundred kilometers south east it was better than usual in the 
north of Munich. For the Slovenian observers, March did not differ much from 
other years.

On March 17, exactly 6 years and 6 days after the start, we could celebrate
a small anniversary: Sirko Molau obtained his 1000th observation within the
video meteor network! Somewhat unlucky was Joerg Strunk, though. He went on
holiday in late February and operated his camera autonomously as always. 
When he checked the resuls two weeks later he realized, that the computer 
had hung up in the very first observing night... What do we learn from this: 
An autonomous video system should not only activate and deactivate the camera 
and the lens cap by a timer, but also the computer.

Yet another puzzle seems to be solved: As I reported at the annual AKM meeting
we observed large differences in meteor detection efficiencies between otherwise
identical cameras (Mintron 12V1-Ex with Computar 6mm f/0.8 lens) and comparable
observing sites. Mincam2 is always on top, Mincam1 has usually fewer meteors 
and Mimo records in comparison with these "almost nothing". An analysis 
revealed that the contrast during the digitization could be the reason: 
Whereas it is always set to the upper limit for Mincam2 (255), it's lower for 
Mincam1 (160) and the default value for Mimo (128). Even though the image is 
much noisier at extreme contrast values, it still seems to improve the limiting
magnitude and thereby the detection efficiency significantly. April will show 
whether the differences between the cameras can be explained this way.


1. Observers
============

Code    Name        Place           Camera         FOV    LM Nights Time Meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR Benitez-S.  Las Palmas    TIMES5 (0.8/6)    50 dg  3 mag  10   72.3 h   22
EVAST Evans       Moreton       RF1 (1.2/12)      20 dg  4 mag   3   27.0 h   31
KACJA Kac         Kostanjevec   METKA (0.8/8)     42 dg  2 mag  12   83.9 h   80
KOSDE Koschny     Noordwijkerh. ICC3 (0.85/25)    25 dg  6 mag   2    9.1 h   16
MOLSI Molau       Seysdorf      AVIS2 (1.4/50)    60 dg  6 mag  14   82.0 h  708
                                MINCAM1 (0.8/6)   50 dg  3 mag  19  116.3 h   99
SLAST Slavec      Ljubljana     KAYAK1 (1.8/28)   50 dg  4 mag  13   67.7 h   88
STRJO Strunk      Leopoldshoehe MINCAM2 (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag  12   37.2 h   60
                                MINCAM3 (0.8/8)   42 dg  4 mag   9   49.9 h   71
UEBST Ueberschaer Aachen        MIMO (0.8/6)      50 dg  3 mag   5   21.8 h   19
YRJIL Yrjola      Kuusankoski   FINEXCAM (0.8/6)  50 dg  3 mag  25  191.9 h  253
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum                                                             31  758.1 h 1447


2. Observing Times (h)
======================

Mar    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   -    -    -    -    -   6.0   -    -   9.0   -    -    -    -    -   7.0
EVAST   -    -    -    -    -   9.6   -    -    -    -    -   8.9   -    -    -
KACJA   -    -    -    -   9.6  8.2   -   6.1   -   8.2   -    -   9.3  8.2  8.2
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.2   -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI  5.2  7.0  6.5  2.5   -   5.0   -    -    -   4.0   -   2.9  9.2   -   7.2
       8.4 11.4  4.4  1.3   -   6.2   -    -    -   8.9   -   6.8 10.8  2.7 10.7
SLAST  2.2  7.5   -    -   0.6  5.6   -   9.0   -    -    -    -   9.3  6.5  4.1
STRJO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   6.0   -    -    -   2.3  0.6  0.5
        -    -    -    -    -   1.3   -    -   8.9  3.4   -    -    -    -    -
UEBST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
YRJIL 10.3  9.6 10.3   -   7.6   -   2.4  5.6 10.0  9.9  7.7  9.2  9.2  8.1  8.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   26.1 35.5 21.2  3.8 17.8 41.9  2.4 20.7 33.9 36.6  7.7 27.8 50.1 26.1 46.4

Mar    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR  1.5   -    -    -   6.4  6.3 11.0   -  11.0  8.2  5.9   -    -    -    -    -
EVAST   -    -   8.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
KACJA  6.1   -   9.7  1.3   -    -    -    -    -    -   3.9   -   5.1   -    -    -
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   6.9
MOLSI  7.3  4.7   -    -   4.6  8.3   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   7.6
      10.6  3.5   -    -   5.3 10.3   -    -    -    -   2.1  0.9  0.4  1.8   -   9.8
SLAST  5.1  2.7  6.7   -    -   6.4   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.0
STRJO  1.0   -    -    -   3.8  4.8   -   5.9   -   1.0  2.7   -    -    -   1.5  7.1
       1.3   -    -    -   9.5  6.5   -   2.4   -    -    -    -    -    -   8.0  8.6
UEBST   -   5.8   -    -   5.6  0.9  2.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   7.0
YRJIL  8.5   -   7.8  7.8  5.7  8.8  5.6   -   6.6   -   4.4   -   7.4  5.2  7.8  7.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   41.4 16.7 32.7  9.1 40.9 52.3 19.1  8.3 17.6  9.2 19.0  0.9 12.9  7.0 17.3 56.7


3. Results (Meteors)
====================

Mar    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   -    -    -    -    -    1    -    -    1    -    -    -    -    -    2
EVAST   -    -    -    -    -   12    -    -    -    -    -   10    -    -    -
KACJA   -    -    -    -    9    4    -    5    -    8    -    -   19    6    7
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    5    -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI  43   59   33    7    -   35    -    -    -   46    -   27   68    -   82
        8   10    4    1    -    6    -    -    -    5    -    3    6    2    8
SLAST   2   13    -    -    1    9    -   14    -    -    -    -    9    4   10
STRJO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    9    -    -    -    7    2    1
        -    -    -    -    -    3    -    -   15    4    -    -    -    -    -
UEBST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
YRJIL   6   11   13    -    4    -    3   12   18    9    2   16   12    4   12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum    59   93   50    8   14   70    3   31   43   77    2   56  121   18  122

Mar   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   1    -    -    -    4    4    1    -    3    4    1    -    -    -    -    -
EVAST   -    -    9    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
KACJA   3    -    7    1    -    -    -    -    -    -    9    -    2    -    -    -
KOSDE   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   11
MOLSI  73   43    -    -   44   64    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   84
       14    2    -    -    8    9    -    -    -    -    3    1    1    2    -    6
SLAST   8    1    7    -    -    7    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    3
STRJO   1    -    -    -    7    9    -    9    -    1    -    -    -    -    3   11
        2    -    -    -   13    6    -    3    -    -    -    -    -    -    9   16
UEBST   -    4    -    -    5    1    2    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    7
YRJIL  12    -    9   12    9   22   16    -    8    -    6    -    7    6    9   15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   114   50   32   13   90  122   19   12   11    5   19    1   10    8   21  153

Sirko Molau, 2005/04/18