12/8/2025 12 PM - Research and Sensor size feasability

so i was trying to find the best sensor for this project, as astrophotography needs a large sensor size camera with minimum amp glow and IR cut sensors to recieve data pm the IR spectrum, and the best sensor i found was the Sony IMX 290 as it has an IR filter with solenoid, meaning i can directly control the filter changing and all that.

i was first trying to find a raw camera sensor chip, but those are too hard to find + they require both side smd soldering, which is impossible for me as im not good at soldering let alone SMD.

so this is the sensor i chose

I decided to pair it with a Raspberry PI zero 2W as the onboard computer.

I wont be using the inbuilt camera lens as i want the raw sensor only. i have a dobsonion telescope to which i can attach the camera to.

12/8/2025 1 PM - Created the Sensor holder plate

modeled the sensor holder plate. added some vents on the back for air ventilation as ill be using active cooling for it. it can get very hot especially during long exposures because we need the sensor to collect as much light as possible.

orbit view:

top:

the small slit on the side of the holder is for the FPC cable.

12/8/2025 2:15 PM - Camera Case

i created the full enclosure for the camera and the onboard computer with Active cooling.

here are the pictures:

Back plate :

Side profile:

Top:

rest the camera tray, i already added a journal entry for it.

12/8/2025 2:20 PM - Applying for Funding

i created the enclosure and the models. now i need funding for it. in total the Designing of the enclosure took me HELL OF A TIME (10 Hours)

my first time making a 3d model myself after the hackpad :)

im pretty happy with it.
ill get it printed with black PETG in order to minimize light leakage into the camera

now the difficult part starts with the hardware after im done getting the grant because ill have to code so i can connect the camera via OTG to my laptop with SharpCap so i can see a live preview.

ill upload the code for the camera after im done experimenting with the camera because i cant code without physically iterating with the components.

12/8/2025 6 PM - Calculating Camera focal length

We'll now calculate the total focal length of the camera to see how much natural magnification we can get from it.

Using the top 1.25" adapter nozzle that'll go into the eyepiece focuser, it measures to be exactly 20mm, adding the tickness of the base underneath, 10mm, with camera tray median depth of approx 5/2
= 2.5mm

We'll add some human error of 1.5± to it, total focal length is:

20+10+2.5 = 32.5mm ± 1.5

Keeping the eyepiece focal length in mind, my telescope has a focal length of 750mm

Magnification (M) = Telescope Focal Length / Eyepiece Focal Length

M = 750mm / 34 (we'll chose the largest focal length to minimize over promising

M = 22.05 ≈22.1x

Now that is our Optical magnification, don't forget we can zoom in digitally too :D

Zooming digitally will boost our magnification by:

2x Digital : 44.2x Total
4x Digital : 88.4x Total
6x Digital : 132.6x Total

And so on.

Now if we plot a graph on it, (just to be a performative 💔🥀)

It turns out to become a linear magnification graph.

And that will be our Telescope magnification range. Keeps in mind at higher magnification the image quality will become worse, so at nearly 2-5x magnification will be enough for deep space photography, while 1.5-2 for planetary with high shutter speeds.

12/9/2025 - 3D Model Update

i updated the 3d model to bevel the edges of the wider body and also added support for a M28.5 X 6.0 Filter for better image captures.

also i seperated the back ring and the plate for easier printing and access.

im going to build supports now, thankfully gpt told me to add those cuz i never knew they needed to be added until i thought about stringing and all that.

12/10/2025 2 AM - Added support for the 3d prints

I added support for the 3d prints because I didn't realise they needed one. Thankgod Gemini caught the mistake. I love you Gemini

Final Support:

Lets see what they say about the funding (cart price is increasing day by day)

Supports will allow my case to be printed more efficiently and stay stable on the printed while printing.

12/10/2025 9 PM - Split the parts

I split the parts into 4 seperate files for easier and reliable printing. I will upload the files on GitHub Soon.

Material:

I'll chose black ABS plastic with 100% infill because I need minimal lite leakage into the camera body.

Placeholder image

12/13/2025 12:31 AM - Note for Reviewers

I added the working on how each part will work on the readme. And yes, a raspberry pi is required because astronomy cameras need heavy image processing with gigabits of data processing each second because of the immense amount of visual data collected, but to keep it budget friendly I used raspberry pi zero 2W.

Added BOM.csv on GitHub

12/13/2025 12:34 AM - Dust cap

I created a dust cap for the camera too which will fit in the nozzle.

This will protect the camera sensor from dust. I also looked at proper commercial cameras and I saw that they had a glass on the front of the camera sensor coated with a 820nm filter 💔🥀

TS frying me I may need additional stuff, I'll leave a note and then resubmit it in the future if I need grants for any more stuff :]

12/13/2025 11 PM - Added grilled Intakes

i fixed the enclosure model and instead of having 4 ugly ahh holes on each side like these:

i added grills!

these will increase the airflow into the camera and also decrease the fan sound because it would need less power to pull in air.

i was thinking of using a peltier cooler inside for the sensor but it would just form water vapour around it, not to mention its already humid here.

i sliced the body and exported it

12/25/2025 - Reviewer NOTES

Dear reviewer,

You asked me to fix the amount that I am asking.

You see, the extra amount are the taxes, and they aren't even the customs I'll have to pay. But to lessen the financial load I removed the heat sink and I can buy it locally myself which will save the extra $10 with taxes.

You can in this screenshot see for yourself that the cart costs $58, but the rest 40.33 USD are taxes (customs duty excluded)

So yeah I payed Like $30 customs on a $4 PCB so please atleats give me the grant so I can get these items 😭🙏

1/7/2026 - Reviewer Notes

Hello,
so first of all this is a camera that i will attach to my telescope to take pictures of space objects like nebulae and planets.

it will use the waveshare IMX290 camera sensor paired with the RP ZERO 2W for post processing.

so how it works is that the camera will be connected to the raspberry pi via the FPC cable(the yellow one in my cart). it will help the camera to communicate with the raspberry pi. So the Question is WHY a Raspberry pi? isnt it too much?

nope. its bottlenecked, and i cant ask for a better rpi because of budget limits.
so the rpi is needed because the camera sensor will be shooting images in .RAW format, which takes raw sensor data and outputs it without any compression and stuff, which results in a single image coming out to be more than a gigabyte at a time. the second thing is the DDR RAM buffer. the images will be captured at exTremely fast framerates or extremely slow depending on the observed space object. plants take fast framerate, deep space objects take slow frame rate (in order to gather more light), and ram here plays an important part on it, because it temporarily stores the image data and writes it onto the ROM for efficient data transfer without any loss.

using a direct cable from camera results in heavy image data loss due to the length of the cable.

but as were using a RPi here, the images are written on it and we can just see the live preview of the images by connecting the RPi to a computer via OTG cable :)

1: Wiring diagram is not needed as the only wires that will be used will be a FPC cable, and an OTG cable and a potential 12V adapter for the cooling fan.

2: added .STEP files in /3D Model folder on GitHub

3: Fixed the .csv and is now in table format

4: There is no local supplier that accepts HCB cards, they have cheaper options but its the same no HCB compatibility issue.

I hope this clears up all the issues. i explained everything in this one journal entry,

1/21/2026 - Notes

Hello, you recently reviewed my project:
https://blueprint.hackclub.com/projects/5563

I'll answer reasons for things I didn't do:

Please remove the cost for printing

I indeed didn't add that, I just requested 20 USD for it in the reviewer requests because I'm in Pakistan and shipping costs approx 16 USD from EU, and there's no local guy who can print for me. 20 USD to compensate for any sudden price changes.

Please show a screenshot for shipping price info

The shipping is free according to this screenshot I had uploaded:

The journal entries are too small

I had already hit the minimum word limit, but I did change them to make them a little bit more extended.

I have submitted the project again. It would be better if you review it right away as it has been pending approval for like two months and it's getting kinda annoying yk :sob::pray:

Anyways, thanks for looking into it