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Does an Imaging Laptop NEED Wifi?

Xiga

By Xiga
in Imaging - Discussion

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Xiga

Xiga

Posted
Posted

Hey Gazers

Ok so i'm looking to get into imaging and have just bought an ED80 (will arrive next week, so excited!) and had picked up a 2nd hand Samsung N220 Netbook, mainly due to the price, portability and battery life. However, it now seems as though it has no WLAN card, so no wifi.

I know my way around a computer, so i know i can just connect an ethernet cable at home to get myself up to date and install the programs i need etc, but aside from that, does an imaging laptop which is primarily designed to be used in the field, really NEED wireless? Are there any big advantages of having wifi that i'm not think of? I was originally thinking i would always have the option of tethering it to my phone, but that option is now obviously out.

Tbh i'm a bit annoyed that the seller didn't specifically say that the netbook had no wifi card (and i'm not sure if one can be installed without some soldering, not something i'm not willing to do). But then the only job it was ever intended for was imaging acquisition (e.g APT & PHD) in the field, so if it makes no difference then i won't send it back.

Cheers all, and good night. It's late!

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Stick a 64gig Memory Stick in the side and save to that, then transfer files to your main PC simply by relocating the memory stick.....

This wouldn't work for me. I've tried it. The download to stick is too slow and fouls up the capture programme. I guess it depends on your camera and software.

For me the only use for WiFi in the observatory is to look something up on the net, like what is the NGC number of the Cocoon? or some such. Since you can find the answer by other means (like a planetarium programme) it hardly matters and I think, as the others have said, that being free of the constant pestering of the net is a good thing. I, too, disactivate it while imaging.

Olly

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Scott

Scott

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I don't use it (wifi) whilst imaging.... too scared it might mess something up. I do however connect to another pc in my shed via cable and router (not connected to the world). That way I can monitor or make changes from the warmth of my heated shed:)...a boon in the winter :D

Short answer....No, you don't need it ;)

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JeremyS

JeremyS

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For normal imaging, you don't need an internet connection.

However, for some imagining where you need an accurate time reference, like some photometry where you are interested in the brightness at a precise time, then I connect via WiFi to one of the accurate time servers (my laptop can be out by a second or more over a day; I use Dimension 4 software). When I do this I switch off all automatic software updates, so the downloads don't interfere with my imaging.

Jeremy

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JonC

JonC

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Are you sure its not a driver issue? Most laptops take standard WIFI cards, they use mini PCI interface. I swapped one out on a Samsung netbook a few years ago to turn it into a hackintosh. Soon got bored with it though, and went dual boot Linux ? Win7.

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Tinker1947

Tinker1947

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This wouldn't work for me. I've tried it. The download to stick is too slow and fouls up the capture programme. I guess it depends on your camera and software.

For me the only use for WiFi in the observatory is to look something up on the net, like what is the NGC number of the Cocoon? or some such. Since you can find the answer by other means (like a planetarium programme) it hardly matters and I think, as the others have said, that being free of the constant pestering of the net is a good thing. I, too, disactivate it while imaging.

Olly

Sorry i didn't type it very well, save as you normally do,then when you're finished copy to the memory stick to transfer to the main PC...my Obby saves to a h/drive directory, i then copy and paste to the network drive on the main PC, via a Power Adapter transfer rate is very good ....

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

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My only real absolute 'need' is also for time signals as the mount depends on it, but you know imaging (i.e., the actual data collection) is pretty boring so I also like to browse the 'net, watch movies, stream music, image process etc., when that all gets tiresome maybe even go outside if it's not too cold and look up :-)  So my Obs PCs are all hard wired to Gigabit ethernet (in fact so are the mount and camera), I don't like WiFi - too slow and flakey.

ChrisH

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Physopto

Physopto

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The only reason for leaving the wifi on that I can think of, is to plate solve using Pinpoint, as it requires All Sky which is an online data solving solution. But this is only if a local plate solve does not work. If you do you will have to switch off the Windows updates.

Derek

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RikM

RikM

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The only reason for leaving the wifi on that I can think of, is to plate solve using Pinpoint, as it requires All Sky which is an online data solving solution. But this is only if a local plate solve does not work. If you do you will have to switch off the Windows updates.

Derek

Can you not simply download the guide star catalog and use that? That's what I have done with Pinpoint LE.

While imaging, like many others in this thread, the only thing I use wifi for is catching up on SGL while the data is rolling in. I don't need it for the imaging process at all.

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Uranium235

Uranium235

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I use powerline networking to monitor my capture netbook and transfer data from its hard drive, its pretty snappy and it allows me to work on stuff from the comfort of my "mission control room" in the basement. Quite often, I like a bit of catchup TV or online gaming at the same time too - eg: League of Legends in one window, Artemis and PHD in the other :)

Wireless is a bit unreliable for me, as the gear is about 20m away from the house and the signal has to travel through quite a lot of brick and earth to get there... I'd be lucky to get a transfer rate of 20k p/sec!

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Spikey

Spikey

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I use WiFi all the time on mine. Remote controlling the laptop from inside the house in the warm!! I usually just watch it on a tablet to make sure it hasn't self destructed.

As for Windows updates just turn them off or put a non existent proxy server in your settings. WiFi is usually just the local network it doesn't automatically equate to Internet access. You have the power :D

As others have stated I would be very surprised if WiFi was missing, my guess is its turned off in the BIOS.

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Physopto

Physopto

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Can you not simply download the guide star catalog and use that? That's what I have done with Pinpoint LE.

While imaging, like many others in this thread, the only thing I use wifi for is catching up on SGL while the data is rolling in. I don't need it for the imaging process at all.

If you use the full version of Pinpoint it requires access to the web only if the star field is not recognised, I believe.  It then accesses the web to use the on line version of All Sky to plate solve. It is very quick, but it does require the access. It will work without the web access but you need to be close to your target. i.e. You can bypass this if you specify the correct coordinates and it is close enough to get a pattern recognition. Pinpoint LE is different !

Derek

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Xiga

Xiga

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Thanks for all the responses, it's good to know that it's not an absolute requirement when imaging.

Although I now look a bit red-faced, as it turns out the netbook does in fact have a wifi card after all! It wasn't turned off in the Bios or anything, I had downloaded and installed all the necessary drivers from Samsung's own website for this exact model, but after installing them it just would not show up anywhere, not in Device Manager or even when I installed Aida32, a program which analyses a computer's components! In the end I only got it to work by accessing Samsung's Recovery partition and installing the driver package that was in there. Only then did it show up, and allow me to install windows updates.

27 hours later and it's still installing windows updates, Lol, but it's getting there.

Now to pick up a cheap battery and 2GB Ram module and I should be good to go I think.

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