Gina

Found a Win 64bit one costs a bit more but does a lot more. Faster processor, 4GB RAM rather than 2 and a 64GB SSD, looks like 3 USB3 ports. Dual band WiFi - Gigabit Ethernet.

Hmmm... This one is apparently a full 64bit, more recent, processor but is still supplied with 32bit Windows 10 - wonder why. I wonder if there are any reasonably prices mini PCs that have the full 64bit Windows OS installed.

OIC Thanks

This one looks like a much better bet. 64bit CPU and no less than 4 USB ports one of which is USB3 and the rest USB2. Micro SD card slot supporting up to 128GB. SSD for main storage and an extra SATA bay for another or an HD.

I guess it could be - I'm running a 64bit machine ATM and couldn't really be sure that the software will run on 32bit. It would certainly limit the options and for that reason I don't think I'll buy it. Thank you Mick

Found micro SD to mini SD card adapter for a pound or so, so that would allow me to use a micro SD card with the Minix should I decide to get it.

Ummm........ The Minix box has a mini SD card slot which appears to be an obsolete standard - I can't find any from my usual sources. "Mini" SD card is neither standard SD nor micro SD

I dunno - seems a bit daft to spend £120 on a temporary solution - probably better to spend that on a monitor upgrade. My present one has developed some vertical banding in the back lighting - makes looking for image defects difficult. Maybe I'll just carry on with the laptop... Might try Ubuntu Mate instead of Raspbian with the RPi a bit later when I've recovered from the Raspbian debacle.

Reviews of the Minix mini PC above look good. It seems to have what I want but can't tell if it would be sufficient but I think worth a try. Looks better than most other mini PCs.

This one looks better - 2 USB ports and smaller.

I wonder if something like THIS mini PC would suffice - strapped to the pier and with the powered USB hub I already have. Doubt it would like the damp but I might be able to give it a dew hood.

I guess that doesn't surprise me. I was a bit surprised they decided to cover windoze at all but I can see why. Actually, with all the problems I'm having trying to get INDI set up on the RPi and the frustration driving me up the wall, I'm having second thoughts. Currently, INDI drivers don't cover the full facilities of my equipment. eg. the ZWO ASI camera driver doesn't go below 1ms exposure whereas the ASI cameras go down to 32µs. The ZWO Windows drivers work correctly - I feel there's some catching up to do for INDI. I'm currently running a Win7 laptop perched on top of my MN190 scope which is standing vertically a couple of feet from the pier in the scope room of my observatory due to present gear not liking the longer USB cables from the warm room. For night sessions I cover the laptop with a towel over the open screen to keep dew off. This is an older laptop upgraded to Win7 from Vista. APT works if there is virtually no other software running and SharpCap works most of the time. A tablet that doesn't mind working in damp conditions might be a better bet. I have also considered a headless PC box. I think it's going to have to be a windoze OS because I don't think INDI is quite ready for serving my ASI1600MM-Cool and ZWO mini EFW but this would be a temporary measure to keep my imaging going relatively smoothly. I really want to go Linux as soon as I can but my "well being" was suffering from the problems with INDI and RPi. I just feel I don't want the hassle.

The master flat looks fine so I've looked at the master bias and dark too. The dark in particular shows a lot of rejection-high pixels which doesn't seem right to me. Here's a resized version.

Resultant master light has been saved as TIFF and conveyed over to Photoshop on my Win7 desktop. Histogram stretched and saved as PNG. This is the full resolution image. I'm not impressed! I know this is just a rough and ready process but even so... Seems to me that the lights have not been properly calibrated - there seems to be a lighter edge to the image though it's not as regular as the master flat. I haven't looked at the processed master flat yet so I'll do that in PI and save it as TIFF and after further processing in Ps and saving as PNG, post it.

Integration of 178 images completed - BPP finished.

Registration completed - 15 failed - now integrating.

Calibration completed now registering.

Darks done and now calibrating the 193 lights.

Done the biases now doing the darks.

PixInsight BPP running and with 100 biases, 100 darks and 193 lights, this is going to take a while Even with a master flat.

Before running the next BPP I need to copy the wanted files from the obsy laptop SD card. I can also delete no longer wanted files, which includes all the bias, darks and flats files I've used to create the masters. I can also delete all the calibrated files as they too are no longer required. Also the master light is useless and can be deleted as lights were only processed to satisfy PI for producing the master flat and dark/bias files. Keeping all these no longer wanted files was my mistake in the past and one reason I have filled my main HD. The only wanted files from the flats BPP are master flat, master dark and master bias the latter two being useful for later flats. The "source" subs amount to 10GB and likewise the calibrated versions also 10GB plus the calibrated lights and master light (amounting to 3.6GB - 11 lights plus master, all 32MB files). In total 23.6GB of files can simply be deleted. Care is needed not to delete the wrong files but these unwanted files must not be kept!

Finished Now have the master flats file to use with my lights plus master dark and bias for next time I take flats. Next process will be to take my OIII Heart and Soul lights plus the appropriate darks and biases I captured this afternoon. The master dark and bias from the flats processing only apply to those exposure, gain and temperature parameters.

Now processing biases, darks and flats as above plus about 10 frames from a random set of lights with BPP in PixInsight.

Phew... I think I'm beginning to get organised at last

Right then... data processing... using PixInsight BPP (Batch PreProcessing) to get a master flat for my present imaging rig. Required items :- Flat frames exposure 0.1s, gain 50, temperature -15°C Dark frames with exposure 0.1s, gain 50, temperature -15°C Bias frames for gain of 50 It would also seem that PI needs some Lights to run BPP but since we don't want a master light from this process just a few lights from anywhere should do. The required items above were capture in the same session this afternoon. 100 subs of each. As a result of the above processing I shall have a master flat I can use with recent lights and also a master bias for a gain of 50 and a master dark for 0.1s exposure, gain 50 and temp -15°C. This means that if I use the same settings next time I want a master flat I can use the master files for dark and bias and not need to re-capture subs. What I shall do is make a folder for all the master files with the parameters in the file name.