festoon

The stick will be running sharpcap in live stacking mode connected to an atik cooled ccd camera, Skywatcher goto mount connected using synscan app, stellarium scope, stellarium to control mount, and platesolving in sharpcap. Which of these two sticks would be more suitable for the job STK1AW32SC (Intel Atom x5-Z8300 1.44 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC) or STK2M3W64CC (Intel Core m3-6Y30, 4 GB RAM,, 64 GB eMMC) Would the M3 give much superior and stable performance for a live imaging application? Or is the Atom more than sufficient?

Yes I think rechargables would be better than dry cells. For now I'll rule out using smaller rechargable batteries as I dont think (unless I'm wrong) it will have enough capacity to power the stick for long (the ones I can see are 1.3A-hr) I'm tending to think the transformer 12V-5V converter may be the better option especially if they are rated at e.g. 5A or 10A (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079N8HCHB?tag=stargloung-21)

Thanks @AngryDonkey....which particular converter did you use?

I'm super confused about all this QC 3.0 and USB-C stuff Just found this on Cloudynights from 2017 "I use a core m5 compute stick with an asi290 and write to a microSD card. I’ve have had no problems with high speed planetary capture at frame rates much higher than 25fps, over usb 3. The one thing to watch if you’re interested in the more powerful core m5 compute stick (which is nice and snappy running windows 10) is that it has different power requirements to the lower powered chips. I power though usb c using the Qualcomm Quickcharge 3 port on one of these: https://www.ravpower...l- charger.html Note that the usb c port on that doesn’t give enough power for the m5. The m5 needs a very slightly higher power than most usb or usb c battery packs put out. I discovered this the hard way with several battery packs. Basically the machine would not boot or just shut down at random moments with any lower amperage power source. At the moment I only know quickcharge 3 will give you enough power. I get five or six hours out of it, maybe more." The direct link appears to be broken but apprera to be pointing to a "20100mah-external-battery-charger-QC3.0-type-c". The closest I can find to this is https://www.ravpower.com/p/ravpower-turbo-20100mah-power-bank-with-usb-c-and-qc-3.0.html But then again I'm confused that the spec says QC 3.0 Output: 5V / 2.4A Type-C Output: 5V / 3A So surely the USB-C output is the more suitable with this product?

Are there any cigarette adaptors that have 5V USB outputs that can output 3A through the one port? Most of the ones I can find seem to be 2.1 or 2.5A. Cannot work out for sure if this would give 3A one one USB output https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Cigarette-Splitter-Extension-BlackBerry/dp/B077P629DS/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1549554342&sr=1-5&keywords=cigarette+lighter+3A+usb

cool link - thanks....looking at this having the AA batteries in series would lead to a capacity of 2Ahrs. So not really enough to power the stick for very long. Would be very portable, but based on this possibly not suitable

to be honest I would not know if it would work or if it would be stable enough. As you say 4 AA batteries should give around 6V, and I guess at 2Ahr capacity each, does it work that 4 together in series would give a capacity of 8Ahr? I guess the output of the batteries would be un regulated in terms of voltage as the cell starts to be drained....is this right? In comparison would the transformer option would give a regulated 5V output as it is converting down?

Thanks @drjolo this makes sense I plan to use 2 USB 2.0 ports, one for a communicating with the CCD camera and another for communicating with the mount - so based on your comment powerwise may need up to 2.5A Would anyone have any reccomendations what is the best way to supply the power? From the options above - battery to 12V DC-5V DC transformer or 5V powerbank or even new suggestions?

Hello all, I'm looking for advice on how to power a Intel compute stick by battery The two options I am looking at for the compute stick are 1) STK2M3W64CC which the power supply provided gives 5V 4A 2) STK1AW32SC which the power supply provided gives 5V 3A One option I have been thinking is to use my Tracer 12V 22Ah LiPo (which powers my camera and mount) and using a 12VDC-5VDC transformer (e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/SUPERNIGHT-Transformer-Adjustable-Automotive-Electricity-Black/dp/B079N8HCHB/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1547655371&sr=8-22&keywords=12v%2Bto%2B5v&th=1) Does anyone have any thoughts if this transformer with the LiPo would be suitable for powering the compute sticks above? I was alternatively thinking of using a USB type-C powerbank with power delivery e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/PD-Power-Bank-RAVPower-USB-Black/dp/B06XTMK9H2 As far as I understand this would only give up to 3A with the USB-C output, so could possibly be used with only the STK1AW32SC. Using a powerbank sounds like an eligant solution at reasonably low cost, but my worry about using this would be how stable the 5V would be with potentially 3A current.

really useful website...and just looking at the gradual worsening of the VIIRS between 2013 and 2018 is very worrying... The 2015 ATLAS survey is saying 20.76 mag/arcsec^2......but my guess is every year that is getting worse and worse as more housing estates fill our village!

Hi Gav, I had a similar effect to this on my AZEQ5 in AZ mode using the wifi dongle a couple of weeks ago. I found once I moved the FOV the object it no longer tracked well. The problem showed when using the Synscan app, after using GOTO then moving the object to re-centre. However if I then clicked point and track the tracking changes from sidereal to point and track and the effect seemed to be fixed. If this works please let me know, as I'm considering buying an AZGTi for a portable EAA set up....I only need a few seconds integration time for near live images, but I was hoping the AZGTI would be good enough for the job.

Do we think this could be useful for visual reduction of light pollution also? Really like the way the filter is designed to take out the strong blue peak from the LED emissions spectrum. Interestingly, to just supress this blue peak in the LED spectrum you could use a light yellow 495nm filter

I guess to test it, you would turn on the mount, ensure the aux encoder is set to enable on the handset Turn on skysafari, point the telescope to an object, centre it on the eyepiece. Then select the object in skysafari and hit align. Point the telescope to another object, centre it on the eyepiece. As the encoders are on skysafari will show a pointing position close to this star, but if it is off select this object in skysafari and press align again. If this does a 2 star alignment for GOTO using skysafari, it will be a really fast way to get set up Last night, using the wifi adaptor I turned aux encoders on using the synscan app. If I release the cluches on an AZEQ5 mount and move the axes around the pointing position automatically updates on skysafari.

Hi Kerry, I've been wondering about this...the skysafari manual says -------- Note: for encoder-based "Push-To" systems, like the Tangent Instruments BBox, Celestron Astro-Master, JMI NGC-MAX, and Orion Intelliscope, SkySafari now lets you perform a 2-star alignment. This eliminates the need to level your telescope mount base. Simply set up your telescope, point it at the first alignment star, select that star in SkySafari, and tap "Align". Repeat the process with a second alignment star, choosing "Align" rather than "Restart Alignment" when asked. Your encoders should now be aligned to the sky. You can continue to align on additional second stars; but SkySafari only uses the two you most recently aligned on. If you want to forget the pervious alignment stars and align as your first star, choose "Restart Alignment". Make sure your two alignment stars are at least 10 degrees apart; 90 degrees apart is ideal. SkySafari will warn you if your alignment stars are too close together, or if their positions don't match - for example, if you've accidentally selected the wrong alignment star in SkySafari, or you're not really pointing the telescope at that star in the sky. ---------- As far as I understood the AZEQ5 and AZEQ6 used encoders on their axes, so in principle you should be able to perform this procedure for alignment using skysafari for an AZEQ5 or AZ EQ6. What does everyone think?

That's a good suggestion to turn the screen brightness down...will hopefully save a bit of battery

Thanks @Stu. The main issue is it drains the battery of my phone quite quickly if I leave the screen always on. Oh well...there are always issues, and they seem to end up with the user spending more money for new equipment

Good Morning Kerry I hope you are well! Unfortunately I do not know if the synscan app works with a skyfi wifi adaptor

Morning everyone Just wanted to pass on some information, and ask a question... I have managed to set up a skywatcher wifi adaptor on my new AZ-EQ5 using the synscan pro app on my iphone 4s. And just to confirm the alignment routine north level alignment works fantastically with the AZ-EQ5 in AZ mode. I can be set up and aligned in minutes. I have downloaded skysafari on my second device, a ipad mini and can connect by doing the following 1) Connect IPhone to synscan network and open synscan app and connect to mount 2) Run alignment routine 3) Connect Ipad to synscan network 4) Open skysafari and go to settings 5) Enter IP address that my iphone is using to talk to the wifi adaptor. This can be found by going into your iphone settings, then press wifi, then press the (i) button next to the connected synscan wifi 6) enter port number 11882 and press done 7) Return to skysafari home screen, press scope and then connect Now this is what I found, it will only connect if your device running synscan (in my case my iphone) is still active. If the device has locked skysafari will not connect to the wifi. So to get over this I have had to on my iphone, go into settings, then general settings, and set auto lock to never. It now connects fine. I presume what is happening is that when my iphone locks its is dropping its connection to the synscan wifi network or the synscan app does not run in the background. Does anyone know if there is a way of fixing this. I.e. to have the iphone locked and keep its wifi perminanely running or the app perminantly on?

I did post this on another thread, but I reckon this may be an alternative clamp that could fit the Gti. I think you would need washers and M4 bolts, but the spacing between seems to fit with Dereks (DRT) measurements. Dont know for sure but thought I would post in case anyone was interested https://www.primalucelab.com/astronomy/dovetail-clamp-vixen-losmandy-plus.html

Hi @Nightwatchman, on your AZEQ6, if in AZ mode and using the Synscan app have you tried to use the alignment routine called North Level Alignment. Just wondering if this works with an AZEQ5 as its a quick way to get set up Thanks

This is really interesting. I wonder if you added a PAE point on the normal handset after each goto if you would obtain the same results, or if as maybe the case here, the synscan app using the wifi is somehow achieving better results

It's really funny - as you say I would really like to put my 100dl on an AZGTi as it must be so fast to set up....but you can't have everything

And just to add to the pictures, here is a picture Paul's old FC100DL in its new home and with its new finder scope....I cannot wait for Mars later this year and Jupiter to be a bit higher in the sky to use it on them. Happy new year to everyone

I guess the only way the software on the synscan app could have improved performance over the handset would be if the app had a more accurate method of mapping the sky and accounting for errors in polar alignment or mechanical errors of the mount. If this was indeed the case I'd have no hesitation buying the wifi adaptor

Thanks for posting this John...I think it's a really nice conclusion....I hope one day to do a similar comparison myself