gilesco

1 hour ago, dazzystar said:

Shame you're not using Windows on it as that's what I'm 99% sure I'll need (as I'm probably going to go down the NINA route which only runs on Windows). The Beelink is on offer on Amazon so tempted...very temped. Which model did you buy?

Gk mini 8gb + 250gb ssd.

Sure it is capable of running any acquisition software  

I am dual booting so I still have the option of trying out NINA etc ...

Well, it arrived today (service excellent, didn't specify Saturday delivery, thanks DPD!! - less than 20 hours from order to delivery), have managed to load Kubuntu onto it, took a while to work out, couldn't replace the M.2 drive, as was it is glooped to the board with some masticky adhesive, so added a 500GB SATA drive and eventually worked out the BIOS settings to boot from it by default.

Writing this now on the box (via mini-keyboard so typos accepted). Reckon this is going to be a good improvement, and I'll be able to expand from using INDI only to ASCOM + Windows as well and be able to compare the two.

Of course, I appear to have accidentally ordered both Clouds and Snow with this order, apologies all.

I've been using INDI / Kstars on a Raspberry Pi 4 (so Linux rather than Windows), however, having been pointed to the Beelink that FLO recently started shipping I have been seriously considering about that as an upgrade for a week or so. It runs Windows for those that want it, but can also be loaded up with Ubuntu.

For the price, it is comparable to a Raspberry Pi, once you've taken into account that it comes with a SSD, power supply, integrated case, the ability to run Windows etc... plus it has 4 USB3 ports, wheras a recent Pi has 2 USB3 + 2 USB2 ports. The performance should be substantially better, even though the Pi currently performs adequately.

Anyway, I've just bitten the bullet, and ordered the GKmini , so will report back when it arrives and I've had a play - I will probably be loadnig Linux onto it though, via a spare SSD that I think I have lying around somewhere, thus keeping Windows as an option for the future.

7 minutes ago, Miroslav said:

The RPi problem looks like good option. I own a board and no need to spend more money. But whatever I read I will need the telescope first, so I can test it

RPi + remote from smartphone or tablet sounds very good to me. It will be light I will no need laptops or much more cables.

Regards!

Just seen this new product just listed on FLO: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/computers/beelink-gkmini-mini-pc.html

If you feel  that you want something with a little more power than a RPi, and perhaps don't want to take the jump towards INDI (and stick with ASCOM / Windows), then this looks pretty promising.

The price is not all that different, once you purchase a RPi, with a case, and a Power Supply / or 12V -> 5V adapter, SD card, or go with a SSD etc... then actually the GK Mini is very well priced (8GB RAM and SSD included + 4 USB3 ports out of the box, RPi only has 2 USB3 ports + 2 USB2 ports).

Not too much to say, you can read into the "DX Express" service from the tracking information below. No reason has been given for not actually attempting any delivery, online chat unavailable, and no response via email either. Thankfully this is not a too fragile item, but it appears that it will have been bouncing around in the back of a van for at least four days, on a express 24-hour service.

Not sure what is suitable for the 100. I have a 120 and use the 5 inch one.

Regarding placement I put it on the OTA just before the dew shield. It also assists against any sag in the dew shield.

The simulators only have star data and magnitude data, so to see actual nebulosity your need a real acquisition.

I got into Astrophotography with a StarTravel 120T - so you can do some imaging with it. It is not the best suited for the task - it's an Achromatic refractor, which means that red, green and blue will not all be in focus at the same point, which leads to some tinging and chromatic aberration. I started doing quite a bit of mono imaging and narrowband imaging to get results out of it.

If you want a scope at around that budget then a reflector like this one isn't a bad thing to get started with (with the appropriate T-Ring / Camera adapter etc...)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-ota.html

This thread, mentioned on the FLO site, is specifically images achieved with the 130PDS: 

https://asteroidoccultation.com/2021_12/1216_11395_72166.htm

I'm in the path of this, although the southern sky can be difficult as my back garden is north facing. I'm hoping that perhaps I can record a video with my ASI1600MM Pro on my Esprit 120.

I've started querying OpenWeatherMap data, and importing it into a Telegraf / Influxdb / Grafana stack. Now I have my own dashboard that emails me when cloudiness goes below 10%. Strangely enough, it hasn't improved the cloudiness problem.

1 hour ago, gilesco said:

Is there a reason you're not running Kstars on your computer with the 4K screen and only running INDI on the RPi?

To which you responded:

36 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

If you loose wifi connection your screwed…and I can’t use Ethernet, the RPI is more than capable of running it all, and it’s quicker as no files to transfer over wifi back to main PC, and guiding, platesolving  is quicker too, in fact it’s all much quicker…👍🏼

I just assumed you took that route to avoid an actual problem. Sorry

1 minute ago, Stuart1971 said:

Also where did I actually state that I run it all from the PI because of bad wifi, hmmmm, I did not anywhere, I just said it’s something to think about if it drops out…when running in server mode….you would have to start all over again with your set up….

That does not mean I don’t think the internal wifi is rubbish hence my dongle, but never did I say this was the reason I run it as I do, so please read the posts properly before you make judgements….👍🏼

Stuart - no one is making judgements here. We have both found different solutions to similar problems, there  is no right or wrong way.

I'm sorry if I've somehow come over the wrong way

1 minute ago, Stuart1971 said:

I am not running from wifi because of that at all, that is just one reason why anybody should run all from the PI to avoid it happening….it also means I can log in from any device during my imaging run, Laptop, desktop iPad or even phone….that is the main reason, as I use a 12” iPad to keep and eye on things, rather than only being able to see it all from the machine you run Kstars from….like you…😉

I have a VNC server running on my PC that I run Kstars on as well 😉, that allows me to view / control kstars on phone / tablet etc...  - in case I need to focus my guide camera on the OAG etc... etc...

Different situations, different solutions. e.g. I don't have any spare USB3 ports on my currrent setup to try a different Wifi dongle, I already have a 10m Ethernet cable - works for me, as I'm sure your set up works for you.

I also like using things like the HIPs sky overlay in Kstars etc... so having kstars run on a more beefy system suits me.

1 minute ago, Stuart1971 said:

I dont use RPI internal wifi as that is rubbish and not stable, I use a USB 3 1200mbs wifi dongle….just as good as Ethernet…👍🏼
 

Not as good, as you said yourself - you're running Ekos on the Pi in case the Wifi flakes out.

Look, we've all been down the road of tinkering with our equipment, and we've all reached something that is optimal for our own set ups. You went down the road of running everything locally on the Pi to get over the Wifi interference, I went down the road of ensuring I had a stable Ethernet connection and disabling the Wifi, different solutions to a similar problem - I'm sure you had reasons to stick with Wifi, as I had reasons to disable mine and take a different route.

Different situations will have different solutions. Whatever works for you 🙂

Just now, barbulo said:

and 

seem contradictory to me. 🤷‍♂️

Yes, I suppose different users have different experiences. There are differences between our set ups. Stuart is using Wifi for one reason or another (and is quite happy to run everything locally), whereas I have a stable connection via Ethernet, and can't use Wifi because it isn't stable or fast and interferes with my GPS (unless  I use a 5m USB extension cable).

11 minutes ago, barbulo said:

Interesting. I thought that the communication lag between the Pi and the guiding software (Pi wifi is awful) might affect the performance. Could you point to the source?

It was a post in the indilib.org forums, here: https://indilib.org/forum/ekos/10675-ekos-internal-guiding-elapsed-time-between-acquisition-and-pulse-command.html#77386

Strictly speaking this is replacing the Pi with a NUC, so similar calculations with Guiding on fast PC with Pi INDI client might be needed to confirm, it is a big difference though. 

I would certainly confirm the below statement:

And yes, Pi Wifi is not particularly good, I use an Ethernet cable and disable all RF on the Pi completely (as it also appears to interfere with my GPS).

2 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

I have tried all ways of viewing my RPI and Kstars running on it, but as I use a 4k monitor, they all produce lag and are not good, the best I have found it RealVNC but I have to have my monitor set to 2560 x 1400 this gives me the best compromise between a good sized image on my 28” screen with minimal lag…on 4k it’s pretty much unusable….

I wouldn't use VNC if trying to display 4K (my monitor is only 2560x1400 anyway). Is there a reason you're not running Kstars on your computer with the 4K screen and only running INDI on the RPi?

Recent calculations have shown that guiding from a computer other than the RPi is considerably better than doing the guiding in Ekos/PHD on the RPi. This is because of lag in processing each image (particularly with the new algorithms to track multi-star).

On 19/09/2021 at 17:23, alacant said:

If you want to give it a go, Ascom Remote/Alpaca tries to do this.

I'd venture however that it's of little or no interest to Linux users who've had native client-server from the outset.

Cheers

 

I think you're right, in fact, if you're settled with Windows then you are going to prefer ASCOM, if you're settled in Windows, and require some client / server then you're going to look for something like ASCOM Alpaca.

If you're settled with Linux then you are always going to look at INDI, and driver development for INDI is actually not as challenging as one might think, with lots of volunteers contributing to support new equipment, astronomy device manufacturers releasing their APIs and Command Sets to developers quite easily (not much proprietary concealment).

If you're looking at operating a remote site, which might be battery powered with Solar / Wind charging then you're probably going to have to look at INDI, as it is the only thing that will run on a low power platform such as a Raspberry Pi, which can be remotely controlled by Ekos (running either on a Windows or Linux system).

I would probably try and always suggest that people should use the base platform that they're already comfortable with, Astronomy/Astrophotography has a steep enough learning curve as it is, without having to learn the Windows way if accustomed to UNIX, or, vice-versa, the UNIX was if accustomed to Windows. I say UNIX, as it appears to me that INDI could be ported to just about any Operating System, not just Linux, and I don't think there is all that much of a barrier to port to Windows, except that no one has really spent any effort in that regard.

Historically, while ASCOM was initially developed first (around 1997/1998), and INDI came later (around 2003/2004), any one doing serious astronomy in between 1997 - 2004 was probably using UNIX systems, and not Windows 95 / 98 / Windows NT systems. This was simply that manually creating a pipe to send control commands to remote equipment is actually a one liner of code, and creating a basic short interface can also be done in less than 10 lines of scripting. INDI was just there to create a common framework and allow devices to share their states with each other and the server, and by extension the client.

9 hours ago, Harlock said:

Hi.. where do you host your blog?  Thanks. 

At home

I see blue sky outside, yes there is some high cloud, but the sky is blue. I accept that the high cloud is detrimental to my results, however, ClearOutside is essentially showing red, which indicates to me, at first glance, that viewing / setting up tonight is not going to be good.

I'm thinking about setting up anyway, rain not forecast until midnight and I think I could get some good experience out of the kit, particularly the equipment that has been updated since the last potential "GREEN" time (was that august?).

Is ClearOutside too finickity about the weather, could we add some features to make it more considerate as to our considerate expectations? E.g. "just want to be able to see something" setting (but still showing orange or red when a potentially damaging event is on the way), as opposed to only showing "GREEN" when conditions are perfect,?

5 minutes ago, carastro said:

Bad news.

There is agoing to be a laser light exhibition at Houghton Hall from 22 October – 23 December 2021

https://www.houghtonhall.com/art-and-exhibitions/528hz-love-frequency-at-houghton-hall/

I hope it is far enough away so as not to affect the skies at Kelling.

I have just sent a protesting E Mail to them, even though I am not going to be there to at least try to stop them repeating this sort of thing again. 

Carole 

 

Thankfully it should be finished by 9pm, according to the website.

Have you set the overlay to "World Atlas 2015"?

Agreed, I don't think you want to provide complex equipment unless you are interested in astronomy yourself. If the cottage is next door or very close to your own living space then perhaps get a small refractor and alt-az mount that you can provide upon request, but usually most astronomy-breaks tend to have a night of supervised instruction before allowing people to use actual kit on their own (if at all). I imagine they use this time to gauge how drunk the guests are, whether they have a real interest and whether their expectations of what they might see are firmly on the ground.

If you are going to be hosting a serious astrophotographer, who brings their own kit, then this is what they want:

• A Level Concrete Plinth 2.5m x 2.5, perhaps with the direction of the celestial pole clearly marked out, or tripod lines marked (at 120 degrees from each other) - with the bisect of two of those lines being celestial north. Preferably the plinth would be in an unobstructed location with good views of the sky.
• At the plinth - Power Supply, preferably either mains (if they have their own PSU), 12V (For most Astro kit) and 19V (for NUCs).
• A Ethernet port that connects the Concrete Plinth to a warm room, also with mains power. Also nice to have Wifi in the warm room, for internet access.
• Darkness, no security lights, no other guests turning on lights that ruin exposures. Perhaps some low level red lighting.

If the weather is good, as also mentioned in this thread, a set of Reading / Reference materials, Binos, reclining chairs, and blankets would be appreciated by anyone.

Some nice touches would be a plaque with the latitude and longitude of the location. Perhaps a digital time-sync'd clock. Probably wouldn't be used much, but it shows you've gone to some effort to accomodate.

Some might appreciate a weather station, with readings for some of (budget permitting): Temperature, Relative Humidity, Wind Direction and Speed, Precipitation, Cloud Cover, and forecast. If you provide a B&B then a printout of the local hourly weather forecast for the upcoming night at breakfast is also a nice touch.

A lot of amateur astronomers are also interested in exchanging experiences and knowledge with other like minded people, so having an interest in astronomy yourself is very much a plus.

I have not yet bought the OTA yet, still saving up, but as I don't have a permanent set up I would want to buy some form of protective storage for one from day one.

I know you have a solution, but for others who might search for this, if you enable ssh on the Pi, which is often enabled by default (sometimes on a different port from the default 22) then you can transfer files from the Pi to a Windows system using WinSCP, which requires the same login credentials as you might use for ssh.

On a Linux desktop / laptop, you can just use the command line "scp" command, although I'm sure that a lot of file managers under various Linux distributions support the "scp://$hostname" prefix for files as well.