Ian McCallum

I was having some difficulties with Astroberry yesterday, as I've no experience with Linux or the like.  I managed to get the Astroberry image flashed on to a 32GB micro SD card, then got the Pi up and running.  Whilst setting up the initial INDI web manager, by clicking the grey arrow on the left hand on the desktop - I was able to set it up.  I ticked auto start and auto connect, then connected my ZWO guide camera, after loading the drivers, etc.

I did a reboot and came back, but discovered that INDI web manager had disappeared.  In frustration, I turn off the Pi and reflashed the Astroberry image to the micro SD card, as a fresh install.  Although I go through the set up process okay, I'm still unable to find INDI web manager any more?🙄  You can see it in this screenshot from a YouTube video, that I've been following - it's just above the guy's head in the video.

Any ideas?

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Those eyepieces certainly look better in there than desiccated beef and astronaut ice cream 

Or Pizza through a straw!😂

31 minutes ago, gilesco said:

That is what is in stock right now.

Would suggest that read their methods of requisitioning equipment, and get on their waiting list, buying out of stock Pi4 stuff is different from going to get eggs at the supermarket.

That's what I ordered the other day and arrived today, so that will have to suffice (for the moment).  I can always get a larger one later and use this one to learn on, or do other projects with it.

4 hours ago, gilesco said:

Most Raspberry Pi OS images are in this range, once installed you will also want to download the astrometry data, which is few more gigabytes in itself.

I'm glad I've got a large download package on my 4G mobile network! 

4 hours ago, gilesco said:

I wouldn't settle for anything less than the 4Gb version. But the answer is "it depends".

Higher resolution cameras will need the 4Gb.

The highest resolution cameras benefit from something better than a Pi.

The 8Gb version doesn't currently gain you much as astroberry is 32-bit, so any single process on the Pi is limited to a 4Gb addressing range. This could change in the future when 64-bit becomes the norm.

Unfortunately, I'll have to make do with the 2GB version, as that's all that's available from the PI Hut, just now. 

What they don't tell you is that the Astroberry Server download is 3.8GB in size!😱

A recipe for raspberry pie, but it tastes a bit plasticky. 🤣. I'm hoping this will be my AP workhorse. 🤞

10 hours ago, gorann said:

I am a bit confused, why would you have a guide camera for a visual set-up?

Confused. Com. 😋. I'm building up my astrophotography gear slowly, so wanted to try out the guide scope and software with the mount. Lumping everything together and hoping it will work isn't my idea of fun. I like to get used to the gear and it's idiosyncrasies, before I start using it properly... Just call it a trial run. 

Finally get to test out my ZWO ASI 120MM mini guide camera and telescope.

18 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

I'm really sorry to hear of your experience. Sadly I suspect you may not be the only victim.

For all of us buying from an untrusted source in future, perhaps we should request a photo of the scope outside the front door?
Though there are probably 99 other ways the villains can get around this.

Alternatively an SGL 'local agent' might assist.
If you saw a scope for sale, from someone you didn't know and it was near to my home, I would happily drive there to check it out and leave a deposit, or even buy it.
Something would have to be agreed about my (lack of) competence to inspect and not being liable for missing major defects, etc.
There a lots of good honest folks on SGL who I would trust to do this sort of thing for me.
A bit of local knowledge from 'the agent' might show the seller to be honest, or warn that is the 15th scope he has advertised this January.

Some years ago I (and several others) were scammed by a 'seller' on UKABS. For each of us it was a small sum, not worth chasing.
In the tens of pounds each and a lot of fuel spent to go and knock on the door.
However, collectively it was hundreds of pounds for the scammer, collected over a couple of months.
We set up a private chat on SGL to exchange information and more victims came out of the woodwork.
In the end we got the police got involved. We all got our money back. The scammer and several of his family became known to the police.

The bank involved in my transfer got a letter from me detailing the 'Action Fraud' reference, local police details, names of others in the scam, etc.
I hope that following this, the account holder would not receive favourable responses when requesting a car loan, mortgage, overdraft, etc.
Perhaps that is a little something you could do?

 

 

Is this it?🤔

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hxNksq76rYQJ:https://www.gumtree.com/p/telescopes/celestron-nexstar-telescope-8se-extras./1423506226+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=opera

Just now, Pete Presland said:

Very nice looking disc.

You can see some CA in the right hand side of the image, but I don't think it detracts from the overall view.😉

Given the difficulties in obtaining a Raspberry PI at the moment, what is the minimum about of onboard RAM that a RPi needs to run Astroberry successfully?

10 hours ago, Shimrod said:

If you're more comfortable with windows, you could always get one of these Beelink mini-pcs and RDP onto it from your laptop instead. A similar price to an ASIAIR although you will have to do software installs and configuration.

Looks very tempting, especially when there seems to be a lack of Raspberry Pi's to be had at the moment.  It's something that I'll be looking in to.👍

Regarding the Raspberry Pi, I've read that there are fake ones out there. Is this true? If so, where's a reputable place to buy one from? 

I've heard of the Raspberry PI and Arduino, but have never used one.  I know that they are a small, standalone computer, but little else.  At the moment, I'm reading this article below...

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/344913-getting-started-with-astroberry-for-the-raspberry-pi-beginners-guide/

I'm not sure what specs I need or even want. Can the RPi act as a standalone image and video gatherer, if connected to a suitable ZWO camera or similar?🤔

2 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Yes, I meant the "official" part, on UK Astro sites. I'm sure there's a similar version here somewhere, but I wouldn't know enough about the specs.

It's a linear 20kOhm potentiometer. Less than a pound in some places. 

11 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

If it is a pot fault, then this is apparently the replacement:

but I can't see it on a UK site.

 

Farnell, CPC, Mouser, RS Parts, etc? 🤔

Some nice sunspot groups on the solar disk, a few minutes ago. From SW Scotland. SW Evostar 120 achromatic refractor, EQ5 Deluxe mount and solar filter, with Meade 15mm Plossl and smartphone. 

13 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Have a good think.
What I wouldn't do is try for both to begin with.
The techniques and much of the equipment is totally different, and trying to have a stab at both with same gear will not yield good results and you will get very frustrated and more than likely give it up.

I do DSO and tried a bit of lunar early days but not any planetary so cannot really comment on the planetary side but for sure enough DSO stuff out there to keep you interested for a lifetime.

But in a way you are maybe looking at it the wrong way in trying to get your laptop to work with either DSO or planetary, what you maybe should look at is what scope you have, if intending to use a scope you already own, or what scope you intend to buy, and maybe even more important than the scope is what mount you have or intend to buy.
These are more likely to suggest DSO or planetary than your laptop and whichever way you go you will easily find a pretty cheap laptop that will do for either 2nd hand whereas the other gear may not come so cheaply.

Steve

The telescope is a SW Evostar 120 achromatic refractor and the mount is an EQ5 Deluxe with the Enhanced dual axis motor drive with ST-4 guiding.

Perhaps I should look into DSO subjects, instead of lunar and planetary work?🤔

13 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

I agree with what @teoria_del_big_bang said about lunar and planetary imaging being much more demanding on the laptop than DSO imaging. For planetary work you need to capture and download images at very fast frame rates to optimise the ‘lucky imaging’ concept. When I’m imaging the planets, each video being downloaded can quickly reach sizes close to or greater than 1Gb. If the device (PC/laptop) being written to is slow then you may experience download buffering and in worst cases the system may hang, losing part of the capture sequence. You also need greater storage for planetary imaging, as capturing an hour or so of video data can quickly rack up 20-30Gb, or more data files; I have on more than one occasion captured in excess of 50Gb, even 100Gb of data in a single planetary imaging session, whereas an all night DSO session might not even acquire 1Gb data. Ideally you need USB3 written to an SSD for planetary work, but I have successfully used USB2 writing to an older style SATA HD, so I would say give it a try.

Conversely the laptop that I use for DSO capture is a 10 year old i5 Win7 with only 4Gb RAM and no SSD, and it is perfectly adequate to control all my observatory equipment for deep sky work.

Good luck.

Looking at the ZWO cameras,  I incorrectly assumed that for DSO stuff a USB 3 port was essential.  I also thought that DSO's required more resources, due to the very long exposure times I was seeing quoted.🙄

I've dipped my toe into the astrophotography water, but am unsure if my old laptop is up to the job?🤔  Here's the specs for those in the know.  It's only got three USB 2.0 ports, but I'd only do lunar and planetary imaging, not DSO work.  Would I be better off with one of those ZWO ASIair Plus thingies?🤔

Quote

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro
Version    6.3.9600 Build 9600
Other OS Description     Not Available
OS Manufacturer    Microsoft Corporation
System Name    RADIO
System Manufacturer    Acer
System Model    Aspire E5-411
System Type    x64-based PC
System SKU    Aspire E5-411_087F_1_13
Processor    Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU  N2840  @ 2.16GHz, 2159 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date    Insyde Corp. V1.13, 21/10/2014
SMBIOS Version    2.7
Embedded Controller Version    0.00
BIOS Mode    Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer    Acer
BaseBoard Model    Not Available
BaseBoard Name    Base Board
Platform Role    Mobile
Secure Boot State    Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration    Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory    C:\Windows
System Directory    C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device    \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale    United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer    Version = "6.3.9600.18969"
Time Zone    GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    2.00 GB
Total Physical Memory    1.89 GB
Available Physical Memory    511 MB
Total Virtual Memory    3.39 GB
Available Virtual Memory    1.04 GB
Page File Space    1.50 GB
Page File    C:\pagefile.sys
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions    Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware    Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection    Yes
 

I've just dipped my toe into the world of astrophotography, but need some advice please.

I've connected a ZWO ASI 120MM mini camera to a SW 9x50 finderscope, with an adapter. This is going to be my guide scope.

The view through ZWO is 90 degrees different from what my main telescope shows. I'm sure I can correct this by rotating the guide scope body.

If I don't correct this, would it affect the guiding accuracy through PHD2? 🤔

I've bought quite a few things second hand, from this forum. I've no complaints and have saved quite a bit of money too. 👍

I picked this up my the local Sorting Office, this morning. I would have got it Saturday, but was out when the postie came. 🙄

Thanks to @Danjc. 👍. It's a Sky-Watcher 9x50mm finderscope to C adapter.