ZWO ASiair Incoming

[Bovski]

Has a Pi really got enough grunt for doing all this ? @£170-180 seems a lot for a Pi

The LattePanda Delta 432 is due next month and seems much more appropriate it costs c£150 with windows 10 pre-activated. Microsoft has Remote Desktop on Android so you can control if from your phone you can also use all your favorite windows software. LattePanda runs on 12V like other AstroStuff  supports USB3, SATA NVMe SSD, has a built in Arduino so you can get a GPS up and running for an extra £5 plus any other Android type stuff(look in DIY for focuser's...).

Perhaps I'm missing something?

 

 

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, Bovski said:

Has a Pi really got enough grunt for doing all this ? @£170-180 seems a lot for a Pi

Yes, it's possible. But there are cheap alternatives with mote grunt. I use a Rock64 which costs the same as a Pi, but runs arm64 and has a faster usb3 port, as well as faster network hardware. It's just not as mature yet as a Pi. And I understand why you wouldn't want to use it (yet) in a commercial product.

Btw, I believe that Jasem Mutlaq, the main developer of indi/ekos, has run his entire robotic observatory off a single Pi for quite some time now.

[Bovski]

There are plenty of more powerful sbc's than the Pi3 the main things also needed are at least 2xUSB3.1 Gen 2 & GB Network personally I would also want 2xSATA3 for Storage.

Was hoping for the Odroid-N1 bit that was canceled due to problems obtaining ram guess the Odroid-N2 due September ish.

[stash_old]

IMO If its a real RPI under the bonnet hope they are paying RPI for the privilege as the foundation is a charity and they should make some cash out of it !!!!!

Of course they could be using a RPI look alike ?

IMHO £180 is a bit high really considering the hardware price is far lower and know one knows if the software (remote Phone etc) works satisfactory - I await someone's real feedback when they buy one LOL. 

 

plus it does use Indi quote from ZWO 

by Sam » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:16 am

I think it is under the support list
ASIAIR support INDI mount
http://indilib.org/devices/telescopes/c ... ution.html

Sky Safari also support alt-az mounts

ZWO Founder
Location:lon=120.6 lat=31.3 
SuZhou China

[FLO]

36 minutes ago, stash_old said:

IMO If its a real RPI under the bonnet

Absolutely it is. There is no attempt to hide that. Look at the case, it has the Raspberry Pi embossed logo ? 

HTH

[FLO]

29 minutes ago, FLO said:

Absolutely it is. There is no attempt to hide that. Look at the case, it has the Raspberry Pi embossed logo ? 

And a photo of the circuit board, proudly wearing it's Raspberry Pi logo. 

[FLO]

We have received our test unit. My colleague Grant is playing with assessing it ? 

Steve 

[FLO]

 

[Grant]

The first thing I unbox is actually the card reader, not the card itself. The card itself is 32GB and already installed.

[stash_old]

18 minutes ago, FLO said:

And a photo of the circuit board, proudly wearing it's Raspberry Pi logo. 

RPI3 B+ thats interesting - Plug a as120mm  USB3 version and tell us the FPS - Pretty Please Grant !!!!! ?

[Grant]

Had a go play today - my grab and go setup is coming together nicely ready for Kelling!

My initial thoughts are - it all seems to just work. Everything detected and doing its thing with no fuss including the mount control.

I stupidly forgot it wouldn’t work with the USB 2.0 ASI120MM I had to hand so had to use a USB3.0 ASI178MM which is a bit overkill for a guide camera and meant a low FPS of less than 1. I couldn’t see a way to bin or do ROI on the guide camera which would’ve helped. I will swap to a USB 3.0 ASI120MM at some stage.

The sofware has a lot of sections as you might imagine and it took a bit of playing to find my way around but now it seems intuitive and simple.

I am glad I played during the daytime as my setup is a lot of adapters , cables and bits but I feel confident in achieving something next time we get some clear skies.

One key thing - I need a bigger power pack - hopefully the new bigger version of the Celestron Lithium Powertank will arrive soon.

Two other initial thoughts:

The experience is much better on a tablet. It’s usable on my iPhone but the extra space on an iPad makes a big difference.

It’d be super helpful if it supported eqdir cables - having to go through a handset again is a pain! This may be necessary though as you need to do your alignment on the handset first - perhaps a future upgrade.

Will keep reporting back as I play more. Happy to answer any questions people have.

[wimvb]

7 minutes ago, Grant said:

 

It’d be super helpful if it supported eqdir cables - having to go through a handset again is a pain! This may be necessary though as you need to do your alignment on the handset first - perhaps a future upgrade.

That's strange. INDI supports eqmod; the driver is indi_eqmod_telescope. It works with both my az-eq6 and eq3-pro.

Btw, asi120mm usb2 version works, but isn't as stable. I guide with one. Have used both native indi guider and phd on raspberry pi.

[Grant]

1 minute ago, wimvb said:

That's strange. INDI supports eqmod; the driver is indi_eqmod_telescope. That works with both my az-eq6 and eq3-pro.

Btw, asi129mm usb2 version works, but isn't as stable. I guide with one. Have used both native indi guider and phd on rsdoberry pi.

Yep INDI supports both EQMod and the USB 2.0 ASI120MM but the ASIair doesn’t seem to detect or display either as a choice in the front end software so it might be a conscious choice or perhaps they haven’t got to those bits yet.

I tried installing the compatible firmware on the ASI120MM as well but no joy.

To be fair, ZWO specifically say only their USB 3 cameras are supported currently.

[wimvb]

40 minutes ago, Grant said:

To be fair, ZWO specifically say only their USB 3 cameras are supported currently.

But that doesn't stop us, does it? ?

I think that if they want this product to take off, they will need to support eqmod directly. I wonder if this has to do with licensing issues. INDI drivers can be a mix of various licenses. ???

[stash_old]

Grant have you tried running Synscan AP (android or windows) and connecting to that from Synscan Indi - not very elegant but interesting too see if the Ethernet interface works. Plus is Skysafari Plus module supported as per normal Indi think it should still work without EQMOD.

Also is there any access to lower levels - e.g. cmd line(Terminal) 

Thanks for trying the asi120mm(USB2) - as per the doc it isn't supported

[Grant]

1 minute ago, stash_old said:

Grant have you tried running Synscan AP (android or windows) and connecting to that from Synscan Indi - not very elegant but interesting too see if the Ethernet interface works. Plus is Skysafari Plus module supported as per normal Indi think it should still work without EQMOD.

Also is there any access to lower levels - e.g. cmd line(Terminal) 

Thanks for trying the asi120mm(USB2) - as per the doc it isn't supported

I don't remember seeing Synscan Indi in the mount options list? (unless I am misunderstanding?).

The ASIair does act as a Skysafari bridge - will give it a go next time I'm playing.

No advertised access to the lower levels, but isn't it only a matter of time before people start dabbling?

[stash_old]

So no direct access(without Handset) drivers for SW EQ scope?

Thanks for the update Grant.

[Grant]

Just now, stash_old said:

So no direct access(without Handset) drivers for SW EQ scope?

Thanks for the update Grant.

Not yet, I am hoping EQMOD will be added

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, Grant said:

Not yet, I am hoping EQMOD will be added

So, it isn't running a standard INDI server then.

If it was a standard server, with a pi generated wifi network, you should be able to connect any INDI client to it. But I guess ZWO has "locked" the ASIAIR to their own client app?

[Grant]

1 minute ago, wimvb said:

So, it isn't running a standard INDI server then.

If it was a standard server, with a pi generated wifi network, you should be able to connect any INDI client to it. But I guess ZWO has "locked" the ASIAIR to their own client app?

EQMOD isn't a client though is it? It's a driver that has to be installed on the INDI server side of things rather than on the client side, so unless you have access to the PI, you wouldn't be able to install it.

Hopefully should be simple enough for ZWO to add though and I see a number of people are already asking for it on their support forums.

[stash_old]

Grant ,

So you cant use SW WiFi adapter ,for example at the moment, with  ASIAIR ???

[Grant]

1 minute ago, stash_old said:

Grant ,

So you cant use SW WiFi adapter ,for example at the moment, with  ASIAIR ???

I don’t think so and not sure why you would as the ASIair replaces the job of the SW WiFi adapter? You can control the mount through the app and it also acts as a wireless bridge for things like Sky Safari plus you would mount it either on your mount or scope so I wouldn’t really want another wireless connection when it can be wired directly to the mount?

Not to mention how you would get all of those wireless connections to work simultaneously?

The pain at the moment is having to use the pc direct interface via a handset - I would much rather go direct with an EQDIR cable and not use a handset. As it is I had to dig out a handset for the GTi mount I am using (in eq mode).

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, Grant said:

EQMOD isn't a client though is it? It's a driver that has to be installed on the INDI server side of things rather than on the client side

Correct, it's a driver that comes with the standard INDI install. As a matter of fact, it is in the list that ZWO report as supported mounts. According to the forum they haven't tested with the EQDIR cable yet, just with the handset. (And weren't there issues with the older, blue HITECAstro cable? I know that I had problems when I started with INDI. It wasn't stable when used with a USB hub, and had to be connected directly to the RPi. Even then I have had occasional difficulties connecting. The new Lynx adapter uses a different chipset, and is more stable.)

41 minutes ago, Grant said:

The pain at the moment is having to use the pc direct interface via a handset - I would much rather go direct with an EQDIR cable and not use a handset. As it is I had to dig out a handset for the GTi mount I am using (in eq mode).

I find this strange: EQMOD works very well with the Lynx EqDir cable, without the handset, and ZWO list EQMOD as a supported scope.

Supported Mount

ASIAIR control the mount through INDI. iOptron, Sky-Watcher are all tested with ASAIR by us. INDI Mount support list: http://indilib.org/devices/telescopes.html

The manual (quick guide) doesn't provide much information.

[Grant]

1 minute ago, wimvb said:

Correct, it's a driver that comes with the standard INDI install. As a matter of fact, it is in the list that ZWO report as supported mounts. According to the forum they haven't tested with the EQDIR cable yet, just with the handset. (And weren't there issues with the older, blue HITECAstro cable? I know that I had problems when I started with INDI. It wasn't stable when used with a USB hub, and had to be connected directly to the RPi. Even then I have had occasional difficulties connecting. The new Lynx adapter uses a different chipset, and is more stable.)

I find this strange: EQMOD works very well with the Lynx EqDir cable, without the handset, and ZWO list EQMOD as a supported scope.

Supported Mount

ASIAIR control the mount through INDI. iOptron, Sky-Watcher are all tested with ASAIR by us. INDI Mount support list: http://indilib.org/devices/telescopes.html

The manual (quick guide) doesn't provide much information.

I didn’t think EQMOD comes as part of a standard Indi install, its a third party add on you have to install separately.

One thing I haven’t tried is to connect to the ASIair through KStars / Ekos - that might give me more insight and ability to see if the EQMod module is installed - will have another play.

[wimvb]

16 minutes ago, Grant said:

I didn’t think EQMOD comes as part of a standard Indi install, its a third party add on you have to install separately

Never thought of it, I just installed indi-full:

and:

http://indilib.org/download/ubuntu.html

17 minutes ago, Grant said:

One thing I haven’t tried is to connect to the ASIair through KStars / Ekos - that might give me more insight and ability to see if the EQMod module is installed - will have another play.

You mean: ?

8 hours ago, Grant said:

but isn't it only a matter of time before people start dabbling?

The next logic "dabble" is to try to connect the app to an ordinary raspberry pi with its own network. 

It would indeed be interesting to play with this gadget.