ASIair Pro Compatibility

[groberts]

Toying with the idea of getting one of these rather than current setup of direct PC control for mount/guiding/image capture.

However, I have a few questions + think I've read about isssues of compatililty:

• Is this only good for use with ZWO cameras?  I use a ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool for imaging but with a Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 for guiding - is this a problem?
• Can an auxillary USB hub be run from the Air Pro if addtional USB ports are needed?
• From experience what's the Wifi range?
• Anything else to think about + pros & cons?

Thanks Graham    

 

[Grierson]

27 minutes ago, groberts said:

• Is this only good for use with ZWO cameras?  I use a ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool for imaging but with a Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 for guiding - is this a problem?
• Can an auxillary USB hub be run from the Air Pro if addtional USB ports are needed?
• From experience what's the Wifi range?
• Anything else to think about + pros & cons?

The ASIAIR will only accept ZWO cameras plus a whole list of DSLRs principally Canon and Nikon so, yes, your Loadstar will be a problem.

Yes you can run an additional hub. I find I don’t need it given the ports on the main camera.

I see a number of users complaining about the WiFi range. My rig sits in the middle of my small garden about 4 metres From the house and I have never had an issue with poor WiFi so I can’t give a definitive answer.

The list of pros is long. Best read from the ZWO site. Lack of wire surrounding the rig is a godsend.

Cons for me are few. You will need a pad or phone running the iOS or Android platforms. It will not run on Windows or Linux. 

Well worth the investment IMVHO.

John
 

[MarkAR]

The alternative would be a Raspberry Pi4 with either Stellarmate or Astroberry running on it, you can link via wifi or ethernet cable direct to PC.

[groberts]

Tahnks for the comments - that's a pity about the non-ZWO support, which I suspected and is defintately something of a drawback.  Will take a look at the Raspberry Pi idea but prefer something out the box.   

Graham 

[MarkAR]

Stellarmate do a plug and play unit, basically it's a Raspberry Pi3.

Edited July 11, 2020 by MarkAR

[stash_old]

Astroberry , Kstars(Ekos) ,Stellarmate and ASAIR are ALL Raspberry PI based systems on using the same Indilib software and all run on Linux. The ASIAIR (Pro or therewise) just has a ZWO "frontend" and some extra's.   Indilib itself will (and does) run on Linux,Windows and MAC although the Windows version does not have the "Server" part (the bit that controls the hardware directly).

It depends how dirty you wont to get and if you like learning new things. and/or if you want to save money - Astroberry and Kstars(EKOS) are free, Stellarmate starts @£50(software image only) and ASAIR is a lot more. All the latter control a lot of kit (some better than others).

Stellarmate and ASAIR have a few extra's which can be run on Android but interface with Indilib Server - however you can also use Skysafari (android - Apple a bit more complex being a "secure" system LOL) to interface with Indilib.

Kstars(EKOS) will run on a lot of Linux versions so you are not limited to Raspberry Pi as the "PC" - so running it on a I7 NUC running Ubuntu is ok - just without MS asking to update frequently.

The big plus is that the support on Astroberry/Stellarmate is far greater/superior IMHO than ZWO -  https://www.astroberry.io/          (Author Radek is an SGL member)          https://indilib.org/component/kunena/?Itemid=1 

[Richie092]

Another vote for Raspberry with StellarMate. I’m not really technically minded so probably took me longer than it would most people but after last night I now have it set up to focus, plate solve, guide and capture. Really like the Polar Align feature on it too

huge sense of achievement when that first sub comes through. Although by the time I had it all working I had about 15 mins of darkness left but next time it’s plug and go.
 

another advantage in my opinion is that you can upgrade the hardware cheaply so not stuck with what is basically an RPi3 

[groberts]

Many thanks, as is often the case this has sent me in a completely new (and unexpected) direction which, however, looks very interesting. I've had a brief look and have a few inital questions before delving deeper into things:    

• Not clear why StellarMate has to run with Raspberry Pi + how, or is it stand alone?
• I'm not keen on moving away from my current software which is Windows7 + ASCOM/EQMOD + CdC + PHD2 + APT image capture - will StellarMate work with these or is it necessary to use EKOS + INDI etc.?
• The StellarMate website I'm looking at is all in US$ - is there a UK/European version + does it come from the USA?

Graham

 

 

[MarkAR]

Maybe another alternative would be a mini computer, run anything Windows, access via TeamViewer or similar, hook up to wifi or via ethernet.........

[wimvb]

Stellarmate, asiair, astroberry and Atikbase use the INDI protocol, which is the linux alternative to ascom. Indilib consists of a (or more) server and hardware drivers. The server is the software that controls your setup, from camera and mount, to weather stations and observatory (dome). The server connects to one or more clients for user interface. The clients can be Ekos/Kstars, cartes du ciel + ccd ciel, the asiair app, stellarmate, phd guiding, or pixinsight. This means that you could control your mount from cdc, guide with phd and capture your images directly into pixinsight. The drivers and servers run only on linux. Any linux machine will do, and not much computing power is needed. That’s why most people use a cheap raspberry pi or clone. But you can run it on a (linux) laptop as well. Although a windows version of INDI was developed at one time, it is not maintained anymore afaIk. So you need to run the server and harware drivers on a linux machine. But you can run the client (user interface) on any platform. But the client must be able to talk to INDI. Most ASCOM based clients can’t.

the stellarmate website is from Kuwait, because the main indi and ekos developer (Jasem Mutlaq) is Kuwaiti.

Edited July 11, 2020 by wimvb

[groberts]

Hmm, contary to my wishes it feels like I'm going down a technology rabbit hole here and in the KISS principle will maybe stick with staightforward (some of the time!) computer control.  Many thanks anyhow.

Graham 

[wimvb]

4 hours ago, groberts said:

Hmm, contary to my wishes it feels like I'm going down a technology rabbit hole here and in the KISS principle will maybe stick with staightforward (some of the time!) computer control.  Many thanks anyhow.

Graham 

Yes, two important rules in this hobby are:

"KISS", and "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it".

But if you want to keep using your software, you could just follow @MarkAR's advice and get a small windows computer.