Advice re a mini PC please

[stevepsheehan]

Morning all.

I'm looking to set up remote control of my rig, and the consensus seems to be that a NUC is arguably the best option. However, there ae SO many variants, (over 20 on the Intel site) that I'm at a bit of a loss choosing which one to go for. I "think" this one ( https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/products/boards-kits/nuc/mini-pcs/nuc8i5bekpa.html ) is probably OK, but I'd really appreciate any opinions from those of you that are familiar with these bits of kit, prior to me pulling the trigger on one.

I won't say price is irrelevent, but I don't mind paying a bit more now, for something that will be significantly better, of more future proofed.

I also wonder if the 250gb of storage and 8gb of memory is adequate, or whether I should specify more when I buy it?

JFYI, it will be running Nina, and connected to Celestron CGEM mount, Altair 115 triplet scope, Altair 269c camera, Pegasus cube focusser, PHD2, and hopefully being controlled from my indoor desktop PC via wifi.

All opinions welcome - thanks in advance 🙂

Steve

[endless-sky]

Unfortunately I don't know anything about NUCs.

If, however, you are willing to do without Windows, a (very cheap) alternative is using a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB (which I have been using for quite a few months, or even better the newer 8GB version) and the KStars/EKOS suite (planetarium plus everything you'll ever need to control all your gear). If you are not much into Linux, there's a precompiled image/package (Astroberry) that comes with KStars/EKOS already installed and a lot of other astronomy related useful software.

All you need to do is flash the image on a Micro SD card and attach a mouse, keyboard and monitor (needs to have HDMI input). If no external input is used, the Astroberry defaults to hotspot when you boot up and preconfigured with VNC Server. All you have to do is install VNC Viewer on another computer and then you'll be able to remote desktop into the Pi and configure your software/gear. Default IP of the Astroberry can be found on the Astroberry Wiki.

As I said, I have been using this solution for quite a few months (since March) and never had any issue with any of my gear (Sky-Watcher NEQ6, Nikon D5300, joypad, ZWO ASI 224MC, etc.).

Edited November 5, 2020 by endlessky

[Skipper Billy]

Hello Steve

That is almost exactly the same NUC that I am using. I bought mine used from a company on eBay that specialises in NUC's and I can hand on heart say that it has been absolutely flawless. It runs NINA (and formerly SGP), PHD2, Stellarium, CdC, a remote IR camera, Atik 16200. Atik EFW3, Lakeside electronic focuser etc all at the same time without breaking into a sweat.

I also have Pixinsight installed on it and it will run this whilst imaging for having a look at stretched subs etc.

I have found the 'disk' size to be more than adequate but I am using a CCD camera whereas a CMOS would be creating for more subs and probably bigger file sizes but you would be going some to fill a 250gb 'disk' in one session !!!

The whole system is controlled from indoors using Windows RDP

At the end of the night I just send all the files to a NAS drive and the following day I copy them from the NAS drive to my indoor machine for processing and leave the original files on the NAS drive which is effectively my backup drive.

There are some photos here so you can see how its hooked up.

Two things to mention - it will run quite happily off 12 volts. If you think you might ever need more than 4 USB ports its worth making sure that you can buy the replacement lid that gives you two more USB ports for the exact model of NUC that you buy - they are not available for all models in the UK - I ended up buying the lid from the USA and got caught with VAT, Customs charges etc.

Happy to answer any questions you might have if I can.

 

[stevepsheehan]

19 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

That is almost exactly the same NUC that I am using.

Excellent! Just the sort of feedback I needed, for a bit of confidence 😉  thank you.

You run yours with 8gb memory? You find that enough?

[iapa]

Great wee things.

I have had USB powered BBEN branded stick PCs on different setups for several years now, cost about £130

64GB storage, Z8530, 4GB RAM

these are also very light

i see these are also available as ACER branded at £103.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RJMFFY1/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07RJMFFY1&pd_rd_w=gsNrE&pf_rd_p=1055d8b2-c10c-4d7d-b50d-96300553e15d&pd_rd_wg=e0Clv&pf_rd_r=CMQHD9J96PSWQ8XWKY6M&pd_rd_r=e81dc3d4-9a88-4923-b7fd-c0e6e66bcaf6&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyT0xCVzZQSVlDTEtJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTk1NDA5Mko3OUdZTzAxMFVLNSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDkxMDk3MkczM1RIQjIxMUxXViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
 

running windows 10, I save captured images to OneDrive - which is set up to store in cloud only, so little local disk space is used.

this does my sequencing/autofocus/plate solving (SGPRO 3.X), guiding (PHD2), and Stellarium.

remote control via Microsoft Remote Desktop client.

cameras used to date are all ZWO for imaging.

Skywatcher, Pegasus Astro and Celestron auto focusers all work well.

Power management is through Pegasus Astro pocket power box

Edited November 5, 2020 by iapa

[Skipper Billy]

19 minutes ago, stevepsheehan said:

You run yours with 8gb memory? You find that enough?

Yep - no problem at all - I wouldn't try running WBPP on Pixinsight whilst imaging but for all normal activities its more than enough.

[stevepsheehan]

Thanks - very useful info. 

Do you mind me asking who the ebay seller was? There seem to be so many, it would be nice to have a starting point that someone else has used 🙂

[Skipper Billy]

23 minutes ago, stevepsheehan said:

Thanks - very useful info. 

Do you mind me asking who the ebay seller was? There seem to be so many, it would be nice to have a starting point that someone else has used 🙂

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-NUC-NUC7i5BNH-i5-7260U-3-4GHz-8GB-RAM-120GB-M-2-SSD-HDMI-WiFi-Win-10/124419796082?epid=580627049&hash=item1cf7ff6c72:g:TlAAAOSw6N1fnzxY

[stevepsheehan]

Thank you - appreciated 🙂

[StevieDvd]

I have recently purchased a 'new' Intel Nuc5i7RYH from Ebay with 8gb memory and a 250gb ssd card - it was listed for £270 with offers accepted (my offer of £250 was accepted). I also noticed an Ebay discount code which saved me a further 5% off -  so worth looking for these occasional Ebay inducements.

The Nuc arrived fine with Win 10Pro installed and works fine. I also added another ssd drive - and noticed they had left the adapter cable out of the box - I contacted them and they sent it first class.

So a couple of points to note on the later Nuc models (mine is an i7)

• The casing style/ports have changed a little on newer version. The above has a mini-hdmi and DisplayPort so you may need a cable/adapter for initial setup
• To use RDP I belive you need Windows Pro
• You may need to adjust the power/standby settings to keep it running when in remote usage
• The later Nuc may not run 12v - though earlier ones apparently do OK at that voltage

I have yet to use it in anger for astro as I am still playing around with Raspberry Pi (Astroberry, Stellaremate and ASIair Pro).

 

[04Stefan07]

I use an Intel NUC 6th i3 with 8GB RAM and 256GB m.2 SSD. One of the best things you can add to your setup (behind a power box and electronic focuser). I have it mounted on the front of my tube for weight distribution due to having the camera, flat/reducer, filters and EF on the rear. 

It's attached on a VESA bracket and I have that mounted onto the end of the aftermarket dovetail bar. USB cables all plugged in and cable managed it very well. As mentioend above I also copy my images after a night to my NAS over wifi and access them on my main PC for post processing.

I highly recommend an Intel NUC as you get the power in such a small form factor. If you go down this route, get the low profile Intel NUC and chuck an SSD in there and you can't go wrong. I would steer clear from the Celerons and get an i3 minimum so you have enough processing power and you won't have any issues. Go for second hand to save some cash and I would go with a 5th/6th gen as a minimum. I have used the i3 4th gens a lot at work and over time they do get slow. 

Edited November 15, 2020 by 04Stefan07

[stevepsheehan]

I've pulled the trigger, and am now the proud owner of an Intel NUC Gen8 i5, Win 10 Pro, 256gb SSD, 16gb ram (overkill I expect, but got a good deal). Also got a new router to connect to my indoor PC to create a dedicated wi-fi link to the NUC from indoors (direct line of sight)

Now for the scary bit; I'm 65, and was brought up in the days when electrical connections were made with copper wires and solder, and all this wireless stuff is a bit of a black art to me. So I'm just wondering, is there a "best practice" way to start setting all the software up? eg, should I get the wi-fi and RDP working first, then install NINA, and the control software, or vice versa, or something else, or doesn't it make any difference?

Thanks in advance 🙂

Edit: should also add that I have a spare monitor, bluetooth mouse and keyboard, and will be setting this all up in the comfort of my spare bedroom, only moving it down the garden once it's all working (though looking at the weather forcast, that won't be any time soon)

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by stevepsheehan

[StevieDvd]

I'd do the software donwnload/installs with the mouse/monitor/keyboard first perhaps eve with a network cable for speed. Then setup the wifi connection and check it connects without the network cable before moving it anywhere. Then setup RDP and check that works before putting any distance between the NUC and router.

Note. When it is in position remotely make sure the NUC power settings don't let it go into sleep mode or you won't be able to access it.

[Skipper Billy]

There is  a setting in BIOS that starts up the PC at power on - no need to press the 'on' button. I found that very useful for a remote observatory.

[stevepsheehan]

Thank you 🙂

As it happens, I'm struggling to get off the start line - Windows wants to do a load of initial updates, but so far, keeps freezing at 44% .

I'll get there... eventually.

[iapa]

On 18/11/2020 at 22:53, stevepsheehan said:

Thank you 🙂

As it happens, I'm struggling to get off the start line - Windows wants to do a load of initial updates, but so far, keeps freezing at 44% .

I'll get there... eventually.

First set of updates on a win10 system take forever.

I had one that was 3 days once I left it alone.....

[Nikolas74]

Hello to all just a question because I am in the same path of buying an Nuc.... Is it very important if it cant work with 12v and needs 19v? 

[Nikolas74]

On 05/11/2020 at 12:38, endlessky said:

Unfortunately I don't know anything about NUCs.

If, however, you are willing to do without Windows, a (very cheap) alternative is using a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB (which I have been using for quite a few months, or even better the newer 8GB version) and the KStars/EKOS suite (planetarium plus everything you'll ever need to control all your gear). If you are not much into Linux, there's a precompiled image/package (Astroberry) that comes with KStars/EKOS already installed and a lot of other astronomy related useful software.

All you need to do is flash the image on a Micro SD card and attach a mouse, keyboard and monitor (needs to have HDMI input). If no external input is used, the Astroberry defaults to hotspot when you boot up and preconfigured with VNC Server. All you have to do is install VNC Viewer on another computer and then you'll be able to remote desktop into the Pi and configure your software/gear. Default IP of the Astroberry can be found on the Astroberry Wiki.

As I said, I have been using this solution for quite a few months (since March) and never had any issue with any of my gear (Sky-Watcher NEQ6, Nikon D5300, joypad, ZWO ASI 224MC, etc.).

I am also interested in a raspberry pi 4 but I can't configure how I will put this small motherboard all together in a box to make it work.... If its not a big trouble can you post a couple of photos to get an idea? 

[Seelive]

59 minutes ago, Nikolas74 said:

I am also interested in a raspberry pi 4 but I can't configure how I will put this small motherboard all together in a box to make it work.... If its not a big trouble can you post a couple of photos to get an idea? 

You can buy cases specifically designed for them.