ZWO ASI120MM Mini

[Dougie Smart]

Hi All,

I am considering purchasing a ZWO ASI120MM Mini and wonder if its possible to operate it with a phone or tablet? Is there an app available for it? 

Just seems like if you want to use it to connect to your mount for auto guiding you either need to use a laptop, ASI 'magic box' that red box (which is rather expensive) or using a Raspberry Pi which seems rather complicated to download all the software etc. 

If the camera could work off a mobile phone, it would be so much easier and cheaper. 

Hopes someone can help? 

Cheers, 

Dougie

[Budgie1]

There is the ASICAP app for Android which can capture images from ZWO ASI cameras with a USB3 connection. Unfortunately the ASI120MM Mini is USB2.

The other issue you'll have if you want to use it for guiding is; what are you going to use for guiding software? Although the ASI120MM Mini has an ST4 connection, this only connects to the mount. You still need a USB connection to the guiding software which tells the camera to issue the guide commands to the mount.

One option which may be worth looking at is to try and get hold of the original ASIAir (with the white cover). These are coming on the second hand market for around £100 at the moment.

There's one in the For Sale section from January, it's marked as "sale pending" but it may be worth asking if it's still available.

[Sabalias]

Hi Dougie,

Recently I decided that I needed to invest in some guiding equipment but I didn't want to spend a fortune. As Budgie1 mentioned, you need to connect the camera to a computer of some description with the appropriate software installed, this then drives the guiding function (either through the camera using the ST4 connection or direct to the mount using - in my case - USB cable).

I chose to go for the ZWO ASI120MM for my guide camera and also bought a Raspberry Pi kit to make into an Astroberry. Although it's a bit daunting to begin with, getting the Astroberry up and running was not too difficult - I followed a number of online tutorials (both on the astroberry server site and YouTube). Now I have a solution that I can control from my PC or a tablet over a web interface. I understand that the ASIAir may be a cleaner option but the Astroberry seems very good to me at an excellent price (even cheaper than a second hand ASIAir, though not by much).

Stu

[Dougie Smart]

Thanks for your help guys 🙂