Is the ASIair Pro worth it?

[LoveFromGallifrey]

Hi all! So, I'm making my first forages into AP using my laptop and playing around with various platforms. I've got a lot to try and figure out, and I'm hesitant to add to the load. But its occurred to me that my laptop is going to end up being a real pain in the neck to lug around with me whenever I travel - and I travel a lot! its not a dedicated astro laptop, but my regular home laptop, with a relatively short battery life and not the fastest machine in the world. I'm worried about powering it when I travel, about Internet access, how slow it island, and basically just all kinds of different things. 

I've had the ASIair pro recommended especially from a travelling POV, as well as for sheer ease of use for a newbie. Being limited to ZWO products and compatible DSLRs doesn't bother me too much - I have neither the money or the incentive at the moment to invest in a huge amount of expensive equipment from other brands. And with a WiFi booster, I've heard many great things about the ASIair. But what are your opinions, guys? Is it worth it? Or should I type to stick with the laptop? 

By travelling, I mean by land and by air. I have a WO ZS73ii with a DSLR of choice at the back, 32mm WO uniguide scope, ASI 120MM mini guide cam, and an EQM-35 mount. I can back everything bar mount/tripod into hand luggage, and the mount/tripod goes in the hold heavily padded. 

Edited July 19, 2021 by LoveFromGallifrey

[Waldemar]

According to ZWO info the ASIair Pro does NOT support your ASI120MM camera... 

[nephilim]

1 minute ago, Waldemar said:

According to ZWO info the ASIair Pro does NOT support your ASI120MM camera... 

It supports the ASI 120mm-s 

[LoveFromGallifrey]

12 minutes ago, Waldemar said:

According to ZWO info the ASIair Pro does NOT support your ASI120MM camera... 

Sorry, forgot to say it's the 120mm mini. And it definitely does support it. FLO, Rotherham Valley et al sell this camera as a bundle with the ASIair and a mini guidescope 🙂 totally my bad! 

Edited July 19, 2021 by LoveFromGallifrey

[Jonny_H]

Just another confirmation.....I use the 120MM mini as a guide cam with the ASIAir Pro and it certainly recognizes it.

[Chefgage]

Yes you are ok with the asi120mm mini as a guide cam. 

As for the asiair pro I would certainly recomend it.

[Waldemar]

Good to hear everything is ok for you!

14 hours ago, LoveFromGallifrey said:

Sorry, forgot to say it's the 120mm mini. And it definitely does support it. FLO, Rotherham Valley et al sell this camera as a bundle with the ASIair and a mini guidescope 🙂 totally my bad! 

 

[Andy R]

Yes I would recommend it 💯 %. I don’t think I would go back to my laptop unless the ASIAIR went kaput.  I’m not sure on your mount, but I have a HEQ5 pro and I power it separately instead of from the ASIAIR. 

[Jonny_H]

Yes whilst the power outputs are capable, I believe it recommends within the manual to power your mount separately......I don't think I am making that up at least....🤔

[Robculm]

I've only had the Asiair Pro a few weeks, but so far I'm well impressed. Works great with my Heq5 pro, asi120 mini & canon 800d.

Wifi is well known to be poor, you need to consider how you will handle that. 

I have been using with my usual skywatcher power pack running the mount, but drains the battery really fast, so needs a good power supply to do that, or separate, or mains... 

As I said though, overall I think it's fantastic. 

[ONIKKINEN]

You could also try setting up a Windows 10 mini pc to do the same thing as an asiair, but have guaranteed updateability and more choice of software to use. To use this kind of setup you will still need something to control it with a remote desktop app. I use mine with either a phone or a tablet. depending on how mobile i want to be. It was a bit of a pain to setup but once i got it running i can do whatever i want with it, including some quick processing on the go to check what im working with.

Win10 mini-pc will probably be a bit cheaper than an asiair pro, but not a lot. Asiair pro however will definitely be easier to use.

I went with a mini-pc setup because i dont want to be locked out of options and i want to use all available software instead of depending on what ZWO enables on their product.

[Davey-T]

I've had one for a few months and would highly recommend it, had a couple of glitches but nothing to worry about.

I use it with all ZWO gear and iPad.

Everything powered with a 24ah Tracer LiFpo battery including mount powered separately from the battery ie not from the ASIAIR.

Just fire up the ASIAIR, connect iPad to ASIAIR hotspot, connect cameras and mount, calibrate guider, autofocus scope, GoTo target from list , platesolves and centres target and off you go.

Dave

[LoveFromGallifrey]

1 hour ago, Andy R said:

Yes I would recommend it 💯 %. I don’t think I would go back to my laptop unless the ASIAIR went kaput.  I’m not sure on your mount, but I have a HEQ5 pro and I power it separately instead of from the ASIAIR. 

Thanks! I know other people use it with my mount, so hopefully that won't ever be an issue. I already power my mount and dew heaters with a car jump starter, and I've never had any issues even while travelling, it's always held charge very well and my mount works fine. 

[LoveFromGallifrey]

1 hour ago, Jonny_H said:

Yes whilst the power outputs are capable, I believe it recommends within the manual to power your mount separately......I don't think I am making that up at least....🤔

Haha yeah, I've read some people use it to power their EQ6 mounts and that just makes me ???. I use a Halfords 4 in 1 jump starter to power mine currently with absolutely no issues so I have no plans on trying to use the ASIair to power the mount 😄

[LoveFromGallifrey]

42 minutes ago, Robculm said:

I've only had the Asiair Pro a few weeks, but so far I'm well impressed. Works great with my Heq5 pro, asi120 mini & canon 800d.

Wifi is well known to be poor, you need to consider how you will handle that. 

I have been using with my usual skywatcher power pack running the mount, but drains the battery really fast, so needs a good power supply to do that, or separate, or mains... 

As I said though, overall I think it's fantastic. 

I'm very glad to hear it's working well for you! 

I use a 4 in 1 jump starter from Halfords to power my mount. It lasts forever. I can easy do a few observing sessions in a row with my mount and multiple dew heaters plugged in as well as my phone charger sometimes plugged in as well, or my electric hand warmer in winter, etc...and I can get a good few hours out of it for multiple nights on the bounce. If needed I'll purchase another power supply - I'll be working on an upgrade any as and when money becomes available, because my current one, although great, is very heavy for flying. 

Oh, the WiFi thing I've been well informed of! Planning to use a WiFi extender at home initially, then I'll see what else is needed if I travel  😁 

[LoveFromGallifrey]

38 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

You could also try setting up a Windows 10 mini pc to do the same thing as an asiair, but have guaranteed updateability and more choice of software to use. To use this kind of setup you will still need something to control it with a remote desktop app. I use mine with either a phone or a tablet. depending on how mobile i want to be. It was a bit of a pain to setup but once i got it running i can do whatever i want with it, including some quick processing on the go to check what im working with.

Win10 mini-pc will probably be a bit cheaper than an asiair pro, but not a lot. Asiair pro however will definitely be easier to use.

I went with a mini-pc setup because i dont want to be locked out of options and i want to use all available software instead of depending on what ZWO enables on their product.

Thanks! I honestly considered a mini pc, and I've heard of plenty of people using a raspberry pi, but the general consensus from non techy people is that it is a bit of a faff at the best of times. I'm not techy in the slightest. When it comes to technology, the easier the better for me. As always there will be a learning curve no matter what I choose to do - but I've had a fair few people now tell me that the ASIair is easier to use/set up than a mini PC, which gives me hope I might be OK with it.

The limited tech options are something I'm currently willing to take. I don't have anything incompatible with the ASIair currently (besides the D3400 which will be replaced with a compatible Canon in a day or two). If I go for a focuser the ZWO EAF works for both my scopes (have the ZS73ii and an Altair 102ED-R which I don't travel with/use for AP yet), and I'm a long cry from a dedicated astro cam right now. If my need for non ZWO equipment changes in the future, I'm planning on being laptop literate as well and I can always try and figure out a mini PC then. 

I can totally see why the equipment compatibility might be a deal breaker for someone who has various different equipment from a multitude of brands. If I had more products unsupported by the ASIair, I wouldn't be  so keen to get one.

[LoveFromGallifrey]

 

36 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I've had one for a few months and would highly recommend it, had a couple of glitches but nothing to worry about.

I use it with all ZWO gear and iPad.

Everything powered with a 24ah Tracer LiFpo battery including mount powered separately from the battery ie not from the ASIAIR.

Just fire up the ASIAIR, connect iPad to ASIAIR hotspot, connect cameras and mount, calibrate guider, autofocus scope, GoTo target from list , platesolves and centres target and off you go.

Dave

Hi Dave, great to see it's working well for you! Not gonna lie, the ability to just coordinate everything from one platform is incredibly appealing. I'll be doing something similar, running the mount separately from a jump starter which has never failed me in the past. I am pretty much ready to make the purchase I think, between this post and the advice of others on Facebook. Hopefully it works out for me too! 

[Wiu-Wiu]

Asiair user since V1 came out. Back then it only took pictures and did your guiding. Upgraded to pro as soon as that came out.
By software updates they since then added multistar guiding, platesolving, multi target sessions, goto (on your image), autofocus, filterwheel, … FOR FREE. 
 

I never looked back. Portability is a big plus, and I run the whole thing from ONE battery in the field. 
I also have a pier in the garden and after adding a small travel router, I can check the session from my bed, as it connects to my home network. 
 

I just adore the multi target session planning! New features are always in development, I think they are working on mosaic feature now. Adding an EAF to my rig made me wonder what the heck I was doing before. I can’t do without one anymore.

in short: you won’t regret getting one. trust me.

[900SL]

I had a ton of issues with my ASIairpro and it ended up as a paperweight for several months. Turned out to be a corrupted OS.

I bought a new SD card, downloaded the flash software, and it is now working perfectly. I use it for polar alignment (less than one arc minute accuracy), multi-star tracking (better than than 1 arc second accxuracy) and am about to start experimenting with dithering and the intervalometer. It is capable of much more and you will grow with it.

It locks you into ZWO but I would totally recommend it. All my astrobuddies use them. Nobody brings a laptop out any more. It's mounted on my Fornax and cable runs are a doddle. Powered from a compact 10,000 mA power cell.  

Edited September 18, 2021 by 900SL

[LoveFromGallifrey]

On 18/09/2021 at 12:28, 900SL said:

I had a ton of issues with my ASIairpro and it ended up as a paperweight for several months. Turned out to be a corrupted OS.

I bought a new SD card, downloaded the flash software, and it is now working perfectly. I use it for polar alignment (less than one arc minute accuracy), multi-star tracking (better than than 1 arc second accxuracy) and am about to start experimenting with dithering and the intervalometer. It is capable of much more and you will grow with it.

It locks you into ZWO but I would totally recommend it. All my astrobuddies use them. Nobody brings a laptop out any more. It's mounted on my Fornax and cable runs are a doddle. Powered from a compact 10,000 mA power cell.  

Thanks! I went ahead and brought one already, and I'm chuffed with it so far! I have polar aligned better than ever so far, plate solved for the first time ever, and I'm just trying to figure out guiding now, at least as much as the weather will allow. I've got everything working otherwise and I've managed to take my first (tentative) image of M31, which is rubbish compared to everyone else's but it'll do me. Best decision I made entering AP I think!