ASIAIR Plus coming soon

[Lee_P]

Just spotted this in ZWO's Facebook group. Don't think it's been flagged up on SGL yet? Not sure if it will feature any upgrades other than the antenna.

 

[StevieDvd]

I've seen some of the posts and discussions,  and ZWO have just said to keep watching.  It does not seem a simple update to the current model (which some diy'ers have done) by adding an internal socket to the RPi4 and the external aerial socket etc.

The new case is apparently slimmer so ZWO may be taking advantage of a new circuit board with the Raspberry Pi modules (Stellarmate are doing this as detailed in other SGL posts).

So thanks, I'll keep an eye out for any more details as well.

Steve

 

[Steve8045]

It will also have red lights on the active power outlets. Getting rid of the flashing disco lights on the Vonets Wi-Fi booster will be a huge bonus, especially at star party gatherings with strict red light only protocols. 

[geeklee]

2 minutes ago, Steve8045 said:

flashing disco lights on the Vonets Wi-Fi booster

I got quite a surprise when I turned out the lights to see what impact this had being added to the kit.  Looks OK in bright light, but that white plastic case hides nothing in the dark - the whole unit lights up!  I used some black tape strategically placed to help reduce the light and hopefully not increase temperatures.

[Toaster05]

They've updated again and it's a smart move going over to eMMC and getting rid of the sdcard.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Toaster05
Typo

[wimvb]

On 17/08/2021 at 17:14, Toaster05 said:

They've updated again and it's a smart move going over to eMMC and getting rid of the sdcard.

Yes, eMMC is a lot faster and more reliable than sd. I've had eMMC in my Rock64 for a few seasons now, and I'm very satisfied with the performance.

[Lee_P]

8 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Yes, eMMC is a lot faster and more reliable than sd. I've had eMMC in my Rock64 for a few seasons now, and I'm very satisfied with the performance.

Could you elaborate on how eMMC would be an improvement? I don't think I've ever had my ASIAIR PRO crash due to the microSD card, and it always seems plenty fast enough. Maybe the difference would be noticeable in a side-by-side comparison? Are there any other benefits?

[wimvb]

5 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

I don't think I've ever had my ASIAIR PRO crash due to the microSD card

Neither have I, but I've read reports about it, so I changed to eMMC just to be on the safe side (better safe than sorry). Remember that in a computer, data is written a lot more often than in a camera or mobile device (swap drive, viryual RAM, etc). And eMMC devices are definitely faster than sd cards. When I replaced the sd card with eMMC, I saw a clear difference in performance/speed.

[Toaster05]

2 hours ago, Lee_P said:

Could you elaborate on how eMMC would be an improvement? I don't think I've ever had my ASIAIR PRO crash due to the microSD card, and it always seems plenty fast enough. Maybe the difference would be noticeable in a side-by-side comparison? Are there any other benefits?

I think it's exactly as stated above really, they giving the security that whilst it could go pear shaped with an SD card, it's less likely with less volatile memory. In terms of read write speeds it should blast sdcard speeds out of the water to be honest, which depending on how much data you are shifting could be boon.

That said, I expect it's more that they are seen to be adding more to the value proposition of getting people to buy the thing or upgrade. Just giving people better wifi may have been a bad look given how they didn't really solve the problem last time round.

 

[GoldTop57]

Its official - ASIAIR Plus on the ZWO site now: https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/asiair-plus

[Toaster05]

Seems to me at least that if you don't have huge issues with the WiFi then there's not a huge reason to consider upgrading. At least the price isn't hugely jacked up.

Assuming a dollar to pound conversion the price is pretty much comparable.

[Grierson]

Seems it is released today!!

[Toaster05]

18 minutes ago, Grierson said:

Seems it is released today!!

It's a preorder for November and even then it's only for 100 units on a confirmed delivery date. Any orders beyond the first 100 are when they fulfill them it seems.

[powerlord]

Step back imho. Emmc is abysmally slow crappy storage. Sdcard is the same but my asiair Pro boots in seconds.. So it is a non issue. And it is much easier to back up an Sdcard. And once you've bought a 10 quid wifi extender and plugged it into the nic, its fine. I realise for some the better WiFi makes it better, but really it's a disappointing lack of innovation. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by powerlord