Mini PC

[SAW]

Hi,

Looking to add a mini stick pc to my mount but not sure what sort of spec to go for. I'll be using apt, phd2 and the usual Ascom platform. Any suggestions what to go for ? Don't want to spend loads but would like to get out of the cold at night 🥶

[Grant Fribbens]

I use an XCY X31 mini PC (i5) from Banggood, much cheaper than a NUC. I would avoid Intel Celeron / Atom and go for i3 and above. This is loaded up with Windows 10, ASCOM 6.5, PHD2 (latest), Sharpcap (mainly for polar alignment but now use the 3 point polar alignment plugin in NINA), APT, NINA (Nightly), ASTAP, Green swamp server. I just run a remote desktop connection to the mini pc which is attached using velcro to my EQ6-R pro mount and then I can automate everything from the warmth of my lounge. I really like Raspberry Pi and did not want to use Windows but even I had to admit the best software available is Windows only. I have tried Astroberry but always found that I had to replace the Indi with Indigo Sky to get it to do what I wanted. Then the issue is that NINA does not communicate using Indi so cannot use it and found that KStars/EKOS crashed quite a lot. If APT and NINA could work under Linux with Native drivers that would be great but I cannot see it happening.

Edited November 11, 2021 by Grant Fribbens

[Enigma_RL]

I'm not sure on your budget, but I'm currently having an Eagle 4S mounted to my telescope. It runs Windows 10 and all the software I'm using is compatible (like APT, PHD etc). An other great feature is that all your gear connects to the available ports, including power supplies for the mount, camera and dew heaters. This makes for great cable management. You can simply set up your telescope, take control of the eagle through remote desktop protocol from a laptop or desktop inside. I'm aware they are not the cheapest solution, but I'm a big fan. Here's a link to a lower end model:

https://eu.primalucelab.com/eagle/eagle-le-control-unit-for-telescopes-and-astrophotography.html

[malc-c]

A friend of mine recently replaced his old Dell laptop with a barebones NUC pc 

AsRock 4x4 BOX-RV1000V with a 2.4GHz AMD Ryzen CPU and 16Gb of memory. It will take an M.2 PCIe card as a system disc and has both USB2 and USB3 ports.  It was purchased as a means to remote control his EQ8 and other equipment in his observatory, but also be powerful enough to run a live zoom meeting from the observatory... He added hard drives etc and he's been pleased as punch with its performance

[Tomatobro]

I have had great success with both second hand NUC's and a new MINIX.

The MINIX has great range with its external antenna with the NUC's requiring and external usb WiFi module. All run all the astro software.

Fast boot up and all run quite happily on 12 volts DC even though the NUC's state 18v input.

All have windows 10 pro installed and are remotely operated via windows Remote Desktop

[Grant Fribbens]

I found that some of the Mini PC's did not have enough USB sockets even though the price gets quite high so the XCY series tend to win with between 6 - 8 USB ports 4 of which are USB 3 and the price is very good too! I use the USB hub on the camera for low speed communications such as EAF or EFW and GuideScope but like to have direct master connection between the main camera and mount. I prefer not to have to add more USB hubs. I also use some of the slower non USB 3 hubs for USB powered heating bands which work really well so reducing the need for dew heater controller and even more cables.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Grant Fribbens

[dan_adi]

I have an old Intel Nuc, 4 core processor, 24 Gb of Ram, 128 GB ssd. Works great. For power ditribution I use a Pegasus Astro powerhub. I try to avoid USB/windows comm conections because they fail to often, usually on clear nights. Instead of usb I run ethernet cables and tcp/ip connections for my camera, focuser. Not every gear suport tcp/ip conections unfortunatly, but as an example optec focusers and moravian cameras do.

[ONIKKINEN]

My Mini PC is some amazon variety of a NUC, so a lot cheaper. It has an old i5, 16gb ram, 256gb SSD, 4 USB3 ports, preinstalled windows 10 PRO (very important for remote desktop!) and can be powered with USB-C. The last part is the dealmaker here, i can power it in the field from any fast-charge rated USB-C powerbank.

These come and go quickly from amazon so its pointless to link to any specific one. But i believe it was around 300€ at the time of purchase earlier this year which is a lot cheaper than a "real" nuc.

[fozzybear]

On 11/11/2021 at 12:29, malc-c said:

It will take an M.2 PCIe card as a system disc

Malc

I bought a second hand HP elitedesk 800 G3 with a M.2 PCIe card  500gb lightning fast at boot up far faster than my other pc's they are HP as well but SSD's as my main processing pc not any more . then RPi to control the mount etc  Astroberry at the mount

[Stuart1971]

I use an older i3 Intel NUC and find it fine, and recently I have heard good reports on these and a good reduced price ATM from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MeLE-Quieter2-Computer-Supports-Dual-Screen/dp/B08ZXXJL6N

 

[barbulo]

After giving up trying the INDI / Rpi route, I have just ordered a refurbished Mini-Computer Fujitsu ESPRIMO Q9000 (Core i3 2,53GHz 4GB 120GB SSD HDMI WIN10) in eBay.

I hope it can handle my setup running APT + CdC + PHD2 + RDC

I've chosen this one because of its price and dimensions: Width168mm, Height165 mm, Depth57 mm, Weight1.4 kg. 

Although it doesn't have wireless connectivity, I plan to use an old PLC Powerline Passthrough to connect it to the router.

[malc-c]

19 minutes ago, barbulo said:

After giving up trying the INDI / Rpi route, I have just ordered a refurbished Mini-Computer Fujitsu ESPRIMO Q9000 (Core i3 2,53GHz 4GB 120GB SSD HDMI WIN10) in eBay.

I hope it can handle my setup running APT + CdC + PHD2 + RDC

I've chosen this one because of its price and dimensions: Width168mm, Height165 mm, Depth57 mm, Weight1.4 kg. 

Although it doesn't have wireless connectivity, I plan to use an old PLC Powerline Passthrough to connect it to the router.

Well if all that can run on my old core 2 duo PC I'm sure the above machine will cope