ASIAIR PLUS

[mareman48]

Been using my laptop for a while now  for astrophotography , but I have been looking into buying a ASIAIR PLUS .

 

Has anyone had any experience with the  ASIAIR PLUS and would you recommend it?

 

Many thanks.

[Shimrod]

10 minutes ago, mareman48 said:

Been using my laptop for a while now  for astrophotography , but I have been looking into buying a ASIAIR PLUS .

 

Has anyone had any experience with the  ASIAIR PLUS and would you recommend it?

 

Many thanks.

I've no experience of the ASIAIR products as other than mounts, the ASIAIR devices do not support my non-ZWO products (focuser). You may find this thread useful which includes some detailed iinformation from early users and links to some youtube video guides.

[Paul Holdsworth]

Hi there, yes I've been using an asi air for the last couple of years and recently upgraded to the latest version the asi air plus in December. I used to use a lap top with APT, PHD 2 and all the rest of it and have to say I would never go back to a lap top . I would highly recommend the asi air plus it's an amazing piece of kit that just works. 

This link below for a detailed review on you tube is probably the best I've seen .......hope this helps 

Regards Paul

[mareman48]

Great stuff Paul, 

Thanks for the quick reply, info and the link 👍

Much appreciated

[Budgie1]

I bought the ASIAir Plus when it first came out, back in late October and I do like it. I'd not used the ASIAir before and it's straight forward to setup and you can be imaging quickly, when compared to using a laptop.

Having said this, I have gone back to using the laptop with SharpCap, APT & PHD2 for my main rig because the ASIAir Plus does have some drawbacks, which may be caused by my lack of use/experience with it, but clear nights for me a few and far between and I need to make the most of them.

The first one is the plate solving. It seems to be a very rough solve position and if you're doing the same target over several nights the positioning isn't as accurate as APT.

Second is the calibration frame capture. I haven't found a way to capture the calibration frames without having to add them to a Plan on the ASIAir, in which case it seems to need a target and complains if it can't point the mount at that target.

Third, if you're using a DSLR with the ASIAir and the camera goes into stand-by mode, it loose connection with ASIAir and you have to go back outside to activate it again. Once reconnected it remains so while you're imaging etc.

Don't get me wrong, for someone just starting out in imaging this is a great piece of kit and saves a lot of messing around. I now have it permanently attached to my wide FOV setup using the Samyang 135mm F2 lens, modded Canon EOS 1300D with a 32mm guide scope and ASI120MM Mini guide camera. It's a quick & easy setup for when I know I've only got a hour or two of clear skies and I was using it last night.

[Elp]

Haven't got the plus but I've got the pro. Wanted a compact portable solution as didn't want to use a laptop in the field, started with a raspberry pi running astroberry, it works but has issues which you have to overcome and isn't really GUI mobile phone friendly. Bought an Asiair pro soon after and much easier to use, the polar alignment routine is excellent, works well with dslr and zwo only astro cameras. You can also use it to split 1 off 12v in (to power the asiair) into 4 off out and it can supply usb power.

[mareman48]

On 04/01/2022 at 12:05, Budgie1 said:

I bought the ASIAir Plus when it first came out, back in late October and I do like it. I'd not used the ASIAir before and it's straight forward to setup and you can be imaging quickly, when compared to using a laptop.

Having said this, I have gone back to using the laptop with SharpCap, APT & PHD2 for my main rig because the ASIAir Plus does have some drawbacks, which may be caused by my lack of use/experience with it, but clear nights for me a few and far between and I need to make the most of them.

The first one is the plate solving. It seems to be a very rough solve position and if you're doing the same target over several nights the positioning isn't as accurate as APT.

Second is the calibration frame capture. I haven't found a way to capture the calibration frames without having to add them to a Plan on the ASIAir, in which case it seems to need a target and complains if it can't point the mount at that target.

Third, if you're using a DSLR with the ASIAir and the camera goes into stand-by mode, it loose connection with ASIAir and you have to go back outside to activate it again. Once reconnected it remains so while you're imaging etc.

Don't get me wrong, for someone just starting out in imaging this is a great piece of kit and saves a lot of messing around. I now have it permanently attached to my wide FOV setup using the Samyang 135mm F2 lens, modded Canon EOS 1300D with a 32mm guide scope and ASI120MM Mini guide camera. It's a quick & easy setup for when I know I've only got a hour or two of clear skies and I was using it last night.

Thanks for your thoughts and observations, very helpful.

[mareman48]

On 04/01/2022 at 12:37, Elp said:

Haven't got the plus but I've got the pro. Wanted a compact portable solution as didn't want to use a laptop in the field, started with a raspberry pi running astroberry, it works but has issues which you have to overcome and isn't really GUI mobile phone friendly. Bought an Asiair pro soon after and much easier to use, the polar alignment routine is excellent, works well with dslr and zwo only astro cameras. You can also use it to split 1 off 12v in (to power the asiair) into 4 off out and it can supply usb power.

Thanks, very useful information to know.