Beelink U59 Mini PC Mounting Ideas Needed

[dazzystar]

Hi All,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for ways to mount a Beelink U59 mini PC to either my mount (EQ3 Pro) or scope (Startravel 102). Personally I'd prefer to mount it on the scope tube to keep the cables to the camera and autofocuser as short as possible. Does anyone have any ideas for a neat solution?

Thanks

Daz

[Len1257]

If you know anyone with a 3D printer the job becomes trivial otherwise just get some aluminium sheet and make some brackets up? Doesn't have to be anything special, no-one will see it in the dark!

[inFINNity Deck]

Some scope rings allow mounting a dovetail on top of the scope. That second dovetail will be a nice platform for a PC, dew-controller, USB-hub, etc.

So it merely depends on the type of rings you have. Can you post an image of your rig?

Nicolàs

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, Len1257 said:

If you know anyone with a 3D printer the job becomes trivial otherwise just get some aluminium sheet and make some brackets up? Doesn't have to be anything special, no-one will see it in the dark!

Len,

Do you know if there are any design files out there for this yet?

Ady

[dazzystar]

2 hours ago, Len1257 said:

If you know anyone with a 3D printer the job becomes trivial otherwise just get some aluminium sheet and make some brackets up? Doesn't have to be anything special, no-one will see it in the dark!

I do have a 3D printer too!

[dazzystar]

The U59 has just arrived. I haven't unboxed it yet but hope to tomorrow. Here is a pic of the top of the scope with the mounting rings (I have no idea what the threaded bolt and wheel are used for). I was thinking about mounting the mini PC to the rings using a dovetail but not sure what I would need to mount under the PC this. Any advice?

 

[catburglar]

The bolt and wheel are for mounting a camera to the rings- I guess for wide field astrophotography…I’m pretty sure the thread in the tube rings is a standard photo thread 1/4-20…FLO sell bolts the right size if you can’t get them locally.

Are there any mount in holes on the bottom of the mini PC (some of them have a VESA mount option which is 100mm between centres I think)? You could simply print a platform that bolts to the tube rings with a set of corresponding holes for the VESA mount so you can bolt on the PC.
 

So it should be a simple case of choosing 

[inFINNity Deck]

You could take a strip of aluminium of a convenient width, drill two holes in it and bolt it to the two rings. Then take some tie-wraps and fixate anything you like to that aluminium strip.

Nicolàs

 

[Dean Hale]

I now mount my mini pc to the tripod leg. I use a neewer tripod bracket (price has shot up was originally £5, maybe cheaper options). It will fit onto the screw on the tube ring. With the mini PC you can use the vesa adapter to attach to the bracket or some velcro. The image below may give an idea of how i attached the mini pc to the bracket (although to the tripod leg not the scope itself). It works for a cheap option.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Dean Hale

[ONIKKINEN]

I ziptied the standard VESA mount bracket that came with my mini-pc to the tripod spreader of my EQM35. I can just quickly snap the mini-pc in place and out if needed. Its also close enough to the scope that cable snags are no issue.

[dazzystar]

Thanks chaps for the replies!

[Len1257]

23 hours ago, adyj1 said:

Len,

Do you know if there are any design files out there for this yet?

Ady

I have two different scopes each with their own unique printed fixtures. My WO GT-81 has convenient tapped holes on its housing top and I printed a platform which I then velcro-ed on other 3D plates and boxes. One for a 3d power box, one a 3D dew control box. My 150PDS has a top vixen/arca-swiss rail attached and I use an arca-swiss clamp to attach yet another 3D set of boxes. My NUC gets a 3D mouting to my column. All unique to my setup. All designed in Tinkercad. Nothing complicated about creating the files at all.

[gilesco]

I recommend perspex sheeting to attach to the tube rings of the OTA, easily orderable, much cheaper than a ADM plate, much lighter, pretty easy to drill holes in.

[Richard_]

3 hours ago, gilesco said:

I recommend perspex sheeting to attach to the tube rings of the OTA, easily orderable, much cheaper than a ADM plate, much lighter, pretty easy to drill holes in.

Nice! I'm looking to upgrade from ASI Air to mini-pc and Pegasus power box so seeing this post was useful for attaching things together. What do you do about guiding, or do you perform OAG? I have a 120mm refractor with carry handle and that's where my guide scope sits. 

[gilesco]

2 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

Nice! I'm looking to upgrade from ASI Air to mini-pc and Pegasus power box so seeing this post was useful for attaching things together. What do you do about guiding, or do you perform OAG? I have a 120mm refractor with carry handle and that's where my guide scope sits. 

My imaging train is ZWO OAG + EFW with ASI1600MM Pro for imaging, and ASI290MM mini on the OAG for guiding, connected via a ZWO Helical focuser.

I power everything from the PPBA, except the Mount which I give it's own 12V line.

[Richard_]

6 minutes ago, gilesco said:

My imaging train is ZWO OAG + EFW with ASI1600MM Pro for imaging, and ASI290MM mini on the OAG for guiding, connected via a ZWO Helical focuser.

I power everything from the PPBA, except the Mount which I give it's own 12V line.

Ah that makes sense. What I had in mind was to either sandwich the PPBA between the Losmandy plate and telescope or sticky velcro to the side of my mount. Thee cameras, peripherals and dew heaters plug into the PPBA, then it would be three cables leading up to PPBA: power cable for PPBA, and USB and Power cable for mini-pc. The mini-pc could be mounted on either the eye-piece tray on the tripod or to the tripod leg. The mount would have its own power supply. 

Is the above approach re: cable management similar to yours? 

[gilesco]

39 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

Ah that makes sense. What I had in mind was to either sandwich the PPBA between the Losmandy plate and telescope or sticky velcro to the side of my mount. Thee cameras, peripherals and dew heaters plug into the PPBA, then it would be three cables leading up to PPBA: power cable for PPBA, and USB and Power cable for mini-pc. The mini-pc could be mounted on either the eye-piece tray on the tripod or to the tripod leg. The mount would have its own power supply. 

Is the above approach re: cable management similar to yours? 

Before I replaced my Raspberry Pi with the Beelink I opted extensively for the use of Velcro, but as the Beelink came with a mounting plate, and I had purchased the mounting plate for the PPBA I decided against Velcro this time round - no reason, it works, just feels better to use nuts and bolts when you can

When I bought the Perspex sheeting (from plasticsheets.com) I bought two, specification is below, I recommend this, as they're about £7 each with shipping of £6, so, for economy, and knowing that I tinker around a lot, it made sense to up the quantity a bit.

Cabling is as:

PPBA Dew Heather --> Dew Strap
12V Line --> PPBA Power In
12V Line --> Celestron CGX PWR
PPBA 12V #1 --> SestoSenso 2 PWR
PPBA 12V #2 --> ASI1600MM Pro PWR Cooler
PPBA 12V #3 --> Beelink GKmini PWR
PPBA PC --> Beelink USB3 #1
PPBA USB #1 --> SestoSenso 2 USB
PPBA USB #2 --> ASI1600MM USB Hub
PPBA USB #3 --> Celestron CGX HC USB
Beelink USB #2 --> UBlox GPS Receiver
ASI1600MM USB2 #1 --> ASI 8port EFW USB
ASI1600MM USB2 #2 --> ASI290MM mini USB

I started out with all the stock cables that came with devices, but over time had bought ones of the right length to reduce the complexity, and if you take the sheet off the OTA it is a lot easier to work out which cable is which when putting it back on again.

I am yet to properly affix the PPBA Temperature / Humidity sensor to the sheet, but will do that at some point.

Edited January 18, 2022 by gilesco

[Richard_]

8 minutes ago, gilesco said:

Before I replaced my Raspberry Pi with the Beelink I opted extensively for the use of Velcro, but as the Beelink came with a mounting plate, and I had purchased the mounting plate for the PPBA I decided against Velcro this time round - no reason, it works, just feels better to use nuts and bolts when you can

When I bought the Perspex sheeting (from plasticsheets.com) I bought two, specification is below, I recommend this, as they're about £7 each with shipping of £6, so, for economy, and knowing that I tinker around a lot, it made sense to up the quantity a bit.

Cabling is as:

PPBA Dew Heather --> Dew Strap
12V Line --> PPBA Power In
12V Line --> Celestron CGX PWR
PPBA 12V #1 --> SestoSenso 2 PWR
PPBA 12V #2 --> ASI1600MM Pro PWR Cooler
PPBA 12V #3 --> Beelink GKmini PWR
PPBA PC --> Beelink USB3 #1
PPBA USB #1 --> SestoSenso 2 USB
PPBA USB #2 --> ASI1600MM USB Hub
PPBA USB #3 --> Celestron CGX HC USB
Beelink USB #2 --> UBlox GPS Receiver
ASI1600MM USB2 #1 --> ASI 8port EFW USB
AS1600MM USB2 #2 --> ASI290MM mini USB

I started out with all the stock cables that came with devices, but over time had bought ones of the right length to reduce the complexity, and if you take the sheet off the OTA it is a lot easier to work out which cable is which when putting it back on again.

I am yet to properly affix the PPBA Temperature / Humidity sensor to the sheet, but will do that at some point.

Thanks for the thorough and detailed response Giles! What is the 12V line to CGX doing, or do you have one 12V power supply being split: one to PPBA and the other to the mount? 

Here are some pictures of my current setup, minus the EQDIR and power cable to the mount. I had ordered some shorter cables (Lindy chromo) but unfortunately, these are quite stiff so it makes good cable management difficult because if you try to bundle all the cables  together it's puts stress on the USB ports. I did put velcro ties around the cables and the back of my ASI533 so at least the cables won't dangle and pull (although there is one rogue cable I forgot to attach in the picture lol). There's enough length to reach the PPBA if I mount it on the Losmandy plate, or actually on the vixen shoe my ASI Air currently occupies should I wish to use that. 

As a side note, I love the orange Lynx astro DC cables. So soft and easy to tie up, plus it glows under my red headlamp so they're easy to see! 

[dazzystar]

4 hours ago, gilesco said:

I recommend perspex sheeting to attach to the tube rings of the OTA, easily orderable, much cheaper than a ADM plate, much lighter, pretty easy to drill holes in.

How are those two bolts used at the bottom of the perspex sheet?

[gilesco]

7 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

one 12V power supply being split: one to PPBA and the other to the mount? 

Yes, on my Nevada mains PSU I use a Lynx Astro cable directly to the mount, and another one to the PPBA. Reasons are historical where I tripped the power, and just found that powering the mount directly appears to not cause that issue to re-occur.

[gilesco]

7 minutes ago, dazzystar said:

How are those two bolts used at the bottom of the perspex sheet?

The Tube rings that come with the Esprit 120 have 1/4" bolt holes. They're the same on the underside, so I removed the Losmandy plate from the tube rings and used it as a template to locate and drill appropriate holes in the perspex sheet. Then I have four 1/4" bolts which basically act as thumbscrews to attach the perspex sheet to the tube rings.

[dazzystar]

I'd like some kind of dovetail bar mounted on top of the scope with a corresponding bracket thing mounted on the bottom of the U59. Is there something available does anyone know?

[gilesco]

Usually not, as I said, sometimes getting a drill and a perspex template is the best and cheapest option in this regard.

Make a few measurements and order some templates that fit your needs, then just drill the relevant holes where you need them.

You can spend more than £200 on a plate from ADM after you've had so send them back because they did not fit etc.. the added metallic weight won't help.

[dazzystar]

Thanks for the reply. I want to mount the U59 and the EQ3 motor control box to the top of the scope so nothing is hanging or connected to the tripod. I can design and 3D print something for the control box I think and the U59 it's just the thing for the scope as it needs to be long. Perspex is an idea which I may explore too.

[Kaliska]

I've pretty much got everything attached to my scope, just bought a mounting plate which attached to the rings and cable tied the mini pc, power block and focuser unit.