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Beelink U59 Mini PC Mounting Ideas Needed


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38 minutes ago, Kaliska said:

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.

TS100Q.jpg

What mounting plate did you use?

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I used 2 Relevation Astro 12.9" mounting plates, top and bottom with the ring clamps inbetween. Depending on the size of the components you want to fix to the plate, you might get away with something smaller. I used the longer one because i'm using a Minix PC, but i'm guessing 3yrs on from when i set mine up these pc's are getting smaller? If so, I think Rother Valley Optics sell a 7.9" version losmandy-mounting-plate

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 18/01/2022 at 10:44, 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.

20220118_104153.thumb.jpg.35f783158ea81e6996caf3409d17a97a.jpg

What dimensions is the perspex sheet you used?

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My Beelink U59 and PPBA arrived over the past couple of weeks. After setup and first light, everything worked well so I'm now looking at permanent installation. 

Unfortunately, the PPBA does not fit under my telescope on the Losmandy plate so I'll be looking at somewhere else to place it. Whilst I liked @gilesco's idea of adding a perspex board to the telescope to mount the mini-pc and PPBA, I just can't get the space on mine for this to work. I need the top handle slot for my guidescope and I can't place anything too wide on the side of my rings (eg perspex plate) otherwise my setup won't fit in my bag. 

Picture of my refractor, beelink U59 and PPBA 

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On Cloudynights I saw some recommendations for using 3D printed mounts offered by Buckeyestargazer (link to website: https://buckeyestargazer.net/Store/Powerbox.php) who offers mounts for the Pegasus power boxes and also for the Beelink mini-pc. Here's an example image of two such mounts with clamps on a vixen rail. 

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I thought this would be perfect for me as it would allow me to mount my mini-pc and PPBA onto my vixen dovetail on my rings. The clamps would allow quick and easy installation and removal, whilst leaving the vixen rail in place does not present any stowage issues. Unfortunately, the price of shipping is quite high (close to $30), but I can see that FLO are the UK distributor for Buckeyestargazer. I'll see if this is something FLO would consider ordering in, otherwise I'll order directly myself and take the hit on shipping and import duty. 

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10 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

In fact@Richard_ yours does look a touch bigger 🙂

That's right, it's the FLT120 so a right chonkster! I like your mounting method, it's how I mounted my ASI Air to my Redcat for a while and it definitely keeps things out of the way. 

Looking at my FLT120, this isn't an option either for two reasons. (1) I lay the telescope down in a bag after every use, so with those items bolted on they would be crushed. (2) If I wanted to remove each time, feeling around the clearance between the telescope and plate means it would be a fiddly endeavour and I could just feel myself getting frustrated in the cold trying not to drop everything while doing so. 

But thanks for the suggestion, it's good to see other alternatives. 

Edited by Richard_
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2 minutes ago, Richard_ said:

That's right, it's the FLT120 so a right chonkster! I like your mounting method, it's how I mounted my ASI Air to my Redcat for a while and it definitely keeps things out of the way. 

Looking at my FLT120, this isn't an option either for two reasons. (1) I lay the telescope down in a bag after every use, so with those items bolted on they would be crushed. (2) If I wanted to remove each time, feeling around the clearance between the telescope and plate means it would be a fiddly endeavour and I could just feel myself getting frustrated in the cold trying not to drop everything while doing so. 

Ah ok, mine either stays outside until the weather turns and then it sits in my office with me as above....

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4 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Ah ok, mine either stays outside until the weather turns and then it sits in my office with me as above....

Yeah I'd love to have the space, but right now it has to be removed from the mount after each session and stored in the  bedroom. Even if I had the space downstairs, I don't think I have the back strength (or the courage!) to carry my full set up in one go, which I do miss when I started with my Redcat and Star Adventurer! 

 

2 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Oh and if I could have one more scope then an FLT120 would be it... I keep looking at them....

In all honesty, I started off looking at the Esprit 100 and it escalated from there. Manufacturing issues resulted in me never getting the Esprit 100, the Esprit 120 had the same issues and there weren't many other alternatives. The FLT91 only comes with a 0.8x reducer which didn't put the focal length much higher than my Redcat to warrant the cost. Then the FLT120 was released back in September around my birthday. It was more than I was originally planning to spend, and after wondering if I did the right thing I can say it's a great telescope which I'm really enjoying! It's been nice to use for casual viewing with family as well as imaging. I'm sure I would've been happy with the Esprit 100, but it was out of my hands. Hopefully this is a "buy it for life" purchase. 

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  • 9 months later...

Up until now, I've only used my Beelink mini-PC with my 120mm refractor (WO FLT120). The PC was attached to my refractor using 3D printed adapters by BuckeyeStargazer. I used a "MiniPC-Beelink-32" plate and a "VSaddle" to allow me to connect my mini-PC to a WO DSD 210 rail attached to the rings of my refractor (note: the VSaddle will let you connect to any Vixen rail, whilst the LSaddle will connect to any Losmandy plate). Below is a link to BuckeyeStargazer's website, but I think you can buy these on FLO now.

https://buckeyestargazer.net/Store/MiniPC.php

Beelink_4.jpg

VSaddle_1.jpg

 

Here's my WO FLT120 taking flats. The Beelink mini-PC and Pegasus PowerBox Advance are mounted onto separate WO DSD rails, on either side of the telescope (both using a mounting plate + VSaddle adapters)

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I've put my Redcat51 back onto the mount so I was looking for a way to mount everything on the telescope. In comparison to my 120mm refractor, the Redcat51 is dinky and doesn't give you much real estate to play with. The supplied rail with the Redcat was too short to balance everything so I ended up ordering a longer vixen bar.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/william-optics-vixen-compatible-long-dovetail-plate.html

Using the 3D printed adapter and VSaddle, I could then mount the mini-PC underneath the bar whilst keeping balance on the telescope, nice! However, I noticed a new problem. With my larger telescope, the mini-PC was mounted on the top, but now that it's mounted underneath the rail, I felt that it was "hanging off". This is because the 3D printed plate is only attached to the mini-PC via 2 screws and so gravity causes a bit of flexing. Using 8 cable ties, I tightened the mini-PC against the vixen rail and now there are no gaps between the two and I feel it's more securely attached.

Before (notice the gap between the plate and the mini-PC)

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After (two sets of 4 cable ties)

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Edited by Richard_
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