What 12V mini computer for mount ???

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Suggestions for best computer to use on the mount running windows 10.

I know I could get an all singing and dancing one for £700+ that would work fine but don't want to spend any more than necessary.

Thoughts are:

• 12V supply
• Windows 10
• Ideally SSD
• Would like the ability to add 2nd hard drive or SSD (any format of SSD)
• The more USB ports the better
• WiFi
• Ethernet

Whilst not wanting to pay a fortune I don't want to be scrimping so things run very slow, or struggling for lack of RAM. 

Steve

Edited March 8, 2022 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Skipper Billy]

I have 3 Intel NUC's all purchased used/seller refurbed off eBay

All i5 processor, big SSD and 16GB Ram, Windows 10 etc.  They were all between £130 and £150.

All flawless performers.

I fitted a new lid to one of them to give me an extra 2 USB ports (6 in total).

It is supposed to be run off 19v but they all work just as well off 12v.

 

 

[Stuart1971]

+1 for the intel NUC, i use an older i3 model. £95 from eBay, but I put an extra 8gb RAM in to make 16 and a bigger 240gb SSD it came with 8gb and 120gb SSD, works flawlessly with NINA, GSS and any other software I need….and runs from 12v, and start on power on….👍🏼

[Stuart1971]

The mele quieter 2 are very popular ATM, lots of good reviews on them, and very compact….

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

[teoria_del_big_bang]

1 hour ago, Skipper Billy said:

I fitted a new lid to one of them to give me an extra 2 USB ports (6 in total).

Is that something you can do to them all or just some types ?

Steve

[Skipper Billy]

12 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Is that something you can do to them all or just some types ?

Its worth checking before you buy a particular model but AFAIK they are made for all of them.

[Stuart1971]

26 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

Its worth checking before you buy a particular model but AFAIK they are made for all of them.

I looked, and can’t find those USB lids anywhere in the U.K….do you have a link…??

[StevieDvd]

Try https://simplynuc.co.uk/nuc-accessories/

 

[Stuart1971]

9 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

Try https://simplynuc.co.uk/nuc-accessories/

 

Thanks for that…

Don’t seem to have for my ageing older i3….

[DaveS]

15 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

The mele quieter 2 are very popular ATM, lots of good reviews on them, and very compact….

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

I have 3 of them, one for the mobile wide-field rig with a 500 gig M2 SSD, the other two for remote connection to my obsy and platform computers. However one of them has a borked ethernet port so can only connect via WiFi. they only have 4 USB ports though, which are enough for my usage, but might not be for yours.

[900SL]

15 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

The mele quieter 2 are very popular ATM, lots of good reviews on them, and very compact….

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

Hi Stuart, how do you use these in the field? What do you use for a display ? wireless keyboard etc?

[Stuart1971]

34 minutes ago, 900SL said:

Hi Stuart, how do you use these in the field? What do you use for a display ? wireless keyboard etc?

I don’t image out in the field, I have a permanent set up at home, in an observatory,  the PC sits on the mount, and I use Remote Desktop from my PC indoors to connect to NINA and control everything…👍🏼

[Tomatobro]

I run three NUC's which run all my software. Input voltage 19v on the lid but run ok at 12v.

Flo do this one Beelink GKMini Mini PC which I will try at some time

[Stuart1971]

3 minutes ago, Tomatobro said:

I run three NUC's which run all my software. Input voltage 19v on the lid but run ok at 12v.

Flo do this one Beelink GKMini Mini PC which I will try at some time

Yes the Beelink one at FLO has the J4125 celeron processor which is excellent,

[teoria_del_big_bang]

49 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Yes the Beelink one at FLO has the J4125 celeron processor which is excellent,

The problem I have is I have no idea what some of the lesser known processors are like.
Of course I know the Intel I3, (5's etc are good and the Ryzen ones are generally very good but always shy away from Celeron  ones as at one time they were the cheaper slower CPU's.

I know I don't need a gaming machine as such but also don't want one that will struggle.

Steve

[Stuart1971]

Just now, teoria_del_big_bang said:

The problem I have is I have no idea what some of the lesser known processors are like.
Of course I know the Intel I3, (5's etc are good and the Ryzen ones are generally very good but always shy away from Celeron  ones as at one time they were the cheaper slower CPU's.

I know I don't need a gaming machine as such but also don't want one that will struggle.

Steve

The celeron J4125 is on par with an older i5 series 5 or similar…it’s very good and highly praised on the NINA discord group…I would get one, but my old i3 version 4, which is pretty old by todays standards, does a good enough job, and the J4125 walks all over my i3….

[teoria_del_big_bang]

2 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

Thanks for that…

Don’t seem to have for my ageing older i3….

Have you taken the lid off an looked to see if there are any headers for extra usb2's.
Most NUC's I have looked at seem to have them, they may be different headers and hence why the newer lids are now not compatible but you may be able to get some cables from the header to a couple of usb ports like these below, and then cut some holes in the lid, or have a new lid 3d printed for them.

Steve

[Skipper Billy]

2 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I know I don't need a gaming machine as such but also don't want one that will struggle.

The other night my rig was churning away running NINA, camera, filter wheel, electronic focuser, mount etc etc and I was stacking the Lum subs in Pixinsight - all at the same time on an i5 with 16GB RAM - never broke into a sweat.

[Tomatobro]

Also the NUC's have excellent WiFi range.  Windows remote desktop is my software of choice for the remote control.

[Stuart1971]

5 minutes ago, Tomatobro said:

Also the NUC's have excellent WiFi range.  Windows remote desktop is my software of choice for the remote control.

Hmmmm, not so sure on that, I have to use an external USB 3.0 1200mbps adapter, as the internal one was rubbish, did think about fitting an external aerial for the internal card, but went for USB in the end, and has been flawless…

Edited March 9, 2022 by Stuart1971

[Tomatobro]

Not so good range on 5.8 ghz but excellent on 2.4 ghz is my experience

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Does it matter if it is fanless or not for use outdoors ?

Steve

[Skipper Billy]

26 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Does it matter if it is fanless or not for use outdoors ?

I have one on the side of my scope and chose fanless - I really dont want any vibrations!

Another is inside a water and airtight enclosure for my 'all sky' camera and I chose a fan as I want the warm air to circulate to keep dew off the dome.

 

[Bluemoonjim]

Hi

I've been using one of  these for the last few months 

Gigabyte NUC BRIX i5 PC GB-BXi5-4200 2.6GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD WiFi HDMI Warranty | eBay

It has solved all my cabling problems and
I run an AltairAstro 269c PRO TEC, ZWO mini guide cam and a Exos2 PMC8 from 3 of its 4 USB ports.

Worth a look.

[Clarkey]

I use the Mele Quieter2 also. I have two and both have been fine so far. I went for the 8Gb RAM and 128Gb storage and added and additional SSD for storage. The Wifi range seems OK - I remote from my PC indoors. 

Personally I think fanless is good for 2 reasons. 1 is the lack of vibrations, secondly they generate a bit of heat which keeps the dew off.

Performance is OK, but not blistering. However, running NINA with guidescope etc, it was only ticking over looking at the CPU usage. As long as you do not intend to do you image processing on it, they are fine. Just as an additional point, they use a 12V supply and say you must use the adaptor supplied. However, on the latest one I brought it said that it would run up to 26V so it should be OK on battery or 13.8V supply. (I did have to make my own cable though as I struggled to find a suitable power cable).