Remote Wifi for EAA and Astrophotography

[curtisca17]

A couple of years ago I decided that I no longer wanted to be tethered to my scope with a long USB cable.  I wanted to be able to sit inside my RV warms and cozy, not bothering anyone with the light from my laptop screen.  So I got myself a mini-pc to do the heavy lifting at the mount, an inexpensive WiFi router so that I could long into the mini-pc from far away with my laptop using one of the many remote desktop tools.  And I have never looked back.  this past month I found myself with some time during the day at a star party so I put together a video explaining exactly how to do this for anyone else considering this option.  In the video I cover the equipment you will need and demonstrate exactly how to connect.  You can also use a tablet or smart phone instead of a laptop to connect to the mini-pc.  And you can use an Intel Nuc, Raspberry Pi, etc. instead of a mini-pc.  I can also use this setup at home with the router working in extender mode so that I can remote into the mini-pc using my home network from anywhere in my house.  

If you are interested to learn how this is done, you can find my video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quoWbvN5VWc&t=1218s

Hopefully this will be helpful to some of you.

Best Regards,

Curtis

[Martin Meredith]

I've been meaning to get round to this one day, so thanks for producing this video. Meanwhile, longer USB cables (one for the camera, one for the EFW) have been serving me well. I've even had them trailing out of the windows of my campervan. The only problem is they're not quite long enough to have the scope sufficiently far away to see over the top of the van...

 

[curtisca17]

Martin, yes that is a common problem.  My astronomy buddy is still using USB cables and last star party he barely was able to get his laptop inside his RV.   I have him thinking about going the WIFI route but he has had a lot of other things on his plate.  As I said, I am really happy with the WIFI setup both in the field and at home.  I should have done this sooner.

 

[M40]

Thanks for the info Curtis, great film, I shall be looking at your website soon to pinch some more info off of you. At home I currently use a usb over cat5 device at about 20M but I have often thought about the mini pc route, it's good to see it in action.