Zwo 2600mc first light disaster

[dark knight]

Well replaced my canon 6d with the zwo 2600mc pro. Naively I thought it would just be a simple case of just switching them over and letting my pi4 astroberry/ Indi load correct  drivers etc. It ended up far from simple!!! Comm port issues took ages to sort out including having to upgrade the operating system. Ports sorted I thought here we go,,, nope kstars then began crashing then the pi4 power supply failed. New power supply sourced, kstars continued to crash constantly. I vpn into the pi4 from my windows pc indoorsand soon enough that failed too, spent ages trying to get a vpn connection to no avail!!! Pi4 was powered and running, in end I just gave up!!! So what options are better and more stable, I use autofocuser, 2600mc, guide camera, power is supplied via nevada 30amp supply. This was my most frustrated night ever!!!!

[Elp]

Asiair is much easier, though I have been having software issues of late but think I've sorted them now. It is literally plug and play if you've got the compatible equipment (cameras need to be zwo some Canon, Nikon and now Sony cameras are supported, only thing which doesn't need to be zwo is the mount). It is by far the easiest solution out there to setup and use.

I also have an RPI with astroberry, when it works its great but it is prone to crashing a lot. I still use it for planetary type imaging as there's better control over exposure than on the asiair.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Elp

[dark knight]

Thanks Elp, only thing is my autofocuser is deepsky dad af3 so not sure it's compatible with the asiar, my only other option will be a Nuc mini pc

Edited February 27, 2023 by dark knight

[Adam J]

2 minutes ago, dark knight said:

Thanks Elp, only thing is my autofocuser is deepsky dad af3 so not sure it's compatible with the aspire, my only other option will be a Nuc mini pc

A mini PC running NINA is in my opinion the best option of all. Been using one for years, if your not processing on it don't be tempted to over spec the actual requirements are very low for image capture. I paid less for my mini pc then the cost or the original ASI Air. 

Adam

Edited February 27, 2023 by Adam J

[Elp]

22 minutes ago, dark knight said:

Thanks Elp, only thing is my autofocuser is deepsky dad af3 so not sure it's compatible with the asiar, my only other option will be a Nuc mini pc

It'll have to be mini pc then.

[R26 oldtimer]

+1 for a simple and cheap mini PC with NINA or APT and full version of phd 2. Just make sure to get one with no less than 4 USB ports.

[StevieDvd]

You don't mention setting up the system for the new camera.  Have you gone through the profile you made for your previous working setup or created a new one, if not your system is possibly still looking for a DSLR and causing the problems.

Not many systems would automatically spot a camera switch and load the correct driver, especially a switch from DSLR to an astro cam.

[dark knight]

3 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

You don't mention setting up the system for the new camera.  Have you gone through the profile you made for your previous working setup or created a new one, if not your system is possibly still looking for a DSLR and causing the problems.

Not many systems would automatically spot a camera switch and load the correct driver, especially a switch from DSLR to an astro cam.

Yeah, I edited the existing profile it all worked for a short time then kstars constantly crashed and I could no longer vpn into the pi4, a much more stable and versatile approach im sure will be a nuc.

Edited February 27, 2023 by dark knight

[david_taurus83]

As much as I liked Stellarmate and Kstars and really wanting it to work, I eventually bought an ASIAir mini. Just works and is great for a mobile setup. Still not as good as a Windows based system though so I would also suggest a mini PC. That brings its own headaches as well as will need a 12v supply and you will need to remote desktop or VNC into it to manage. 

[dark knight]

Thnx for advice folks, I've now ordered a Mele Quieter 2 windows based mini pc. To be honest I'm really looking forwards to using Nina again, just going to have to remember how to set everything up again and what software for plate solving etc. 

[Ratlet]

Astap for the plate solving.  Works super quick.  I believe the lazy geek has a guide on setting it up.

[Anthonyexmouth]

1 hour ago, dark knight said:

Thnx for advice folks, I've now ordered a Mele Quieter 2 windows based mini pc. To be honest I'm really looking forwards to using Nina again, just going to have to remember how to set everything up again and what software for plate solving etc. 

I run the quieter 3 on my pier. It's so nice having Nina and stellarium running on it and it maps to my nas so when it shuts down at dawn all the images are on the nas for processing. One tip, download the os image from mele and load it into an nvme drive. Works so much better.