Laptop for mount

[Maho]

Afternoon all

 

I'm going to be getting a new laptop  for controlling my mount and take longer subs.

 

I have a CEM25P goto mount. However I'm a bit confused what laptop would be suitable, what cables I will need etc. I'm thinking of this

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4338819?clickSR=slp:term:acer swift 3:26:48:2

This is a pic of my mount and all the ports available.

 

Any help/guidance would be appreciated. 

 

 

[Ratlet]

I'd say the laptop will control it fine.  I use a 5 year old mini pc which I connect to via remote desktop and it does it fine. 

Personally I'd consider an alternative laptop, just because you can get more bang for your buck and a better quality through somewhere like the dell outlet.

EDIT:  that being said, the laptop doesn't look that bad tbh.  Will do fine, unless you plan editing images heavily.

Ioptron mounts are usually controlled through the hand controller.  Can you take a picture of the base of you hand controller?  Connector might be a chonky old style usb like on printers.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Ratlet

[Maho]

3 hours ago, Ratlet said:

I'd say the laptop will control it fine.  I use a 5 year old mini pc which I connect to via remote desktop and it does it fine. 

Personally I'd consider an alternative laptop, just because you can get more bang for your buck and a better quality through somewhere like the dell outlet.

EDIT:  that being said, the laptop doesn't look that bad tbh.  Will do fine, unless you plan editing images heavily.

Ioptron mounts are usually controlled through the hand controller.  Can you take a picture of the base of you hand controller?  Connector might be a chonky old style usb like on printers.

Thanks for the response Ratley. I guess I'm just confused how I can use my laptop with a USB cable, as mount only has these ports. Does my potential new laptop have to have an ethernet type port? Lots of laptops these days don't have these anymore.

 

The hand controller is similar, and has these ports

 

 

[Mandy D]

They are just connectors and just because they are RJ45 does not automatically make them Ethernet. On astro kit they are often used for serial communications like a lot of industrial kit which uses RS485 and can be directly or through an adapter connected to USB ports on a PC. Reading the manula for the piece of kit should provide clear guidance. Be careful though, as sometimes they are not serial ports and if you use them as such can cause damage. Read up, first.

[Budgie1]

5 hours ago, Maho said:

Afternoon all

I'm going to be getting a new laptop  for controlling my mount and take longer subs.

I have a CEM25P goto mount. However I'm a bit confused what laptop would be suitable, what cables I will need etc.

First off, what exactly do you want to control with the laptop? You mention wanting to take longer subs, so is it just the mount or do you also want to control your camera or a guide camera?

Have you looked at the ASIAir, which sits on the mount and controls everything for you via an Android or Apple App? Great for beginners because it just works and comes with guiding, Polar Alignment etc, although the downside is that it's limited to ZWO cameras, focusers & filterwheels, but it will work with Canon & Nikon DSLR cameras and most mounts. Plus it's half the price of the laptop you're looking at.

If it has to be a laptop then a second hand or refurbished laptop running Windows 10 Pro or Window 11 Pro will be fine for image capture. If you intend to do all your image processing on it as well, then a better spec may be needed. A simple way to connect your CEM25P to the laptop is using the Lynx Astro FTDI USB to Serial cable, which plug into the RJ11 Serial port on the base of the hand controller, with the other end going to the laptop.

Because laptops don't have that many USB connections, the use of a powered USB3 hub on the mount is a good call. Then you connect your mount, camera & guide camera into the USB3 hub and have one USB3 cable from the mount to you laptop. This keeps the cables short, which have less chance of tangling.  

[LandyJon]

I cant help you with cables/connections for your mount, but others have offered solutions there.

But I would say take a look at AO.com before you buy from argos or dell as suggested.  Cant fault them for countless electrical purchases, price matching even the most dodgy looking websites and customer service have bent over backwards to resolve any issues.

That said, a quick look and I found a similar Acer, but with 16Gb RAM, good for larger subs and post-processing abilities, comes in under £600

Nearer the same price is a Asus which I personally prefer brand wise, also 16Gb RAM but with the Intel I5 processor, which my (although out of date) knowledge on processors believes are ment to be better.

Anyway, compare the options there before you buy.

Edit .. should add the price match works great, when you've decided which one you want, Google the model number and find the cheapest dodgy'est looking website you wouldn't consider purchasing from for fear of not getting anything delivered or your money back ... ring AO and they'll match the price as long as the site says its in stock ready to dispatch.  Saved me loads off already decent prices.

Edited September 24, 2023 by LandyJon

[Maho]

13 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

First off, what exactly do you want to control with the laptop? You mention wanting to take longer subs, so is it just the mount or do you also want to control your camera or a guide camera?

Have you looked at the ASIAir, which sits on the mount and controls everything for you via an Android or Apple App? Great for beginners because it just works and comes with guiding, Polar Alignment etc, although the downside is that it's limited to ZWO cameras, focusers & filterwheels, but it will work with Canon & Nikon DSLR cameras and most mounts. Plus it's half the price of the laptop you're looking at.

If it has to be a laptop then a second hand or refurbished laptop running Windows 10 Pro or Window 11 Pro will be fine for image capture. If you intend to do all your image processing on it as well, then a better spec may be needed. A simple way to connect your CEM25P to the laptop is using the Lynx Astro FTDI USB to Serial cable, which plug into the RJ11 Serial port on the base of the hand controller, with the other end going to the laptop.

Because laptops don't have that many USB connections, the use of a powered USB3 hub on the mount is a good call. Then you connect your mount, camera & guide camera into the USB3 hub and have one USB3 cable from the mount to you laptop. This keeps the cables short, which have less chance of tangling.  

Thank you all for the responses, and apologies as my description wasnt very clear. I'm quite a newb so dont exactly know what I dont know. 

I have a ZWO guide camera and a 50mm guide scope. I plan on using a canon DSLR to take my subs. I do plan on using the laptop for everyday use as well, so getting ASIAir is just going to push costs up, which I'm trying to minimise. 

 

So my understanding is that the mount, in conjunction with my guide camera will allow my to take longer subs. Do people also control their DSLR via their laptop as well? If so, then would I need 3 USB ports. i.e., one controlling the guide camera, one connected to the mount and one connected to my DSLR? Or, does my guide camera connect to my mount and my mount connects to my laptop?

 

Thanks for the link  to the Lynx Astro cable, makes a lot more sense now.

[LandyJon]

Laptops don't seem to come with many USB ports these days, my new one last year has 1 full size and 2x small C type USB (like on phones) but don't worry too much about how many or what type, little C to full size adapters are cheap on amazon and you only really need 1 port on the laptop.

As Budgie1 suggested, its easier and tidier to have a 5 or 7 port (future proof) USB hub zip tied or sticky velcro'ed to the mount or tripod leg.  All your cabling then routes round the mount leaving slack looms for each RA DEC axis, down to the hub where you can plug in a short 1m USB lead and sit there next to it, or get a 5m/10m powered USB extension lead and sit in the warm kitchen watching your subs come in.

Not sure how DSLRs connect to laptops, hopefully someone with experience can help there, but if they can be made to work with the astro capture softwares like Sharpcap etc. they have so many features that will help you, like focus tools and polar alignment aids. If you can run the DSLR captures from the laptop, then I'd have the guidecam to the laptop too and run guiding with PHD2

[Mandy D]

2 minutes ago, LandyJon said:

Laptops don't seem to come with many USB ports these days, my new one last year has 1 full size and 2x small C type USB (like on phones) but don't worry too much about how many or what type, little C to full size adapters are cheap on amazon and you only really need 1 port on the laptop.

As Budgie1 suggested, its easier and tidier to have a 5 or 7 port (future proof) USB hub zip tied or sticky velcro'ed to the mount or tripod leg.  All your cabling then routes round the mount leaving slack looms for each RA DEC axis, down to the hub where you can plug in a short 1m USB lead and sit there next to it, or get a 5m/10m powered USB extension lead and sit in the warm kitchen watching your subs come in.

Not sure how DSLRs connect to laptops, hopefully someone with experience can help there, but if they can be made to work with the astro capture softwares like Sharpcap etc. they have so many features that will help you, like focus tools and polar alignment aids. If you can run the DSLR captures from the laptop, then I'd have the guidecam to the laptop too and run guiding with PHD2

DSLRs generally connect via USB and you can use the manufacturers' own software to capture, view and save images, or you can do as I do and use a third-party piece of software such as DigiCamControl. From this I can do various things with my Nikon, such as liveview, focus, capture, change settings like ISO, aperture and shutter speed and change mode.

Obviously, some of the above will not be applicable to using the camera with a telescope as it will require manual focusing and there is no aperture control. I'm pretty sure it does not interface with astro software. There may be better alternatives for Canon that do.

[Budgie1]

5 hours ago, LandyJon said:

Not sure how DSLRs connect to laptops, hopefully someone with experience can help there, but if they can be made to work with the astro capture softwares like Sharpcap etc. they have so many features that will help you, like focus tools and polar alignment aids. If you can run the DSLR captures from the laptop, then I'd have the guidecam to the laptop too and run guiding with PHD2

When I first started I used software called Astro Photography Tool (APT) because it worked with my Canon EOS 2000D, via a USB cable, and also linked to PHD2 for guiding. I still use this software today and have it connected to my ZWO ASI294MC Pro, ASI1600MM Pro, filter wheel, focuser & mount.

There is also NINA, which is also very good and has lots of features to make your imaging sessions easier.

Both are free to download and use, so worth checking out, and they're built for astrophotography.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Budgie1