ToupTek's ASIAir plus alternative, Astrostation - My first Impression

[AstraPharma]

Hey guys, new to the forum!!

Some friends in China helped me get my hands on the AstroStation to check out in support of my new YouTube channel. I don't want to force my content down your throat, so I thought I should post a written report of my experience here and include the link at the end for those who would like to see it. 

I received the device in a neat package from China. It seemed like it went through a rough journey to get to me in Kuwait, but nevertheless, the package felt premium and well-presented. The whole unboxing experience was pleasant and satisfying. The device was safely nestled along with its WiFi antenna and what I first thought to be a USB flash drive, which turned out to be a WiFi dongle for some reason. Included were four thin and weak-looking DC power cables (Male to Male 2.1mm*5.5mm) and a similar power cable extender (Female to Male 2.1mm*5.5mm).

 

The device itself has four DC output ports, a DSLR shutter release port, two USB3 input ports, two USB2 input ports, an Ethernet port, and a USB-C connection port for connecting it to other devices such as a PC. All in all, it is exactly the same as the ASIair, with the one notable exception being the SD card slot, which is big enough for a full-sized SD card rather than a MicroSD card in the ASIair. The device came with the mounting wedge already installed at the bottom, as shown in the picture below.

 

It was striking how similar it is to the ASIair. I guess these companies source their boards from similar manufacturers. Anyway, I managed to mount it on the same scope I had my ASIair on. It is so similar that it was a simple matter of unscrewing, switching, and replugging the cables. 

The app is still unavailable on the iOS store or the Android Play store, though I was able to contact some people in China who provided me the APK to install on an older Android tablet. Please keep in mind that this is a beta, so things may look different later.

I didn't know the default password for the unit's hotspot, so I guessed it was 12345678 (the same default password for the ASIair), and that worked! When you open the app, you are greeted with this loading screen briefly. 

The app then autodetected the unit, and I proceeded to select my equipment. I was pleasantly presented with a list of many different products from many different manufacturers. It seemed that the full INDI library is supported. Here is a screenshot of my mount connected to the unit. There are more options if you scroll down.

 

On the right is where you choose your other equipment, and I will include a screenshot of the drop-down menu for the cameras and focusers.

  

After connecting my equipment, I was able to autofocus with a click of a button and then polar align easily using a three-star alignment process. One weird thing about the plate solving is that you need to wait for the image to download for the app to solve it, unlike the ASIair, which is quite annoying. Also, you need to hit refresh every time after making an adjustment.

 

Finally, I was able to choose a target, and all the relevant catalogs were included, slew to it, plate solve, and center it with no issue. Here is a centered image of M8 (very faint as I'm testing from the Bortle 9 city skies).

 

Everything so far was very smooth and straightforward. However, that was as far as I was able to go, as the guiding module seems to be still a work in progress. In this beta version of the app, it is still broken, and I was not able to guide. It was failing to send guide pulses to my mount from what I was able to discern. I contacted some friends in China, and they confirmed the issue.

 

All in all, my first impression was very positive. The interface was easily navigable, and it had all the options one needs, such as camera cooling and gain setting. It was very responsive and fun to play around with. 

Final Thoughts

This is not a mature product like the ASIair. However, I can easily see it overtaking it in the future, given the freedoms it offers to users. There is a lot of work to be done before the official release, and I hope all the bugs are ironed out. I myself am very excited to see where this goes. 

Link to the video:   

 

[ONIKKINEN]

Thanks for the detailed write up, as a Rising Cam IMX 571 and an aging mini-PC owner this product definitely interests me. Eventually my mini-PC will get rained on one time too many, and this would be a nice replacement.

Hoping for continued support and development of the app of course, but its still fresh off the press so there is time.

[Stuart1971]

Should be a bit of a game changer if it works with all brands of Astro kit, unlike the ASIair…👍🏻

[AstraPharma]

1 hour ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Thanks for the detailed write up, as a Rising Cam IMX 571 and an aging mini-PC owner this product definitely interests me. Eventually my mini-PC will get rained on one time too many, and this would be a nice replacement.

Hoping for continued support and development of the app of course, but its still fresh off the press so there is time.

I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of the workflow. It does lack some features like a planetarium/star-map and a rotation adjustment module like the one in the AA+. Nevertheless, when the beta starts coming into its own, I can definitely see myself using this regularly!

[AstraPharma]

30 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Should be a bit of a game changer if it works with all brands of Astro kit, unlike the ASIair…👍🏻

Yep, just from what I can remember from the dropdown menu, QHY, ATIK, Player One and many more are all supported!

[Elp]

The asiair does throw out a lot of random wobblies now and then especially after new updates so it'll be interesting if this is more stable.

They also need to make sure they don't carbon copy the air (unless it's like the mini or gen3 plus) and have a proper propagating WiFi connection.

[SteveNickolls]

Excellent development, inter-Chinese competition and another way to not be trapped in the ZWOniverse. 👍 

Cheers,
Steve

[HaozeWu]

Hi AstraPharma，

I am a technical support of Touptek-Astro. We are thrilled to see that you are willing to support our work, which fills us with immense honor. The firmware and mobile app of AstroStation are still in rapid iteration, and we believe you will find a more comprehensive product in the second half of this year. Up to now (2024.06.05), the latest version of AstroStation's firmware and APP is 1.0.20240531. In this version, we have fixed and added some features related to guiding. You can email me at wuhz.ast@foxmail.com to obtain the later updates.

I'd like to clarify that AstroStation is not a copy of some other things like ASIair. The PCB layout is determined by the IO interface of the Raspberry Pi CM4 motherboard, which is the reason you may find the PCB boards similar.

We respect and support customers' right to freely choose and assemble astronomical devices. We also understand that all astronomical devices manufacturers have their own merits worth learning from, that's why we hope to make AstroStation compatible with the majority of products during its development.

Thank you for your support to Touptek-Astro. We will continue to improve this product until it is ready for overseas release. Please follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
Wish you have a clear sky!

Sincerely，
Haoze Wu

[wimvb]

It would be nice to see it compared to the StellarMate. How are the power ports controlled? And of course: how much will it cost?

[AstraPharma]

5 hours ago, wimvb said:

It would be nice to see it compared to the StellarMate. How are the power ports controlled? And of course: how much will it cost?

That’s a great idea, I own both. I’ll post a video about it and write a full post similar to this one!

[tich]

I for one am very happy to see this come onto the market, sorry but I will not be forced into one brand only & ZWO's customer service can be quite shocking at times so I will be watching this product very closely. Mini PC's are ok but they're a right faff to set up & not particularly great to use in the field so I'll probably ditch mine now & just use it in the observatory. Stellarmate even to this day can still be quite buggy & not very user friendly so even after I've flirted with the idea of owning one I never pulled the trigger & bought one
I have come across a site selling the ToupTek AstroStation for £350 although I haven't had any dealings with them & as the app is in development stages right now would seem pointless to buy one at the moment until the official release which I do hope will be soon.

[Elp]

The thing about the ZWO situation, it's a choice, one doesn't have to feel forced into anything. Having not had any astro equipment at the start I felt it would be a good route for me, easily available equipment both new and used so you have a lot more options buying used too. This has worked well for ME. Those whom already have various manufacturer equipment, well then this device will then certainly appeal, I think people also believe it also helps with competition of equipment prices (but most auto/imaging astro equipment is expensive anyway and some are getting more expensive).

[saac]

14 minutes ago, Elp said:

The thing about the ZWO situation, it's a choice, one doesn't have to feel forced into anything. Having not had any astro equipment at the start I felt it would be a good route for me, easily available equipment both new and used so you have a lot more options buying used too. This has worked well for ME. Those whom already have various manufacturer equipment, well then this device will then certainly appeal, I think people also believe it also helps with competition of equipment prices (but most auto/imaging astro equipment is expensive anyway and some are getting more expensive).

Totally agree. While I wish that in the future ZWO may open up their ASiAir system to wider interoperation, it is not as though their restricted compatibility is a secret at point of purchase. Yes it may be a source of annoyance but the positive of having a closed system is that you are buying a fully integrated product. I know others have reported glitches with respect to firmware updates but I have never experienced any problems with my ASiAirs, they work and they work really well. From rolling back my obsy roof and staring image capture I now look to be running in less than 10 minutes and this reliability is all the more important given our indeterminate weather windows. 

 The AstroStation certainly looks like it may bring some healthy competition to the market, may prompt ZWO to ease their lockdown on the ASiAir. @AstraPharma thanks for the report, really interesting development and it looks to have real promise.

Jim  

[Kyuss]

Having a Pegasus Astro focuser and an SVBony camera along with a ZWO mount and guide cam makes me an ideal client that would really appreciate this device. I was told from a seller that only Touptek related brands,ZWO,QHY and Playerone cams  are compatible this moment