Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi
Hey Carlton,
There are lots of options depending on what you want to do....that’s the bit I’m unclear about.
Do you want a wired connection to your gear or wireless?
Examples...
Simplest of course is with a direct connection with a win pc. Laptop or tablet.
1. Cheapest tablet option is the surface go with a usb hub to the camera and mount. You would need to activate the regular win 10 version, rather than the s version. Will be low powered and maybe a little slow, but you don’t need huge horse power at the telescope for ascom etc....surface pro will be zippier of course.
2. Stick PC with usb hub at the mount running win 10. You would remote in with any tablet(iOS/Android) or laptop/desktop. You could replace the stick pc with an intel nuc for a bit more power if funds allow.
3. ASI air to a tablet of your choice as you’ve said.
There are lots of combinations, my main experience has been that you don’t need a powerful pc at the mount end. In fact the camera software is probably the most taxing, and you could potentially ditch that entirely if your using a DSLR.
Cheers
Hemi
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Hey Hemi,
Yeah, I acknowledge.. I was a bit vague on detail...
Essentially, I want my cake & I want to eat it too...
I want, a relatively inexpensive option (ie: cheaper than ASIAIR Pro coupled with a decent tablet) that I'm beginning to think isn't quite so achievable yet. Say in the vicinity of $600 - $700 absolute maximum, cheaper if possible...
I want to be able to do the following, with the following elements:
1. Control my mount using EQMOD (I already have the cable, it came with the 2nd hand mount I acquired) & I would prefer to link it with either Stellarium or Skysafari.
2. I would like to run my ZWO ASI 224MC as a guide camera (rather than the synguider which has some limits I don't like) most likely running off PHD2.
3. I would like to run image capture through my DSLR although, currently I can do this independantly via my intervalometer... it would just be nice to do this through Backyard EOS or something similar & all from one device...
4. I already have a power distribution box courtesy of a very generous fellow IIS'er which has 12V input, 1 x unregulated 12V output, 2 x regulated DC outputs & 2 x 5v (not sure on current) outputs in a nice tight package that velcro's very neatly to the mount.
5. Whilst wireless would be nice, it's not necessarily essential... I know I could do this using ASIAIR but, with the apparent demise of the original version & the introduction of the Pro version, it has gotten prohibitively expensive for me.
6. Wired would be okay & I can absolutely achieve it with a laptop.. I'd just prefer to use something smaller, such as a tablet.
7. I would like to be able to use one of the 5v power outlets on the power box to keep my tablet battery chugging away. This at the lower price end of the windows based tablets seems to be where my goal of relatively inexpensive solution seems to fall over. I can either run a USB hub from the single USB-C connection that may or may not provide sufficient power to the items I want to run OR, I can keep charge to my tablet, not both...
8. I want a decent screen size of say 10 - 11 inches where I don't have to squint to see what the hell I'm doing or have my fat fingers touch the wrong control.
Hope this clarifies what I am seeking... cheaply...
which, I acknowledge, might be a pipe dream...
There may be other things that I will want to do that I currently know nothing about too...
Oh, & I want it small enough & light enough to be used as an e-reader when it's not doing other stuff.... which kinda rules out the 2 in 1's coz, at 1 - 2kg... not something I really want to be holding up in bed to read like a book...
For my next task, I will go and prep the pigs for flying...
Cheers