Bahtinov has simplified... EVERYTHING!!

[Omaroo]

Thank you Pavel Bahtinov. The advent of your mask has seen my need for a large and reasonably powerful laptop dissappear.

Take 1: Dreary Saturday morning with little likelihood of clearing for tonight. Project time! :thumbsup:

Because I really needed DSLR focussing controlled by ImagesPlus, I also used ImagesPlus to control and capture/store my astro images as part of the process. While it was there I also ran PHD Guiding off the same laptop.

The large Toshiba lappy drew 3.9 amps when imaging/capturing.

Now - because of the Bahtinov mask, I can do away with DSLR Focus and Images Plus. The only reason I ran ImagesPlus camera control is because I already had it hooked up to do my focus first. Nice, but unwieldy. Post-processing is done on my 64-bit desktop unit at home anyways.

I now have an Asus eeePC running XP to control JUST PHD Guiding. Nothing more. Focus is performed in two seconds flat with the mask, and camera control is now via a timer/release cable that can perform repetitive tasks. I have a 2Gb card in the camera - it is more than capable of taking a nights' worth of images. The small laptop draws about 1 amp while guiding because I can shut the lid and shut down the display - but leave the unit humming along guiding.

I can now do away with my large laptop hutch - and while I'm at it the table it sat on too. I've constructed a small table for my G11, which cradles the eeePC nicely, and is so close to the mount that I only need a standard length USB cable to run the guide camera. Nice! No more long cables to trip on.

Anyhow - here it is now.

1) The table connected to the Losmandy Digital Drive controller support posts.

2) With laptop in the guiding position (lid closed but running) - keeping the keyboard dry.

3) Open lappy to show clearances.

4) The whole shebang.

Thanks for reading! :)

[AlexN]

Awesome!

I've recently bought a EEEPC, and unfortunately I'm yet to give it a fly for astro imaging. Im hoping it will have enough grunt for everything (it seems very capable)

Your little lappy bench on your G11 looks fantastic!

[Omaroo]

Alex, thanks. I know that Big Dave out of Melbourne runs an eeePC to run his STL-11000m and guiding via PHD - all at the same time and for little power. He shuts the lid and leaves it run - worked very well at IISAC (or would have). :thumbsup:

Just remember to turn of wireless comms - it's a power killer.

[DJDD]

looks good.

I need to buy a new or second-hand laptop for guiding.

What version of XP do you run on the eeePC? Home or Professional?

If Home version, do you find you miss anything not having the extra features of Professional?

Do you find the small screen size is a problem?

cheers,
DJDD

[acropolite]

Aside from the other questions Chris, which model eeePC did you buy, there are several with differing screen sizes some with Hdd some with flash.

[Omaroo]

Hey fellas :)

Phil - I have an older unit, that came with my Toshiba as a giveaway. It's the 701 model, with a 900MHz Celeron and 504Mb of RAM. It is a flash drive model (4GB) which i wanted so that it was all solid state. Much cheaper to run in terms of field battery power - no moving parts.

DJ - I'm running XP Home, SP3.Mine came running Xandros Linux, so I had to install it over Linux in a specif manner that is explained in the fairly comprehensive manual. All the XP drivers come on CD with the unit - for which you need an external USB CD drive to load. You leave out some of the standard Windows services to save room - can't remember which ones though. I'm now running everything I need to on 1.37Gb of "disk", leaving plenty in reserve. I could even load Cartes Du Ciel if I wanted to... which i might. The screen on my 701 is smaller than the current 901 at 800x600. It's plenty big enough to run PHD though, and if you really want to, it'll support an external monitor at 1024x768 at least..

[DJDD]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

hmmm... will have to check out the options.
I think the eeePC may be a better option than a second-hand laptop.

certainly, nothing I have at the moment uses serial ports and then there are adapters.

cheers,
DJDD

[Omaroo]

A great thing about the eeePC - even though it's a small unit, it still sports 3 USB ports.

[DJDD]

i think i will pick one up today.
:)

[Omaroo]

Make sure you get one of these today off eBay then - a car charger. AU$13 landed!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/WHITE-CAR-POWER-CHARGER-ADAPTER-FOR-ASUS-EEE-PC-EEEPC_W0QQitemZ110315229497QQcmdZVi ewItemQQptZAU_Laptop_Accessories?ha sh=item110315229497&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1% 7C240%3A1318

[DJDD]

thanks for the tip.

[Michael Clark]

Hi Chris,

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is an eeePC?:help:

Cheers
Michael

[AlexN]

An EEEPC is an ultra-portable laptop made by Asus. Chris's model is 7.1" diagonally (very small). They are quite powerful for their size, and some have exceptionally long battery life. (some up to 9.2hrs depending on type of use)

Rather than a moving hard disk like other laptops, the eeepc use a SSD (Solid state drive) which is somewhat like a SD card, or a USB flash drive, This lessens the power requirement, makes the system faster and generates less heat. SSD's are also more tollerant to harsh jolts etc, where a conventional hard disk would fail..

To top it all off, the eeepc's are relatively cheap, starting at $399 (depending on where you shop)...

You can buy them with bigger conventional hard drives, but for an astropc, theres just no need..

I'll be buying one soon, I'll use a USB hub to split one of the USB ports to 4, so I'll have 6 ports available, I'm just hoping the machine will run everything I need it to (CCD, Guiding, the sky+EQmod, usb focuser) and hopefully I'll be able to make a table and sit it under the tripod of my mount, keeping my setups footprint tiny.. make a little canvas tent to cover under my mount and hey presto - dew protected pc-controlled setup, with no wires hanging out for people to trip on in the dark!

Oh my I've started to rant/brainstorm in an open forum.. :)

Cheers.
Alex.

[DJDD]

how long does the 701 last once you turn off the wireless? what about with the lid shut?

also, do you find the 7" screen a problem? i was looking at the 900/901 models, with the 8.9" screen and 1GB RAM, as well, but they are about $180-$200 more expensive!

the 701's available now only seem to have linux but i have a spare XP Pro at home so could load that.

cheers,
DJDD

[Omaroo]

The 701's just fine. Even at 800x600, the display is small so it is sharp at that resolution. I'm running StarGazer 4.5 (the cut-down version of Voyager 4.5) and the screen is nce to use.

Battery life? Dunno... I'll be running a 12-9.5v DC to DC adapter off my 80AH deep cycle.

[DJDD]

thanks.

[AlexN]

Yeah.. I invested in a 701 yesterday.. Im following your lead Chris, and making a bracket to mount it to my tripod, I have ordered a 12v power unit for it off ebay, so it will be run of the 80ah battery I secured about a month ago!! Woooh! finally, no more requirement for 240v AC power!

[DJDD]

Alex, did your 701 come with linux or XP?
if linux, did you install xp from your own disk? if so, any issues?

[Omaroo]

Great stuff Alex - yup, nice not to require AC power at all.

DJ - you use your own copy of XP, and the unit comes with its own driver disk so that you can utilise eeePC-specific hardware features such as keyboard-controlled wireless on/off, brightness, etc, etc.

[AlexN]

it was preinstalled with GNU linux. I left linux on it, installed VM ware, then installed XP into VMware on an 8gb usb flash drive.. as Chris said, the eeepc comes with an XP driver disk, which has everything you need.

Alex.

[AlexN]

Sigh.. Just remembered that the QHY8 requires AC power.. Must find out if that can be changed... I think the dual stage peltier cooling system would chew the juice on battery!

[h0ughy]

ANY cooled camera sucks the juice! Just have a couple of 110 Amp hour deep cycles.... Nice setup Chris, very stylish:thumbsup:

[DJDD]

hey, that's a good idea...

[DJDD]

thanks.
i was a bit confused about the drivers.
i have xp pro so either solution will work- reinstall or vmware.

cheers,
DJDD

[DJDD]

last question- have you found the 512MB RAM a problem.
not sure why i am asking, really, as i get by with 1GB at home and i play games on my PC...until stark labs comes out with a 3D shooter game its probably not an issue.

saving $200 on the 701 sounds good but the bigger screen on the 901 sounds inviting... :whistle:

cheers,
adrian

[Omaroo]

Thanks David :)

Funny you should post. I've emailed Yun yesterday to see if he'll still do 350Ds. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'm dying to cool my 350D....or maybe turf it for a 450 first.... hmm...

[Omaroo]

Nah Adrian - not really. I'm running PHD Guiding and StarGazer 4.5 concurrently, and it churns along just fine....

I'm even going to try loading and running ImagesPlus Camera Control only. If it can run this and PHD at the same time I'll be somewhat stoked.

[AlexN]

Id go for a cooled/modded 350D over a non cooled/modded 450D any day of the week...

My2c

[Omaroo]

Absolutely, but I'm tossing up whether to turf the 350 and get a 450 before I send it over for both mods....

[DJDD]

i just watched a few youtube videos of people playing quake, half-life, Unreal Tournament 2004, etc. on a 701, so... it worked well. bodes well for ImagePlus.


now, i have to go and see if the 8.9" screen is worth the dollars. it will probably be a case of whether i would be kicking myself later for not getting it...

[AlexN]

oh - in that case, sure why not :)

David: I've got an 80Ah battery, How long do you suppose I could run mount/dew heaters/QHY8 and mini laptop off that before it died in the bum?? I dont know that I want to start lugging around 2 of them... Seems more efficient to keep 240v power... :(

[multiweb]

What's the Losmandy Box? Is it like the Gemini box?

[AlexN]

The losmandy box in the image? Thats the standard digital drive unit. Your G11 should have one exactly the same? unless yours is Gemini equipped..

If you dont get the Gemini model, you get the digital drive box, which controls the tracking rate, autoguide input and other motor control functions. With a Gemini G11, the Gemini box replaces this...

At least, thats what I was told by a few places when I was enquiring about a G11.

[Omaroo]

Marc - kinda. The standard Losmandy "Digital Drive" runs steppers on RA & Dec axes, not servos like the Gemini does. They have a bit more torque than the standard Gemini servos and aren't as critical in the balance department when your power supply is a standard 12vDC source. It has no goto capability and has no fast slew. What it does do, is just work - without all the complexity of the Gemini (from which I purposely downgraded).

At home (or near AC power) you can run 14-16vDC from an AC-DC source, which allows you to gain more torque from your Gemini servos, and this gets over (in most cases) the dreaded Gemini "RA Stalled" problem I was getting on mine.

[h0ughy]

cooled and live focus - no brainer. if you can live without the live focus then go the 350D. a cooled 40D is what Yun offers not the 450D

[luka]

Not sure about eee, but laptops are not designed to run with screen down as they tend to overheat then. Just be carefull so your eee does not cook itself to death.

[AlexN]

Remember, most of the time when you're out imaging, ambient temp is what? between 6° and 14°.

Notebook CPU's can handle being 55° before a failure, they usually sit 5~15 deg above ambient temp hence, I'd say, even with the lid closed, She'll be right as rain... Not to mention, the EEEPC has no moving parts inside it that generate heat... Obviously, the CPU and RAM will still produce a certain amount of heat, but in the cool environment, screen off (GPU heat dissipates and screen does not transfer heat into the keyboard)

I think there will be no problems at all..

[Omaroo]

It's not a problem Luka. With the screen down, power draw is less than 10w - hardly enough to even warm the case. As Alex says, ambient air temp is usually very cool too - so it'll be fine. :)

[Tandum]

I set a 701 up for someone last month. The driver disk is a dvd so you need an external dvd. I just plugged a standard dvd into a usb HD box to install it. It also has a card socket so I plugged in a 16gig SD card for him.

There is also a hack for the 701 to get 1024x768 (http://www.eeeuser.com/2008/01/11/your-eee-pc-in-800x600-1024x768-1280x1024/) out of the display and it works fine.

[multiweb]

Cool. Thanks for clearing this up. Never seen one before so I thought what is this... :confuse3: