Computer Powerful Enough for Imaging?

[BlueAstra]

I’m currently running the setup described below, which works perfectly at switch on and during alignment. I quite often get situations where I find that after a long imaging run (~2 hours) communications with the mount is lost. EQMOD reports ‘Error: Timeout’. I believe it may be due to EQMOD failing to contact the mount during image download from the camera due to the camera taking all the system resources (speculation since I’m not a computer expert).

My question is, do you think the computer is powerful enough to run these tasks, and if not what is the minimum specification I should be looking for? Or are people ruining a similar setup without problems, in which case it could be some setup/port assignment/other problem with the computer setup?

System:
ZBOX HD-1D11 (Atom D510 @ 1.66GHz, 2GB ram, 64GB SSD, XP operating system) running:

Direct USB to Hitec EQDIR module/EQ6
Direct USB to Shoestring FCUSB.
Direct USB to SX-H16 CCD camera.
Direct USB to Powered 7 port Hub running: Lodestar guide camera, SX Filter wheel, Gamepad.

Software:
Maxim DL v5.14 running SX-H16 camera, SX filter wheel, EQ6 mount via EQMOD/POTH hub (sometimes EQ6 direct), Gamepad
PHD running Lodestar guide camera
FocusPal running FCUSB focusser
TeamViewer remote desktop software

[supernova1965]

I think your problem is with the Atom Processor it is not upto the task you have set for it is a processor for netbooks and such and is favoured for these because of it's low power consumption. And looking at the pictures of it the reason it may work great at startup and get worse after time is it will have limited cooling ability because of the compact size of the unit not much room for cooling there.

[BlueAstra]

Thanks for the info. The computer is running outside by the mount, and it does get quite cold (-2C - 5C). I can feel warm air rising out of its ventilation grill.

[troypiggo]

I have an Acer Aspire One netbook. Not sure of the exact processor details, but imagine it's similar specs to this. Only difference is mine has a HDD, not SSD. I don't run Maxim on it, but Nebulosity.

I think the fact you are using so many different USB ports on the computer is a good thing rather than all coming off one hub.

I'd be inclined to check your power settings to make sure after 2 hours hard disks etc aren't turning off or the system isn't going to sleep. Screensavers turn off etc?

Can't see it being a processor issue as there isn't much number-crunching going on. It's just image capture and download. You're not processing images at same time?

I'd think PHD is probably the most resource-hungry app running there.

One thing I'm not sure of is the SSD drive and it's write speed. Are they supposed to be quicker or slower than HDDs?

Also notice you're using TeamViewer for remote desktop. I'd suggest eliminating variables by trying things without that and do it all from the actual location.

[higginsdj]

I agree with Troy. My Observatory runs off a very old Win2K system with a Athlon 1ghz (P4 equivalent) and 764mb RAM, Serial Ports, USB1 and Parallel ports AND my downloads from an ST-8E take ALL the system resources as it comes in via the parallel port. On top of that it also runs FocusMax and APC for full automation as well as a web server and VNC server and time update processing.

Your system is far superior to mine and more than adequate to do what you require of it.

Cheers

[White Rabbit]

I agree it's the 4 port hub and all the devises your running I have practicall the same set up minus the filter wheel and game pad and mine runss fine (normally). I had to stop using a game pad as it was making eq mod do some very strange things like suddenly slew to the limits and grind my camera into the tripod. Not fun...try removing the game pad and see if that fixes the problem.

[BlueAstra]

I'm fairly sure the processor can handle the load. I looked at system resources during a seesion, and the cpu was at 30% with memory usage at 25% (although I didn't see it during image download). I think the issue is more likely to lie with the USB configuration. I used Lynux to view the USB ports, and found the the computer has 2 internal physical hubs. One supports 2 USB sockets and one 4 USB sockets. The EQDIR module is in the 4 socket group that includes the H16 camera and a potentially USB1.1 (?) FCUSB module. So i'm going to try isolating the EQDIR module into the 2 socket group, and put everything else into the 4 socket group. I've also turned off power management on all the USB devices.

[troypiggo]

Try a session without the potential USB1 device (FCUSB)? and see if that helps

[SkyViking]

I can't answer about the system as a whole, but just regarding SSD drives they are insanely fast. I'm running Windows 7 on one in my desktop machine and it's absolutely flying (275MB/s read-write).

[wasyoungonce]

Same here. Just went from a 15" to an 11" Acer Aspire one, Atom Z520..I think...?

Anyway I have just tested all my programs run ok on it and it functions fine..just need the clouds to clear to test them in the field.

At this stage I see no reason why it will not work. You don't need a lot of CPU power to run, PHD, cameras & camera software and mounts. Indeed it is nice an small and has a long battery life (4~5hrs).

I "preview images" I take with windows picture fax viewer so as to not require a big CPU intensive image viewer program. But I am looking for a freeware image viewer, one that has a little more functions that I currently use and isn't CPU intensive. I do not do image manipulation on this netbook...it wouldn't handle it.

I don't know about maxim DL..maybe this is a little CPU intensive for a netbook? Other than that it sounds as if the Hub communication is interrupted. Can you put the camera on another USB hub?

[hotspur]

I have had a good read here,I was thinking about one of these acer aspire net books to use in the observatory,they certainly are reasonable price-around $350 from the local DS shop.But was concerned about the small atom CPU.

A friend has one,runs his DSLR and SSAG of it,seems to never have have any issues,but I was also hopping to use APT if I got one,will that work on win7?

I gather from the replies by the advanced tec chaps,that these little computers are up to the tasks that back yard astronomers ask of them.

Still not sure if I should get one or just the usual larger size one.Certainly be handy to cart the smaller one in the field and down loaded images if away for a few nights,can they be used for a bit of photoshopping-or can they not handle that?

[troypiggo]

My take on these little netbooks is that they're nice and compact and certainly up to the task of image capture, guiding, mount control etc. If you're taking them out in the field, they're handy for that.

One downside is definitely the screen size. Trying to run applications where big windows are necessary is painful. Some applications won't even run or install on them because the maximum resolution is too small. There's ways around that, but not convenient to use. The screen size is fine for PHD, EQMod, Nebulosity and the other image capture stuff I mostly use. It was a little small when I tried to use Bahtinov Grabber and Nebulosity at the same time because they both need to be on top at same time.

Other downside is number crunching applications like DSS and Nebulosity when it's image processing/stacking (not just image capture). Wouldn't try to do any image calibrations or stacking on them. Can do it, but it takes aaaaages.

If I was fortunate enough to have my own observatory, I would use a full sized laptop of desktop PC for the screen size and I could also process my images there. Plus, if I could afford an observatory, I could afford a slightly bigger notebook ;)

If I was travelling out to a dark site once a month (lucky me!) just to capture images and taking them back home to process, a netbook might be much more compact/convenient.

Another application they might be convenient is actually at the mount then remote desktop access them. Again, just used for image capture.

[hotspur]

Thanks a lot Troy for your thoughts,I do appreciate a view point from an advanced computer person-I have no idea about these computer things.I was certainly pondering these little computers.But now think they will not be suitable for my needs. (ISS saves me a lot of money and time-when I can ask about kit before I buy it).

BTW-I am not rich Troy-I built the observatory myself out of second hand building material that was basically given to me,all up it might have cost me around 5K,I asked my brother in law who is a professional house builder how much it would cost him to build-15 K!,so by simply having the skills to build it myself-is the only reason I have a observatory.;)

[Tandum]

I'd suggest dropping PHD if you can. See if you can get maxim to guide. I also run a little attom and have found PHD uses 30% of system resources which I think is too much considering what it's doing.

[wasyoungonce]

Last night tried my Acer Aspire on for astro work.

Well just to go back a little first, this model 751h has had issues with random freezing. My one freezes occasionally, rare but it does, when doing tasks I'm fiddling software option selections. Others have reported the same issue..particular to this model. So all this was probably just particular to this Lappy model series.

Anyway to cut to the chase, after much to do I had it all up an running, a few freezes with APT early on but after that it worked fine for 6+ hrs.

I think the APT lock-ups were APT related. I'll be sending some screen grabs to Ivo on this.

PHD ran fine and I could preview images just fine with windows picture fax viewer (and APT zoom).

Also ran Gemini ASCOM fine and Astroplanner fine.

The freezing issue is a real pain..something I have to look into to. It only occurs when I'm changing or selecting something software wise. More investigation needed.

edit:
Appears Acer Aspire One(s) 0751h models have a bad "freezing issue" to do with MBoard. This sucks...105 pages of this issue here (http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=16164).

Whoooo mine is still in warranty by a month +. Back to manufacturer it goes.:rolleyes:

[issdaol]

I would say your system should be fine. I would make sure that

1. All power management is turned off
2. All sleep/hibernate is turned off
3. Disable any visual effects and screensaver settings

Also separate/isolate devices across your internal USB HUBs to rule out any misbehaving USB device.

cheers

[BlueAstra]

Another update.

The current system is a local Nettop running XP attached to the scope mount. It’s running XP, Ascom v5.5.1, EQMOD v1.23e, Maxim DL v5.1.4. It’s connected to the scope with a Hitec USB-EQDIR module (Prolific based). The latest Prolific driver for XP is 2.0.13.130. Maxim will connect to the scope with EQMOD OK. However, it will loose comms during a slew. The mount will continue to the target and stop, but no further comms is possible without restarting Maxim or a reboot. However, I can get a reliable system if I connect through the handset in PC Direct mode. I do get the occasional comms error with the handset, but they don’t happen frequently enough to be fatal.


If I use my HP laptop instead, it's running Vista and the latest Prolific driver is 3.3.11.152. It’s running EQMOD v1.19g, (not sure what the Ascom, Maxim versions are). My Vista laptop controls the mount without any issues at all using the Hitec EQDIR module (Prolific based).

The second setup shows there is nothing wrong with the mount or the EQDIR module. So the problem may be related to the EQMOD version (not checked yet) or, more likely, the Prolific driver. The driver is impossible to remedy in XP since the drivers are now for Vista/W7 and haven't been upgraded in XP for some time. It looks like I need to upgrade the operating system to get the latest Prolific driver. Again, I could try the Keyspan USB-Serial-Shoestring EQDIR route, but the all-in-one Hitec EQDIR route is neater, and I have shown it to work. This option may also suffer from the old XP driver.