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Going ZWO
I have long had a wish/hope to reduce clutter and power at the scope by using a small headless computer at the scope. I messed about with RaspberryPis of various configurations but never made the final leap of faith needed to adopt them as THE solution Astroberry and Stellarmate are both good products but I am not a LINUX buff and always found that the maze of drivers, dependencies etc was over my head.
And then along came ZWO products. I know the ASiair products are based on a RaspberryPi backbone but it is well hidden in the overall product. And I have made the decision to set up a wholly ZWO rig. So I have been slowly gathering the various bits and pieces needed. And I am now ready to give it a test. Trouble is, as you would expect, the weather has gone from bad to worse and shows no sign of improving for quite a while.
In the interim, I have been putting it together.
The scope is just an 8 inch GSO F5 newt. Primary has been recoated and looks great. The primary CCD is an ASi1600MM with a ZWO mini filter wheel and Astrodon 1.25 inch 5 nm NB filters. Focus is with an ASI EAF attached to a Bintel crayford focuser via some DIY adapter work. There is a Baader MPCC (3) in there and finally a ASI120mini guide cam in a SZBONY 60 mm F4 guide scope riding piggyback.
So now I sit and look at it all and wait, and wait, and wait some more.
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