mele quieter 4C

[JohnA (John)]

sorry for the newby question, but i was looking at adding a mini pc to my setup, currently using asiair mini, but have found its not the best for planetary, (though could be user error) so looking at one of these to use with firecapture or sharpcap then remote desktop to my laptop

i was looking on amazon and noticed these 2, and was wondering what the main differences may be if any, or if you have some other suggestions.

https://www.amazon.com.au/MeLE-Mini-...0CP3YL6J7?th=1

https://www.amazon.com.au/MeLE-Quiet...0CN95GNT2&th=1

[Moon (James)]

Maybe the cheap one is the no OS version? It's not at all clear from the Amazon listings. For a NINA setup you want the one that comes with Windows 11 Pro. It's more clear on their website - that's where I got mine. The price there is in USD.
https://store.mele.cn/products/mele-...2-0-1-type-c-1

Edit- The cheaper one does say 'Linux' so I read that as no Windows OS included.

[JohnA (John)]

James, thanks for that, i missed that part.

Are you happy with yours and is it easy enough to set up remote desktop to use a laptop or pc indoors with it

[Moon (James)]

Yes so far it it's been really good. I've set it up in the BIOS so when it get power it turns on, logs in and starts NINA (via a scheduled task triggered by login).
Cuiv have some videos videos trying how to explain how to set it up which is worth watching, but he recommends some software to set up a WiFi hotspot you really don't need.
I have this one setup on a CAT5 cable instead of WiFi just to eliminate the chance of WiFi errors. If you plan to use WiFi it might be an issue if the AP is a long way away in the house.
The hardest part was mounting it on the scope. It comes with a mounting bracket that is more suited to the back of a monitor, but I have sorted it out.
I'm running NINA with a ZWO camera, TheSkyX and a Webcam on it + other bits and pieces.
I use a Xiaomi WiFi smart power switch to turn my 12V power supply on and off remotely.
I use remote desktop to it from a 4K monitor in the house and it works well with lots of screen realestate.
You can download a Windows image from MeLe if you ever need it and that worked well for me - I put in a bigger SSD and moved windows to that drive. I don't use the eMMC, it's just an empty drive.
Anyhow ping me if you have any questions.

[JohnA (John)]

Thanks again James

I shall order one, and if i run into any issues i'll be sure to message you.
I do appreciate the help

[big-blue]

Hi John,
If the purpose of the PC is planetary imaging, you may wsh to consider a decent laptop instead.
Couple of reasons :
1. You will most likely be sitting next to your scope for planetary capture, as you will need to keep the planet within a very small region-of-interest (RoI) within the main sensor of whatever video capture camera you have on hand. A smaller RoI will maximise your frame rate to benefit from lucky imaging. Any polar alignment error will require constant re-centering (if not a search to find the planet again within a field of view that is only an arcmin or so).
2. Capturing high frame rates will be easier with a dedicated high capacity SSD drive (or better still, NVME drive) attached to motherboard rather than via USB cable. Laptops may offer such facility with higher internal bus speed capability than a Mele Quieter 4C. I have such a Mele unit, dedicated to deep sky imaging but have not tried it for planetary due to reason 1 above.... a screen is required to so that you can re-center the planet via keypad controller.
Good luck

[JohnA (John)]

Hello Big blue

Thank you so much for the advice.
I have held off for a day or 2 before ordering to do as you say, and try it with my laptop.
This is all new to me, so learning more and more everyday, but loving every minute of it.
The camera I will be using is the asi678 attached to celestron c925 with no reducer, though I do have the reducer to try also.
I have a badaar uv filter attached to the camera and am currently using the asiair mini
I took a few videos of Jupiter the other night, and they were fairly average at best. I used the auto focus on asiair, using the zwo eaf. Then I tried to fine adjust, but on a mobile phone screen was hard to fine tune.

Roi, first time reading about this, so thank you for making me aware of it. Something new I learned today and makes sense.

If I have clear skies tonight, may try it all out with the laptop and see how I go.

Thanks once more for taking the time to post the information above

[big-blue]

Hi John, the ASI678 is reputedly at the sweet spot for lucky imaging at f10, so that is the best place to start (ie forget the reducer).
You are up against it this planet season, as Jupiter and Mars are very low in the sky compared against a few years back when near zenith, looking through much less air mass and turbulence, and hence occasions of good to great seeing were more common.
All the same, practice perfecting the aspects under your control, such as polar alignmment, collimation, and focus. Learn how to collimate critically with a high power eyepiece and star test. I still prefer manual focus on the planet and/or moons, picking the stiller moments through the image flutter. I would not trust AF systems in those circumstances. You can check my planet posts from 2020 onwards where such practice paid dividends and where I maxxed out what might be possible via a C11.
Learn to use firecapture to optimise exposure vs gain for highest frame rate. Practice using Firecapture auto-centering of RoI and understand its limitations (esp excessive drift from PA being off). Use the moon for further practice.
Once you get a rare night of great seeing, you can make the most of all that practice on those aspects under your control. You cannot control great seeing, but you can be ready for it.
enjoy.

Gerhard/Gerry

[JohnA (John)]

Hello Gerhard

yes, not going to use the reducer at this point as want to keep it as simple as possible at this point whilst still learning.
Looking at my videos of Jupiter over the last few nights they have improved a little, but id like to see how it goes now with the laptop and sharpcap, rather then with the asiair.

I connected it all up before, downloaded all the drivers required and just did a test run to see if it all works as it should. Managed to get it all working and discovered the ROI feature.

Am looking forward to practice more and more and keep learning.

I also appreciate the help from fellow members on here.

I gather when you say focus manually, i can still use the EAF but just control it manually, rather then relying on the auto focus feature.

[big-blue]

Hi John,
re. focus : yes, I mostly use a motorised focus with hand controller. Similar to the EAF with hand control. It is sometimes a toss-up to me whether I endure backlash in the motor system, or go hands-on fine focus. Sometimes hands-on can be better as fast focus can find the 'snap' point more convincingly despite hand-induced jiggles. Worth practicing each, in ordinary seeing, which is easier for my system as I undo a belt to quickly change from motor focus to manual : harder to do with a ZWO-type EAF.

Some prefer bahtinov mask focus on a nearby star. Though your mount would need to be very good and backlash free to reliably return to centre the planet within a FOV of a few minutes of arc.

Whatever way, on nights of great seeing, both focus and collimation checking/star tests will be much easier to undertake.

For a great guide to planetary imaging I recommend you take a look at
https://momilika.net/WebPages/AstroIntro.htm
Darryl Pfitzner-Milika has one of the best written processing tutorials out there (scroll down LHS). Also worth checking his home page : a real renaissance man.

Enjoy !
Gerhard

[JohnA (John)]

Thanks again Gerhard

I have the day off work today, so it will be play day. Laptop is setup, all software installed, cables required delivered yesterday, so i'll get it all plugged in this morning, set up the new mount and get it all ready.

I'll start posting some pics for critique along the journey.

I had a look through your images, amazing. I look forward to the day i get remotely close to that level.

Thanks also for the link, i'll look through it today

[pilardo (Peter)]

Had a quieter 3C, was a decent bit of kit however since gone to the ZWO platform.