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Hi Götz, over the last two years I tried different options of collecting my data on the scopes. The first time, I used a laptop (Windows) out in the field but had to be out there all the time. To be more effective, I started using a remote controlled setup. I tried to control the Laptop remotely from my car using an Android tablet. It worked and in case of problems I was out there. But I was limited to the weekends to go out and the most of the time when I was motivated to do astro photography, the weather was bad. So I tried other options. I bought a Raspberry Pi 4 and mounted it to the scope. It was controlled by VNC and runs the Astroberry OS. The images were saved on a usb stick but sending them to another storage device is no deal. I don't use this option anymore, because KSTARS/EKOS had the problem, that every now and then I had some issues which required a restart of the Raspberry. This is not optimal if you try to sleep peacefully. Maybe it was only a problem of my board, but who knows... Then I looked for an alternative and NINA came along. I immediately loved the tool. It was so intuitive compered to Backyard EOS or APT. Everything was working really well and I never had any problems with it. I use the nightly builds but it was stable all the time (at least for me). My current and somehow trusty solution is now a Windows PC that I mounted in a water resistant case on my fence. I have no monitor, keyboard or mouse connected and use Windows Remote Desktop as control application from my living room. I have to say that I do not trust WLAN connections very much. Especially over longer distances. So I use a cable that goes from the PC on the fence to my router. This is much more reliable. But there is one issue that is really annoying. The worst problem is Windows itself. I have to set the use time to the night to prevent windows to restart after updates. I learned this the hard way, because I lost lots of images during several nights. I set the use time from 12.30 in the afternoon to 12.00. This way, I can restart the computer manually and the issue was solved. There may be better solutions, but I am not an expert and this way it worked. But Windows has another issue at least on my hardware. Sometimes after a restart or an update (I can't tell the right reason or time when this happens) the Remote Desktop functionality is deactivetad. In this case, I had to go out to the fence and use a small monitor and keyboard to activate it again. This was also very annoying. The solution was the Raspberry I do not use anymore. I installed a vnc os and bought a small board that uses the camera connection of the RPi to redirect the video signal from the PC to my network. So I am able to activate RDP remotely using additional hardware. It works very well but should not be needed. It is sad, that I have to take a lot of effort to keep my rig running without major problems. The solutions are expensive, because I usually should not need them. But to be fair, the problems do not occur very often and most of the time, everything is fine. Long story short: I can understand why so many people use Linux as OS. But NINA is such a nice software for me and solved every little issue I had with my equipment. I even coded some stuff myself (not for NINA), because I needed some functionality with metadata. After some month, the whole functionality was implemented and is now part of NINA itself. The progress of the program is really amazing. Even DIY-stuff is used in my rig and integrated into Nina very well. I can't imagine to go back to any other tool and it is worth all the pain I have with other parts of the rig. At the moment, it seemed that I solved them all. This is no suggestion what you should do. You know your needs better than me. But maybe I was able to give you some hints of what to think about. Clear skies Christian |
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@Christian Großmann : Thank you so much for taking the time to write down your story. I tried to use Stellarmate myself, which I think is similar to Astroberry. I can imagine that when coming from such solutions NINA is quite a revelation. I understand that NINA is under very active development and new usefull features are coming in fast. This is all very good to hear. I have never in my life owned a Windows PC. I studied astrophysics many years ago, working with SunOS, Solaris at that time, and I am now an IT systems and network professional working with Linux systems every day since 1995. So I really know what I am doing when dealing with networking and linux. Thats why its so painful for me switch to Windows just for a piece of astronomy software. My setup and workflow right now is as follows: I have the ASIAIR mounted on my telescope and all cameras, the mount, EAF und EFW connected to it. The ASIAIR is connected to power and to an ethernet cable leading to a W60G router. W60G is a different standard than WLAN. A W60G link from the observatory to our house (about 100meters away) provides much higher bandwidth of 2GBit/s. Observations then take place from my office. The data coming in on the ASIAIR are automatically synced to my Linux Workstation in the office. I need the higher bandwidth because the images of the ASI6200MM camera are big. During observation in the office I control the ASIAIR from my tablet and can simultaneously see and process the data on the Linux PC with Siril and Rawtherapee. This is a very convenient setup working very well for 2 years now and leading to beautiful images. I have the impression that any other solution is more complicated and less convenient in an unnecessary way, mostly because the software is designed with a programming technology at least 25 years old. Maybe thats because astronomers (in my experience) often are not very affine to IT in general and just manage to handle their Windows PC. So in this situation I am now having a look at NINA. Please forgive me for some appalled comments during my way to get to know NINA. My plan is to get NINA running and then decide whether to stick to it or get back to ASIAIR. CS, Götz |
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Götz Golla: We are all a bit dependent on the tools we know and use. I totally get it. The work with Nina came at a time, when I was looking for the ONE right solution to stay with. For a while, I studied computer engineering as well, but used to use Windows before. So I never really made the switch to Linux. I only used it for some smaller projects when I had to. But I also used software that was only available for Windows at that time and so I had to stay with it. Every time a new Windows version comes out, they changed something I used to work with. Usually I had to fix some things with every bigger update. For the simple Windows user, that is usually not a big deal. But if you are going a step further, things soon get frustrating. That is one of the benefits of Linux. Sadly it is not the sequencer software, that causes the problems. If the OS is the bottleneck, you can't do much about it. You know it... Every user has its opinion about his tools. Some swear on SGP, others on Voyager, me on NINA. In the end, you won't see it in the images. They all look great. You never should change a running system. But I did several times  |
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I’ll add a couple of notes about how I’m handling the stability of the remote connection between my mount mini PC & my remote connection inside the house I control it through. There is absolutely no need to run some kind of hardline from your house out to the PC on your mount. That is very unnecessary even if a long distance. There is a far simpler solution. In my case I did 2 easy things. First, instead of using the embedded wifi antenna within the outside mount mini PC to connect it to the network, I just added a $20, high gain, wifi antenna that simply plugs into a USB port on the mount PC. Second, I also plugged an inexpensive wifi extender into a power outlet inside of my house that has the shortest & most direct line of sight to where I put my mount. This has made my remote connection to my mount PC absolutely rock solid & this solution is extremely easy to implement. also, regarding how I store my image files. I connect a 1TB external, solid state hard drive, to the mount PC that plugs into a USB port on that PC that I have NINA write all my image files to. This makes it much easier to move those files to the other computer I use for image processing. I have use this external SS drive setup to write my images to for a long time with no issues ever. There was a mention earlier in this thread that writing your image files to an external drive is somehow a problem. It is not in my experience. I have never had an issue & it does make my life easier. I will second that there have been occasional instances in the past when a windows update to the mount PC somehow turned off the Remote Desktop checkbox in the windows settings & I had to get a keyboard & display out, but this has not occurred in some time, not with the last several windows updates. Also, in the windows settings you can turn windows updates completely off for a specified interval (a week at a time, etc.), and just keep resetting windows to keep updates off that way. It is a setting I check at the start of each imaging session just to make sure no windows updates occur during that night. (Like someone else in this thread, I normally only connect remotely with another computer.), My two cents. |
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I’ll add a couple of notes about how I’m handling the stability of the remote connection between my mount mini PC & my remote connection inside the house I control it through. There is absolutely no need to run some kind of hardline from your house out to the PC on your mount. That is very unnecessary even if a long distance. There is a far simpler solution. In my case I did 2 easy things. You misunderstood my text. W60G is a 802.11ad implementation capable of providing Gigabit Ethernet speeds over wireless networks at a non-WLAN frequency of 60GHz. You need special wireless routers for this (I use the ones from Mikrotik) and in order to get there you need a short cable from the computer at the telescope to the router. Its just 3 meters long.... |
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I’ll add a couple of notes about how I’m handling the stability of the remote connection between my mount mini PC & my remote connection inside the house I control it through. There is absolutely no need to run some kind of hardline from your house out to the PC on your mount. That is very unnecessary even if a long distance. There is a far simpler solution. In my case I did 2 easy things. I guess 4 days ago, I turned on the imaging computer after a while and had to do some updates. I had this issue then, that the RDP checkbox automatically turned off. To me it happens quite often. I couldn't find the reason for that, but having the raspberry as a backup solution is really a neccessity to keep my nerves calm  Where I'm at, there are really a lot of wifi networks around. But there are only a few channels for data transmission available. So the bandwidth is sometimes limited. My living room is on the opposite side of the house I live in. I do have one of those repeaters and still have a slow(ish) WLAN connection from time to time, even with an external antenna. I had to lay a wire to power my equipment without the need for a battery pack or anything similar. I used a battery in the old days, but wanted to get rid of it. It is one piece of the puzzle I didn't have to think about. So it was no problem for me to lay an additional network cable togehter with the power cable. If you use the whole resolution of the ASI294MM, files are really huge and there is a noticable speed difference between a wired and a wireless connection. Sending the images to a remote storage also has some advantages. The imaging computer is not as powerful as the computer in my living room. I do save the images on the imaging computers SSD, too. But sending them to another computer at the same time is a nice thing. At first, we are dealing with very hot or very cold weather conditions. In the winter, I took images while the outside temperature was below -10 degrees, sometimes even less. These conditions are usually below the temperatures, the computer hardware is made for. So I have a backup of my files imediately. No risk here. It is also nice to run PixInsight while taking the images out there. I use the EZ-Suite and there is a script that does a live-stacking of the single subframes while they arrive at my network storage. It is a good indicator for me to see, if there is something wrong with my settings or if there are any issues while the system is taking subframes. You can react faster to those errors and it sometimes saves the night. At least for me. Copying the data from the imaging computer to a network drive takes time. If you shoot hundreds of frames during a night, it takes a while (even with a wired connection). Again this is another piece I didn't have to think about anymore. I had to much too long. I know, that other solutions work, too. But I got trapped by some things during the past, that makes me think in a different direction. Thats why I said, we all have our thoughts and tools. That's why I didn't suggest to do as I did. It's just about sharing some opinions .. and we did  CS Christian |
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| Also using Nina with an Intel NUC and RDP. It has worked great. My home setup I have an observatory tent with my scope and mount. The NUC is on my WiFi so I can connect to it from my house and control all my imaging there. For getting the files off I just copy across the network or use a USB drive. |
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Glenn Block: Just in case: Try the Robocopy Plugin in NINA if you're not already using it. It's fantastic for copying files on the fly. |
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We run a remote observatory in Cyprus. The experience in remote imaging with N.I.N.A. has been pure bliss ever since it was re-introduced to us by one of our hosted customers (I personally had some experience in it's initial stages but went on to a different route until now). After the initial one or two nights of configurations, all we have to do now is simply access the telescope's pc via remote desktop, fire up N.I.N.A., and click Run Sequence. Then we go to sleep even though the telescope is on a mountain 100km away  Highly recommend (as it was recommended to us) to look up PatriotAstro on youtube and many other resources with tutorials on N.I.N.A.. For us, it is a tool that allows us to exploit the full capability of the equipment, to capture the beauty of the night sky. Highly recommended - you will not regret it. |
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Christian Großmann:Glenn Block: Thank you, I just noticed it and am going to check it out. Do you copy it up to the cloud like to a Google Drive? |
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Agapios Elia: Agapios Elia: Me too, that is barring the weirdness where sometimes for some reason my EQ6R won't slew until I reset it. Anyone else experienced this? Wondering if it has anything to do with my Pegasus Powerbox V2 (I think I need a new post). Aside from that super annoyance (fortunately it is not a mount climb away), I get the same flow :-) |
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| @Glenn Block - i also happily run NINA through RDP with robocopy and, like you, the only time i have to go outside is when my AZEQ6 (which is the same as EQ6R i understand) throws a wobbly and stops slewing. Reset is the only way to fix this and sometimes it takes two resets to get it going, which is annoying. I also use Pegasys Powerbox 2 but not for the mount, mount is powered separately from a power supply which should not create any problems (Nevada PSW-30), so it is =11.0ptunlikely that PWB2 is the culprit. that said, since i switched away from EQMOD to GSS, I am sure i've been having fewer issues (or any - i cannot be sure since the weather in London has been so poor i've only been out twice this year  ). If you haven't, give GSS a go and see if it makes a difference.
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I have been using NINA to control a system at a remote site for several years. It works flawlessly with remote desktop control of the windows PC at the observatory. I use a commercial program for that and have used both RemotePC and Anydesk. Both are just fine. I know people are fans of the mini PCs mounted on the scope - I am not. Being a longtime PC builder I prefer a good old desktop for the quality, power, unlimited ports, and versatility. With things like the Pegasus power boxes these days ( I am now using the large V3), the need to have the PC up on the scope has become much less important and I prefer to keep heat sources away for the optics. |
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Bill McLaughlin: Curious with this method... are you running a long USB cable between the powerbox and the pc? You haven't had any connectivity issues over time? |
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Brian Puhl:Bill McLaughlin: Yes, 15 foot cables. I have tried both non-boosted cables to the power box and ZWO camera and a boosted cable direct to my Moravian camera. Non-Boosted I use this one: Tripp-Lite Boosted I use this one: Startech Boosted One caveat is that, as many people have found out, ZWO cams hate hubs of any kind so I run a separate USB cable to that. ZWO guide cam and FW use the hub on the camera so only the other items use the Pegasus Power box USB hub although everything uses the power from the power box except the heater control (aka Delta T) on my CDK which has a reputation of not playing well with Power Box power. Pegasus blames Planewave and Planewave blames Pegasus.  I have been running like this for two years and except for the ZWO/Hub issue mentioned, no issues at all. I do have the advantage of having a Planewave L-350 mount and there is literally so much room in those you can get your whole arm into them to run cables.  |
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Bill McLaughlin:Brian Puhl:Bill McLaughlin: Copy. I'm only curious because my rigs are backyard rigs, but full remote otherwise. I've been using the minipc mounted on the rail to run them.... But I plan on taking one of the rigs on the road for the eclipse, and more than likely I'm gonna run it from my laptop because I don't trust the minipc to have the resources to run sharpcap, or two cameras at once. It's ironic since most people pack their stuff up and take it places, but I've literally never done that. This will be the first time lol. Just evaluating my options. My USB main cable is long enough to do this. On a side note, Pegasus can be a pain in the butt sometimes. One of my PPBAdvs have an issue with random USB disconnects, and their support gave me a laundry list of troubleshooting stuff that I'd rather not go down. So I just bypassed the troubled ports and connected them directly to the PC. Never had an issue since. They didn't seem to wanna trust me when I told them somethings wrong. |
