Thinking ahead to colder nights

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oopfan
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Thinking ahead to colder nights

#1

Post by oopfan »

During the warmer months I don't mind putting outside a $1000 laptop but in the winter months to come I am a bit concerned about damaging the display. I do run a Raspberry Pi to control a RA stepper motor. I don't mind sacrificing a $40 piece of equipment, plus I have spare Pi's that I could use for other purposes (hint, hint).

What solutions have others come up with? Thanks!
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turfpit
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#2

Post by turfpit »

Oopfan

Have a look at the hardware table here http://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/2.9/#!2!Test%20Write%20Speed for a list of my machines and some measure of their capability.

Most of my captures are done with the Lenovo T400. It is USB2 but so are my cameras. The T400 was picked up for less than £100 off eBay and had an SSD and memory added. The Lenovo X61 has done its share of capturing and cost even less.

If I had a USB3 camera, then the Lenovo W510 would be used. This cost £200 off eBay and was an ex-business-lease machine which came without hard drive. SSD and memory were added to this i7 CPU machine.

The Z220 workstation (Quad Core Xeon) is used in the house for image processing. Again £200 off eBay plus a disk and memory upgrade.

I use Windows 10 across the board but even XP would suffice - of course, one day that platform will not work with the latest/greatest camera (think drivers).

For the right age/architecture of older machine, memory is pretty cheap (see Crucial), so adding 8 or 16Gb is realistic and affordable.

These days £'s and $'s are pretty much the same. At the prices I paid, I am not too worried if the laptops get covered in dew/frost, dropped or stood on! I had very little outlay to get mainstream Windows computing, which meant all the astro software runs without issue or going through any hoops. The money saved went on 'essential' astro-imaging accessories.

YMMV.

Dave
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oopfan
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#3

Post by oopfan »

Thank you, Dave. I too have a USB2 camera. I will definitely see what kind of deals I can find.
Brian.
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admin
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#4

Post by admin »

Just a reminder that SharpCap versions 3.0 and above don't support WinXP any more.

SharpCap 3.0 requires Vista+SP2 (shudder!), Win7, 8/8.1 or 10.

Another option may be a screen-less mini PC (Intel NUC or similar) which can be placed in a box - then just run a long ethernet cable into whatever warmer spot you prefer to shelter in (presuming your setup is fully ASCOM'd)

cheers,

Robin
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oopfan
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#5

Post by oopfan »

The Lenovo W510 looks like a good fit for me. It has wireless "n" whereas the T400 does not. With the added range of "n" I get reliable connectivity between my telescope and home office.

I like the idea behind the NUC but some of the reviews on Amazon of the lower-end units are horrible. You have to start spending more money to get better reviews, and then you end up at the cost of the W510!
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#6

Post by turfpit »

Just last week I picked up a second battery for the W510 at a cost of £44 on eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-9-Cell ... 2749.l2649

This now gets me plenty of power without needing a mains supply (think dark sites)
2batteries.png
2batteries.png (41.47 KiB) Viewed 3042 times
This config is now being tested.

Dave
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Re: Thinking ahead to colder nights

#7

Post by oopfan »

Dave,

I am glad you brought up the topic of batteries. I abhor my current setup of running AC power. There is power to the laptop, and power to the Raspberry Pi, and power to the Raspberry Pi MotorHAT. Although I am grounded I still take the precaution of depositing the power strip and various adapters in a plastic bucket that insulates it from the dew-covered grass. I don't like it one bit, plus the wire and bucket are more obstacles to avoid stumbling over in the dark. I am going to get the W510 with dual batteries like you. And then I am going to get a Powerbank for the Pi. It would be nice to find a Powerbank with two DC outputs: 5V and 9V.

Thanks,
Brian
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