Support me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek Mini-PC: amzn.to/44bsrjI RDP Wrapper: github.com/stascorp/rdpwrap Persistent Hotspot: github.com/ashvin-bhuttoo/PersistentHotspot Hotspot app: apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/hotspot/9NBLGGH52R9H Ascom Platform: ascom-standards.org/ N.I.N.A.: nighttime-imaging.eu/ ASTAP: www.hnsky.org/astap.htm Again, please not that the "Hotspot" software is experimental (to me), it seems to be working, but results not guaranteed!! UPDATE! There is another piece of software that can also work, and it's FREE! mypublicwifi.com/myhotspot/fr/wificreator.html
For some reason I can’t get any laptops to connect to the mini pc with this MyPublicWifi app but android tablet and iPhone connect to it fine. Anyone else try it?
To answer my own question, you have to put your password into the alternate key prompt which is not so intuitive but overall the MyPublicWifi app is so simple!,,
Hi Cuiv, following your informative and easy to follow Astrophotography tutorials and accessories write ups all the way from Australia! Keep up the fantastic work you do and clear skies!
Cuiv, once again you knocked this out of the park. This video will help many people setup up a pc on their astro rig. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to this wonderful hobby. ....and dont burn your self out buddy 😀
This was an absolutely wonderful video. I currently use the ASI Air for my setup but prior to that I did use Nina. I can see where if I had a second setup, I would try this with that telescope. The information you give here. Was very thorough and I watched the whole thing even though I'm not going to go with the setup at this time. Thank you so much for doing this, I think for people that are just starting out, this is going to be an amazing video for them to watch.
Thankyou Cuiv! A dose of PC setup burnout and the absence of this overview is exactly why I bought my ASIair Mini. Now I know that I can choose to have this headache, when I'm ready, and on my own terms! One day I'm sure to want something that's outside ZWO's ecosphere. Thanks for de-mystifying the way to pick that vendor lock.
Cuiv, I have been watching your channel for several years. You left and came back. Just want to say that you have been instrumental in helping me become a better astrophotographer. Thank You so much. I just become a member. Your videos are perks enough. Happy New Year.
Excellent, well done:it is the ONLY video with clear instructions, designed for a quick setup of a miniPC, focused to improving capabilities in capturing photos rather than in naive "nerd like" applications. Thank you very much!
Hey Cuiv! I bought the Mele Quieter 3q (the 8GB RAM/256GB SSD version) and I have been very happy with it. I bought it when I saw your first video about your version. I pretty much have a similar setup but there are some good takeaways here that are very useful. Thanks for the thorough video about how you have things set up! CS!
This is an excellent guide. I have setup several pc's in the past, but my NUC recently died so I had to do a full install on a new Windows 11 NUC, this guide allowed me to get it done without having to think too hard👍
Hi Cuiv, I have followed this video exactly and presto!! It’s magic! This is my first venture into astrophotography! Thank you for your channel.. brilliant. 👏👏👏
Great tutorial, thank you! Just a heads up, the ProgramData folder is hidden, so you need to have set Windows Explorer to show hidden files in order to see it. This stumped me for a couple of minutes... you may want to add a subtitle to the screen (circa 14:25)
Thanks Cuiv -- I fumbled my way to build a somewhat similar setup, but nice to see all the steps laid out so clearly. The hoops you went through to automate a persistent, remote hotspot were very cool. In a pinch you can also run an ethernet cable directly from your laptop/desktop to the remote PC (if you can stand an extra cable hanging from the scope ;).
I’m so glad you are doing this. How to setup a astoro pc with NINA straight from the horses mouth! I hope that you expand on this and teach what plugins you use and how to configure them. Show us setting up scenarios and offsets hocus focus and anything else you know about that could help newbies like me be more lazy like you. Thank Again, I love your channel🎉
Something worth mentioning for those coming from a laptop to a mini PC. You can save a whole heap of time by just duplicating your SSD / HDD windows & program installs onto another drive and then putting that in the mini PC.
I have done that doo. I use Macrium reflect free. It really does let me clone my hard drive for no charge as long as I register my email and agree that I don't use it commercially. Never had an issue with them.
Cuiv, your timing is impeccable. I JUST bought a mini-PC for my astro set-up! I took lots of notes; time for me to crack into it myself. Thanks for the great content!
Thanks for the video! The hotspot was one major annoyance that I had, your solution seems better than the shell scripts that I was using. I eventually ended up buying a little GL.iNet travel router, which had the added advantage that I can connect multiple rigs to it and remote in to all of them with just one PC connected to the router, instead of having to connect to each mount PC's hotspot separately and also allows me to hardwire the mounts and PC via Ethernet in case I'm at a star party, outreach session, or somewhere else with WiFi congestion. And then after thinking about how much gear I have in my setup anyway, I just used an old full sized router, which has much better range. For a multiple mount setup in the field, I suppose you could also run the hotspot on the controlling PC and have the mount PCs auto connect to it, might be convenient especially if you named it the same as your home WiFi network.
Nice info on the hotspot as I was just wondering how this could be done with my NUC. Great timing Cuiv! One comment specific to the SCT/Celestron Focus Motor - I finally took the time to look at the Celestron Focuser on my C9.25 Edge in terms of the direction of rotation when the Backlash in NINA is set to IN vs. OUT It is my understanding that you want the last turn on an Celestron SCT to be CCW which pushes the mirror "uphill" and against gravity. I found that at least for my setup - when the Backlash was set to OUT - the last turn was CW. Changed to IN and then it was CCW. Just a recent observation as I had mine originally set to OUT in NINA.
Excellent review, thanks. Another MeLe Q3 convert here. I set both Remote Desktop and Real VNC for remote access. For the latter, I found I needed a HDMI emulator dongle to fool it into thinking it has an active display. Both work really well.
Yeah. I bought a mini PC last year, despite having two Asiair. Now I want a better focuser than the EAF for my Edge HD. This tutorial has got me 99% of the way to N.I.N.A.
Hi Cuiv. You don't need persistent hotspot, just turn off power saving on the hotspot settings. Was in your screen in 09:32 , you may want to try it out. Great idea to use the hotspot, used it to connect an ioptron mount to the mini-pc and I can still RDP into the mini-pc using my home wi-fi. I prefer the mini-pc to mount communication to be the closest possible, also now I have one less USB cable to worry about. Thanks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yep, it's in Win10 & Win11, need to be running version 22H2 with latest updates. Glad to be able to help after learning so much from your content, especially about NINA!
Thanks for the video. It was good timing because Amazon had a $40 coupon and a lightning deal at the same time. I got the 256GB one as the same price of the 128GB and it was $170 plus tax.
This is a perfect ‘next step’ after doing a setup with Raspberry Pi and Astroberry … :-) Thanks so much for doing this full setup video! We are rebels jumping out of ‘the walled garden’.
Thanks for the detailed walkthrough, especially with respect to the hotspot. I can't help thinking, though, that a cheap travel router would be a much more straightforward way to deal with this.
I just did this myself, bought a new mini pc, check out N95 and N100 cpus, they are very power efficient and faster then the Mele q3, pretty much the new low power chip and they are quite fast!
I looked at it in one breath, I didn’t even turn on the translation - I have progress in my seventies)) A very useful guide. I'm just about to go up to my new observatory for the feast of the first light.
Thank you for explaining how to use hotspot always without internet. You should make this a separate video easily searchable because ive been looking for this everywhere and no body was able to explain it beside you. Thank you
Hi Cuiv, great video and it comes at the right time. I've setup a similar set last week, but can improve it with some of your hints. My idea to connect the mini PC with my laptop was through a smartphone hotspot, but I also haven't checked the performance yet. So I think your approach with the hotspot turned on on the device is the better and straight forward one. However, did you try tools like MyPublicWiFi or mHotspot? They're free of charge and may have the same features. I'll give them a chance when I'll fine a couple of minutes next days...
ASI Air fanboy here but am being FORCED to a mini-PC since I want to do solar imaging with Fire Capture. The Air is limited with the ROI for me to capture the solar disc [for upcoming eclipse[s]] so FC is needed and this set up will do nicely. TY for taking the steps/ time to teach us how to do it.
The faff of Windows being Windows is the sole reason I can understand why people own an ASI Air haha. That said, I loooove mini PC + NINA. It’s just such a powerful bang for buck solution that outperforms pretty much everything else. Really good video Cuiv, you are excellent at staying objective while giving clear and concise information on the deeper parts of astro. You show what can be done with just a bit more effort and time and THAT imho is the key to astrophotography... putting in the effort to learn the difficult stuff. That way you come away with more skills that are important to problem solving and getting a better understand of how things work. This will allow the future you to start changing settings and developing your own ways instead of copying others.
Absolutely brilliant information. Thank you very much indeed. Two little details where I had problems. I used Synscan and connected my mount using USB. The instruction manual and another online source said that was enough. It wasn't. I needed to change SynScan connection settings from Network to Serial. I also couldn't get NINA to recognise PHD2 until I turned the PHD2 server off and on. I realise that these are issues you may not have encountered. This is not a criticism. It's information for others. Thanks again.
Cuiv, thanks for the video. I tried unsuccessfully to get the new ASIair+ 256GB to talk to my AVX mount. The ASIair+ is supposed to be "Easy as 1-2-3" but it wasn't for me. I bought a MeLE Quieter3Q and installed NINA using another process from Patriot Astro but I will add your hotspot and plug-in recommendations to my install. Thus far, I've had no issues with NINA. The only issue I've had is over two weeks of cloud cover with no clear skies at night. Hopefully, that will change this week and I can get my setup outside.
I have the same ASIAir and have an AVX mount too. Are you getting mount discount errors? I’ve opened a couple of ZWO bug reports involving mount disconnects on the AVX so hopefully ZWO will provide a fix. I too have purchased a Mele Queiter3Q and installed all the apps but haven’t had an opportunity to test it out.
Been loving my mele quiter 3q, I had no idea you can make a hotspot with it to remote desktop into it, I have bought GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot Router for wifi whenever I go to my dark site and I can pay for the hotspot as I use it or buy what I will need that night and it doesn’t cost much
Excellent step by step. Hard to follow the hotspot but I see you updated another solution in another video. I use Wifi Creator as a hotspot which is a very easy to use and faster to implement than your setup. It comes up slowly but is accessible as a hotspot that windows does not control. I find your basic setups of the Astro software a breeze and very helpful as I am coming from ASIair-Seestar and want another solution. Great helpful videos as usual and keep looking at the stars! What kind of range do you get with the WiFi? Is the hotspot better with the pc as opposed to the cellphone range with a Remote Desktop? WiFi creator has become Public WiFi. I am not sure what is better.
Dear Cuiv, you knocked it out of the park!!! Just what I needed. I have been struggling a lot with the mini PC when I’m in the wild… I’ve tried everything, even bought a mobile wifi to use with team viewer but in some places with no connection it was a nightmare. I come from AsiAir but I “evolved” to NINA thanks to you and Chad from Patriot Astro…Thanks a lot ;) Just a quick note, I had to add my user to the Remote Desktop connection group otherwise It wouldn’t work for me, but after that it was all OK. Really appreciate it!
Hi! Could you elaborate how do you distribute power? because the power has to go to PC, mount, camera, dew heaters, etc. But the PC is not powerbox, so it has to be done through some external device? or it can be just one power supply just split for everything. It's a little bit hard to guess, technically you could power things through the mount, but on the other side, would be nice to be able to turn on/off the mount from the PC (like if something goes wrong - do the switch), so the order and priority is a little bit unclear
Great video, especially the hotspot setup advice. My mini pc arrived today so I’ll be setting up tomorrow. With the help of this tutorial. Thank you very much. Clear skies.
After recent system update on Windows 11, the hotspot app does not start automatically until log-in to the windows system. Does anyone experience same issue?
I bought a Mele Quieter3Q three month ago, I wanted to use the dynamic flatpanel brightness offered by NINA - the best decision I’ve ever made in my 5 year astro journey. It simply works like a charm. I added a 128GB NVMe SSD, made it the boot/WIN11 drive on the system, the onboard 128GB eMMC is acting as extra drive space.
Been waiting for this since your last persistent hotspot video. I couldn't get it to work. I've been connecting through remote desktop and my phone's hotspot. Works great out in the wild but i need to make sure my phone is charged and i turn off my data. Thanks Cuiv you are the man!!
Hi, just like to say in case you do burn out again soon, its been a very interesting journey, your efforts are priceless, you have become my goto source for any info in this subject..a big thanks to you, regards from Tom 👍👍.
Bonjour Cuiv, et merci d'avoir proposer cette solution miracle sous Windows ! Testée sur 2 PC différents et c'est OK. C'est (beaucoup) plus simple sous linux mais il faut accepter de basculer sous Kstars (qui est d'ailleurs très bien aussi). Bonne année sous les cieux du soleil levant ;-)
the only thing that i feel that you missed in this video is how to mount the PC to your scope and are there any concerns about heat transfer into the OTA?
Excellent video and I mimicked it pretty much from start to finish. 2 questions: 1) How far away are you able to put the client PC away from the Mele and still be able to connect to its wifi? 2) How did your client PC resolve the name of the Mele in RDP?
Hello Cuiv, a newbie here, this setup is just to control all the astro equipment remotely?...I am always in the field, can I control all from my tablet or smartphone?...is there any app to manage Nina from a tablet/phone?...thank you very much for any help. Clear Skies...!
I'm totally copying. I just got a new solar scope. So just got this pc to run it. My main scope is using a Nunc, but Teamviewer just flagged me as not being a non-commercial license so needed to move to something else (they are ignoring my emails trying to fix this). Going to try to set it up like yours tonight. (I would just switch the Nunc back and forth but this computer is smaller so may just go with this or even both for the moment. *If I get it working*) Wish me luck I need to get this supernova!) I wish NINA would add a plug-in for using it on a remote desktop just to automate the process. Every time I have to set something up, I find it a pain in the ass, but looks like you did all the work for me! Thanks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thank you Cuiv, for the outstanding videos and posts. Have you or someone else made a streamlined version of setting up the MeLE for Internet-less, WIFI hotspot Remote access from an Android tablet? I've watched patriotastro, but he doesn't seem to focus on android+NoInternetAccess which is my usual sad state of affairs. I saw someone commented that setting 'Power Saving off' fixed a problem that you had several steps for. Perhaps a video for us forlorn observing nomads? It would be nice to minimize extra software that's not needed an Android remote terminal, Galaxy Tab S7 for me, and the MeLE Astro-PC. I don't wish the Power needs or hassle of a new laptop. I don't suppose there's a way to use Chrome Remote Desktop without internet is there? It seems it uses the Internet for initial authentication. The Tab S7 does Chrome Remote Desktop nicely when tested to a Win10 Desktop. I continue to search as my two primary sites have piss poor cell coverage. Actually one doesn't really have any, just mountain lions and rattlesnakes {never seen). aka tangentmink Thank you in advance
I went and bought a router for my own "remote network" - I didn't know about this software hotspot! It will connect to a USB port on my Battery Box to power it. But I guess I could have multiple setups with one network now - and I don't need the Persistent Hotspot app/mobile hotspot. Another benefit is I don't like public SSID's - it will be a hidden network.
@@lwizzit Just got it to work with a travel router using a guest SSID that doesn't isolate each guest. It didn't allow a regular SSID without a connection to wifi/LAN.
Have you found 8gb to be sufficient? Many mini-pcs are 19v input. A 12v input, or USB-C power input, seem to be desireable for controlling the number of cords and power distribution, yes?
I wish N.I.N.A would have a Linux version. I would be immediately reformatting my mini pc. Win11 is really the last drop that spills out my watercup. Their intrusion into privacy and just options and limitations that doesn't make any sense. I want to show up at their HQ in a sweater with a pinguin on it. But I do have a Mele 3 set up the way you have, except I also install Sharpcap Pro, because that's my favorite polar aligner and use it for Bathinov mask focusing with my scope that doesn't have an EAF. I also install Rustdesk, which is like Anydesk remote viewing, without ads and without limitations that is similar annoyance like Teamviewer. Rustdesk is open source and works on all platforms too.
Yeah that would be awesome... But NINA still relies on .NET and ASCOM making a Linux version difficult... Oh and now I have to look into Rustdesk, thank you!
I came from the Raspberry Pi / Kstars/Ekos world (as my available main computers were MacOS or Linux). It mostly worked well for a few years. A used Windows laptop came my way (free, who can say no?) so I thought I would try NINA having heard so much about it. I bought a BeeLink Mini-S on sale with W11 and installed the software to give NINA a try (GSS, PHD2, Astap, Ascom). Some of your existing NINA videos along with Patriot Astro's videos provided the information I needed to get up and running. Having used it for a month or so now (half dozen clear nights) as well as making calibration files during the day, I have to wonder why I didn't tgo this route sooner. TI find the Flats Wizard especially is a real improvement over that in EKOS in controlling my DIY flat panel. I'm just starting to get comfortable with the (Advanced) Sequencer. I do believe I will stay with this setup now.
Ok... I'm just leaving this comment for anyone else who is pulling their hair out over this. For me, even though I had all of the software that Cuiv had and all of the autostartup features and everything, the hotspot wouldn't start up for me. This is because for the autostartup apps to start, you have to get past the sign in window which is obviously impossible if you don't have a monitor or any connectivity to the mini PC. So we somehow have the get past the sign in screen without being connected. To do this, download Autologon Sysinternals and set it up. Hope this helps another struggling soul. Clear skies.
I'm wondering how you are powering this device? I know the documentation says to ONLY use the included AC adapter... but I'd love to be able to connect it to one of the 12V DC ports on my ASIAir.
Thanks for the video. I've been looking for an alternative for my 17" laptop that I have to bring to remote sites. In viewing your video I was a bit confused. If I switch to the MINI-PC would I still need to bring my laptop to remote into the MINI-PC when at remote dark sites?
Thank you for this comprehensive video! I bought a Quieter4 and followed your advice! I’ll be going to Osaka and Tokyo soon. Are there Astro things that I should buy in Japan?
The HotSpot app is no longer available. Can you please supply a link to a replacement for the HotSpot app. Note that without this app your Astrophotography MINI-PC will require an external WiFi router to work in the field. Cheers Rob
Exactly, I’m starting to merge into astrophotography it seems very overwhelming to start and a big learning curve. Thinking of going with asiair just learn it then buy a mini computer in the future and convert over.
Thank you for this very complete tutorial, I installed my entire setup following it, it's a great job. The pro version of the hotspot application is no longer available on the Microsoft Store and unfortunately cannot be found on the internet. I changed PCs and couldn't reinstall it, and I couldn't find any equivalent apps that worked as well. have you found any alternatives since making the video? Do you know if we can find the hotspot app somewhere? Thanks !
Bad weather here and, one of my hobbies is to watch astro videos. A great video and I'm discovering other gear. Thank you for such dedication to the hobby Quiv!!🙂🙂🙂🙂
Hmm I'm still struggling with the 'no wifi router in the middle of nowhere' part. The Mele that's at the telescope- it needs to 'see' a wifi connection to create the hotspot right? Certainly I can't switch on hotspot without wifi coming on too; one wont work without the other. So I'm not clear from the video what connection the telescope PC uses once it's away from the home network. Can I just give it a hotspot from my phone, even if there's no data signal? Otherwise I think I followed everything else; I just haven't been able to cut the ties to my home wifi yet.
Rdp wrapper hasn't worked for me and I found it too complicated . You can buy win pro key for 4 euro ,put it in, and tada ,you have a original win pro version 😊
I followed along and it works great with my laptop. But for some reason my iPad won’t connect to the mobile hotspot. It sees it but just hangs. I wanted to use the iPad or phone when in the field with the MS Remote Desktop app. Anyone have an idea? At worst, I’ll just try Chrome Remote.
Awesome tutorial, it helped me a lot, thanks. I just have a problem with remote desktop. When I remove the power supply from my mini PC (obligatory for nomads) the option to activate remote dekstop is deactivated. Do you have a tip to force its activation when Windows starts?
Hi Cuiv, Another great video that I find very helpfull on your channel. To be honest, I followed the one you already did before in the past. And I find one thing very usefull missing: add all the picture in Nina for offline framing... it's not useful on your balcony, sure, but it's great to help framing when you're in the middle of the fields... :) Patriot Astro (you mentioned him in the video) has a great demonstration how to do it! Thanks again for your work!
Ho, also... I find the range of the wifi of these mele quieter 2 PC very poor... a few meters away and it's working intermittently... I find it much easy (lazy?) to buy a 20$ xiaomi router that also works on 12V close to the rig. This way, no need to worry about the hotspot... and the extra range allows you to watch a movie in your car when you're in the fields, while having the remote desktop connection active! :)
Hi. Is there a plugin in NINA that can stop shooting when clouds arrive? And can it start it again when the cloud goes away? Or how do you solve this? Maybe that would make a good video :-)
Salut Cuiv - do you have some insights already how this little mini pc performs in humid weather? how does it handle warm/cold cycling? is it perhaps even specified to be usable in the outside? I couldn't find a link to a manual to look it up... thanks!
I think it'd be really cool if MeLE made an astrophotography computer. Maybe they could just tweak the physical design of this and made it work with some adapters we all have. Maybe something to sit in a finder shoe, or some way to add it to a vixen/losmandy bar, or included power distribution as part of the device or an accessory. I know there are ways to do all of this, but nothing really built for the MeLE itself by MeLE The company gets lots of interest from astrophotographers, I hope they are taking notice!
Thank you so much I just set this up. Thanks to you . One thing you are probably doing yourself because you are smart. Is running a task scheduler. My son created a task scheduler routine that turns on the hotspot on boot up and the every 10 minute after should it shut off. I’m new to Nina and my reason for it leaving the Asiair is having synchronized dithering on my side by side set up. Talk about jumping in both feet.
Hi Cuiv. Awesome video and information. Personally being new to the hobby, I'll be going with the asi air. Though the mini PC is great for mix and matching of equipment, for now an all in one seems best for me. There's alot of 3rd party software involved which could make trouble shooting issues difficult. Thanks again.
To much work to get this work for astrophotography. That’s why I’m leaning towards Asiair for my first go to system. You kind of went a little to fast for this tutorial and I’ve been messing with Nina on my laptop and seems like a real big learning curve before starting my first imaging night.
Question- Have you ran across the following "unable to create hotspot with different band" error? Any suggestions on how to fix this? I started getting this message after it was working before.
Hi Cuiv, I now have a mini pc and have it set up for my microsoft user account which needs a password? How do I set up my mini pc user account for windows 11 without a password, the initial bit you mentioned that you could not screen grab, please? With my current microsoft user account I cannot get the remote desktop to connect to the mini pc as it just wants a password all of the time. I assume that this is becaosue I used my MS account when I initially set up my mini pc? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
Fantastic video! This makes astro imaging so much easier. Only issue I had was the hotspot on the minipc does not appear to allow connection to android devices so I must either use another pc(laptop) for remote access or have an accesable wifi signal(not an android hotspot) to use android for remote. Hopefully I(or somebody) can find a workaround as mobile devices are so convenient. Still....a mini pc on mount and a remote laptop is still miles easier than my prior full time wire connected laptop and a brainless mount!!!
Excellent! Question, did you do anything to disable Windows updates so Windows does not try to update at the worst time possible... when you are imaging?
Get an eagle 5. Best of both worlds. ZWO is junk. You can only use their proprietary products. You can’t use a camera rotator, OAG with motorized focus and only use ZWO Camera and accessories
Hahaha, there's a part in the video where I mentioned that it's a video made so ASIAIR users gloat over us mini-PC users - but it's all to be lazier in the end :)
@@rvoykin I am completely fine with that. All of their products are amazing and I have produced great images using their products. Plus it all just works! They're the Apple of astronomy and I completely love them for that! Also a camera rotator is coming in a few weeks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Haha I cackled at that part. Great video man! I just bought the AM5 so I am all in now on the ASIAIR train. Procrastinators unite tomorrow!
Excellent video Cuiv, this may be my next project. You will definitely help a lot of people with this one. Thank you your last one ref the Asi camera fans. I just replaced my 294 Pro fan a couple of days ago and it has made a big difference.
Hey Cuiv.....I have a AM5n and it won't slew.....it connects good but the driver info says 6.5.15 when I installed the newest 6.5.25 driver. Any suggestions?
Support me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek
Mini-PC: amzn.to/44bsrjI
RDP Wrapper: github.com/stascorp/rdpwrap
Persistent Hotspot: github.com/ashvin-bhuttoo/PersistentHotspot
Hotspot app: apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/hotspot/9NBLGGH52R9H
Ascom Platform: ascom-standards.org/
N.I.N.A.: nighttime-imaging.eu/
ASTAP: www.hnsky.org/astap.htm
Again, please not that the "Hotspot" software is experimental (to me), it seems to be working, but results not guaranteed!!
UPDATE! There is another piece of software that can also work, and it's FREE! mypublicwifi.com/myhotspot/fr/wificreator.html
For some reason I can’t get any laptops to connect to the mini pc with this MyPublicWifi app but android tablet and iPhone connect to it fine. Anyone else try it?
To answer my own question, you have to put your password into the alternate key prompt which is not so intuitive but overall the MyPublicWifi app is so simple!,,
@@glennsmooth Hi, Having the same problem with connecting my iPad to the MiniPC. Can't find MyPublicWiFi on the app store. Am I missing something?
Hi Cuiv, following your informative and easy to follow Astrophotography tutorials and accessories write ups all the way from Australia! Keep up the fantastic work you do and clear skies!
Awesome! Cheers and clear skies!
Cuiv, once again you knocked this out of the park. This video will help many people setup up a pc on their astro rig. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to this wonderful hobby. ....and dont burn your self out buddy 😀
My pleasure Bill!! And yes I'll be careful about burnout :-)
This was an absolutely wonderful video. I currently use the ASI Air for my setup but prior to that I did use Nina. I can see where if I had a second setup, I would try this with that telescope. The information you give here. Was very thorough and I watched the whole thing even though I'm not going to go with the setup at this time. Thank you so much for doing this, I think for people that are just starting out, this is going to be an amazing video for them to watch.
Thank you Kyle! That's why I do this! I'm so glad this is helpful!
Thankyou Cuiv! A dose of PC setup burnout and the absence of this overview is exactly why I bought my ASIair Mini. Now I know that I can choose to have this headache, when I'm ready, and on my own terms! One day I'm sure to want something that's outside ZWO's ecosphere. Thanks for de-mystifying the way to pick that vendor lock.
Cuiv,
I have been watching your channel for several years. You left and came back. Just want to say that you have been instrumental in helping me become a better astrophotographer. Thank You so much. I just become a member. Your videos are perks enough. Happy New Year.
Thanks so much for this comment and for your support! I am always so happy to see I've been helping you and others with the hobby :)
Excellent, well done:it is the ONLY video with clear instructions, designed for a quick setup of a miniPC, focused to improving capabilities in capturing photos rather than in naive "nerd like" applications. Thank you very much!
Since I began my astrophotography journey by buying outside of the ZWO universe, this info will help me pull my petting zoo into submission. Thanks!
Taking the dive into n.i.n.a this video was invaluable! Thanks.
Awesome, have fun with NINA, and don't forget to test as much as possible during the daytime!
Hey Cuiv! I bought the Mele Quieter 3q (the 8GB RAM/256GB SSD version) and I have been very happy with it. I bought it when I saw your first video about your version. I pretty much have a similar setup but there are some good takeaways here that are very useful. Thanks for the thorough video about how you have things set up! CS!
Thanks Dave! They're good little PCs that do work quite well :-)
This is an excellent guide. I have setup several pc's in the past, but my NUC recently died so I had to do a full install on a new Windows 11 NUC, this guide allowed me to get it done without having to think too hard👍
Hi Cuiv, I have followed this video exactly and presto!! It’s magic! This is my first venture into astrophotography! Thank you for your channel.. brilliant. 👏👏👏
Great tutorial, thank you! Just a heads up, the ProgramData folder is hidden, so you need to have set Windows Explorer to show hidden files in order to see it. This stumped me for a couple of minutes... you may want to add a subtitle to the screen (circa 14:25)
Oh thank you!! You're right, I forgot to feature this step!
Thanks Cuiv -- I fumbled my way to build a somewhat similar setup, but nice to see all the steps laid out so clearly. The hoops you went through to automate a persistent, remote hotspot were very cool. In a pinch you can also run an ethernet cable directly from your laptop/desktop to the remote PC (if you can stand an extra cable hanging from the scope ;).
That's a good possibility as well :)
As always Cuiv, an amazing video to watch..
best regards
Thanks Ziyad!
I’m so glad you are doing this. How to setup a astoro pc with NINA straight from the horses mouth! I hope that you expand on this and teach what plugins you use and how to configure them. Show us setting up scenarios and offsets hocus focus and anything else you know about that could help newbies like me be more lazy like you. Thank Again, I love your channel🎉
Thanks Johnny! So many videos to take, so much stuff to do!! :D
@@CuivTheLazyGeek it’s almost like you are not lazy at all
@@heavyjohnny sssshhhhh! 🤣
@@CuivTheLazyGeek You should pack that hyperstar up and bring it over to Okinawa, Lets see if can organize a star party in bortle 1 skies !
Something worth mentioning for those coming from a laptop to a mini PC. You can save a whole heap of time by just duplicating your SSD / HDD windows & program installs onto another drive and then putting that in the mini PC.
I have done that doo. I use Macrium reflect free. It really does let me clone my hard drive for no charge as long as I register my email and agree that I don't use it commercially. Never had an issue with them.
do you have any issues doing this as the duplicate won't set the windows registries on the mini pc?
Cuiv, your timing is impeccable. I JUST bought a mini-PC for my astro set-up! I took lots of notes; time for me to crack into it myself. Thanks for the great content!
Excellent, I'm so glad this is helpful! I did spend a lot of time making this video haha
Thanks for the video! The hotspot was one major annoyance that I had, your solution seems better than the shell scripts that I was using. I eventually ended up buying a little GL.iNet travel router, which had the added advantage that I can connect multiple rigs to it and remote in to all of them with just one PC connected to the router, instead of having to connect to each mount PC's hotspot separately and also allows me to hardwire the mounts and PC via Ethernet in case I'm at a star party, outreach session, or somewhere else with WiFi congestion. And then after thinking about how much gear I have in my setup anyway, I just used an old full sized router, which has much better range.
For a multiple mount setup in the field, I suppose you could also run the hotspot on the controlling PC and have the mount PCs auto connect to it, might be convenient especially if you named it the same as your home WiFi network.
I have a different mini-PC and had some issues with the wifi-hotspot.. instead of going the software route, I just bought a
I do the same with a TP-LINK TL-WR902AC and a Mele Quieter 3C when i'm away from home and it's working great.
@@ZeKeeper I think our mini-routers are the same type of device. The WR902AC is part of the AC750 series.
Nice info on the hotspot as I was just wondering how this could be done with my NUC. Great timing Cuiv!
One comment specific to the SCT/Celestron Focus Motor - I finally took the time to look at the Celestron Focuser on my C9.25 Edge in terms of the direction of rotation when the Backlash in NINA is set to IN vs. OUT It is my understanding that you want the last turn on an Celestron SCT to be CCW which pushes the mirror "uphill" and against gravity. I found that at least for my setup - when the Backlash was set to OUT - the last turn was CW. Changed to IN and then it was CCW. Just a recent observation as I had mine originally set to OUT in NINA.
Oooh thanks for the tip! I remember checking a while back, but I'll check again!
Your timing is tres tres good :) Thanks for this video. S!
My pleasure Jack!
Excellent review, thanks. Another MeLe Q3 convert here. I set both Remote Desktop and Real VNC for remote access. For the latter, I found I needed a HDMI emulator dongle to fool it into thinking it has an active display. Both work really well.
Yet another awesome vid Cuiv. Thank you.
Thank you!
Cuiv! you have the best info on this journey
I appreciate that!
As someone in the asi ecosystem wanting to branch out to have more options, this tutorial is like a dream come true!
Helping people diversify day by day :)
Yeah. I bought a mini PC last year, despite having two Asiair. Now I want a better focuser than the EAF for my Edge HD. This tutorial has got me 99% of the way to N.I.N.A.
Mele sales just went through the roof on account of your video Cuiv! I hope they appreciate it :P
Hahaha I wish I was getting paid or something lol... not the case!
Hi Cuiv. You don't need persistent hotspot, just turn off power saving on the hotspot settings. Was in your screen in 09:32 , you may want to try it out.
Great idea to use the hotspot, used it to connect an ioptron mount to the mini-pc and I can still RDP into the mini-pc using my home wi-fi. I prefer the mini-pc to mount communication to be the closest possible, also now I have one less USB cable to worry about. Thanks!
Thanks for the tip! This wasn't the case back when I last did it (in Win 10) but it looks like you're absolutely right!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yep, it's in Win10 & Win11, need to be running version 22H2 with latest updates. Glad to be able to help after learning so much from your content, especially about NINA!
@AlexisABermudez It seems like the hotspot has been removed as an app in newer win11. Hence not possible to put it in startup folder. Any ideas?
Thanks for the video. It was good timing because Amazon had a $40 coupon and a lightning deal at the same time. I got the 256GB one as the same price of the 128GB and it was $170 plus tax.
Looks like the MeLe Q3 actually has lots of fans!
Hahaha indeed!
You're here making my raspberry pi in a tupperware box cable tied to my ota look dumb. Come on man...
Hahaha sorry :p hey, if it works..!
Very well done,good job!
Wow. Thank you very much for this video.
This is a perfect ‘next step’ after doing a setup with Raspberry Pi and Astroberry … :-) Thanks so much for doing this full setup video! We are rebels jumping out of ‘the walled garden’.
My pleasure! And yes we do like to roam free :D
Thanks for the detailed walkthrough, especially with respect to the hotspot. I can't help thinking, though, that a cheap travel router would be a much more straightforward way to deal with this.
Yeah, but one more piece of equipment haha! Still you are quite right :-)
@@CuivTheLazyGeek True--one more thing to carry around and plug in, not to mention buy. But hey, it's only money, right?
I just did this myself, bought a new mini pc, check out N95 and N100 cpus, they are very power efficient and faster then the Mele q3, pretty much the new low power chip and they are quite fast!
I'm waiting for a fanless version in smaller form factor of those CPUs!! (like MeLe Quieter 4!)
I looked at it in one breath, I didn’t even turn on the translation - I have progress in my seventies)) A very useful guide. I'm just about to go up to my new observatory for the feast of the first light.
Thanks Volkov!!
Thank you for explaining how to use hotspot always without internet. You should make this a separate video easily searchable because ive been looking for this everywhere and no body was able to explain it beside you.
Thank you
Thank you! I'll think about a separate video :-)
Hi Cuiv, great video and it comes at the right time. I've setup a similar set last week, but can improve it with some of your hints. My idea to connect the mini PC with my laptop was through a smartphone hotspot, but I also haven't checked the performance yet. So I think your approach with the hotspot turned on on the device is the better and straight forward one. However, did you try tools like MyPublicWiFi or mHotspot? They're free of charge and may have the same features. I'll give them a chance when I'll fine a couple of minutes next days...
ASI Air fanboy here but am being FORCED to a mini-PC since I want to do solar imaging with Fire Capture. The Air is limited with the ROI for me to capture the solar disc [for upcoming eclipse[s]] so FC is needed and this set up will do nicely. TY for taking the steps/ time to teach us how to do it.
The faff of Windows being Windows is the sole reason I can understand why people own an ASI Air haha. That said, I loooove mini PC + NINA. It’s just such a powerful bang for buck solution that outperforms pretty much everything else. Really good video Cuiv, you are excellent at staying objective while giving clear and concise information on the deeper parts of astro.
You show what can be done with just a bit more effort and time and THAT imho is the key to astrophotography... putting in the effort to learn the difficult stuff. That way you come away with more skills that are important to problem solving and getting a better understand of how things work. This will allow the future you to start changing settings and developing your own ways instead of copying others.
excellent guide and so clear ! thank you
Absolutely brilliant information. Thank you very much indeed. Two little details where I had problems. I used Synscan and connected my mount using USB. The instruction manual and another online source said that was enough. It wasn't. I needed to change SynScan connection settings from Network to Serial. I also couldn't get NINA to recognise PHD2 until I turned the PHD2 server off and on. I realise that these are issues you may not have encountered. This is not a criticism. It's information for others. Thanks again.
Thank you and thank you for sharing your issues, it's good to spread knowledge :)
Cuiv, thanks for the video. I tried unsuccessfully to get the new ASIair+ 256GB to talk to my AVX mount. The ASIair+ is supposed to be "Easy as 1-2-3" but it wasn't for me.
I bought a MeLE Quieter3Q and installed NINA using another process from Patriot Astro but I will add your hotspot and plug-in recommendations to my install.
Thus far, I've had no issues with NINA. The only issue I've had is over two weeks of cloud cover with no clear skies at night. Hopefully, that will change this week and I can get my setup outside.
I have the same ASIAir and have an AVX mount too. Are you getting mount discount errors? I’ve opened a couple of ZWO bug reports involving mount disconnects on the AVX so hopefully ZWO will provide a fix. I too have purchased a Mele Queiter3Q and installed all the apps but haven’t had an opportunity to test it out.
This is a great video. Thanks for all that info!
My pleasure!
AWESOME. Just trying to get this all working without much success. Perfect timing Cuiv. 😅
Glad this is helpful Stephen!
Been loving my mele quiter 3q, I had no idea you can make a hotspot with it to remote desktop into it, I have bought GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot Router for wifi whenever I go to my dark site and I can pay for the hotspot as I use it or buy what I will need that night and it doesn’t cost much
Yep, that works well too!
Great video. Very informative. I find Windows a pain also. I wish they would make it a lot easier. All the best from Florida.
Thank you so much Rick, and thanks for your support!!
Excellent step by step. Hard to follow the hotspot but I see you updated another solution in another video. I use Wifi Creator as a hotspot which is a very easy to use and faster to implement than your setup. It comes up slowly but is accessible as a hotspot that windows does not control. I find your basic setups of the Astro software a breeze and very helpful as I am coming from ASIair-Seestar and want another solution. Great helpful videos as usual and keep looking at the stars!
What kind of range do you get with the WiFi? Is the hotspot better with the pc as opposed to the cellphone range with a Remote Desktop? WiFi creator has become Public WiFi. I am not sure what is better.
Dear Cuiv, you knocked it out of the park!!! Just what I needed. I have been struggling a lot with the mini PC when I’m in the wild… I’ve tried everything, even bought a mobile wifi to use with team viewer but in some places with no connection it was a nightmare. I come from AsiAir but I “evolved” to NINA thanks to you and Chad from Patriot Astro…Thanks a lot ;)
Just a quick note, I had to add my user to the Remote Desktop connection group otherwise It wouldn’t work for me, but after that it was all OK. Really appreciate it!
Hi! Could you elaborate how do you distribute power? because the power has to go to PC, mount, camera, dew heaters, etc. But the PC is not powerbox, so it has to be done through some external device? or it can be just one power supply just split for everything. It's a little bit hard to guess, technically you could power things through the mount, but on the other side, would be nice to be able to turn on/off the mount from the PC (like if something goes wrong - do the switch), so the order and priority is a little bit unclear
Great video, especially the hotspot setup advice. My mini pc arrived today so I’ll be setting up tomorrow. With the help of this tutorial. Thank you very much. Clear skies.
So the hot spot perked my ears up. Been having an an issue with my wifi with out upgrading my Ethernet cables and routers.
Hope it works!
After recent system update on Windows 11, the hotspot app does not start automatically until log-in to the windows system. Does anyone experience same issue?
Same for me. I can't find the Hotspot as a separate app. Can't create a shortcut.
I bought a Mele Quieter3Q three month ago, I wanted to use the dynamic flatpanel brightness offered by NINA - the best decision I’ve ever made in my 5 year astro journey. It simply works like a charm.
I added a 128GB NVMe SSD, made it the boot/WIN11 drive on the system, the onboard 128GB eMMC is acting as extra drive space.
The Mele is quite good indeed! :-)
Been waiting for this since your last persistent hotspot video. I couldn't get it to work. I've been connecting through remote desktop and my phone's hotspot. Works great out in the wild but i need to make sure my phone is charged and i turn off my data. Thanks Cuiv you are the man!!
Hopefully it works!!
Hi, just like to say in case you do burn out again soon, its been a very interesting journey, your efforts are priceless, you have become my goto source for any info in this subject..a big thanks to you, regards from Tom 👍👍.
Very helpful. Thanks!
Bonjour Cuiv, et merci d'avoir proposer cette solution miracle sous Windows ! Testée sur 2 PC différents et c'est OK. C'est (beaucoup) plus simple sous linux mais il faut accepter de basculer sous Kstars (qui est d'ailleurs très bien aussi). Bonne année sous les cieux du soleil levant ;-)
the only thing that i feel that you missed in this video is how to mount the PC to your scope and are there any concerns about heat transfer into the OTA?
Good points! I don't have good ways of mounting stuff to the scope (I just use Velcro straps), and heat transfer is... I have no idea :)
Excellent video and I mimicked it pretty much from start to finish. 2 questions: 1) How far away are you able to put the client PC away from the Mele and still be able to connect to its wifi? 2) How did your client PC resolve the name of the Mele in RDP?
Hello Cuiv, a newbie here, this setup is just to control all the astro equipment remotely?...I am always in the field, can I control all from my tablet or smartphone?...is there any app to manage Nina from a tablet/phone?...thank you very much for any help. Clear Skies...!
I just use Microsoft's Remote Desktop to control from phone or small laptop!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek ok thanks, I will find out about and start learning how to do it, thanks, clear skies
I'm totally copying. I just got a new solar scope. So just got this pc to run it.
My main scope is using a Nunc, but Teamviewer just flagged me as not being a non-commercial license so needed to move to something else (they are ignoring my emails trying to fix this). Going to try to set it up like yours tonight.
(I would just switch the Nunc back and forth but this computer is smaller so may just go with this or even both for the moment. *If I get it working*) Wish me luck I need to get this supernova!)
I wish NINA would add a plug-in for using it on a remote desktop just to automate the process. Every time I have to set something up, I find it a pain in the ass, but looks like you did all the work for me!
Thanks!
Good to copy :-) chrome remote desktop is a decent replacement over Internet
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thank you Cuiv, for the outstanding videos and posts.
Have you or someone else made a streamlined version of setting up the MeLE for Internet-less, WIFI hotspot Remote access from an Android tablet? I've watched patriotastro, but he doesn't seem to focus on android+NoInternetAccess which is my usual sad state of affairs. I saw someone commented that setting 'Power Saving off' fixed a problem that you had several steps for.
Perhaps a video for us forlorn observing nomads? It would be nice to minimize extra software that's not needed an Android remote terminal, Galaxy Tab S7 for me, and the MeLE Astro-PC. I don't wish the Power needs or hassle of a new laptop.
I don't suppose there's a way to use Chrome Remote Desktop without internet is there? It seems it uses the Internet for initial authentication. The Tab S7 does Chrome Remote Desktop nicely when tested to a Win10 Desktop. I continue to search as my two primary sites have piss poor cell coverage. Actually one doesn't really have any, just mountain lions and rattlesnakes {never seen).
aka tangentmink
Thank you in advance
2 months too late for me as I’ve already gone through the learning pain, apart from setting up a hotspot, so that’s tomorrows entertainment.
I went and bought a router for my own "remote network" - I didn't know about this software hotspot! It will connect to a USB port on my Battery Box to power it. But I guess I could have multiple setups with one network now - and I don't need the Persistent Hotspot app/mobile hotspot. Another benefit is I don't like public SSID's - it will be a hidden network.
@@larryfine4719 I did the same, not knowing the acrobatics Windows puts one through. I’m going to try this method now.
@@lwizzit Just got it to work with a travel router using a guest SSID that doesn't isolate each guest. It didn't allow a regular SSID without a connection to wifi/LAN.
Just ordered the 256GB one but I'm a little nervous about no fan out here in scalding hot AZ during summer months.
Fingers crossed!!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Appreciate all your vids man. Huge help in some areas.
Have you found 8gb to be sufficient? Many mini-pcs are 19v input. A 12v input, or USB-C power input, seem to be desireable for controlling the number of cords and power distribution, yes?
I wish N.I.N.A would have a Linux version. I would be immediately reformatting my mini pc. Win11 is really the last drop that spills out my watercup. Their intrusion into privacy and just options and limitations that doesn't make any sense. I want to show up at their HQ in a sweater with a pinguin on it. But I do have a Mele 3 set up the way you have, except I also install Sharpcap Pro, because that's my favorite polar aligner and use it for Bathinov mask focusing with my scope that doesn't have an EAF. I also install Rustdesk, which is like Anydesk remote viewing, without ads and without limitations that is similar annoyance like Teamviewer. Rustdesk is open source and works on all platforms too.
Yeah that would be awesome... But NINA still relies on .NET and ASCOM making a Linux version difficult... Oh and now I have to look into Rustdesk, thank you!
I came from the Raspberry Pi / Kstars/Ekos world (as my available main computers were MacOS or Linux). It mostly worked well for a few years. A used Windows laptop came my way (free, who can say no?) so I thought I would try NINA having heard so much about it. I bought a BeeLink Mini-S on sale with W11 and installed the software to give NINA a try (GSS, PHD2, Astap, Ascom). Some of your existing NINA videos along with Patriot Astro's videos provided the information I needed to get up and running. Having used it for a month or so now (half dozen clear nights) as well as making calibration files during the day, I have to wonder why I didn't tgo this route sooner. TI find the Flats Wizard especially is a real improvement over that in EKOS in controlling my DIY flat panel. I'm just starting to get comfortable with the (Advanced) Sequencer. I do believe I will stay with this setup now.
Woohoo, I'm so glad to hear that!! Enjoy NINA!
Ok... I'm just leaving this comment for anyone else who is pulling their hair out over this. For me, even though I had all of the software that Cuiv had and all of the autostartup features and everything, the hotspot wouldn't start up for me. This is because for the autostartup apps to start, you have to get past the sign in window which is obviously impossible if you don't have a monitor or any connectivity to the mini PC. So we somehow have the get past the sign in screen without being connected. To do this, download Autologon Sysinternals and set it up. Hope this helps another struggling soul. Clear skies.
Want that the point of leaving the logon password empty and enabling logging in at the beginning of the video?
I'm wondering how you are powering this device? I know the documentation says to ONLY use the included AC adapter... but I'd love to be able to connect it to one of the 12V DC ports on my ASIAir.
Thanks for the video. I've been looking for an alternative for my 17" laptop that I have to bring to remote sites. In viewing your video I was a bit confused. If I switch to the MINI-PC would I still need to bring my laptop to remote into the MINI-PC when at remote dark sites?
Thank you for this comprehensive video! I bought a Quieter4 and followed your advice! I’ll be going to Osaka and Tokyo soon. Are there Astro things that I should buy in Japan?
The HotSpot app is no longer available. Can you please supply a link to a replacement for the HotSpot app. Note that without this app your Astrophotography MINI-PC will require an external WiFi router to work in the field.
Cheers Rob
Excellent, thanks Cuiv. I've found NINA a bit daunting but I think I have enough to give it a go now :)
Exactly, I’m starting to merge into astrophotography it seems very overwhelming to start and a big learning curve. Thinking of going with asiair just learn it then buy a mini computer in the future and convert over.
Thank you for this very complete tutorial, I installed my entire setup following it, it's a great job. The pro version of the hotspot application is no longer available on the Microsoft Store and unfortunately cannot be found on the internet. I changed PCs and couldn't reinstall it, and I couldn't find any equivalent apps that worked as well. have you found any alternatives since making the video? Do you know if we can find the hotspot app somewhere? Thanks !
Bad weather here and, one of my hobbies is to watch astro videos. A great video and I'm discovering other gear. Thank you for such dedication to the hobby Quiv!!🙂🙂🙂🙂
Thanks for the feedback and your support!
Hmm I'm still struggling with the 'no wifi router in the middle of nowhere' part. The Mele that's at the telescope- it needs to 'see' a wifi connection to create the hotspot right? Certainly I can't switch on hotspot without wifi coming on too; one wont work without the other. So I'm not clear from the video what connection the telescope PC uses once it's away from the home network. Can I just give it a hotspot from my phone, even if there's no data signal? Otherwise I think I followed everything else; I just haven't been able to cut the ties to my home wifi yet.
Thank you so much! This was the video ZI hoped you would put since your Raspberry PI video and StellarMate ! Thanks for another awesome video!!
My pleasure, I'm glad this is helpful!
Rdp wrapper hasn't worked for me and I found it too complicated . You can buy win pro key for 4 euro ,put it in, and tada ,you have a original win pro version 😊
Hahaha "tada!" good to know!
I followed along and it works great with my laptop. But for some reason my iPad won’t connect to the mobile hotspot. It sees it but just hangs. I wanted to use the iPad or phone when in the field with the MS Remote Desktop app. Anyone have an idea? At worst, I’ll just try Chrome Remote.
Awesome tutorial, it helped me a lot, thanks. I just have a problem with remote desktop. When I remove the power supply from my mini PC (obligatory for nomads) the option to activate remote dekstop is deactivated. Do you have a tip to force its activation when Windows starts?
Hi Cuiv,
Another great video that I find very helpfull on your channel.
To be honest, I followed the one you already did before in the past. And I find one thing very usefull missing: add all the picture in Nina for offline framing... it's not useful on your balcony, sure, but it's great to help framing when you're in the middle of the fields... :)
Patriot Astro (you mentioned him in the video) has a great demonstration how to do it!
Thanks again for your work!
Ho, also... I find the range of the wifi of these mele quieter 2 PC very poor... a few meters away and it's working intermittently... I find it much easy (lazy?) to buy a 20$ xiaomi router that also works on 12V close to the rig. This way, no need to worry about the hotspot... and the extra range allows you to watch a movie in your car when you're in the fields, while having the remote desktop connection active! :)
Hi. Is there a plugin in NINA that can stop shooting when clouds arrive? And can it start it again when the cloud goes away? Or how do you solve this? Maybe that would make a good video :-)
Thanks another masterpiece
Thank you Ian for the support!!
Salut Cuiv - do you have some insights already how this little mini pc performs in humid weather? how does it handle warm/cold cycling? is it perhaps even specified to be usable in the outside? I couldn't find a link to a manual to look it up... thanks!
I think it'd be really cool if MeLE made an astrophotography computer. Maybe they could just tweak the physical design of this and made it work with some adapters we all have. Maybe something to sit in a finder shoe, or some way to add it to a vixen/losmandy bar, or included power distribution as part of the device or an accessory. I know there are ways to do all of this, but nothing really built for the MeLE itself by MeLE
The company gets lots of interest from astrophotographers, I hope they are taking notice!
RIGHT?! I tried reaching out to them but no response... It would be so awesome, and it could be an alternative to the ASIAIR...
Thank you so much I just set this up. Thanks to you . One thing you are probably doing yourself because you are smart. Is running a task scheduler. My son created a task scheduler routine that turns on the hotspot on boot up and the every 10 minute after should it shut off. I’m new to Nina and my reason for it leaving the Asiair is having synchronized dithering on my side by side set up. Talk about jumping in both feet.
Hi Cuiv. Awesome video and information. Personally being new to the hobby, I'll be going with the asi air. Though the mini PC is great for mix and matching of equipment, for now an all in one seems best for me. There's alot of 3rd party software involved which could make trouble shooting issues difficult. Thanks again.
Completely understand! The ASIAIR is quite an impressive turnkey solution!
Is the CPU powerful enough to do live stacking and planetary capture work?
To much work to get this work for astrophotography. That’s why I’m leaning towards Asiair for my first go to system.
You kind of went a little to fast for this tutorial and I’ve been messing with Nina on my laptop and seems like a real big learning curve before starting my first imaging night.
Hi…Question Please….can I use the Remote wrapper to set up Remote Desktop if I have Windows 10 as well?
Question- Have you ran across the following "unable to create hotspot with different band" error? Any suggestions on how to fix this? I started getting this message after it was working before.
Hi Cuiv, I now have a mini pc and have it set up for my microsoft user account which needs a password? How do I set up my mini pc user account for windows 11 without a password, the initial bit you mentioned that you could not screen grab, please?
With my current microsoft user account I cannot get the remote desktop to connect to the mini pc as it just wants a password all of the time. I assume that this is becaosue I used my MS account when I initially set up my mini pc? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
Fantastic video! This makes astro imaging so much easier. Only issue I had was the hotspot on the minipc does not appear to allow connection to android devices so I must either use another pc(laptop) for remote access or have an accesable wifi signal(not an android hotspot) to use android for remote. Hopefully I(or somebody) can find a workaround as mobile devices are so convenient. Still....a mini pc on mount and a remote laptop is still miles easier than my prior full time wire connected laptop and a brainless mount!!!
Thanks for the video! Can this mini PC work with ZWO cameras, filter wheel and other ZWO accessories?
Of course! It will work perfectly well with ZWO equipment, and anything else that has ASCOM drivers as well!
Excellent! Question, did you do anything to disable Windows updates so Windows does not try to update at the worst time possible... when you are imaging?
Forgot to show that! Yes, set windows updates to run during the day!
5 mins in and this isn't lazy enough 😝 I will stick with ASIAIR 😁
Get an eagle 5. Best of both worlds. ZWO is junk. You can only use their proprietary products. You can’t use a camera rotator, OAG with motorized focus and only use ZWO Camera and accessories
Hahaha, there's a part in the video where I mentioned that it's a video made so ASIAIR users gloat over us mini-PC users - but it's all to be lazier in the end :)
@@rvoykin I am completely fine with that. All of their products are amazing and I have produced great images using their products. Plus it all just works! They're the Apple of astronomy and I completely love them for that! Also a camera rotator is coming in a few weeks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Haha I cackled at that part. Great video man! I just bought the AM5 so I am all in now on the ASIAIR train. Procrastinators unite tomorrow!
If the hotspot by techvidal isn't on the windows market, what else do you recommend?
Excellent video Cuiv, this may be my next project. You will definitely help a lot of people with this one. Thank you your last one ref the Asi camera fans. I just replaced my 294 Pro fan a couple of days ago and it has made a big difference.
That's awesome to hear on the fan!!
Hey Cuiv.....I have a AM5n and it won't slew.....it connects good but the driver info says 6.5.15 when I installed the newest 6.5.25 driver. Any suggestions?