w7ay Thanks Chen. I will definitely try to do something like this as my usb connectors are not as “snug” as they were when they were new and they definitely wiggle in their socket, specially on the ASIAIR end.

  • w7ay replied to this.

      WalterT AC→12VDC5.0A→ASIAIR→Everything

      Oh yeah, that may be the problem.

      I use a PowerWerx 30A supply (25 amp continuous) from inside the house, using 12 AWG cable. And for critical things like my mount (which is happiest with between 15 and 16 volts), I add a buck/boost converter located at the base of my tri-pier.

      If you use a separate power supply just for the camera, make sure there is a short ground strap between your camera and the ASIAIR. This will prevent return (power) currents from passing through the USB cable. Otherwise, you may generate more problem than you are trying to solve.

      Chen

        WalterT wiggle in their socket, specially on the ASIAIR end

        I solved that by placing the ASIAIR in a waterproof box that is mounted to the base of my tri-pier. Nothing in the ASIAIR is allowed to move during the night.

        The ASIAIR is at the top left, with a heat sink cemented to it (and cable tied, just in case :-). The LAN port is connected to an eero 6 mesh router (that big white square). One USB 3 port of the ASIAIR is conencted to a powered USB3 hub (one of the few that will work with the Raspberry Pi) so that power is handled by the hub and not the ASIAIR. A Samsun T7 SSD is connected to the other USB 3 port of the ASIAIR.

        There is a small USB PD 9V power converter since the eero uses a USB Type C connector for power.

        On the right side of the ABS box, there is a PowerPole fused distribution box, and also a buck/boost 15V converter to supply my mount.

        This, my Mortar tri-pier and my RainbowAstro mount stayed outdoors (under dry bags) 24/7 for more than a year now. I don't even remember the last time I swapped the microSD card, I just update it from indoors when an update comes up. The ASIAIR is essentially directly connected to my home network, albeit through its own mesh router.

        Chen

            w7ay That is quite a nice setup Chen. I basically have the same setup as when I first started back when the only powered accessories I had were my mount and dew strap. Since then everything I've added I've been mounting to the scope, following conventional cable-management advice. But this has limited my options for cables and router and power supply as well as added unneeded weight. So I think it's time for me to move everything down to the tripod legs. I pretty much have all the materials you mentioned, minus the weather tight box and powered USB hub, which I can pickup at Home Depot from a sprinkler control box and Amazon respectively. One question about the mount, the iOptron tech specs on the website state that my mount requires 12v 5A, would you still recommend boosting it to 15-16v?

            • w7ay replied to this.

                WalterT powered USB hub, which I can pickup at Home Depot from a sprinkler control box and Amazon respectively. One question about the mount, the iOptron tech specs on the website state that my mount requires 12v 5A, would you still recommend boosting it to 15-16v?

                Be careful when you pick a powered USB hub. Raspberry Pi does not like to be back-powered. Some powered hub won't let ASIAIR boot, some others will let it boot but will exhibit random seemingly unexplained flakiness like device disconnecting, etc. See this article (albeit old, and most hubs mentioned there are no longer available):

                https://elinux.org/RPi_Powered_USB_Hubs

                I definitely won't supply something with 15V when it is spec'ed for 12V.

                They should not specify a single voltage, either. It should be a range. But some of these hobbyist companies are not engineering oriented (witness ZWO's fiasco with WiFI, for example). Write to iOptron and ask for the range of operating voltage to see if they know. In my case, RainbowAstro is a subsidiary of Rainbow Robotics (serious Korean robotics arm company that also has an office at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the mount is specified for 12V to 16V; their R&D manager had mentioned that 15V to 16V is optimal for their servo motor.

                Chen

                    Is there a method for switching between single star and multi star guiding under the latest version. I believe I updated to 1.7 before last night's session and I couldn't get multi star to activate on my device. I exhausted every menu associated with guiding and I dont see anything related. I was achieving rms < .6, now I'm back to double that number. Thank you. Asiair is an amazing product.

                      dsallette Is there a method for switching between single star and multi star guiding under the latest version. I believe I updated to 1.7 before last night's session and I couldn't get multi star to activate on my device. I exhausted every menu associated with guiding and I dont see anything related. I was achieving rms < .6, now I'm back to double that number. Thank you. Asiair is an amazing product.

                      Version 1.6.1 is the default multi star guide, and single star guide can be selected manually.

                        Mdopp I had the same problem on my last session...when I went to view the files from my 2nd and final target, there were way less files than I expected. For some reason, it stopped shooting for 1h 20m, and then started back up as the sun was rising, so I lost most of the usable time on my 2nd target. Tonight, I spent 2 hours trying to get it working, PA worked fine, autofocus worked fine, but then when I tried to start guiding, East/West went normal, and then when the AAP sent North guide pulses for calibration, it started moving in the East direction again. Everything was working fine until this last update. I'm am becoming very disappointed with the AAP. ZWO needs to give us a way to access older versions of the mobile app, so that when they break stuff with their updates, we have a way to roll back to a working version. The mini PC option is becoming more attractive every time I use the AAP these days. To ZWO: If you aren't going to give us a way to roll back the software, then you need to start doing a better job of testing the software before you roll out the app updates!

                            sonofstan when the AAP sent North guide pulses for calibration, it started moving in the East direction again.

                            Did you turn on tracking？

                              @asiair@zwo#47476 Yes, tracking was on. This only started happening after uodate to 1.6.1 - everything worked perfectly on 1.6, except video mode, which would crash the app.

                                sonofstan @asiair@zwo#47476 Yes, tracking was on. This only started happening after uodate to 1.6.1 - everything worked perfectly on 1.6, except video mode, which would crash the app.

                                The problem about the crash of the app, we're solving it.

                                sonofstan but then when I tried to start guiding, East/West went normal, and then when the AAP sent North guide pulses for calibration, it started moving in the East direction again. Everything was working fine until this last update.

                                Can you submit the log in the APP and leave you email address to us?

                                    @asiair@zwo#47464 Can you provide a Screenshot of the location for the guiding selection? I do not see anything to alter with regards to multi or single star guidance.

                                    Thank you.

                                      sonofstan I have noticed issues with tracking as well. Since this last update, when I noticed that multi-star guiding was no longer working, tracking often goes awry after about an hour and a half of shooting. While the device will say .8" rms and have been stable for over a minute, stars are streaks and lines across the image. I've since gone back to my laptop, and i'm not experiencing the same issues.

                                        Hello @asiair@zwo

                                        I write you this message to report a bug in your FITS header when shooting with asiair.
                                        Indeed, wcs data in the header have problem what can cause crash with some sofware using wcslib (the official library for wcs data).

                                        First error:
                                        The A_ORDER, B_ORDER, AP_ORDER, and BP_ORDER keyvalues should be integer. The header gives them floating-point values.
                                        This can be checked with the tool wcsware:

                                        wcsware -l -t Light_NGC6974_60.0s_Bin1_gain200_20210627-010859_19.3C_0088.fit
A_ORDER =                   2. / Polynomial order, axis 1                       
  Rejected (1), invalid keyvalue.
B_ORDER =                   2. / Polynomial order, axis 2                       
  Rejected (2), invalid keyvalue.
AP_ORDER=                   2. / Inv polynomial order, axis 1                   
  Rejected (3), invalid keyvalue.
BP_ORDER=                   2. / Inv polynomial order, axis 2                   
  Rejected (4), invalid keyvalue.

4 WCS keyrecords were rejected.

                                        Another error, and this one causes the crash of Siril (that use wcslib):

                                        IMAGEW and IMAGEH are also meant to be integer.

                                        Please, could you fix these issues?

                                          4 days later

                                          your country: PERÚ
                                          your mobile device: Samsung Galaxy A50 (Android 11) and Samsung Galaxy A7 (Android 7).
                                          your mount: AZ-EQ5 Pro (pier)
                                          your camera: Canon 750D (T6i) + ZWO 120MM + Mini Scope
                                          your EFW: No
                                          your test result and suggestion: I have completed two days trying to connect the SkySafari app to the Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 in Android 11 (tried Android 7 also) through ASI Air Pro but I didn't succeed. ASI Air app connects using a USB-B cable but the app does not show all the options I have seen in images of other's screens (by example, it does not show the option for searching objects).

                                          @asiair@zwo#47500 that north/south thing was either a fluke, or an issue with multistar...worked fine last session using single star guiding. Picking up hot pixels as guide stars is still an issue though, because it means I can't use "plans", as each new target, it will automatically go back to multistar, and select hot pixels as guide stars. Only work around is to stay up all night selecting guide stars manually, or only image 1 target per night. Really need dark frames for multistar, or a way to disable it for those of us using OAG. Dark frames being the more desirable of the two.

                                          Thanks

                                          dsallette before you start looping, the instructions show up on screen. Press the start looping button, then either hit the start guiding button to use multistar, or select a star manually by tapping on it and THEN hit start guiding for single star. So basically it can no longer automatically choose a star for single star guiding, you have to select it manually if you want single star now.

                                            lock042
                                            Agree with this FITs header issue. I have had to use an Editor to remove the training decimal point displayed in IMAGEW and IMAGEH on all my images.