Great review, very informative indeed and I have been going through the same deliberations and you have "saved" me from making a big, expensive mistake. Thanks again :)
Thank you for sharing, Totally agree with your analysis. US2k is extremely steep. And don’t forget the cables that at the end of the day will add up another US200 or 300. Regarding mounting arrangements I built myself a very light weight aluminium frame that bolts on the scope rings side mounting holes. To stick the PC to the frame I used the 3M commando system, I believe its better than the standard velcro. I don’t know how to attack a photo here otherwhise I would do. I run a 115mm refractor and I’m very happy with the arrangement. Dont hesitate to write me if you are interested, or you think any of my ideas may be of interest. Happy to share andhelp Cheers.
I'm considering the Eagle to step up from my current ASIAir setup, and give me more non-ZWO options on the scope. You point some of this out, but the down-side of something like a NUC is that you'll need a separate dew heater controller, GPS, power management (or splitters), and maybe a USB hub. You may need to get a separate WiFi dongle + antenna as well. You'll also need a separate power supply for the NUC as it won't run off the 12v stuff everything else has. (You can get iOptron mounts with NUC power supplies built in). Of course, then you have to do full setup, and also purchase a Windows license. Eagle uses Windows 10 Enterprise which gives you a bit more control over updates etc. and typically runs around $250 alone if you buy a legit license (or $130 for Pro). The appeal of the Eagle is, at least to me, that it greatly simplifies all the hardware setup. The sky quality thing is a nice to have but not essential. The NUC approach gives you a ton of flexibility, but it's definitely a DIY solution. If you're looking at that, do look around at other industrial PCs as well. Some are small, fanless, and have built-in WiFi, and more USB ports. Newegg has several of them you can configure the way you want, with aluminum bodies, and they even run off 12v power. Some also come with Windows pre-installed. There are tons of these little industrial/embedded computers out there for sale. Most of the rest is just Windows and software you install, and will be the same in operation, as you point out. :)
Did you happen to check out the ZWO ASIAIR PRO? It seems to be a compact do-it-all box for not much $ and not much to setup. I’m building a 140mm refractor setup and going to give it a try.
Hey, really appreciated your video and info on the Eagle 3 and the alternative. Looking at the date of this video you have most likely got it covered already but just wanted to mention that there are really good and cheap LED panel lights on Amazon... Adjustable levels of brilliance etc... Makes a world of difference in video quality. Thanks again!
@@lazyastronomy3348 I'll also say that I have a NUC with APT all my software installed, but I run a R-Pi with IndigoSky and control it all through APT on a laptop via an ad-hoc wifi connection and it was actually a little easier to set up than the NUC and it's really gentle on power.. Clear Skies!
looks like I am kinda wrong - earlier Intel NUCs seem to support 12-19vdc. The Intel speci sheet for the unit I'm looking at as an example - ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/83257/intel-nuc-kit-nuc5i3ryh.html. Curious to see if there are any side effect issues if running at 12vdc.
I didn't hear you mention ( maybe you did ), but the Eagle 3 has the added advantage of supplying power for the focuser, camera etc; so the comparison isn't apples to apples.
Jacob Gerritsen Films I think I talked about the Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox I’m using for power and dew control combined with the Nuc to do everything, but you’re right, the nuc and eagle aren’t 100% the same. However, you can get the same functionality with the Nuc and Powerbox for less cost overall.
I use the lowest spec celeron based NUC and it can run all the astro s/w OK (SGP, PHD, EQMOD, CdC). I also use the PPB, it's a great cost effective combo. The Intel NUCs have another 2 USB headers on the motherboard but it doesn't seem that straightforward to actually use them.
I know this video is 3 years now has any opinions changed since you made this? This did not turn me off the eagle but enlightened other options to try with out spending so much.
Today it's not releavant anymore. The Eagle3 is $900 or so. Plus the Nuc "eat" one power output which let you only 3 power out on the pegasus Astro pocket. The other pegasus are horribly expessive for what it is. It could be a very nice feat with a power management box with 6 to 8 output and an outdoor certified nuc.
I use one of these an i3 - you can get them on ebay for about $99 - I run SGP with a camera, FW, guide cam, flip flat, focuser - no problems and use teamviewer to control it so I can control it from my laptop, desktop, phone, ipad... great little box.
that's what I plan to do. Can I ask - I presume you use the NUC's dedicated PSU to provide power to it, not a powerbox or anything similar? You simply are using the NUC to control the powerbox via USB for data, not power. Correct?
I am running the exact same set-up; NUC (i3) and Pegasus Power Box on my ED127 refractor atop my CEM60...Works very well. I have a cheap router located on my Tri-pier that I use to connect the NUC to so that I can remote into it via my Laptop in my house (using Windows Remote Desktop Connection).
Jonathon March I may do that once I manage my cables! To be honest, the Nuc is light enough that I’ve just Velcro’d it to the tripod. The cables are pretty gnarly at the moment while I figure out my permanent setup.
This is the one I got as an open box item at Fry's for a decent discount (Core i5 kit, I added RAM and a hard drive I had lying around and Windows separately). I think the step down model or two would likely work fine as well, as this things has handled all my programs without any slowdown. www.amazon.com/Intel-NUC-Mainstream-Kit-NUC7i5BNK/dp/B01N4EP1N0/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=intel+nuc+core+i5+kit&qid=1579556043&sr=8-5
Hi Jason, sorry I've been so behind on replies. Both computers have a lot of venting holes, so dew could be a problem. In my area, I find the heat of the PC keeps dew pretty well off the NUC, but your part of the world may have it worse. One nice thing with the Nuc is that the vent holes are all on two sides, so I velcro it vertically with the front USB ports plugged up. That puts the vents on the sides, so dew can't form INSIDE the case.
Thanks for sharing, great video! I have two questions. What kind of software did your use to immediately remote control this mini PC? And as this comes close to just using a laptop, what benefits does the mini pc offer? Would that be the ability to put it on your mount? Thanks again!
Thanks for the questions! You'll have to do one time setup with a monitor and keyboard/mouse to install some kind of remote desktop software. I'm using the Microsoft Remote Desktop feature in Windows 10 Pro, but you could also use VNC or Team Viewer just as well. Once those are set up to launch at startup, you just need the corresponding apps on your device (RDP from Microsoft, Ultra VNC, Team Viewer) and point them at the hostname or IP address of the mini PC. Then you're good to go! The reason I use the mini PC instead of one of the cheaper Raspberry Pi options is that it is so similar to using a laptop. That lets me use all the software I already paid for and am comfortable with. The big reason for using the mini PC for me was that I wasn't comfortable leaving my nice laptop outside under a box or towel all night. After that, the mini PC is so small I just velcro it to the side of the mount, which eliminates long cable runs and snagging problems so everything runs much better when unattended.
The Moeller Mine just died and I can’t get it serviced or replace under warranty by ZWO or OPTcorp the reseller. No support at all. Warranty means crap
@@wanderingquestions7501 depends on what country you live in...in the US, consumers are being fucked over big time. And your government doesn't give a shit.
Which Astronomy club do you belong to? I looked at the Fort Worth Astronomical Society but it appeared on their site and Facebook page that they have not been very active the past few years.
Actually FWAS is very active. We just had a 3RF weekend(Saw lots of the cloud nebula). We meet every month at UNT Health Science Center in down town Fort Worth and we have a APSIG group that is growing.
DO NOT use the Intel Compute Stick options. I bought one to use about three years ago, and they really are under powered. The major limitation I found using them are their USB host controller. The single USB Host controller doesn't seem to be adequate enough to control all of the peripherals, while maintaining a USB WiFi Adapter connection. The WiFi USB route is necessary because the internal wireless antenna will slew with your telescope, and you can drop connection if the mount is put between the ICS and the access point.
If you have an old Win7 or 8 key on something you don't use anymore, that will activate Win10. Whether or not that's within allowable usage or not, I can't advise.
Sorry you had issues with your Eagle. You probably just received a defective unit that PrimaLuce Lab would have exchanged. I have an EagleS-3 for a year now and It operates flawlessly. I went that route to get away from adding many different components around my remote telescope which I had previously running my observatory. With cables to run all the peripherals together with the cost of the Eagle and ECCO was only $1,650 U.S. With EagleS-3 I have a fully self-contained OTA where I only make two trips to setup from my back door and it all runs on WiFi with no lag time on my network. By the time you add up the cost of all the components of the Intel unit, Pegasus unit, cables etc your still going to be in the neighborhood of $2K. Whereas the Eagle is fully self-contained and a better bargain and solution, IMO.
That was my starting opinion too. For my equivalent gear though, my all in price was $1100 vs the 2k for the eagle. It’s clear that Primalucelab has a premium for their design, and I don’t blame them, it’s a good design. I agree I just had a bad one, and was glad I could return/exchange.
Unforced restarts are totally unacceptable for this application. One of the Eagle's attractions was the use of Widows 10 'Enterprise' as they call it - I'm not sure if they meant 'Pro' or 'Workstation' . What I would not want is a lot of superfluous Windows Apps being installed and running and then there's all those updates of one sort and another. It means another licence to manage and that puts me off the 'on scope' solution. I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing something here - how is this better than a powered USB Hub and the computer in a nice warm house? BobUK.
I believe my issues were one off, but I agree that you can do the same with other equipment, which was the point of the video. I do this this is a good option for those that want everything on top of the mount and solidly bolted together.
