ASIAir PLUS -- First Impressions and TESTING That DARN Wi-Fi

My astrophotography got a boost with the new ASIAir Plus from ZWO! From the cameras to the guiding to the imaging galaxies and nebulae in space from my couch, everything just works better. Watch and see what's new and how it can help you make the most of your astrophotography imaging time.
I've used the ASIAir Pro for a while and was never fully satisfied with the WiFi capabilities, so I went for the Plus to see if they figured it out. I ended up getting more than expected!
Video shot on Nikon D800 and Pixel 4 XL
Rode Wireless Go microphone system
Equipment: Celestron RASA 8, ZWO ASI1600MM Pro, Baader 3.5/4nm f/2 Ultra-Highspeed CMOS-optimized filters
My content:
Twitter: / nickjlake
Insta: / nickjlake
Astrobin: www.astrobin.com/users/bortle9/
Photography of the universe, with galaxies, stars, nebulae, supernovas, comets, planets, Moon, Sun. Inspiring wonder about the night sky

[@mikelockwood2104]

Hmm...just think a year from now. This channel will be pushing at least a K in subscribers. I'm glad I watched your sensor cleaning vid..... I'm part of the first 100 subscriber club. I'm looking forward to the rest of your AAP vids. I'm using the Pro right now with the Plus due in November. So in the meantime I'm absorbing.....keep 'em coming.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thanks so much, Mike! I love creating the content and of course it is great to see the positive feedback! Thanks for subscribing!

[@ericshingler8915]

I have always used my ASIAIR Pro with a Cat5 cable. I got a 150' from Best Buy and just route it off of a wifi extender and run it all the way outside to my mount. Data transfer speed is amazing and let's me do whatever I want

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Excellent review! Also I am continually impressed by your sense of videography, scripting, and B rolls - I'm still expecting your channel to explode. Also I am getting more and more tempted by the RASA8 + Baader filters (or the Altair 7nm dual band flat top filter)...

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thank you Cuiv! That means a lot 🙏 It has been great to see such positive feedback and to be creating content for a subject I consume a lot of! I am going to watch your recent review right now; to be honest I was avoiding other Plus reviews until mine was out so I wasn't swayed or anything 😆

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography In a couple of days I'll release the main things I don't like about the ASIAir in general, or would like to see improved :)

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Good! Looking forward to it

[@bloodstone2000]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography Cuiv is 100% Right Nick. just like I told you on Twitter. Your delivery, your pauses, your facial expressions your dramaticness and delivery of lines with Creative logic and intelligence is REFRESHING my friend.. You TRULY deserve to have your Audience Base broadened...

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

@@bloodstone2000 Aww thanks 🙏

[@AZ4Runner]

Great honest review.. very well put together. Just Subbed my friend.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it

[@clintkennedy8374]

Great video as usual! I’ve had the pro for a long time and recently got the thing working after buying a new tablet and have enjoyed its ease of use especially not having to fumble around with the pole master anymore. Ready for this upgrade especially for cpu speed. Your rasa is sitting by a public walking area?! 🤯 I live out in the country and have to make sure the neighbors cows don’t break the fence and trample my rig (came close to happening once) but your issue is more stressful. Lol thanks for the video and keep it up!

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Haha yes, I have a security camera set up and I keep a very close eye on it. Just wish I could snooze while it does its thing, but alas...

[@alirtone]

Excellent. Thank You

[@robertarmstrong9406]

Thank you for the video. You may know or someone has already posted. You can also use the USB port on your camera for the thumb drive. Leaves an open port on the asiair.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Ah, interesting! I generally save a 3.0 slot for the thumb drive, but you're right in a pinch that would work!

[@josephciprianojr953]

Outstanding video - you just earned a new sub. Question: The RASA 8 is on my short list of new scopes - where did you purchase the EAF mount?

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thanks so much! I purchased it at the same time as the EAF from OPT. It is listed as the ZWO EAF Bracket for Celestron C8 & C9.25

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Good review, Nick. I still don't have an 'All ZWO' configuration for my rig, hence the ASI Air will have to wait for me, but after your review, I will certainly try it once I get a ZWO focuser and guide camera. Clear skies (Patrick of Savannah)

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thank you! You will love it when you do. When I do my "walkthrough" video of the ASIAir I will definitely emphasize that it is a truly awesome way to take astrophotos

[@insightvideo6136]

Station mode didn’t work very well for me on the pro either until a recent firmware upgrade, which greatly improved my Wi-Fi signal, more than doubling the distance. Works great now. Before you buy the plus, try station mode with the new firmware upgrade.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

That is a good point, the firmware upgrades can be very useful. Interesting, I'll have to go back to my Pro and try it out with the latest firmware 😀

[@QawiemJamil]

wow! even his reviews and really well done. This channel is gonna go a long way, I can already feel it. I use a Panasonic mirrorless camera to shoot so there's no chance I can get into the ASIAIR workflow right now... unless I get it with a guide cam and scope? Maybe then I can at least take advantage of plate solving, polar alignment and guiding. Are these even possible with just a guide scope connected? I wish I knew these compatibility things earlier! I would've made better choices when I upgraded my camera last year. But then again, I didn't know I would get so hooked into deep sky astrophotography...

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thanks for your kind words 😊 That is a good question about the guide camera/scope simply for PA, plate solving etc. My gut says yes, as long as your guide scope was well aligned with mount. You would most likely need to select the guide cam as the main camera for PA and then switch it to the guide cam for guiding. It might have to be switched back to main cam for plate solving. Huh. I am curious to try something like that out sometime.

[@QawiemJamil]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography my broke a** would certainly appreciate it. My gut says it should work too but I also feel that there could be some unexpected software limitations 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@carlosrojasrodriguez930]

Excellent video! I have subscribed. Do you know how to connect the asiair with say the avx mount? Is there a special cable?

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

I believe it is a USB connection though I don't know the type. Most advice I have seen is to connect mount control through the Asiair but power the mount separately. There is a lot of good advice and posts for different configurations on the FB ASIAir group

[@curlingdan]

I like the way you review, you know what you want to say, no hemming or hawing and you've edited very well. I'll keep watching. But one question specifically for the wifi - why not just buy a wifi extender ? $50-60 superior range and save the cost of a new AA-Plus which is about $250-300. I use a big battery to power my AAP and Star Tracker even my Nikon, it's got a A/C port that is unused....I can't see enough reasons to spend $$ for the AAPlus. Thanks !

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Thanks very much and thanks for watching! For sure an extender would be an option! Were you thinking something that would sit on the ground or nearby and not mounted? I tried the Vonets extender and it definitely helped with the Pro. I actually kind of feel like ZWO should do something like a trade-in for ASIAir Pro units for a very steep discount on the Plus for those that want to upgrade. Because you're right, it is an improvement, but there isn't a killer app (yet?) on the Plus that makes it a must-have upgrade. But the Plus functions out of the box much better than the Pro, so for new users it is the way to go.

[@curlingdan]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography, I hadn't thought of a trade in, but that would be excellent and would be something I'd be more apt to consider. I have a Netgear wifi extender, it just plugs into my a/c port on the battery, the battery sits on a small hammock under my tripod. My AAP seems to connect to my iPhone at 5g speeds, and it's more than fast enough for me.

[@DavesAstrophotography]

Hi Nick, stumbled across your channel from the recommendations list, nice review! sub'd 😃

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Great to hear, thanks so much!

[@KopLamp]

Nice... I am also an ASIAIR Plus user (tester actually - see the card in the box :P ). Also using the CEM40 as my main workhorse for the EdgeHD. Now I have both an ASIAIR Pro and a Plus I am contemplating getting a second mount so I can have both my telescopes (other is a WO GT81 iv) set up. Not sure yet as I then also need a second camera and guide solution. $$$$ ;)

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Yes the $$$$ says it all 😆. I was considering something like the that WO or maybe even a Samyang135 f/2 lens and another camera. Two rigs would be a dream but I also set up/tear down every time, so ideally would be able to carry fully assembled.

[@KopLamp]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography I usually have the rig running after about 15 minutes. In my video "ASIAIR Plan Mode. Getting the most out of the darkness." you can see how I have marked a spot in my lawn. I am located in The Netherlands, which is infamous for having a low count of clear nights. So sometimes I feel I would benefit from having a 2nd mount set up as well...

[@paulwilson8367]

I have the same equipment except for the mount (EQ6R) and the older Pro. I use the ethernet cable to a mesh disk at home, so I don't really need the antenna there. At the dark site, the Pro connects immediately with no outside wifi or cellular, and my tent is right by the scope. So that stuff is not really a big problem for me. A couple of things are a problem. One must be very gentle when pulling a cable out of the Air USB ports. Twice, I have had the USB plastic internal insert come out with the plug. This takes out the use of that USB port unless you replace the R-Pi card. I don't necessarily blame ZWO for that fragility. But one thing the Pro DOES do that is a real problem is, ZWO puts a BINNED plate solving solution into the FITS headers, which no one does. For people processing with PixInsight, this causes PI to believe that the plate solve is un-binned and correct as stated. PI then changes your scope focal length to make that solution correct. Thus making it very incorrect! The "metadata" in your FITS headers cannot be used in Pix and processes like photometric color calibration for me, fail every time. There's an extensive thread on the PI forum about this problem., ZWO has been told about the situation and they emailed me that the problem would be fixed on "the next update". Well, that update came and went, I still get the warnings about focal length and the errors. When this situation is combined with the terrible problem of oil leaking from my 2600 sensor, I am now rethinking my whole acceptance of ZWO. I would have to take a new tack on everything, what a hassle.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Yes I have read bit about the FITS header issue. Yikes! As far as the USB ports i have been very lucky so far and try to be very careful but yes you can just feel they are fragile

[@astrophotonchaser]

I’ve got both the asiair pro and plus. I was really hoping that the wifi issue, in my situation, would be better with the plus. Not so for me… both are pretty bad. Love them both…just not a fan of the wifi.

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Oh so frustrating, sorry to hear that! Are you using it in station mode?

[@mikewarkentin8736]

I am the same. My scope and ipad are on a deck outside and the wifi router is about 6ft away on the other side of a door. Even with that short a distance, if I connect in station mode to my home network the connection in AA+ keeps dropping and reconnecting. If I just connect my iPad directly to the AA+ wifi it doesn't drop much but then I have no internet on my iPad and am restricted to a close location near the router. So I don't think the router distance is the issue. Sigh!

[@mikelockwood2104]

Are you still planning a complete run through on the Plus ? From start to finish on each of the setup steps ?

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Absolutely! Taking advantage of the rain right now with a Pixinsight tutorial, but hopefully with some clear skies this weekend I can get a full walkthrough filmed.

[@mikelockwood2104]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography awesome 😎

[@DLMVegas]

I found that my 2 ipads and a Nexus 7 tablet work fine. iPhone does not work.

[@dankahraman354]

Any reviews out there that actually SLAM a product??? Surprise us....not directed just at you Windy City Astrophotography...ASIAir is limited to ZWO products ....what about making calib. frames? Other astro-imaging applications?

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Fair question! I mean if I hated it I would slam it! Cuiv the Lazy Geek has some pretty strongly-worded reviews out there 😁

[@dankahraman354]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography Good to see Cuiv unloading on ZWO

[@dankahraman354]

@@WindyCityAstrophotography Loved it! LOL.