Build Your PERFECT Astrophotography Crash Box Today!

[@Diocrew]

Thanks so much Doug!! - Mike

[@AstroAF]

You're very welcome Mike!! Any time and thanks for watching and commenting and stuff!! And I've been meaning to 🤘🤘 🙂

[@DeepSpaceAstro]

Really nice build!

[@AstroAF]

@@DeepSpaceAstro Thanks Rich! Thank you too for the inspiration from your own video some time back! I’ve always thought this was a great idea and finally got around to it. Cheers! Doug

[@AlexN-Astro]

Awesome! I've certainly had RDP and Wifi hotspotting not working out in the field and it can be a real pain... I also have a backup box that presently has the following. Usb cable for PC to mount, pc to camera, pc to guider, pc to af, pc to eaf. Spare dew heater. Spare power adapter and power lead. Spare Mele PC (my old Quieter 3C, set up identically to my current PC - ready to run) Spare power box. Currently I have a spare astro-camera, but that is for sale at the moment! haha. I don't go out in the field often, but when I do, I won't let equipment failure cause me to go home.

[@AstroAF]

@@AlexN-Astro Hi Alex! Thanks! Wow, you have got a great setup for catastrophic system failure! Indeed! This stuff happens, I’ve had a connection loss in the middle of slew where I had to run out and shut off the power to the mount! I have limits set but who knows what could happen when the system is down! Thanks for watching! Cheers! Doug

[@VRzichtbaar]

What a nice and rigid way to connect a small screen in the field. I just slammed a similar monitor with velcro tape to the side of my mount and used a bluetooth keyboard. This is much more durable. Maybe a nice touch to install a small battery in the case to make is completely self sustaining. Possibly even powering your mount controller to retrieve your data is everything else has ran out of power.

[@AstroAF]

@@VRzichtbaar Hi VR! Thanks for watching! Honestly, if you’ve got any solutions that works, it’s a great solution! I do like this build though, it was fun and I like that it is all contained in its own travel box, easy to grab and go. Great idea on the battery! For me I always have power generators with me at the scope when traveling, but for any that may not, having a built-in power source would be excellent! Cheers! Doug

[@VRzichtbaar]

@@AstroAF I meant to say that your solution is more durable. So I am surely upgrading. P.S. your video shows all the steps very well.

[@AstroAF]

@@VRzichtbaar Thank you so much. Feel free to reach out with any questions during your build here or on my Discord (link in description). Cheers! Doug

[@deepskydetail]

Great project, Doug! I should use something like this for my Raspberry Pi :)

[@AstroAF]

@@deepskydetail Thanks Mark! Yeah, indeed, the monitor is actually sold as a Raspberry Pi display. Cheers! Doug

[@Planetreefastro]

Great project there Doug. Would save a lot of headaches outdoors with a windows or WiFi problem to the mount. Really great idea. Best regards Luis from NY

[@AstroAF]

@@Planetreefastro Thanks Luis! Indeed, while not an original idea by any means, I think it is a cool project and when I was traveling with my scope this past year I was feeling pretty lucky to not have had problems. If I had, 1000s of travel miles would’ve been for naught. Cheers! Doug

[@Naztronomy]

I bought 3 Apache 1800 cases the last time they were on sale for like $8 each. Really nice set up! I think I have almost every part, including a small monitor that I can grab from my RetroPi setup that I haven't used in a while.

[@AstroAF]

@@Naztronomy There you go!! It was a fun little project and I’ll feel much better next time I drive 1000 miles with my scope for a dark sky trip (not to mention star parties and trips out to club observatories)! Cheers! Doug

[@robvandenwijngaart1970]

Hi Doug, what a coincidence. I'm made an upgrade to my telescope, now it has a mini pc. I use to use a laptop, but that broke down. Now I'm working on a similar project like you just made.

[@AstroAF]

@@robvandenwijngaart1970 Hi Rob!! Haha that’s cool! Sorry to hear about your laptop, I hope your project goes smoothly and this video helps in some way. Let me know how it’s going and if you come up with any cool suggestions to add to the project! Cheers! Doug

[@JoseNavarroCo]

This is cool! I built something similar using a portable monitor. You might want to consider using a cheap wireless HDMI dongle plugged into mini PC and the monitor for less cables. Anyways, great job!

[@AstroAF]

@@JoseNavarroCo Thanks so much Jose!! Man that is an excellent suggestion! Thanks for watching! Cheers! Doug

[@Diocrew]

Very nice setup. I have been wanting to do something similar. I do have a question about keeping your telescope outside. It looks like you have a collapsible tent/dome. What is that exactly?

[@AstroAF]

Hey Diocrew!! Sure, I've been using that half-dome collapsable tent for about a year and a half now. It has been great. It was not initially a low level of effort to setup but after that I can go out and get un-covered and ready to go in less than a minute. I can cover up in a minute or two. It helps protect the scope but even more, it keeps the area clear of snow and debris around my scope so it it easy and safe to walk around in the dark. I made a couple of videos about it here and describe more about where I got it, etc.. which was from a guy in the UK that makes them and sells on Etsy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXfcZ5Z6nautfassi=PF6e2mK9vzwON6Oa and I did a follow-up here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5S9YnuhnsiUmacsi=YBIDH71weSRAsVz0 If those links don't work in comments you can search "AFO" in my channel videos and find them. Cheers! Doug

[@KJRitch]

My Windows troubleshooting skills are limited being a MacOS user but I use a Mele minpc for NINA, Since I have to set up and tear down every session I would just first try to bring the minipc inside out of the cold and hook it up to my TV in the motorhome to troubleshoot and if I can't fix it within an hour pack up my equipment and work on it the next day. My living room TV has a HDMI cable connected and I use a Logitech wireless keyboard with integrated key pad which uses a USB dongle and not Bluetooth. I've never had a Windows crash luckily. I guess with that USB stick you can reboot into the PC if the PC won't boot.? I'm not sure I'd want to spend time outside in the cold messing with a Windows problem. Looks cold there. Not very warm where I'm currently located, Panama City, FL, 34F and windy this morning. Not much astro going on lately due to weather. I hope you never have to use your crash box.

[@AstroAF]

@@KJRitch Hi KJ! Yeah, you’re pretty well set having the motor home with you. This would be more for if you were out and didn’t have the things with you or nearby to troubleshoot. Good to hear from you! Cheers! Doug

[@videotrexx]

Maybe you explain the advantage this has over just using a laptop computer? No mini-PC, no box with keyboard and tiny monitor. My laptop takes up much less volume than what you assembled.

[@AstroAF]

@@videotrexx How are you going to connect your laptop to an unresponsive miniPC or Raspberry Pi? With this crashbox you can login to your miniPC bios, for example. If networking is down then any peer to peer configuration would not work with your laptop, same with Remote Desktop connection. Cheers! Doug