I *almost* ditched Astroberry - Ultimate smart telescope: 1) Reliability

I almost stopped using Astroberry as my Astrophotography controller... but why? Watch the video to find out what reasons almost made me throw out my Raspberry Pi running Astroberry / EKOS and rather look for an alternative.
Instead of actually throwing out the Pi for my Astrophoto setup, I'll show you the problems I faced when using it and more importantly, how to overcome those problems. This is mainly linked with my connectivity issues.
The travel router I am using: GL iNet 1300 b ("Beryl")
Be sure to update the firmware first, as I had issues connecting reliably to it before I did that.
My 2nd music channel:
Chrizzly Music: / @chrizzly_astro
Music used:
Animal Crossing: Taking Root
6 PM & 9 PM - Composed by Scruffy and Rud

[@spyda96]

Nice video, I too had some issues with the WIFI but I was able to find simple fixes that come up with the wifi country codes. I only use the VNC for polar alignment and focus. Once those are done I move to where the astroberry is just the web host for the drivers of the astro rig mount, cams ,gps. I then open Kstars on PC or MAC and connect to the astroberry as the web hub. At this point the draw back here is the data file size of the images are large and take time to down load about 7-11 sec. for 40mb file. I have found that binning the camera for plate solving will improve the alignment when plate solving. 😀

[@elythomaslumber]

I'm using Astroberry since many month and in the beginning I had o lot of issues caused due to 2 reasons. First one is the RPi voltage and current delivery. You need a power supply with 5,1V (not 5.0V) and 3A. I solved this by using an adjustable DC/DC converter (China module) and adjusted to 5.2V (comming from a 12V source). Second one is that the 5GHz WiFi tranceiver of the RPi has a poor RF range. If it looses the 5GHz WiFi connection it changes to the 2.4GHz network and back. This unfortunately causes interruptions. So I nailed the RPi only to use the 2.4GHz band. Since that time I never had anymore any break in the WiFi connection. The download speed for image transfer is absolutly no problem.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thank you for this comment! As another commenter posted, the solution to many problems seems to be the power supply of the Pi. This for me has not been a problem since, as I'm using the QC port of the power bank. But I guess this info you shared will be helpful for users running into sudden breakups. Good tip with the 2.4 GHz only setting as well, 5 Ghz quickly increases in package loss over greater distances/walls. Btw: Worked last night with the router setup and it worked.

[@spaceinyourface]

Good video,, I've got to say I absaloutley love my Astroberry,,I'm not very computer savy, so my wife set it up,,it's worked really well from day 1,,My only problem was guiding,,it took some time to figure it out,, all sorted now though & I can easily get 5 min exposures with my big 6'" refractor my mounts an exos-2pmc8 ,which I run remotely with my tablet,, everything's powered by batteries, they last about 5 hrs,, plate solving was an absolute game changer.,,it's fantastic....Now I sit indoors & let it do its thing,,it never crashes or overheats,,not yet anyway, I'm really glad you sorted your issues out.

[@BruceMallett]

I'm an aged software developer, unix then linux through-and-through. When I started astrophotography less than a year ago I built a PI4B system with Stellarmate. Loved the Indy/Ekos/KStars system (I think the internal guider s/w is easily as good as PHD2) but clear skies here are few and far between and I cannot afford to be spending half or even all of the night trying to get things running or keep them running. So it was with Stellarmate (beware of updates). Then turned to building my own Astroberry like distribution. Same again. Did not really want to have to invest in learning a new system, but better the up front loss in that time then the recurring loss of imaging time. Saw Cuiv's video, bought that computer (you flashed a picture of it), setup with the dreaded Windows OS, and added N.I.N.A. Yes it was a huge investment but has proven worth it. Plus NINA is so much more capable. My only issue so far is Windows nags and it doing an auto-update on me in the middle of the night despite my telling it not to do so (now solved by telling it that the connection is metered). Sure wish it was linux based, but it is what it is.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

I see where youre coming from and understand your approach. Funnily, I ended up with said Mini PC as well and am currently running NINA, purchased the same mini PC and only later saw that Cuiv had a video about it 😄 My plan is to use both, Nina for my regular main rig and the Pi for secondary/dark site. Clear skies!

[@BruceMallett]

@@ChrizzlyUniverse If you've not found them already, I suggest Patriot Astro's videos about N.I.N.A. Best I've found. Cheers!

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thanks, already watched a bunch of them! 😉👍🏻

[@jamieamendolagine205]

On and Off I have had connectivity issues with my RPI4 wifi. I finally discovered that you need to set the country using raspi-config. Not just once, but after some updates as well. It sometimes get's lost. Once I did that and selected 5G my connectivity to the RPI was great, no issues at all.

[@slzckboy]

I love EKOS/Astroberry project.Yes there is a learning curve ,but this is astronomy after all.. I can use it to control my canon camera.zony cameras, qhy camera zwo camera. skywatcher mount,ioptron mounts pegasus power box etc etc. Platesolving works graat,auto focus,guides natively or you can use phd2. ... It was free.and a rasberry pi computers are very cheap.Maybe not for everyone but i am a longtime fan of opensouce/linux and i guess i am a tinkerer aswell, Honestly i didnt spend alot of time getting up to speed.All the information is there on the websites docs.Its beeen a huge help to me with image acquisition.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi there, thank you for this comment! I too appreciate the work that the INDI developers put into this. And as you said, a RPi is actually the perfect little controller for this application. Now that I've overcome my connectivity troubles, I think theres way more to enjoy and play with, especially the scripts. Looking back at my first solution with my laptop connected directly to the mount, camera etc., it was not as clean and automated as well. I appreciate your comment! Clear skies!

[@chinard]

Ive been using stellarmate to run INDI/EKOS for a while now. Its basically the same thing as astroberry except packaged as a pre-setup OS and includes tech support I have mine running on ASIAir Pro hardware and INDI it even supports the ASI Power module for controlling the power connectors Im using it with two different mounts, EQ6 pro and Az-GTi in EQmode using an EQMOD cable for both. Works like a charm Connectivity wise raspberry pi has always had a craptastic wifi signal strength, so i either do as you have done with a travel router, or gone direct wired to my house. There is also a mod to connect an external antenna to the pi4 which greatly increases the wifi signal. The newer ASIAir Pro hardware includes the external antenna connector which might help here.

[@TernaryTrout]

Hi, I realise I'm responding to an old comment, but worth a try.... How are managing to control the AZGti in EQmode using the cable ? From what I see Smate only recognised the AZGti in EQmode over wifi ?

[@chinard]

@@TernaryTrout just look for the AZ-GTI eqmod cable.. its just eqmod to RJ45 once you are configuring your driver just use the regular EQMOD driver and it works like a charm

[@TernaryTrout]

@@chinard Thank you, I have the cable, but hadn't twiigged about the EQMOD driver, Working fine now ! Any tips for making clouds go away ?? :)

[@MrWacha]

I took this last step and ditched RPi+Astroberry altogether. I lost too many good nights to host of issues. Liike you I also have had issues with network connectivity but I was able to solve them rather quickly being a network engineer (+ I have WiFi extended to garden with additional wireless access point, in field I do have network cable in case of problems). Note to take is case type - go for plastic / acrylic one to eliminate faraday cage effect and stop hurting WiFi range. Alternatively add external Antennae. Do not update without making copy of system beforehand - there will be times when update breaks something (be it Astroberry, OS, Kstars or INDI, or all together). As someone said - Linix is free only if you don't value your time. I do, and time I had in remote dark skies had certain € cost attached to it. I've lost it twice due to unpredicted issues with RPi + Kstars/Ekos + Astroberry combination, it caused level of frustration where I never want to go back to anything around kstars/ekos on raspberry pi. This is not to say I think the Astroberry and underlying INDI + Kstars / Ekos combination is not good. I found that when you get it to work and it doesnt break it is quite capable image acquisition system and I did like the results. In fact at some point INDI seemed to support my rebranded Touptek CMOS way better then anything Windows based. However repeatability and reliability of the whole combination is not there yet. Again, it is about those nights and opportunities lost to troubleshooting when I realised I do like image acquisition way more then tinkering with Pi, especially given scarcity of imaging nights. I ended up repurposing Asus CN60 Chromebox minipc and putting on it Windows10, ASCOM, N.I.N.A., Sharpcap, Stellarium and PixInsight (just because now I can :) ) and I have never had a single issue. And this is what I like most - consistency: I see unexpected gap in the clouds and I can setup in under 20 mins and start without worrying if my acquisition driver has a bad day. To summarise I found that when it works the Astroberry/Raspberry Pi/INDI/Kstars/Ekos combination is good but when it breaks you will pull your hair. If this is something you accept - go for it, otherwise steer clear. I think by now NINA has surpassed Ekos in terms of level of available features and user friendliness but yeah, there's this issue of windows which is a toxic topic to some. Each to their own :-)

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Wow, now that is quite a comment! Appreciate your input, and I can totally relate to the frustrations you faced. This was the reason why I initially made this video. I almost went as far and bought myself a little PC for mounting at the scope and switching to N.I.N.A...(as it definetely looks promising). I guess one thing that changes with using your PC, is the overall required power? Do you have a mobile battery or a wall plug? (backyard usecase). So far, I was still okay with it (RPi), only problems being that the guiding/mount was doing weird stuff or misbehaving during meridian flip. Lets see, if it annoys me again big time, I might as well switch, now hearing about your positive experience. Another thing about the "windows approach": How would you describe the platesolving results/workflow with NINA/Sharpcap? Is it easy going and consistent? (Compared to EKOS) Thanks again, appreciate your friendly comment and detailed information! 😊 Clear skies! ✨

[@MrWacha]

@@ChrizzlyUniverse Apologies for late reply. Absolutely, I appreciate your work and time spent to create this very good video and so I can only share my personal experience, but I am definitely not going to argue if one prefers something different then I currently do. I also think that viewers who made their way here are already aware of certain... inefficiencies or possible issues with RPi + Astroberry/Stellarmate and as they are trying to solve them with your help, my experiences with other platforms are not important for them, as long as my comments are not adding to this pool of helpful knowledge. However I want to be courteous and answer your question. For this reason and as a as clear divider I will leave some empty space before moving to paragraphs with my opinion on other platforms. At the backyard I power everything from mains, in the field from Celestron LiPo 158WHr Power pack. My chrome box miniPC's power supply is rated at 19V but I followed advise of a more knowledgable person, who explained most of these mini pcs have onboard regulators easily working with voltages in range 12V to 19V. I confirmed this to be the case with mine but YMMV so please do not send me repair bills if your mini PC gets blown up, smoked or warranty is voided - any testing you do is at your own risk. I also tested indications from CPU-temp regarding Wattage usage (I used inline Ampmeter for this) and if I add around 3-5 Watts to CPU-temp's wattage indication (as it only takes CPU into account) the power consumption would match rather closely with AmpMeter - I noticed around 25 W total system power consumption @max CPU, during image acquisition it oscillates around 7-10W (NINA + PHD2). This is with older i7 CPU, if you go with more modern, fanless miniPCs with less power hungry CPU you should be in an even better power requirements position. I haven't tested RPi for actual wattage but even if it's lower I prefer performance gains from my old i7 where everything feels snappier. I use Sharpcap for PA and lucky imaging (Solar, Lunar, Planets) - no problem to get 150 fps with ASI224MC @full res. I was also recording at 550 fps @320x240. I need to admin that SSD shows some strange behaviour when it's reamaiing free capacity is

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Wow, thank you! I really really appreciate your response, many details and useful information! Especially the "ding ding" part with PHD, thats completely relatable 😄 In the meantime, I also had a look at NINA for a quick trial and am planning on doing a video on that in the future. I think when comparing equipment/software in general, one needs to be fair and objective and not stick to "fanboy-ism" or brand loyality or something. If a thing performs better in an aspect, it should be accepted that way. But also, different people might value various attributes differently, so not everybody will prefer the same solution, agreed. One thing I liked when I first tried NINA out was the exposure length tool, that takes your readout noise into account! I also had the feeling that the native windows driver of my Celestron mount was more spot on and precise... Thats the good thing in AP though, theres always more to learn and to see! I think I'll look further into NINA, thanks again for your tips and insight into your procedures/setup! Clear skies! :)

[@alexanderwagner9524]

Most Raspberry problems come from an insufficient power supply, overheating or bad wifi connection. I put the Pi into an aluminium case that passively cools all chips (note - case shields antenna!). For WIFI, I connect an external Alfa device. Near my window, I installed an old router that works as an access point and extends my home-network with a new 2.4GHz SSID just for Astroberry (nobody needs 5GHz for that). For long distances I would switch the antennas for directional ones. With good wifi, the browser-VNC has no lag. Running Astroberry from an external USB-SSD also improves performance and if you install vsftpd, you can transfer files easily without having to unplug the drive. I noticed problems when powering the DSLR-Camera from the Pi-USB, so I use a Powerbank for that.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Got your point. Im quite sure my PSU is sufficient (dont see the lightning symbol in the Pi, also it supports QC3.0) and aware that the aluminium casing will shield some EM waves, but didnt think of that when initially setting everything up. Now Im living with the router access point, but thats ok. I transfer my files via WinSCP (as explained in the third video of this series), but I think your recommendations can be of good use for other viewers facing those problems! Clear skies, Chris

[@ronalddebry6087]

The travel router is one solution, I took another route (sorry!) - a linux-friendly usb wifi adapter (mine is a "BrosTrend 650Mbps Linux WiFi Adapter"). Once both the internal and external interfaces are set up, I swap priority depending on if I am imaging at home vs remote. At home I set the external adapter to connect to my home wifi and the internal adapter to create the astroberry hotspot. When I go remote, I change the device priorities so that the usb adapter creates the hotspot. That gives me plenty enough wifi range at a dark site to connect from my car.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thats also a nice approach! I've looked at a stick like that but hesitated a bit due to bad experience with a cheap one, was it a plug & play kind of thing? Because then I think you've got also a great alternative and good solution 👍🏻 Clear skies!

[@facepuncher6483]

I know it's been a while since you posted this video but I wanted to point out an issue with your rpie case. It's all metal. It is blocking the wifi antenna on the board. Maybe cut out that part of the heatsink, either side of the board, so it can communicate. Hope you persevere!

[@geert5811]

Hi Chrizzly, I dumped the astroberry/kstars/ekos solution! I have a fixed rig setup with 50m ethernet cable. Out of 10 sessions, I maybe had 2 without any issue with it; the final session, kstars/ekos crashed 3 times in a row, no error message, no useful log, nothing. In my 30+ years computers at home, I finally - not proud of it - had to buy a windows computer …. The only time the pi has not let me down, is when I control my chicken coop door with it … g.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi! That sounds rough, but I can feel where you're coming from. I for certain also faced times where it would crash suddenly, but I have the feeling that most of the times it had to do with my camera driver (I suspect it to be when its downloading the image and has no correct path to put it). But the far bigger problem for me was the dropout of the VNC session. Hopefully I solved that now, lets see! As you're using a Windows device now, may I ask what PC exactly? And are you going with N.I.N.A? Nice holiday season and clear skies! - Chris

[@geert5811]

@@ChrizzlyUniverse Hi Chrizzly, VNC never was an issue - but I use a cable connection. The crashes appeared each time when doing a preview shot - confirms more or less your experience. I went for the MeLE Quieter2 Fanless Mini PC with Nina - I'm a Cuiv fan :) - and Nina (at least that is open source), but apart from installing an dry testing every thing - which went like breeze I have to say - I did not really use it as we haven't had any clear skies in weeks (or is it months?) in the windy humid hole by Northsea where I live. Best wishes to you as well! g.

[@stevehauser7486]

Hey geert, it may be a power problem. I know in my case when the cpu is at high capacity the 5 volts. Would drop below 5 volts and the pi became unstable, even crashed with no log info. I ended up buying a buck boost and set the 5 volts to 5.6v. No more crashes. My experience anyway. I found this solution on the indi forum. Cheers and a merry Christmas

[@geert5811]

@@stevehauser7486 Steve, you may have point. I installed a PoE hat and switch with PoE ports, this to have one cable less (as I use an ethernet cable to power it, the power cable was no longer needed), and that might indeed not be a reliable power solution. But unfortunately too late ... But now that I think of it I had the same problem with a previous 1GB raspberry with power adapter, which I replaced by a 8GB raspberry after people on forums told me that kstars/ekos would never work on a 1GB raspberry and now I read here that some people have no problems at all with the latter. Anyhow I'll keep my raspberries if ever I go for a portable setup. g.

[@stevehauser7486]

Hey g, I for one use a pi3 b+ w/ 1gig ram. I do have a thumb drive usb 3. I have a generic powered hub I supply the power to from a 12v source. I power the pi via another dedicated 12v line connected to the buck boost. Supplying the 5.6v to just the pi. I also have a pi4 4 gig that I have a stellarmate set up to another telescope but I prefer astroberry. Stellarmate software seams heavy an a lot slower, but it is stable Cheers

[@jamieamendolagine205]

Although I do love my RPI4 with astroberry, I have found that it is getting a bit long in the tooth, processing power wise. Although I still use the astroberry / RPI systems on occasion, I have switched my main system to use a MeLe compact computer with ubuntu 22-lts OS, along with indi/ekos/phd2. I find that I get better guiding results, maybe because of the performance. I found that tightvnc performs and works very well as an alternative to the built-in RDP or VNC that comes with Ubuntu. And the MeLe seems to not draw that much power.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hey there! I'm using a MeLe Quieter2, too, on my main rig at the moment and I'm quite happy with it (altough I'm running NINA). Interesting points you mentioned and the use of Ubuntu on another Mini PC adds another perspective on the options. Cheers and CS!

[@Oxizee]

ALL Raspberry PII have that their wifi on random moments get lost. On the RPI you see everytthing connected, but if you check your AP, the uptime has stopped, no packet commin through. This problem was already with RPI3B and RPI4. I use my RPI for Octoprint, which is an RPI platform for 3d printers. So even here we have problems with wifi. Ive made a script where it ifdowns the interface when its lost en ifup to reconnect it. The only stable connection is Ethernet, but in your case is that kinda difficult. In router you can reserve ip-adresses in the DHCP Pool list. Thats a bit easier than giving your client a static ip constantly. Your Clients getting this way still an IP through DHCP, but the ip-adress is reserved in the DHCP pool by mac-adress, and will never change. You can even assign which ip to which mac-adress. Almost every router can do this.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Wow, thats some interesting insight and additional information! So the problem is more or less pronounced to all RPi's in general. So far Im still happy with my solution (also to have the Pi in my home network), but I think your proposal might be very helpful for people wanting to use the access point of the Pi itself. Thanks for sharing this! Clear skies / regards, Chris

[@nxu5107]

Chris 3.5 hours of messing around with Astro gear! But isn’t that what we live for? We mess around with them 3,4,5 hours and it’s time to go to sleep! I have had this years. In between I collected a lot of gear too so more wasted time and money but I still live it!

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Yes you certainly have a point there! I mean I wouldnt put up with all this stuff if I didnt like it in any way, but at the same time it can be frustrating and I want others to not run into the exact same problems that I did. As I said in another video: "Who needs a sleep schedule anyway" 😄

[@nxu5107]

I am just going through your videos thanks for sharing your experiences. Especially the one on power banks. I will look around for a ctech in UK away from Amazon. You are doing a great job so keep going.

[@AndyKong51]

I have problem with my LX200 autostars connection, the work around method is to keep unplug and plug the USB until it can do the communication.... It is annoying....

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi! I had something similar with my PLL Sesto Senso 2 Focusser...replugging was the only option. Did not encounter that problem so far in NINA, maybe it is similar for your case then? In my newest video I talk about Nina compared to Astroberry. Clear skies! Christian

[@seesiedler1]

You mentioned INDI support on windows. In a different video on KZbin I saw that Stellarium supports INDI. So depending on what Stellarium can do and your goal is this might be something to look into.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thank you for this info 👍🏻

[@daenu]

I tried AstroBerry. Absolutely hated its UI, since I need to control it from a mobile device (I'm photographing out of range of my house and don't want to bring my Notebook into the wet/cold). Switched to a AsiAir Plus now. So much better. The cost? Compared to the time saved: worth every penny. Only downside: limited to ZWO devices and also limited functinallity (narrowband focussing ...). Everyone has to decide for himself. I for myself can live with AsiAir's limitations and appreciate the slick UI on my phone and the reliability. Astroberry? I rather invest my time in taking pictures then fiddling around. Just my 2 cents.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Thanks for the comment and your POV! Well, it most certainly isnt the best option for every use case, but I think this rule applies for every piece of equipment in astrophotography. EKOS/INDI environment is a mighty tool, but also needs to be played with. And I agree that the mobile situation may not be the best with the astroberry image (and browser UI). With the changes applied from this video, I managed to overcome these issues mentioned in the video and that increased my reliability quite well. On the other side and for me, I'd like to be independent in my gear choice. But as you said, not every astronomer is the same and everybody has its preferences, so I respect your choice. One thing that came to my mind, would be stellarmate. It also runs on EKOS and has a rather good looking companion app as far as I know, but the downside is its price (where for astroberry you just ne a RPi). Clear skies!

[@stevehauser7486]

Hi Chrizzly, Ive been using astroberry for about a year now. I have shared your same frustrations. To fix mine I set the IP address as static so its the same all the time. Then I bought a 200ft cat6 etho cable and connect with it.Its a pain in tge butt to run every time I set up but it does work. Im wondering if it might be time to buy a local to rpi router to connect to. Do you have it set as an access point for the home router or is there some sort of port fowarding that needs set up. Thanks and keep the astroberry vids coming

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hey, thank you for the comment! Interesting, so its not only a problem that I faced. As I started out, I also thought going with a wired solution,but then stuck with the Wifi. I did not forward any ports, as I got it working with both networks at a time. If it doesnt work from the start, you may forward the VNC port, I think thats typically TCP 5900. I dont know if you know "Fritz!box" b/c they're a german router brand, but at my parents house they're also using both a Fritzbox + Fritz Repeater, which simply extends the home Wifi, meaning I can see all devices connected to both access points without any hassle, but the repeater requires a full AC socket. As another solution though, if you dont see the fixed IP of your Pi from your home network but the Pi has internet access (because your repeater extends the wifi signal of your home network), you could use the realVNC option I explained at the end: You need to setup an account and then log in from your Pi (granted that you have internet access) and also log in to your PC (VNC Viewer). www.realvnc.com/de/raspberrypi/ Maybe I can try to look into that port forwarding though. Clear skies!

[@stevehauser7486]

Thanks for the quick reply You have gotten me thinking, I do have vnc but never use it. Since the cable works so well I never persued the wireless option. I do have an old ac router I can play with. If it works Ill buy a travel dc router. Thanks. Astroberry is very good now that 2.4 was released and I do use it on a pi 3 1gbts ram with no issues. I load images on a usb3 thumb drive and no issues.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

You're welcome! Maybe I understood it wrong, but if you control your Astroberry session via browser, you're already using the VNC server on the Pi indirectly 😄 But I assume you meant the VNC viewer. Your plan sounds plausible to me, good luck on your tests with the router! Looking forward to any update!

[@stevehauser7486]

Yes your right, I never use the viewer, I just type in the ip address of the etho in a browser page and bang, its connected. Clear skys and Merry Christmas Chris

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Merry Christmas as well! :)

[@prwbluz]

What make/model router are you using for your travel router??

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi! In the video I used the GL-MT1300 "Beryl" router. But you could go for a cheaper one if you dont need some of the features. CS! Chris

[@rcpattaya230]

I ditched it and will not pick it up again. Unless you are a Raspberry expert, Linux expert, software manager, understand all about drivers, networks, and so on, you won't be able to get it up and running. There is no step by step tutorial, no real good information on problem solving, you all have to figure it out by yourself. Well, I got better things to do. I'm happy to see you got it working, but you're probably one of the few.

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Hi there, thank you for your comment and I agree, it is definetely something for people who like to tinker. And again, if you've never worked with Linux systems, it might be even more overwhelming. I guess if you have a general understanding of astrophotography, it is not as bad as starting right from the beginning and using EKOS for that. In the beginning, I was also overwhelmed by guiding etc. but now I think I got it to a good state where you can try to build up upon. And yeah, it takes effort and commitment, but on the other side its so much more rewarding when you look at the images you captured, knowing how much pain it was haha 😄 Maybe I'll make a video with a full session workflow if theres interest out there... Clear skies!

[@rcpattaya230]

@@ChrizzlyUniverse I tried to connect my Az-Gti, doesn't work. Tried to connect a serial GPS, when I connect that, cannot connect to Astroberry anymore. Tried to find ways, spend hours and hours. Not rewarding at all. On a clear night I go out, set up my gear, within 10 minutes I'm making pictures. The next morning I stack and process and enjoy the results. That is rewarding. I realized I don't need Astroberry at all.

[@VittorioSergi]

I don' think there are "just a few" who use astroberry. I was one, but I more or less agree, there's a pretty simple reason not to get into astroberry, and that's because NINA exists

[@rogue277]

Asiair does everything this tried to do, but one million times better

[@ChrizzlyUniverse]

Well, I cannot judge about the behavior/performance of the Asiair, but it certainly also has its limitations (mainly if you dont want to stick to the ZWO ecosystem alone + price). Both are very similar, but at the same time for different tastes.