Interview with QHYCCD founder Dr. Qiu

[@ericvanzant5465]

Does your new StarMaster product have external wifi connection. Wifi from the Raspberry PI from within a metal box can be very poor. Having a external connection for an antenna to the wifi header will save a lot of headaches.

[@WoodlandHillsCameraTelescopes]

This product has not been officially released in the US but the range is about 50ft. The idea behind his is not to far away inside a building, its designed to be suited to out in the field in a dark site. There is an Ethernet port that allows for longer range.

[@ericvanzant5465]

@@WoodlandHillsCameraTelescopes Sure, I have done both, set up the rig in the field and at my home with my rig in the front yard. Without a external (outside the metal box) antenna 50 ft is stretching it in real world use. Even in the field connecting to a range extender is often needed. This is just the pitfalls I have experienced, wifi doesn't work well inside a metal box and I have seen across a huge group of people using similar devices. What people are going to use this for is to set up their rig in their yard, get it polar aligned and be able to control it from inside their house nice and warm.

[@simonsky2940]

@@ericvanzant5465 To be honest, WiFi in general is never truly practical which is why I dont use WiFi for any of these types of devices. Even the PrimaLuceLab Eagle has WiFi range issues to that extent and the antennas are external. The is all boils down to one main issue and that is how much power consumption are you willing to expend. Before you mention your cellphone, the receiver towers is actually what sucks up more power, not the weak electrical signal your phone can kick out.