I currently have my observatory and gear all connected to an Apple Mini with two monitors.
All my scope gear connects through my mount to my Mac. It runs well.

But now that it appears future Macintosh use is no longer reliably supported, I need to move to a replacement system.
I just need a box running KStars/EKOS that has dual LCD HDMI monitor support.

What are some good options without paying over $300.

You can use Stellarmate to run INDI, and connect with your current Mac with KStars via ethernet.
That's the way I do it.

I run Stellarmate X OS on Mele Quiter3Q (less than $200 + $50 for Stellarmate OS).
Mele runs well and I have two of them. Dual HDMI supported (I never used that though).
Mele comes with Windows preinstalled but you don't need Windows, just install Stellarmate over it.
I also tried and installed Ubuntu + KStars + Ekos on Mele.
It worked and was free but I prefer Stellarmate.

Peter,

I use a Mac to run KStars/EKOS and it has no astro equipment connected. I have all the mount gear connected to a Raspberry Pi running StellarmateOS. Since everything is on the same network, I use the Raspberry Pi as an INDI server and control everything from inside my house via the Mac running KStars. Depending on your situation using an RPi like this is an inexpensive solution. You could also buy one of the Stellarmate hardware packages if you don't want to hassle with putting together an RPi solution.

Another thing to look into (although I don't have experience with this) is the newer RPi 5's have two video output channels. There is likely some fiddling around to do in order to get StellarmateOS or another version of KStars to run on the newer RPi's but I have no experience with that - others here do I believe.

Also - when you say future Mac use won't be reliably supported, is there something you can point me to where I can get up to speed?

Best,
Fred

Well it's over $300, but I got one of these:

www.highpointscientific.com/stellarmate-...otography-controller

It works great with the K-Stars platform running over ethernet.

It has great controls for dew - power outputs - and even a stepper motor port.

It shows up on INDI as it's own device and you can run everything as if it's connected to your system directly. Just got the Temp and Humidity sensor to automate the dew heaters.

It has both a web interface or you can run k-stars via remote desktop (I don't like to run it that way).

Hi Sonny,

Isn't it also possible to run the Stellarmate Pro as an INDI server and just connect to it from a Mac using the KStars Mac app rather than the web interface or Remote Desktop. The StellarmateOS certainly allows you to do that when it's installed on and RPi and I don't believe it works any differently on the Stellarmate hardware. Once the RPi is running I can access it via KStars from my Mac, via the web app, via screen share, and via the Stellarmate tablet app. Lots of ways to connect.

Cheers,
Fred

Can you run a virtual environment of Linux under Apple IOS?

I run Linux under my Windows environment (due to windows app crashes I have faced recently).

I run dual monitors as the linux VM environment runs very well and works with dual monitor support.

Can you run a virtual environment of Linux under Apple IOS?

I run Linux under my Windows environment (due to windows app crashes I have faced recently).

I run dual monitors as the linux VM environment runs very well and works with dual monitor support.

Yes, that is how I use it currently. The only issue I have is the Stellarmate hardware DOES NOT recognize the HUB on my CEM120EC. So I hard wire through the mount to the Stellarmate directly.

While I haven't personally installed Linux on my Mac, I know there are a number of ways to make that work. You asked about installing on iOS and I'm aware that it possible to fiddle with an iPad to get it to run Linux in some version but it may not be fully featured..

K-Stars for Windows and Mac were built using a system called binary-factory. That system has been sunset and the team is looking to move to GItLab for Windows compiling at this time. I do not know if the Mac build will also be moved to GitLab, but I imagine at some point they will.

The systems are maintained by volunteers who dedicate time and resources to building these.

Sonny - I have the same mount and had trouble with the USB hub that iOptron supplies. I tried some cabling through the mount as well and now I've just gone to putting the RPi and a Pegasus Astro Ultimate PowerBox on a plate attached to my optical tube. I should probably run the power cable for the Pegasus PowerBox and the ethernet cable to the RPi through the mount but those two cables haven't degraded my guiding so I haven't been motivated . . . . yet. In the meantime, the setup allows me to use very short cables for everything else.