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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Alternate single board computer experimenting

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Yeah as you can see in my 3D model I'm using a Waveshare stepper motor HAT, using the driver I wrote. The hardware pinouts are compatible with the Raspberry Pi 40-pin header, even though addressing the GPIOs are different (different numbering scheme).

So far the only GPIOs I've used are the ones used by the Waveshare HAT for the two motors, in digital output mode.

On the Rock Pi (which also has a compatible 40-pin header, but also with different numbering scheme), I had to disable an i2s kernel module, because it was conflicting with the GPIO. I've had no such problems on my ODroid N2+ though.
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1 year 6 months ago #86648

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My V1 of a HAT for the M1. I'm expecting some revisions will be required (especially tweaking trace widths) but am away soon for a bit so figured I'd get some boards made and test the basics with it.
Slightly wider than the M1 board which is not ideal. It has a 4 channel dew heater control and stepper drivers for a focuser and rotator on board. I could easily remove 2 dew heater channels for my use and retrieve some width in the board but for now it's mostly a learning exercise rather than an attempt to get the final board. I'd not opto isolated the FET circuits in the original Android version of this but have added it this time.

Not tried with this version but I have pondered putting some components upside down to see if a simplified version would fit in the official case with access via the back.
I have not done PCP mounted sockets for the 12V supply or I2C bus at this stage. I2C to talk to a Temp/Humidity sensor to measure ambient conditions. Headers on the board for both currently but version 2 will probably do that differently. I hope there are no I2C or 1-wire conflicts with the M1, I use both, Dallas 1-wire temp sensors under the heater straps to try and track heating.



1 year 5 months ago #86670
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I've made a start on doing some documentation for the ODROID-M1 GPIO's in the format used for the ESP32 @ randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-pinout-reference-gpios/It's a work in progress but there does not appear to be a single reference document for the M1, to find the capabilities I was looking at posts on other topic's (and often other ODROID models).I've also placed an order for my 3rd version of a HAT for the M1 GPIO's after discovering some wrong assumptions (only a single 1-wire channel, PWM limited to 3 pins one of which is the default for 1-wire) in earlier versions.

Assuming no more incorrect assumptions the HAT should give me a two channel DEW controller with active dewpoint monitoring and temp monitoring from under the heater straps along with stepper motor control for focuser and camera rotator on the HAT.I did some preliminary testing with a DFROBOT Multifunctional Environment sensor using I2C (UART is an option) and was getting back readings from it's range of sensors. It has Temp, Humidity, air pressure, Ambient light and UV light sensors on board. I'm hoping that I can use it for some sky quality monitoring as well as dewpoint.

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1 year 5 months ago #87117
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Not the same company, I believe (Rock64 vs Rock Pi 4)
Rock64 is from Pine64.org, while RockPi4 is from RadXa
I can confirm the problems you had with the Rock64. I bought this sbc to replace an aging RPi 3, mainly because it had a USB3 port and eMMC support. But as you also experienced, the user base is very small and the OS had serious issues. Also, I needed a powered USB hub to get stable operation from my ASI cameras.
The most stable (although not the fastest) platform I have used to date for INDI/Ekos is a Raspberry Pi 4 with the astroberry distro.
Last edit: 1 year 5 months ago by Wim van Berlo.
1 year 5 months ago #87163

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Oh, I didn't realize they were from different companies! My main experience has been with the Raspberry Pi lineup, both the 3's and the 4's. I have played around with a couple of others including the Odroid and the Rock64 as I said before, but yeah, so far I think the Raspberry Pis are the best. I don't use Astroberry though, I use my script to set up Ubuntu Mate on whatever SBC I would be using and it works pretty well for me. I have also experimented with Rasbian and with Manjaro, but I still like Ubuntu Mate the best.

Thanks for the info!

Rob
1 year 5 months ago #87173

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I happened across hackerboards.com/ recently. ... which reminded me of this thread, and reminded me that I was going to do something with a Radxa Zero.
1 year 3 months ago #88937

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I'm yet to find what would be my ideal brick:

- Intel celeron J4125 (less power hungry than a RPI-type ARM processor and runs colder)
- 4-8 gb ram.
- 128gb emmc.
- External SD card.
- 4x USB 3.0 + 1 USB-C PD for power with all the capabilities (i.e. display port etc etc).
- Wifi with external antenna port.
- Very compact layout (smaller than the MeLe), with no ethernet port, no hdmi, no audio jack, no M.2 SSD connector and all the connectors in 2 sides (or maybe even 1 side).

The closest things are the MeLe 2Q (however with a larger format, no external antenna port for wifi -this sucks- and many ports I don't need) and the Asi Air Mini (however with USBs 2.0 and likely more power hungry).
1 year 3 months ago #88954

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If this may help you decide, here is the setup I use for my compact setup. It consists of a MeLe 3Q on top of a Pegasus Astro Pocket Power Box Advanced.

1 year 3 months ago #88968
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I went with the MeLe Quieter3C, a little faster and hotter (not an issue in Nova Scotia). Geekbench scores for me with UbuntuMate 22.04 => 665 single, 1815 multi

Gilles - very tidy setup, that's the way I have mine setup, but not nearly as neat.
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1 year 3 months ago #88975

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Those with the MeLe (I went to the 2Q because it gets less hots and potentially uses less power for battery usage). Have you investigated if an external antenna can be added to improve the mediocre wifi coverage. What I opted for was to leave my phone outside acting as a router, but this is a bit inconvenient. Using an external wireless device is also not ideal thinking about power usage and if you need the 4 ports.

Find attached a picture of my MeLe 2Q around the wireless card. It has two antenna connectors with cables glued in place. These should be compatible in principle: www.amazon.com/-/es/Antena-RP-SMA-extens...tebook/dp/B07QKF18KM , but of course MeLe technicians adviced me against doing the corresponding mods (see quote below from them). Also I'm not fully sure one of these cheap antennas has a better gain than the internal one.

we do not suggest you add an external antenna to the quieter2q mini pc,
it needs to screw the housing case with holes and re-mold the housing case.


Last edit: 1 year 3 months ago by Mireia.
1 year 3 months ago #89028
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That looks solid enough.
I use ethernet over power at home (www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-Powerline-Pass-thr...r%2Caps%2C228&sr=8-5) and as of yet haven't tried the wifi of the quieter-3C in the field in real circumstances.

You should be able to measure your wifi strength under both scenarios. I've used the WiFi Explorer.app to measure signal strength and look for congested channels. I presume any computer would let you see it's signal strength from the wifi.
1 year 3 months ago #89029

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Gilles

What king of bracket is that that attached the LeLe to the Pegasus?

Kurt
7 months 17 hours ago #95252

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