Hi all!
Im a beginner in astronomy (what I did as a kid docent count. ) And are setting up my gear for both Visual and AP.
Working in the large format digital printing kind of Biz. Im hooked on what can be achieved in astro photo!
I got directed her by a very nice fellow Swede. Started to think if a Pi could be good to control everything. Its cold and snowy
outside here now.

Equipment is Edge 8HD, AVX mount. Just got hold of a starizona MicroTouch Autofocuser. Ap will be done with Hyperstar, as I've noticed the ave can have some tracking issues. So, in that way, I can get som shots with shorter exposures. Camera is not decided yet. Will se what I can get for my budget. But id really like to have a high resolution sensor. so I can print my AP mistakes, and hang them on the wall. Looking at something with a sensor 183. Hmm.

I have installed indi, kstars on my Pi3b. Got it up and running. But have not done anything more.
Id like to have it connected to my mount and have it tested out. If works, id go for the StellarMate setup.
Im not a computer fiddeling type of guy. I use the as my tools. But I can't help like the pi, since it such a small and effective board.
Had my as a set up for my homebuilt 3d printer, running it remotely with octopi.

Now the question. Do you all think it would run my gear in a good way?
Im thinking about how to set it up for ap. Is it capable to run the camera with larger image files?

Clear night skies and plenty of insomnia to you all!

It would be most effective if you use it as a server, rather than a desktop. Especially if you have something with high resolution and you want to preview and examine the images. That's what I do here, I have StellarMate up in my home observatory and I'm connected to it from my PC running KStars. Another critical factor is connectivity, I'm connected to StellarMate via Gigabit LAN so everything is pretty fast. You can get OK performance with WiFi depending on a lot of factors.

Hi!
Thank you for your kind reply!
I was thinking having it as a server on the mount and running it on wifi.
That would be a fast setup time. As im planning to have it all pretty much ready to go.
So I just can carry it all out in the backyard.
should also be smooth when going to dark sites ect.
Although, gigabit lan would be a option at home.

The key is easy and effective setup. (that way I get more usage of the equipment)
Oh, using Mac, iPhone and ipad.

Hi ,
I do have same steup. Camera is ASI 1600, running on Stellarmate installed on PI3+ which is connected to my PC via Ethernet cable. It' s working more or less ok, There are some weird connection issues, specially with Microtouch, but generally it's a fab platform. Although the weather is extremely crappy in Estonia at the moment, I haven't got a chance much to do some proper imaging. I guess is best to say good luck for both of us and clear skies!

Hi Rocket,

To me, connectivity whether wifi or wired is the least time-consuming to set up. I think you will find that you spend more time hooking up power, running data cables, leveling the mount, and then performing polar alignment. Plus you need to consider the time needed to prepare for a night of imaging. There are lots of devices that need power of various voltages. Put some thought into how you can neatly run power and data cables along the scope. Think about the possibility of a single power connector that joins your scope to the power bank. All data cables should plug into StellarMate so you need to mount it in a convenient spot. It can be an extremely rewarding hobby but you might find that there is a lot to it to make it work smoothly. That's the challenge.

Hi,

After some configuration problems, now I am using the rasp pi3 with kstars/ekos standalone (ubuntu mate 16.04 for arm processors)... doing all the big job. Stellarmate is a good option if you don't want to learn linux...

As Jasem wrote, it works great as a server, with a laptop processing big work, but if you have some connectivity problems ( wifi, gigabit, PLC) be careful...

Other people are using the raspberry pi 3 as as sever+Phd2, saving pictures local and remote (good option in case of connection failure), if kstars hangs, start it again and the mount will be where you left... guiding a star...

good luck for this new challenge

Guillem