ASI AIR compatible with BYE/BYN?

[Kevinwalsh]

I bought a Losmandy mount last year and put it on a permanent pier (no shed; I use a cover), and for the past year and a half I've had to run 2 long USB cables from the BeeLink computer in my 'warm room' out to the mount and to the powered USB hub that the guide camera, DSLRs and ASI EAF focuser connect to.

I'm trying to simplify my set-up and take-down process at the beginning and end of each observing session. So I'm wondering if there a way to use a wifi connection to control my scope and not have to run the long USB cables. I've been able to use a wifi router to have my computer 'talk' to the Gemini 2 that controls the Losmandy mount. I plugged a USB cable from the hub into the wifi router, but I can't seem to get the computer to 'see' the hub or to 'talk' to any of the components plugged into the hub.

As an alternative to the wifi router and hub, I was wondering if the ASI AIR would essentially combine both operations - a wifi connection to my computer along with the USB connections needed for my cameras, etc.

Has anyone used an ASI AIR like this, and would I still be able to use BYE/BYN to control my Nikon and Canon cameras? I'm reluctant to spend two or three hundred dollars on an ASI AIR and then find out it won't do what I want. I have not found anything via these forums or the interwebz that shows anyone using BYE/BYN via the ASI AIR.

Thanks for any comments, suggestions, and help.

Kevin

[astroman133]

i have a friend who uses an ASI Air and as far as I know the only cameras that the Air controls are made by ZWO. It also uses a smartphone with an ASI Air App to manage everything. My friend is able to cast the phone to a PC and then control everything from the PC.

You might be better putting a micro PC on the mount with it cabled to your devices. If all your devices are ASCOM compatible then you should not need any signal cables between the mount and the warm room. The only question is about the DSLRs and BYE/BYN which expect a direct, wired connection. You might be able run BYE/BYN on the micro PC and have the camera(s) connected directly to the micro PC with USB cables. Then you could establish a remote desktop session with the micro PC from some other PC in the warm room where the rest of your apps could control the mount, focuser, etc. If I were you I would try to use WiFi, but be prepared to have to cable the micro PC to the warm room with an ethernet cable if WiFi reliability becomes an issue. Still, a single ethernet cable that is not length-limited as USB cables are is easier to manage.

[admin]

The ASI Air forces you into the ZWO ecosystem, they lock you down, and you have to use their products. 

[Kevinwalsh]

Okay, good info.

Saves me from spending a lot of money on an ASI AIR.

I'll continue working on a wifi solution.

Thanks.

KW

[s3igell]

As Rick (astroman133) advised, you will need to place a "micro PC" (a NUC or similar to your BeeLink) at the Mount if you wish to pursue a WiFi bridge between the Mount and your Warm Room.  Else you can continue with the long USB Cables.  USB Hub connected to a WiFi Router won't work, as the DSLR and Guide Camera and Focuser all need specialized Drivers, while the USB Port on the WiFi Router only supports USB Disk protocol.

As you don't have a permanent roof over your Mount, you may need to consider a "weatherized Astro PC" such as sold by https://www.primalucelab.us/computer-and-software/eagle/.