AstroBox M4

A new toy: NanoPi M4,

brand new development board, similar to RPi but better(!) in quite a few areas. It has 2GB RAM, speed Rockchip Rk3399 processor and a lot of other goodies (WiFi, 1G ethernet, 4 USB3.0 and 3 USB2.0 ports, etc).

I decided to make a new AstroBox with it because the former built on OrangePi had not enough processor power and too little RAM. Now it is ready and runing great.
It is self contained with INDI, Kstars and Ekos. You have to connect to it to initiate the session, but while it is running (making photos, guiding, focusing), you can disconnect and it does not disrupt the session.

It provides the following conectivity to telescope and other astro devices:

• 2 x 7.4V switchable power outlets for DSLR cameras
• 1 x shutter release mini jack for Canon or Pentax DSLRs
• 1 x RS232 with RJ11 socket (for simple 1 to 1 connection to Celestron mount)
• 1 x 12V PWM for heater
• 2 x 12V switchable power outlets for other devices
• 4 x USB 3.0
• 2 x USB 2.0
• 1 x USB3 socket (but USB 2.0 speed only)
• 1 x 1G ethernet
• HDMI (not used)
• headphones (not used)

From the PC side, one can connect to it using VNC or RDP.

Basically it covers all the AstroBox v1 did, but just better...

Chainguard

A small DYI project
It is a parametrized OpenSCAD model of bicycle chainguard.
It is beased on the module done by enif. I added an ability to specify angle pro each screw hole.

Lunar Eclipse 2018

AstroBox v2 in action - lunar eclipse!

Not too many posts recently. But here is a fresh photo taken with scope + Pentax K-5 II. All driven by AstroBox v2 :)
Photo tethering of Pentax using pktriggercord program.

AstroBox v2 cont.

Easter = hobby time ;)

Some progress is done with the AstroBox v2:

• the box is printed
• components are collected

Next step is soldering!

Below are all major components, the only missing is a 4-ports relay box, which is currently installed in AstroBox v1...

Windows deploy with Clonezilla

Recently I reinstalled Windows 8.1 on 14 computers (total 15 but one of them was a "donor" of OS image for the rest), using the Clonezilla multicast feature. I'd like to share how does it look like...

The deployment was done from a DRBL server which is including Clonezilla service. All the PCs received the same network packets in a synchronous way - so all 14 PC were re-imaged simultaneously.
The entire process took about 50 minutes over 1Gbit network (the OS image had 53 GB). Here, the DRBL server is relatively weak and old machine with 4GB RAM, running Debian Linux with a DRBL packages installed.

The benefit of DRBL is that any of the PCs can also run Linux directly from the server, without installing it (PXE boot from the network and system via NFS). The boot menu for selecting locally installed Windows or remote Linux is visible at 1:45 in the movie.

The below movie shows just the ending of the process. After re-imaging, PCs were restarted to apply changes made by a small script, which was started automatically, to:

• change the PC name
• install proper Windows license key
• set a nice wallpaper, different for each PC :)

AstroBox v2

AstroBox v2

An improved AstroBox is in preparation. I'm using the Orange Pi PC2 development board instead of OrangePi PC. It has four cores and Allwinner H5 64bit processor, running on Armbian Linux distribution.

The v2 has all the capabilities of AstroBox v1, with the following improvements:

• Orange Pi PC2 has 1GB ethernet and faster processor. 
• Added shutter interface and power connector for second DSLR. So it is possible to have one DSLR connected to main scope (e.g. SCT 8), and second DSLR piggybacked, with tele lens.
• Added PWM with 12V to connect heater tape.
• All four USB 2.0 ports, which are exposed by Orange Pi, are now available. In my case connected will be:
• DSLR 1 - Canon 400D, on SCT8
• DSLR 2 - Pentax K5II with 300mm tele on piggy back
• QHY5 camera - as OAG (Off Axis Guider)
• DreamFocuser

Here is a screenshot of the case ready for printing on Ultimaker 2 3d printer:

BTW. INDI driver for DreamFocuser is here.