Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
Here is an update on where I'm at. My setup is a C11 HD Edge with a Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini 2. Love this thing. It is housed in a shed with a roll off roof so I can leave it setup.?
I have ASCOM and Gemini Telescopt.net setup and talking on my laptop. Today I installed PHD2 version 2.6.11dev4. As mentioned my laptop only has two USB ports. One is connected to the G11, the other to my ZWO ASI guide cam. Both connect in PHD2. I'm as far as I can go for now, as I'm in the house with just the Gemini 2 box off of the mount and the ZWO camera. Next step is to go out and put the stuff on the mount and try the guide camera Calibration in PHD2. But we have 10 inches of snow on the ground at the moment. I live in the high desert in Oregon.?
I know now I need a USB Hub of some sort. Thanks for recommending the Pegasus Hubs. I think I'll go with the Pocket Powerbox gen 2 for now. The Ultimate V2 is almost twice as much. At the moment I don't have Due Heaters or cooled cameras that need 12 V DC, but I will in the future.?
Next, I want to setup a network to connect the telescope to my PC in the house. I have a CAT6 Ethernet cable run out to the observatory, which is about 150 feet from the house. Actually it runs to my shop first where there is a Router, then out to the observatory. So the next thing I'd like to figure out is the best way to connect it at the scope. Something like the Mele mini PC or Intel NUC. I'd like to stay Windows based, I don't know Linux. So if I'm thinking about this right, I would have the Pegasus Powerbox to use as the USB Hub, have USB hub connect to the mini PC's USB, have the mini PC setup with ASCOM, Gemini, PHD2, etc, and use the mini PC to connect to my network via the Ethernet cable. Is this how people do it ? Since my goal is to eventually run the scope from in the house, I have decided not to go with a ASIAir Plus?setup, as it sounds as if your still outside controlling things via your phone, iPad or tablet. I don't know if you can connect ASIAir to a network via Ethernet.?
As lastly, I'm bewildered by all the Astro programs out there and how they all fit together. I'm starting with PHD2. But then you have all these things like NINA, SharpCap, Stellarium, and many many more. What is a reasonable software suite to go along with PHD2 ? It seems NINA is one. Besides guiding, I will want things that help with polar alignment, focusing, plate solving, image scheduling, planetarium, etc.?
Gary?
?
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Re: G-11/Gemini compatibility with ASI Air
Thanks for all your help. I tried a different USB cleaner and it worked.? Apparently, the old cable was bad.
Thanks, Bob
Hello
Could you maybe point me in the right direction on how i would go about configuring the ASIAIR and the Gemini 2 to connect with a direct ethernet cable?
Thank you!!
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Re: G-11/Gemini compatibility with ASI Air
Hello
Could you maybe point me in the right direction on how i would go about configuring the ASIAIR and the Gemini 2 to connect with a direct ethernet cable?
Thank you!!
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
Hi Dale, Chip and anyone else following along -- experimental physics is fun! Now that I've got the router, I can play with it and see how it actually does under different placements and antenna orientations.
?
A 2.4 GHz radio waveform has, as Dale points out, a 12.5-cm wavelength (4.9 inches). (6 cm for 5G). So interference from nearby conducting objects could be constructive or destructive depending on the precise separation/orientation.
My intuition is that the Beryl is going to work just fine, regardless of where I put it. If I choose to bungie-cord it to a tripod leg, it would certainly be closer to it than 4.9 inches, but the deployed Beryl antennae can never be parallel to a tripod leg.
Closer to perpendicular at full extension (roughly 80 degrees).
?
Weather has been so lousy in SoCal for the last 5 months (wettest, coldest, windiest winter in the nearly 40 years I've lived here) that I've got plenty of time to figure this out.
?? --Rob
?
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Dale Ghent
Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 5:21 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: EXTERNAL: Re: [Gemini-II_io] GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
?
?
Yeah. "Near" in terms of metal objects near an antenna is generally regarded as 1 wavelength of distance. For 2.4GHz wireless, that would be around 124mm. 59mm for 5GHz wifi.
?
> On Mar 8, 2023, at 02:38, Chip Louie <chiplouie@...> wrote:
>
>?? Hi Rob,
>
> With radio waves it's not that there is metal nearby so much as that the metal is so near the antenna and parallel to the antenna that can cause a problem with the radiation and worse, the reception pattern. These stick antennas tend
to radiate in the shape of a toroid. Interestingly placing a plate of metal under the antenna was an old school way to increase RF signal strength. The mini travel router sits on top of my DIY power pack which is in a plastic tool box as shown in the photo.
This setup allows me very good range and even connects to my home Wi-Fi network alloing access to the ASIAIR from the PC workstation in the basement running ASIAIR under the Blue Stacks 5 emulator.???
>
> <PXL_20220218_202642701.jpg>
>
>?
> --
>
> Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware
>
>??? Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA
>
> <PXL_20220218_202644330.jpg>
?
?
?
?
?
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
Yeah. "Near" in terms of metal objects near an antenna is generally regarded as 1 wavelength of distance. For 2.4GHz wireless, that would be around 124mm. 59mm for 5GHz wifi.
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On Mar 8, 2023, at 02:38, Chip Louie <chiplouie@...> wrote:
Hi Rob,
With radio waves it's not that there is metal nearby so much as that the metal is so near the antenna and parallel to the antenna that can cause a problem with the radiation and worse, the reception pattern. These stick antennas tend to radiate in the shape of a toroid. Interestingly placing a plate of metal under the antenna was an old school way to increase RF signal strength. The mini travel router sits on top of my DIY power pack which is in a plastic tool box as shown in the photo. This setup allows me very good range and even connects to my home Wi-Fi network alloing access to the ASIAIR from the PC workstation in the basement running ASIAIR under the Blue Stacks 5 emulator.
<PXL_20220218_202642701.jpg>
--
Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware
Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA
<PXL_20220218_202644330.jpg>
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Re: Meridian Flip - Stopped Working
Hi Frank, I posted a possible fix for the meridian flip issue in L5.21 using the :Mf# command. The new, test driver posted in the Gemini ASCOM Driver group has a setting that uses a different method to force a meridian flip. Please see if this works any better and let me know (don't forget to set the Flip using Goto option in telescope settings): /g/Gemini_ASCOM_Driver/message/5047This will not fix the flip not working from the HC, but hopefully will fix it when it's requested through the ASCOM driver (from the menu or your other software). Regards, ? ? -Paul
On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 10:43 AM, Frank Wielgus wrote:
So, given the above:
- mount does not flip even though it should
- manipulating limits does not help?
- happens via usb or ethernet
- happens even when not running an imaging application
- happen after testing a variety of cables and laptops
Does this imply anything regarding my gemini unit ?
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
Nice
little unit.. I recently acquired an Ultrabook T480s and put a very fast 1TB
SSD in it.. Nothing but rain since then in Sunny CA!
FYI ¨C You have a 5400rpm HDD.. 7200rpm is *much* better from high speed
planetary video, and are cheap since SSD¡¯s are all the rage.. This Lenovo
Edge 15 I am on and used to use extensively has a 300GB 7200rpm HDD, but only
USB2, which is why I acquired the Ultrabook..
ANYWHO
- Besides just using the touchpad, you could also just acquire either a Wifi or
Bluetooth Mouse (and keyboard), and that would free up the USB2 port for use
with PHD2..
Derek
?
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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of gmartin@...
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2023
12:26 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Gemini-II_io]
Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
?
Lenova Ideapad Yoga 13. It has two USB ports, but my mouse uses the 2.0
port. Only the 3.0 port is available.?
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
Lenova Ideapad Yoga 13. It has two USB ports, but my mouse uses the 2.0 port. Only the 3.0 port is available.?
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
As
a Lenovo fan, What Model Lenovo has only one USB port??
Derek
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 01:26 AM, Rob Matson wrote:
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems to work fine.?
I don¡¯t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house, so I¡¯d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal ¨C unless that ¡°metal¡± happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router. ?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I¡¯ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX ¨C it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
Hi Rob, With radio waves it's not that there is metal nearby so much as that the metal is so near the antenna and parallel to the antenna that can cause a problem with the radiation and worse, the reception pattern. These stick antennas tend to radiate in the shape of a toroid. Interestingly placing a plate of metal under the antenna was an old school way to increase RF signal strength. The mini travel router sits on top of my DIY power pack which is in a plastic tool box as shown in the photo. This setup allows me very good range and even connects to my home Wi-Fi network alloing access to the ASIAIR from the PC workstation in the basement running ASIAIR under the Blue Stacks 5 emulator.? ??  ? -- Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
As mentioned you have many options open to you. I was in your shoes about a year ago. I ended up buying a Pegasus box, it is called the Ultimate Powerbox V2 ?(?)and connect my components (cameras & auto focuser) to then connect the Pegasus box via USB to my laptop which solves the problem of not enough USB ports on your laptop. I¡¯d also recommend that ?you look into N.I.N.A. which is free and there LOTS of tutorials on how to use it. Personally I like Patriot Astro¡¯s YouTube channel as I find him to be the clearest and most complete on how to setup and use N.I.N.A. You already have everything else so you are almost there from an equipment point of view.?
Best of luck, Roger
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On Mar 7, 2023, at 6:06 PM, Gary Martin <gmartin@...> wrote:
I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
There's several different approaches that will work. You'll have to choose the the one you like best.?
A raspberry pi 4 running an astronomy focused Linux distribution is a cheap and easy way to get started. This is similar to the asiair, but it's cheaper, and has full support for non zwo cameras. Easy if you're familiar with Linux, or willing to learn.?
Both solutions use a raspberry pi, and it's getting a bit old, so it's going to sometimes struggle to keep up.?
I'm using a mele fanless mini Intel computer with the same software stack as the astroberry distro: ekos/kstars/indi/phd2 etc.. this is my preferred platform, I find that it works really well.?
Many people use windows on a minipc using ascom drivers and Nina. I'm sure that also works great.?
Jamie
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
PHD2 gives you more options than the ASI-AIR. To solve your usb issue, look into the Pegasus Astro Power Box. This option allows you to use all your existing stuff and still allows you upgrade room in the future.?
That said, the ASI-AIR is also a great option, the Canon 6D is a supported camera.
Hope that helps. ?
Ron
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On Mar 7, 2023, at 9:09 PM, Gary Martin <gmartin@...> wrote:
?I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.?
That would be helpful for me.?
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
Hi Rob
I think the message regarding tripod leg or wherever?you want to put it is location can affect connectivity, so if your wifi signal is not great, you can try moving it around. Although it's probably wise to avoid faraday cages.?
We did a tutorial on setting up the GL.iNet router for woodland hills, it's still solid:?
On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 1:26?AM Rob Matson via <robert.d.matson= [email protected]> wrote:
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems
to work fine.?
I don¡¯t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house,
so I¡¯d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal ¨C unless that ¡°metal¡± happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router.
?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I¡¯ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX ¨C it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
-- Brian?
Brian Valente astro portfolio? portfolio astrobin?
--
Brian
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Re: PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
Hi Brian,
Absolutely, you should be using an autoguider rather than manually guiding. Last time I guided manually (to image or to program PEC) was in the early to mid 90's :) If you're worried about overcorrection, you can always lower the aggressiveness of the autoguider. As long as your DEC drift isn't large, I'd also turn off DEC corrections when programming PEC.?
Regards,
? -Paul
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On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 06:53 AM, brian wheeler wrote:
The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect.
I¡¯m curious,¡¡ Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually.
I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a ¡°has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training¡.
Thank you,
Brian Wheeler
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Re: PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
I have the following notes for Gemini-1 which allows averaging. I think you'd need to use PEMPro (or GemPro when available) for G-2 and modify accordingly.
1. The first thing you do, is set up your autoguiding camera (say with PHD2), and let it calibrate.
2. While PHD2 is running (autoguiding), use the Gemini handset to go to the PEC menu, and start the TRAIN PEC. ¡°Setup ¡úMount Parameters ¡úPEC¡úTrain PEC¡±
3. That will complete in about 4 minutes. As soon as that is done, you just run the same thing again (run #2). ¡°Setup ¡úMount Parameters ¡úPEC¡úTrain PEC¡±
4. After run #2, go to the commands: ¡°Setup ¡úMount Parameters ¡úPEC¡úAverage Data¡±
... now repeat the next 2 lines... until you have at least 5 training sessions averaged ....
5. Start PEC run (#3, etc) with the commands: ¡°Setup ¡úMount Parameters ¡úPEC¡úTrain PEC¡±
6. then add that to the average with: ¡°Setup ¡úMount Parameters ¡úPEC¡úAverage Data¡±
HtH
David
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-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of brian wheeler via groups.io Sent: 07 March 2023 11:53 To: [email protected]Subject: [Gemini-II_io] PEC recording g11 Gemini 2 The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect. I¡¯m curious,¡¡ Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually. I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a ¡°has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training¡. Thank you, Brian Wheeler
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PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect.
I¡¯m curious,¡¡ Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually.
I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a ¡°has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training¡.
Thank you,
Brian Wheeler
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems
to work fine.?
I don¡¯t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house,
so I¡¯d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal ¨C unless that ¡°metal¡± happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router.
?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I¡¯ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX ¨C it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
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Paul Kanevsky
Chip Louie
Jamie Amendolagine
David C. Partridge