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jamie.amendolagine@...

Good point, Brian.

You want UPS battery backup if for no other reason than to ensure an orderly shutdown and buffer flush. In my configuration there are two UPS units -- one feeds the NAS units, the network switch and firewall, the server is on the other. Enough battery capacity to run things for an hour. An orderly shutdown of the arrays and server starts after 30 minutes of power outage. The observatory PC has two SSDs -- the images from the night (or day) get flushed to the server while I am closing. Nothing is retained there -- it all moves to the network.

g

Thanks all you your inputs.? I am not sure what I was thinking.? I really need 20 plus TBytes of storage.? I have ~1.5Tbytes of Canon 6D / 5DMkIV terrestrial images to store also.

For astro stuff I retain the Lights, Flats, Registered and PI Projects for each target.? That adds up fast.? Especially if I image from my backyard.? I usually have 150 plus Light subs.? I usually zip stuff up too.? RAID 1 is sufficient for my needs.? I may archive stuff that's more than 4 years old to USB3 HDD's.

The?Synology DS920+ is at the top of my list.

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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA

Losmandy G11G, NINA 2.0 Beta / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, Sky-Watcher Scopes

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Jim,
After I got my DEC spike problem solved with my 811 (the key adjustment was to reset the tension on my SLW boxes, as per a Scott Losmandy video that Brian sent me - the adjustments eliminated the backlash and loosened the box so that it would float as designed - it was over tightened and frozen) I went back to AP adventures. Last month I wanted to try and put together a mosaic of the Cygnus Loop. I spent seven sessions gathering data for the four panels with my ASI2600 MC Pro. I am using NINA for acquisition and PI and a trial license with APP for mosaic processing. ?As I got into the processing, I found that my astro files (9 months of data and processing on about 35 DSO's) had maxed out my 2 TB SSD drive. I had a storage problem.

I began to read and watch videos and talk to a few nearby friends. It seemed I was in the market for a NAS. Most of the advice suggested that I get a unit that could handle five years of data collection as I look to the future. That made sense. They also suggested the 3-2-1 strategy, 3 copies of your data on 2 different media with 1 offsite. I thought that was probably a bit of overkill for me. A third piece of advice had to do with read/write speeds of hard drives and transfer speeds between my computer in the NAS unit. ?

I purchased a Synology DS218+ double bay unit, but swapped it out for a DS940+ 4 bay unit when I discovered the 218+ could not accept future expansion units. The setup was simple enough even for someone like me without any networking experience. I installed 2 10TB hard drives (leaving 2 bays available for future expansion), plugged it into my router, managed to set up a storage pool, a couple volumes, some folders, and transferred my Astro data over. I also ran an ethernet 6 cable from my router to my workstation. It all seems to work quite well, and I am pleased with it at this point.

I have had to make one important adjustment in my processing workflow. The Cygnus Loop mosaic project has been massive, with 1400 X 60s subs, gathered over seven sessions and stacked into four different panels. As you know, Jim, our ASI2600s produce 52 MB subs! Then there were the layers of folders to get from the subs, to integrated masters, through the assembly process.?I ended up with 28 masters for my panels that were 940 MB each, before I ever got to my a final master. ?When I tried to handle this workflow with my computer hardwired to my NAS unit, the data transfer was too slow. So what I ended up doing was transferring all the subs to my newly empty SSD drive and plugging it directly into my computer until my processing was completed. That resolved any transfer delay issues. After I am done, I will plug the SSD into the NAS UBS3 port and transfer all the data back to the NAS. Easy to do.?

I will be very interested to know how you resolve the data storage issue.

I am also very interested to know what data of people keep long term. I assume that I will be adding fresh data to my DSO folders in the future and will want to process everything again. I also assume that the software is developing so rapidly that reprocessing my data with the new software competencies will sooner or later be worth doing. So what should I keep? I would really prefer not to have to keep everything. Do I keep the raw fits files with the calibration data? I assume that I keep my masters. I noted that some people said they kept only their registered folders plus their masters. But if you wanted to preserve your ability to re-process, wouldn't you have to keep something earlier, like perhaps the calibration folders? I'd be glad for any advice.

Geoff Chapman

If it is just drives then higher end drives from the main manufacturers should be fine. I have had the Seagate Ironwolf and Barracudas in a Netgear ReadyNAS (not sure they are still made) for years without any real issues - caveat:- use Raid 5 or other as you will replace mechanical drives at some point in time.

+1 with Gregory's comment of Gigabit networking - along with a Gigabit and 10Gigabit interface on the NAS (a lot have both these days).

Good luck,
Ken

I have a couple of QNAP nas devices -- with my Windows 2012r2 file server have roughly 36TB of accessible storage (I keep multiple copies as an alternative to backups). You will want gigabit connections -- AP raw images are huge. Started with 4TB drives, those are considered small now. While I used USB connected drives for years, I never found them truly reliable.

I am getting tired of USB3 SSD's and HDD's floating around that I use to store my PI Projects.? Its no problem for me to build a NAS but I don't have the time or parts.? I have no experience with off-the-shelf NAS Drives.? What are good manufacturers and models to start looking at?? I am currently checking out Western Digital and?Asustor.? What do other do to store images?

I would need RAID 1 (minimum) and about 6 to 8TBytes of total data 'HDD' 7,200 RPM SATA II storage.? Network performance is a big consideration.? My house is hard-wired for 100Mbps.? Software capabilities is another consideration.

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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA

Losmandy G11G, NINA 2.0 Beta / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, Sky-Watcher Scopes

Hi Ken,

Yours is probably one generation i7 newer than mine. I have a very low profile Skull Canyon i7 NUC kit that I installed 32GB RAM & 1TB NVMe.

With the conventional Intel NUC box then mounting it to the scope is kinda goofy but on the large Losmandy HD tripod legs it would disappear. I much prefer the very tidy cabling of an on scope computer. Alternately the addition of the compact Pegasus Ultimate Power Box V2 allows you to run a single power cord and USB 3.1 cable to the optic with full control and minimum cable routing issues.?




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Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?

? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?

On Mon, Jul 11, 2022 at 08:10 AM, Chip Louie wrote:

Which NUC do you have?

8iBEHS - old 8 and yes there is VESA plate on it - will look at a table or zigsawed plate.

Thanks Chip
Ken

Thanks all - plenty of food for thought. I also saw some two tiered metal framed tables with electric neutral levels that will fit under the tripod too - lower level for my LiPo4 battery and upper level for the NUC and other bits.

Will close here.

Thanks again.
Ken

I made one out of door-skin / thin finishing plywood using a jigsaw. It seriously took less than an hour of effort and it's been working perfectly for years.?


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jamie.amendolagine@...

Check out buckeyestargazer.net. ?If Joel doesn’t have a mounting bracket that fits your NUC he will make one. ?He did for me. ?

Clear skies!
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Jeff

Jeff Rothstein
Tucson, AZ

A-P Traveler 105mm, Losmandy GM-8, ASI 294MC PRO, Pegasus UPBv2 and Motor Focus Kit; Optolong L-Enhance and Starizona filter sleeve; 50mm guidescope and ASI 120MM camera; Skyguider Pro and Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark III; Sharpcap, NINA, PixInsight

Ed it sounds like a HC communication issue as in the HC cable is intermittently disconnecting. ?

maybe try connect and run your system via USB or LAN and use Gemini ASCOM to run your system. ?You can unplug your HC to stop it interfering?

Does it now still exhibit “freezing”? ?If “no” it’s the HC and or cable if “yes” it’s the main board. ?Also what version G2 do you have? ?The older type or the mini?

get back on this, cheers
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Brendan

开云体育

Hello
How can i fix this problem? it freezes when when tracking, slewing and it shows some weird characters in the main screen menu in the upper side of the screen. I have change the battery, new cables, loosen up the clutches, the power source is new and check voltage.
Ed
Thank you

Hi Jeff

that's curious behavior indeed.?

I tried to reproduce it with a couple hand controllers here and was unable to do so. M13 comes up with correct RA/Dec coordinates. M92 and M31 also come up as expected.

I assume you did this from the hand controller? (vs. Gemini Telescope.net or other app)

You might try unplugging/plugging in the hand controller from the Gemini to see if that clears it.

Otherwise it's probably good to start a support ticket by emailing techsupport at losmandy dot com and we can troubleshoot

Brian

Hi Ken,

Which NUC do you have? Mine had several threaded mounting points in back to attach the NUC to a mounting bracket. You can use the attachment points to fasten it to an old Losmandy dovetail saddle from a GM8 and clamp it to a short dovetail attached to a leg with stainless steel street sign band clamps which are extremely secure.?

Or if you want a less serious low visibility solution use HD Velcro on the leg and Velcro straps attached with those same attachment points using washers under the fastener heads then just strap the NUC to the HD tripod legs on the Velcro patches which will let the Velcro straps grip the stick on Velcro landing pads. Also very secure but lighter and less obvious.?

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Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?

? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?

I have not done this yet, but some recommend a Home Depot paint can lid (sold separately, to fit their 5-gallon buckets and repurposed plastic paint cans), secured with a threaded rod.