My Patreon: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek My Merch Store: cuiv.myspreadshop.com/ Touch N Stars Repository: github.com/Touch-N-Stars/Touch-N-Stars Android App: github.com/Touch-N-Stars/Touch-N-Stars/releases Equipment in this video: Mele Quieter 4C miniPC: amzn.to/49XTx01 QHY Minicam 8 (mono w filters): bit.ly/4gvvh8Y (Agena) or bit.ly/4jjxF4w (HPS) Askar SQA55: bit.ly/4hEfW7l (Agena) or bit.ly/48u4PJC (HPS) or tinyurl.com/24mek4vc (FLO) or tinyurl.com/5yw5ccrd (All Star Telescope) ZWO AM5N Mount: bit.ly/3W3TWKe (Agena) or bit.ly/3A0cO4e (HPS) or tinyurl.com/5ft5n9am (ZWO direct) ZWO EAF Focuser: bit.ly/45agP0Z (Agena) or bit.ly/4avCIcE (HPS) or tinyurl.com/nhfyark8 (ZWO) For any affiliate link purchases, make sure to accept cookies if prompted! Amazon affiliate: amzn.to/49XTx01 Agena affiliate: bit.ly/3Om0hNG High Point Scientific affiliate: bit.ly/3lReu8R First Light Optics affiliate: tinyurl.com/yxd2jkr2 All-Star Telescope affiliate: bit.ly/3SCgVbV Astroshop eu Affiliate: tinyurl.com/2vafkax8
15+ years ago we were all duct taping webcams to a film canister, sticking it in the eyepiece and doing our digital photography. Amazing how far we have come.
using this for 3 point polar alignment alone is totally worth it! No more clumsy laptop balancing on my knees in a foot of snow! Thank you Cuiv for another great videos! 🙏
oh my goodness I've wanted this for so long!! Super excited. NINA is the best, but being able to use a touch layer on a tablet is a million times better. Thanks Devs, and thanks Cuiv for showing this.
As you mentioned, this interface will be very useful for operations that you need to perform close to the telescope - such as polar alignment or manual camera rotation... and flats! Goodbye notebook...
Hey Cuiv. just wanted to thank you so much for all these wonderful tutorials and showcases of great tools. Its enabled a complete beginner like me to really start enjoying this new hobby so quickly. I went from humble seestar s50 last year to getting my first real rig up and running the last month or two. Definitely been a frustrating learning curve, some bad ups and downs, but I have to say your video from when your hyperstar C6 getting rained on got recommended to me, it was the message I needed to hear was to not give up on the hobby. I'm not sure if you'll recall but I mentioned before I was trying to make a 3D printed harmonic mount, and I have to report, while definitely not perfect, I am able to use it fairly effectively. I believe my guiding is actually getting a little better over time as the gears wear themselves into the right shape (yes the strain wave gear is 3D printed as well), started out with crazy guiding in like the 70"-80" of error, now down to avg of 8"-18"... which is still awful for normal astrophotography, but I'm using it with a FMA180 pro and Uranus-C camera, so pretty wide field, and I can potentially get 1min exposures, but I've been doing 40secs for consistency. Just figured out how to use and take calibration frames this weekend and the results make me wish I figured them out sooner! Thanks again for all the tutorials for everything in this hobby! I already feel like i'm getting the itch for aperture fever...wanting to go in deeper... but i'd probably need a much better mount for that lol.
I do remember your 3d printed swg mount :) I'm in absolute awe that you got it to work, and honestly, 8"-18" guided is actually insane for a 3D printed SWG mount, well done!! Enjoy calibrating your data - you're right it makes a huge difference!
Fwiw on the Github page the developer says it work on IOS in a browser, but not as a native app. There is also a folder entitled "IOS Tests", but the developer does not seem to have much interest dealing with Apple. Have you considered using Stellarvue on IOS?
Awesome news! Thanks Cuiv. Coming from a S50 and currently assembling a C6 Hyperstar (after watching your video), I've been researching non ZWO solutions. I've watched your other phone app solutions videos, but none of them was in the easy "enough for me category". Finally a solution that has me excited ! Time to buy a MeLe and finish my Hyperstar setup. Again thank you!
Thanks for this one. I had no idea it was out there. Installed it watching your video and it all worked just fine. Will test it out tonight. Now we need a video on getting the Windows hotspot to behave and use this in a remote location!
Very cool, totally going to give this a try. I have been hoping for an app to interface with NINA for a while now. This will be great for when I take my tablet out to focus, do polar alignment, and flats. Thanks for always keeping us up to date with cool tech!
Love it! Especially as I am now using an Android tablet to remote desktop onto my Melee. Having a nice touch interface would be a great addition to the overall experience using NINA. I hope they continue developing this app :)
Excellent video as always. Cuiv. I can see me using this when I rebuild my portable setup. I really don't understand how you don't have more subscribers.
Stellar timing with this video! Just configured N.I.N.A today (been using Asiair for years) and I was really missing an easy way to polar align using just my phone at the telescope so this is brilliant!
What's hard about polar aligning with the asi air it's easy. This is good but you still need a computer running in the background and a power management box when the asi air has it all built into one device. The features are practically the same Nona doesn't really offer anything that the asi air app doesn't.
Oh wow, @Paul_85-, hard disagree here. NINA offers a LOT more features than the ASIAir (for instance filter offsets for monochrome cameras, insanely powerful sequencer, proper management of dithering on a sequence level rather than global - important for anyone imaging both in broadband and narrowband, very convenient flat wizard, and of course support for non-ZWO cameras, guide cameras, filter wheels, rotators, flat panels, etc.) Also, FYI the ASIAir took the NINA polar alignment algos and put them in the ASIAir as is ;)
@@Paul_85- sorry, I explained my situation badly. What I was trying to say was that with n.i.n.a I was missing an easy way to polar align with just my phone. With Asiair polar aligning is really easy, but with n.i.n.a I was going to have to have my computer with me at the telescope during PA. No more the case with this plugin 😊 And why switch from Asiair to n.i.n.a? Partly because I want to have the option to use equipment from other makers like the Qhy minicam 8. Partly because I miss some options with Asiair that I would like to have like the ability to teach it my horizon so that it knows when my target gets covered by trees. And partly because I just don't like to be stuck in a closed ecosystem.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek you can disagree but just remember you developed the Nina platform so you're obviously going to claim it's better. Just being honest the vast majority of astrophotographers don't even use half the things on Nina just because you have loads of features that hardly get used doesn't mean it's better if hardly anyone uses them. Nina is amazing but until you make an asi air equivalent which acts as a power distributor in one small box with an app that works you just cannot compete. It's like you're just trying to fix problems instead of giving the people what we want. A Nina asi air with an app that works with all different equipment manufacturers. You can laugh at me all you want "oh wow " you know I'm right.
Until now I've used the AsiAir, but on my newly ordered telescope setup I'll be using the much cheaper ToupTek 2600 camera... €1100 less than the ZWO version!!! So this is great to see, that there's some apps developed for N.I.N.A. I plan to use my iPad with the Remote Desktop App however, or my PC for remote control. Also, I did not go with the Mele Quieter 4C, but the Minix Z100-0dB 16/512GB instead as it has much better WiFi and cooling. Keep all those excellent videos coming Cuiv... they're very helpful.
I'm gonna play Devil's Advocate... over a lifetime of astro, at 69 I've accumulated a heap of astro gear. 10 years ago I would leap on this and -have- done remote operation with a Pi. Also much use of PixInsight and other software. I now do as much outreach as personal observing and enjoy using a scope while traveling. Wonderful as this is, my next astro purchase will be a Celestron Origin. My experiences with smart scopes have convinced me that at my age and for what I want to do it simply makes more sense. I just want decent photos of things I can't see. When I'm doing a presentation for a group, as I did last night at a state park, I want all the visitors to be able to see the images - I cast to a 32 inch TV. I can hand my phone to a 12 year old Girl Scout and let her point it to the Horsehead and take the photos. A lot more engaging than watching me do it. Faster setup and takedown also.
This is awesome that Nina finally set up app connectivity! Stellarmate has done this some years ago (and looks like NINA has a VERY similar control layout! 😉)
I took the new plugin for a test drive, excellent! Many have already noted that remote desktop from a mobile device works with all of the NINA features available, but there is one SIGNIFICANT advantage to the new plugin: both can work at the same time, and more than one interface is supported simultaneously. I ran the web interface on the telescope system, another PC on the network with a couple of browser windows, and a browser on my iPhone all at the same time. Each was able to update and send instructions independently. I can RDP from my office, walk out to the rig with my phone and polar align, and have a monitor window on my TV all logged in at once. Using RDP, one access device at a time, doesn't allow this. How about multiple windows on a remote browser watching different things? That seems likely as well. As soon as I have clear skies, I'm going to run some of these ideas through some testing. Excellent NINA advancement!
I wish I understood all of this. It sounds good but, not being computer/software conversant at all, it's just "Chinese" to me. I also thought it was only for Android, not iPhone?
@@earthling8635 since it has a web interface, you can use it on any device that has a browser, so on the iPhone you could use it, for instance, with Chrome or Safari by opening the URL that the plugin displays in N.I.N.A.
Just power up rig, loaded and config, worked out the box. Looks like its going to be 100% a game changer for me, moving the laptop around to set focus (manually) and doing 3-point-alinement feels like its going to be some much easier. TKS.
I tried to install a couple of days ago with no success but I can't wait to try it again!! This piece of software is getting better every time I update!
This is FANTASTIC 👍👍👍 I’ve just installed N.I.N.A on a second Mele Quieter 3Q, one for my 200PDS setup and one for my TS115 Photoline setup - I used to use Stellarmate on a RPi, but it lacks proper control of my DIY flip flat panel (sorry Jaseem).
I've been waiting for this app since a while ! Very cool to see the last missing piece which makes NINA THE best astro app on the market. Thanks a lot Cuiv for this review. Can't wait for the app to become stable with the few missing features ! BTW Cuiv: you can automate the guiding calibration in the sequence. I've used it a lot and it's working like a charm.
Excellent. After waiting _eons_ for the CAA to be announced I guess I can wait a while for your review 😀. I'm guessing my mount will soon need the added burden of another 1/2 Kg 😵💫
Hi Cuiv-san, thanks for sharing. It will be another part of the puzzle and a quite usefull I guess. As soon as we have cs here in Upper Bavaria, I´ll give it a go. take care
Fantastic improvement.. As you say, Polar Alignment is a a big thing. Also expecting to see how a manual rotator would go. Just need some clear sky that is a lot to say, at the moment.
I just tried the web interface This is very promising!!! Thanks for your introduction And indeed… rotator, flatpanel, all seems to just work! I had to use the web interface since I use an iPhone but… great!👍
Need to test this from Star Front Observatories in Texas to see if I can control my rig from my phone. This will give me the ability to watch my rig from my phone instead of using my laptop. I will keep everyone posted......
Wow! It's just amazing! I just recently thought about this kind of interface and wondered why it doesn't exist yet. But now it's here! That's cool! Thank you for this news!
Thanks for making me aware of this Cuiv. Since the release of the Advanced API plugin I have been hoping for this. Although it is only an early alpha release I think this is a real game changer. Clear skies
This perfect for a remote setup. If you have prepared a sequence and just wait for the roof to be opened by the operator of the remote location, you don't need to sit at home waiting for that. Just start everything from the phone withput messing around with a remote desktop on a tiny phone screen.
What a fantastic idea. Those NINA guys are unstoppable! World domination! I can't wait to try it! I wonder that since the UI is now uncoupled from the business logic if I can return to my preferred platform . When I originally asked I was told it was super unlikely to be running on anything but Windows. Here's hoping!
And I believe you can connect to your mini-pc and NINA over Internet if the gear is outside far away with no WiFi access, I used a MIFI with 4G/5G and I connected to it using the public IP address leveraging DDNS and port forwarding
This is excellent! I'm fully onboard the alpha train here. I'd be interested to figure out a way to be able to access my rig from elsewhere in case I'm out and about - obviously I could just expose the port, but that's risky without any sort of authentication.
Awesome video, been waiting for a NINA App. It won't directly effect me yet as I run my permenent setup in the Astroshed with NINA on a dedicated laptop using Chrome Remote Desktiop and other potable setups with the ASIAIR. That said, we are planning on moving in the near future and will most likey purchase a portable computer to run NINA. At that point this APP will be very handy. In the mean time I will play around with this. Cheers Kurt
Thankyou! This is so cool, took me less than the time it took to watch the video to set this up with my phone, cloudy last night but all appears to be connecting fine, just need to learn about the advanced sequencer now as never used it yet.....a how to video on that would be great please?
@gabewrsewell I went to the github link from above. Read the English translation of the readme. Followed the link to the app file. The app file is right down the bottom in assets, took me a minute to find that! Downloaded it then ran it, did have to give it some permissions to start with. Plus nake sure you follow all the instructions for the plugins in Nina. Let me know how you do!
Hi Cuiv, thanks for this video. This is exactly what I was waiting (and hoping) for. Now I just need to find the best miniPC to replace my Asiair. I am looking in particular for the smallest possible size and a reasonable price.
Whoa ... Are you telling me I no longer will have to carry my laptop outside for things like alignment and manual focusing? This is huge - I can't wait!
Oh wow, a game changer indeed. We can finally join those asiair showoffs in convenience. No more trying to jab buttons from a 17inch monitor on a tiny phone screen, shutting down the pc instead of starting guiding. Fantastic and almost too good to be true (and free)!
This + CRD is a game changer for NINA. being able to do TPA from the phone would have been sooo convenient, 6 months ago before I got on a permanent pier.
It will still be a lot easier to verify the PA is good. Even pier PA's need to fine tuned. Seasons hear and cold can effect them some. Not to mention the occasional clumsy bumps or is that just me? LOL
The latest version 1.1.1 seems to have corrected the connection issue I had yesterday. Would be great to define equipment templates so that when you press connect all only those devices you have (defined in the template) are connected. But that's just a simple suggestion. I need to find out how to contribute to this great project. Clear skies.
Basic functionality tests worked fine. Of course the clouds prevented proper testing of TPPA. I did have some difficulty connecting to NINA via the app, However pointing my browser at port 5000 of mini PC worked well. Great stuff. I look forward to seeing extra functionality, such as sequence editing, in a later release. Clear skies
This is definitely going to be a popular with those already using N.I.N.A. or who are thinking about upgrading from an ASIair. From my point of view, I have found N.I.N.A. to be over complicated for my needs, so I dont use it. I do have it installed on my Eagle LE controlled rig so can control it with my phone or tablet if I wanted to. As I can with Sharp Cap and APT but I prefer to control that rig from my Laptop via remote desktop (I have that rig semi permanently set up outside in my backyard) I must say that my two portable rigs that are controlled by ASIairs just work, so great for grab and go. As for my Steelarmate Pro, I still haven't mastered the auto focused, but it basically works fine too. As I said, for N.I.N.A. users I think this is great news, will it be a game changer though, maybe. If ZWO opened up the ASIair to allow other cameras and hardware I think you really would see a game changer. I have had far less problems with my ASIairs than any of my other mini pcs, they just work.
I've had my share of problems with ASIAirs, but I agree that overall they work well - but ZWO will never open them up since they're money-printing machines for them! As for SM Pro, latest versions have AF working beautifully for me, especially with the doughnut buster feature for Newts!
Super cool stuff! I'm in the middle of a DIY Flat Panel project right now but this will be close to next. No telling what it will be able to do by then :-) I share your excitement. Does the android app connect via the mini pc's wi-fi (therefore the house wi-fi) or does it create its own local wi-fi? It would really be sweet to have the mini, the app and my laptop all talking together without having to mess with IP addresses. Thanks Cuiv!
Very cool new app to interface with NINA on the mini-pc! Will potentially save me fumbling around on the laptop in the dark during the TPPA. I noticed the mini-pc under the lens and wonder if it helps avoid the need for a dew heater, as it puts out quite a bit of heat?
My Patreon: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek
My Merch Store: cuiv.myspreadshop.com/
Touch N Stars Repository: github.com/Touch-N-Stars/Touch-N-Stars
Android App: github.com/Touch-N-Stars/Touch-N-Stars/releases
Equipment in this video:
Mele Quieter 4C miniPC: amzn.to/49XTx01
QHY Minicam 8 (mono w filters): bit.ly/4gvvh8Y (Agena) or bit.ly/4jjxF4w (HPS)
Askar SQA55: bit.ly/4hEfW7l (Agena) or bit.ly/48u4PJC (HPS) or tinyurl.com/24mek4vc (FLO) or tinyurl.com/5yw5ccrd (All Star Telescope)
ZWO AM5N Mount: bit.ly/3W3TWKe (Agena) or bit.ly/3A0cO4e (HPS) or tinyurl.com/5ft5n9am (ZWO direct)
ZWO EAF Focuser: bit.ly/45agP0Z (Agena) or bit.ly/4avCIcE (HPS) or tinyurl.com/nhfyark8 (ZWO)
For any affiliate link purchases, make sure to accept cookies if prompted!
Amazon affiliate: amzn.to/49XTx01
Agena affiliate: bit.ly/3Om0hNG
High Point Scientific affiliate: bit.ly/3lReu8R
First Light Optics affiliate: tinyurl.com/yxd2jkr2
All-Star Telescope affiliate: bit.ly/3SCgVbV
Astroshop eu Affiliate: tinyurl.com/2vafkax8
15+ years ago we were all duct taping webcams to a film canister, sticking it in the eyepiece and doing our digital photography. Amazing how far we have come.
using this for 3 point polar alignment alone is totally worth it! No more clumsy laptop balancing on my knees in a foot of snow! Thank you Cuiv for another great videos! 🙏
Absolutely!
oh my goodness I've wanted this for so long!! Super excited. NINA is the best, but being able to use a touch layer on a tablet is a million times better. Thanks Devs, and thanks Cuiv for showing this.
As you mentioned, this interface will be very useful for operations that you need to perform close to the telescope - such as polar alignment or manual camera rotation... and flats! Goodbye notebook...
Hey Cuiv. just wanted to thank you so much for all these wonderful tutorials and showcases of great tools. Its enabled a complete beginner like me to really start enjoying this new hobby so quickly.
I went from humble seestar s50 last year to getting my first real rig up and running the last month or two. Definitely been a frustrating learning curve, some bad ups and downs, but I have to say your video from when your hyperstar C6 getting rained on got recommended to me, it was the message I needed to hear was to not give up on the hobby.
I'm not sure if you'll recall but I mentioned before I was trying to make a 3D printed harmonic mount, and I have to report, while definitely not perfect, I am able to use it fairly effectively. I believe my guiding is actually getting a little better over time as the gears wear themselves into the right shape (yes the strain wave gear is 3D printed as well), started out with crazy guiding in like the 70"-80" of error, now down to avg of 8"-18"... which is still awful for normal astrophotography, but I'm using it with a FMA180 pro and Uranus-C camera, so pretty wide field, and I can potentially get 1min exposures, but I've been doing 40secs for consistency.
Just figured out how to use and take calibration frames this weekend and the results make me wish I figured them out sooner! Thanks again for all the tutorials for everything in this hobby! I already feel like i'm getting the itch for aperture fever...wanting to go in deeper... but i'd probably need a much better mount for that lol.
I do remember your 3d printed swg mount :) I'm in absolute awe that you got it to work, and honestly, 8"-18" guided is actually insane for a 3D printed SWG mount, well done!! Enjoy calibrating your data - you're right it makes a huge difference!
This is awesome! We are living in the golden age of astrophotography!
We are!
Wow!! Hopefully it gets on the Apple store soon.
Fwiw on the Github page the developer says it work on IOS in a browser, but not as a native app. There is also a folder entitled "IOS Tests", but the developer does not seem to have much interest dealing with Apple. Have you considered using Stellarvue on IOS?
Awesome news! Thanks Cuiv. Coming from a S50 and currently assembling a C6 Hyperstar (after watching your video), I've been researching non ZWO solutions. I've watched your other phone app solutions videos, but none of them was in the easy "enough for me category". Finally a solution that has me excited ! Time to buy a MeLe and finish my Hyperstar setup. Again thank you!
Thanks for this one. I had no idea it was out there. Installed it watching your video and it all worked just fine. Will test it out tonight. Now we need a video on getting the Windows hotspot to behave and use this in a remote location!
More than a video on getting the Windows hotspot to behave, we need Windows to freaking behave when it comes to that hotspot....
Don't get me started. I would use Linux on that setup if it was possible. LOL
Dude this is awesome!! Thank you for sharing :-D Clear skies!
Right?! I hope you get to test it out soon!
Very cool, totally going to give this a try. I have been hoping for an app to interface with NINA for a while now. This will be great for when I take my tablet out to focus, do polar alignment, and flats. Thanks for always keeping us up to date with cool tech!
This is what I have been waiting for! Thank you to NINA developers!!
Love it! Especially as I am now using an Android tablet to remote desktop onto my Melee. Having a nice touch interface would be a great addition to the overall experience using NINA. I hope they continue developing this app :)
Yes indeed! Will be great to see how it evolves!
Excellent video as always. Cuiv. I can see me using this when I rebuild my portable setup.
I really don't understand how you don't have more subscribers.
I think I keep my niche too small, my videos too technical :)
Stellar timing with this video! Just configured N.I.N.A today (been using Asiair for years) and I was really missing an easy way to polar align using just my phone at the telescope so this is brilliant!
What's hard about polar aligning with the asi air it's easy. This is good but you still need a computer running in the background and a power management box when the asi air has it all built into one device. The features are practically the same Nona doesn't really offer anything that the asi air app doesn't.
Congrats on the upgrade to NINA!
Oh wow, @Paul_85-, hard disagree here. NINA offers a LOT more features than the ASIAir (for instance filter offsets for monochrome cameras, insanely powerful sequencer, proper management of dithering on a sequence level rather than global - important for anyone imaging both in broadband and narrowband, very convenient flat wizard, and of course support for non-ZWO cameras, guide cameras, filter wheels, rotators, flat panels, etc.)
Also, FYI the ASIAir took the NINA polar alignment algos and put them in the ASIAir as is ;)
@@Paul_85- sorry, I explained my situation badly. What I was trying to say was that with n.i.n.a I was missing an easy way to polar align with just my phone. With Asiair polar aligning is really easy, but with n.i.n.a I was going to have to have my computer with me at the telescope during PA. No more the case with this plugin 😊
And why switch from Asiair to n.i.n.a? Partly because I want to have the option to use equipment from other makers like the Qhy minicam 8. Partly because I miss some options with Asiair that I would like to have like the ability to teach it my horizon so that it knows when my target gets covered by trees. And partly because I just don't like to be stuck in a closed ecosystem.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek you can disagree but just remember you developed the Nina platform so you're obviously going to claim it's better. Just being honest the vast majority of astrophotographers don't even use half the things on Nina just because you have loads of features that hardly get used doesn't mean it's better if hardly anyone uses them. Nina is amazing but until you make an asi air equivalent which acts as a power distributor in one small box with an app that works you just cannot compete. It's like you're just trying to fix problems instead of giving the people what we want. A Nina asi air with an app that works with all different equipment manufacturers.
You can laugh at me all you want "oh wow " you know I'm right.
Awesome, thanks for the review
Until now I've used the AsiAir, but on my newly ordered telescope setup I'll be using the much cheaper ToupTek 2600 camera... €1100 less than the ZWO version!!! So this is great to see, that there's some apps developed for N.I.N.A. I plan to use my iPad with the Remote Desktop App however, or my PC for remote control.
Also, I did not go with the Mele Quieter 4C, but the Minix Z100-0dB 16/512GB instead as it has much better WiFi and cooling.
Keep all those excellent videos coming Cuiv... they're very helpful.
Oooh I didn't know about that one, it looks great!
FINALLYYYYY. Thank you Cuiv for testing and make all us aware of it. NIce video as always. And yes, a game changer!!!!
Just use the browser for now - almost the same functionality!
Thanks!
Thank you for your support!!
I'm gonna play Devil's Advocate... over a lifetime of astro, at 69 I've accumulated a heap of astro gear. 10 years ago I would leap on this and -have- done remote operation with a Pi. Also much use of PixInsight and other software. I now do as much outreach as personal observing and enjoy using a scope while traveling. Wonderful as this is, my next astro purchase will be a Celestron Origin. My experiences with smart scopes have convinced me that at my age and for what I want to do it simply makes more sense. I just want decent photos of things I can't see. When I'm doing a presentation for a group, as I did last night at a state park, I want all the visitors to be able to see the images - I cast to a 32 inch TV. I can hand my phone to a 12 year old Girl Scout and let her point it to the Horsehead and take the photos. A lot more engaging than watching me do it. Faster setup and takedown also.
I love smart scopes as well :) Just different use cases!
I am grinning just like you! I've imagined having this sort of responsive control. This should help my progress greatly.
I know, right? It's like magic ;)
Finally an app that can directly control NINA from your smartphone or tablet! This is so awesome! Thanks Cuiv!
I knew you'd love it Dave!
Tellement content qu ca sorte enfin !!! Merci pour l'update Cuiv'
This is awesome that Nina finally set up app connectivity! Stellarmate has done this some years ago (and looks like NINA has a VERY similar control layout! 😉)
Brilliant review and tutorial actually. Thanks Cuiv for bringing this to our attention.
Lol- just fired up my setup and it works. Used it in the browser on an Ipad and the app from my Android phone.
Awesome!
I took the new plugin for a test drive, excellent! Many have already noted that remote desktop from a mobile device works with all of the NINA features available, but there is one SIGNIFICANT advantage to the new plugin: both can work at the same time, and more than one interface is supported simultaneously. I ran the web interface on the telescope system, another PC on the network with a couple of browser windows, and a browser on my iPhone all at the same time. Each was able to update and send instructions independently. I can RDP from my office, walk out to the rig with my phone and polar align, and have a monitor window on my TV all logged in at once. Using RDP, one access device at a time, doesn't allow this. How about multiple windows on a remote browser watching different things? That seems likely as well. As soon as I have clear skies, I'm going to run some of these ideas through some testing. Excellent NINA advancement!
I wish I understood all of this. It sounds good but, not being computer/software conversant at all, it's just "Chinese" to me. I also thought it was only for Android, not iPhone?
@@earthling8635 since it has a web interface, you can use it on any device that has a browser, so on the iPhone you could use it, for instance, with Chrome or Safari by opening the URL that the plugin displays in N.I.N.A.
Just power up rig, loaded and config, worked out the box. Looks like its going to be 100% a game changer for me, moving the laptop around to set focus (manually) and doing 3-point-alinement feels like its going to be some much easier. TKS.
I tried to install a couple of days ago with no success but I can't wait to try it again!! This piece of software is getting better every time I update!
Hope it works out this time!
This is FANTASTIC 👍👍👍
I’ve just installed N.I.N.A on a second Mele Quieter 3Q, one for my 200PDS setup and one for my TS115 Photoline setup - I used to use Stellarmate on a RPi, but it lacks proper control of my DIY flip flat panel (sorry Jaseem).
Fantastic!
And it's up and running @@CuivTheLazyGeek - yiehaa 🙂
Now - lets have some clear skies!
I use QHY, ZWO ETC...Game changer for us that use a variety of equipment.
Good news! Thank you for sharing this new function with us
Cheers!
Oh my, the polar alignment alone is worth an install. Thanks for making a video about it!
Really excited about this, def. going to try it!
Have fun! Do remember it is still early days for this app!
I've been waiting for this app since a while ! Very cool to see the last missing piece which makes NINA THE best astro app on the market.
Thanks a lot Cuiv for this review. Can't wait for the app to become stable with the few missing features !
BTW Cuiv: you can automate the guiding calibration in the sequence. I've used it a lot and it's working like a charm.
Yep - I'm using that with the ZWO CAA I'm testing :)
Excellent. After waiting _eons_ for the CAA to be announced I guess I can wait a while for your review 😀.
I'm guessing my mount will soon need the added burden of another 1/2 Kg 😵💫
Hi Cuiv-san,
thanks for sharing.
It will be another part of the puzzle and a quite usefull I guess.
As soon as we have cs here in Upper Bavaria, I´ll give it a go.
take care
Sharing this with the members of my astronomy club on our Slack server. I think a lot of them are going to LOVE it!
I hope they enjoy it!
Finally someone made an app, the remote desktop touch has made me go insane sometimes xD
Hahaha I understand the feeling!
Very Excellent!! You did a great job on the presentation. Thanks
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you found the presentation helpful!
Fantastic improvement.. As you say, Polar Alignment is a a big thing. Also expecting to see how a manual rotator would go. Just need some clear sky that is a lot to say, at the moment.
I just tried the web interface
This is very promising!!! Thanks for your introduction
And indeed… rotator, flatpanel, all seems to just work! I had to use the web interface since I use an iPhone but… great!👍
Awesome!
This is an amazing app. I've been waiting for an app like this for a long time. Thanks for the video Cuiv!
I am looking forward to seeing it get better and better!
I need to test it! 😮
Need to test this from Star Front Observatories in Texas to see if I can control my rig from my phone. This will give me the ability to watch my rig from my phone instead of using my laptop. I will keep everyone posted......
I’m at SFRO as well. I am hoping for an iPhone app
@ I do use CRD to go directly to NINA but the scrolling and selecting is not easy. Are you saying use CRD to open a browser to use this new UI?
That would be awesome, should work over VPN!
This is super-exciting! It will be a great option for a travel/grab-n-go rig!!! Looking forward to seeing this plug-in evolve!
Absolutely! Can't wait to see it evolve!
Very promising, thanks for this.
Ok this is really cool, gotta try it once I get a chance
Super Cool! Merci beaucoup. Cuiv, tu est le meilleur !😉
Merci!! But it's the devs who are the best, not me!
This is exciting. I’m personally a fan of being able to use my iPad with Chrome Remote Desktop, I do see this being a huge benefit for some users
Oh my god... I'm waiting for this for soooo long!!!
This is amazing... I just bought Stellarmate OS for my mini PC, but this changes everything. Thanks Cuiv!
A dream come true for my Franken scope system!
Wow! It's just amazing! I just recently thought about this kind of interface and wondered why it doesn't exist yet. But now it's here! That's cool! Thank you for this news!
Finally! Something really cool on the channel that doesn't cost me anything... 😉👍👍
Hehehe :)
Great intro Cuiv. I will try it because it may be easier to use than my current method in Anydesk
Looks cool, it’s unfortunate no version for IOS, thanks for sharing, this project going in the right direction, so far good functionality
It works fine on iOS from the browser :)
This is awesome and can't wait to try it out!
Might get this to run my WarpAstron WD20, instead of the ASIair I am now using
Thanks for making me aware of this Cuiv. Since the release of the Advanced API plugin I have been hoping for this. Although it is only an early alpha release I think this is a real game changer. Clear skies
Completely agree - can't wait to see how it evolves!
Hey Cuiv, I'm very excited and curious... let's see how it works! Greeting from Germany
This perfect for a remote setup. If you have prepared a sequence and just wait for the roof to be opened by the operator of the remote location, you don't need to sit at home waiting for that. Just start everything from the phone withput messing around with a remote desktop on a tiny phone screen.
Yep!
Je suis sur le c.. ! ( don't know how to say in english ).
Merci, thank you Cuiv. I'm trying to test this when we have good weather here in France !
En anglais "I'm flabbergasted!", et en plus c'est poli!
What a fantastic idea. Those NINA guys are unstoppable! World domination! I can't wait to try it! I wonder that since the UI is now uncoupled from the business logic if I can return to my preferred platform . When I originally asked I was told it was super unlikely to be running on anything but Windows. Here's hoping!
We'll see - for now it still needs to rely on NINA in Windows...
Great review and this looks really interesting and useful!
Thanks!
And I believe you can connect to your mini-pc and NINA over Internet if the gear is outside far away with no WiFi access, I used a MIFI with 4G/5G and I connected to it using the public IP address leveraging DDNS and port forwarding
Oh Man! Much needed 🎉 thanks you.
It's such a cool new way to control NINA!
Wow! A new dimension has been opened. Thanks to you for letting all know about this, and big thanks to whoever made the app! A mega game-changer!
It's awesome :)
This is excellent! I'm fully onboard the alpha train here. I'd be interested to figure out a way to be able to access my rig from elsewhere in case I'm out and about - obviously I could just expose the port, but that's risky without any sort of authentication.
The best approach is an OpenVPN server direct on the router, but even that can have issues!
Great review Thanks
Awesome video, been waiting for a NINA App. It won't directly effect me yet as I run my permenent setup in the Astroshed with NINA on a dedicated laptop using Chrome Remote Desktiop and other potable setups with the ASIAIR. That said, we are planning on moving in the near future and will most likey purchase a portable computer to run NINA. At that point this APP will be very handy. In the mean time I will play around with this. Cheers Kurt
Cheers Kurt!! Hope your move goes well, it's a lot of work!
Hard to believe that an option like this finally arrived! Given the power of NINA, this could really be a game changer.
Looking forward to seeing how it evolves!
Thankyou! This is so cool, took me less than the time it took to watch the video to set this up with my phone, cloudy last night but all appears to be connecting fine, just need to learn about the advanced sequencer now as never used it yet.....a how to video on that would be great please?
what are you accessing the site from? i can’t get it to work :(
@gabewrsewell I went to the github link from above. Read the English translation of the readme. Followed the link to the app file. The app file is right down the bottom in assets, took me a minute to find that! Downloaded it then ran it, did have to give it some permissions to start with. Plus nake sure you follow all the instructions for the plugins in Nina. Let me know how you do!
FINALLY what I was just looking for
Hi Cuiv, thanks for this video.
This is exactly what I was waiting (and hoping) for. Now I just need to find the best miniPC to replace my Asiair. I am looking in particular for the smallest possible size and a reasonable price.
Check if the input voltage of the pc is something you can work with. Mine is 19v which is annoying because I have max 12v from my powerbank.
I like the Mele Quieter 4C (amzn.to/4hypM9B), otherwise I was recommended the Minix Z100-0dB 16/512GB which does look very good! (amzn.to/4hu3bLB)
Whoa ... Are you telling me I no longer will have to carry my laptop outside for things like alignment and manual focusing? This is huge - I can't wait!
Yep! :)
Another great video. Thank you!!!!
Oh wow, a game changer indeed. We can finally join those asiair showoffs in convenience. No more trying to jab buttons from a 17inch monitor on a tiny phone screen, shutting down the pc instead of starting guiding. Fantastic and almost too good to be true (and free)!
This looks very promising. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
This is just amazing. Thanks for sharing :-)
I'm interested!
This is amazing 😮 💪
It's super cool indeed!!
I like this idea. Thanks for the review!
This + CRD is a game changer for NINA. being able to do TPA from the phone would have been sooo convenient, 6 months ago before I got on a permanent pier.
It will still be a lot easier to verify the PA is good. Even pier PA's need to fine tuned. Seasons hear and cold can effect them some. Not to mention the occasional clumsy bumps or is that just me? LOL
The latest version 1.1.1 seems to have corrected the connection issue I had yesterday. Would be great to define equipment templates so that when you press connect all only those devices you have (defined in the template) are connected. But that's just a simple suggestion. I need to find out how to contribute to this great project. Clear skies.
You can already do that with the NINA profiles - when you launch the app you select the relevant NINA profile!
What incredible news, I am very happy, these guys from NINA do an excellent job.
I look forward to testing this tonight, irrespective of the forecast clouds😂
Hope it's working out great for you!
Basic functionality tests worked fine. Of course the clouds prevented proper testing of TPPA. I did have some difficulty connecting to NINA via the app, However pointing my browser at port 5000 of mini PC worked well. Great stuff. I look forward to seeing extra functionality, such as sequence editing, in a later release. Clear skies
Super cool!!
This is a game changer!!! Love it!... now to educate my friends that Thors Helmet doesn't look like a Seal lol
Hahaha that's the hard part!
Oh man! That *evil* smirk! HAHAHA
This looks awesome!!! I hope it will have a skyatlas, it is one of the most helpfull tool in the asi air. Really looking forward to it
@@jeroexx no sky atlas but we support the objects from Nina database and we soon release a framing assistant.
That looks fantastic. Be great if they could work into an app where you could control from outside of the same network. (Similar to Google Remote)
It's possible if you create a VPN for instance
Maaan, this is an amazing update!
This is definitely going to be a popular with those already using N.I.N.A. or who are thinking about upgrading from an ASIair. From my point of view, I have found N.I.N.A. to be over complicated for my needs, so I dont use it. I do have it installed on my Eagle LE controlled rig so can control it with my phone or tablet if I wanted to. As I can with Sharp Cap and APT but I prefer to control that rig from my Laptop via remote desktop (I have that rig semi permanently set up outside in my backyard)
I must say that my two portable rigs that are controlled by ASIairs just work, so great for grab and go. As for my Steelarmate Pro, I still haven't mastered the auto focused, but it basically works fine too.
As I said, for N.I.N.A. users I think this is great news, will it be a game changer though, maybe. If ZWO opened up the ASIair to allow other cameras and hardware I think you really would see a game changer. I have had far less problems with my ASIairs than any of my other mini pcs, they just work.
I've had my share of problems with ASIAirs, but I agree that overall they work well - but ZWO will never open them up since they're money-printing machines for them!
As for SM Pro, latest versions have AF working beautifully for me, especially with the doughnut buster feature for Newts!
this is really cool
Thank you Cuiv. Game changer
Yesss! :)
Oh boy! That's a game changer!
Super cool stuff! I'm in the middle of a DIY Flat Panel project right now but this will be close to next. No telling what it will be able to do by then :-) I share your excitement. Does the android app connect via the mini pc's wi-fi (therefore the house wi-fi) or does it create its own local wi-fi? It would really be sweet to have the mini, the app and my laptop all talking together without having to mess with IP addresses.
Thanks Cuiv!
Hoping an IOS version comes soon. It will make things so much easier. Thanks for sharing this with us.
In the meantime you can use your phones webbrowser
@ thanks, I missed that part.
Very cool new app to interface with NINA on the mini-pc! Will potentially save me fumbling around on the laptop in the dark during the TPPA. I noticed the mini-pc under the lens and wonder if it helps avoid the need for a dew heater, as it puts out quite a bit of heat?
You probably don't want heat rising in front of a lens..