Post by robrj on Sept 16, 2016 16:37:20 GMT
I bought an Intel Compute Stick for $130US from Amazon.com. It's a small computer with an HDMI output, two USB ports (one 3.0 and one 2.0), and an SDCard Slot. It comes with 2gb of memory and 32gb of storage. After windows is updated, there's about 10gb of storage left. I wanted to use it with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse that I had but there was a catch. You need to have a wired keyboard (maybe a wifi keyboard) to set it up. You can't get into the computer to turn on bluetooth and pair things without setting up an account and you can't set up an user account without a keyboard. Since I'm all laptops at home, I had to take the computer into work to set it up. So while I was at it, I set up all the software (SharpCap, Starlight Live, Astrolive USB, Skytools3, Ascom drivers for the camera and the mount, and Stellarium).
I took my stick out last night. It worked great. I even got it to run off my hub's powered USB port, which which got it's power from an inverter (I have a simple 2 outlet inverter that was hooked up to my jumpstarter battery). Some on CN were saying it was spotty on USB power. The hub is a 6-port Cirago USB 3.0 hub. The hub has two ports which are dedicated charging ports (2amp). I just plugged the computer into that port and had no issues. I'm only using two of the ports on the hub (other than the powered port for the computer). I plan to hook up the mount to it as well. The USB 3.0 connection was put into the 3.0 port of the stick.
I had both Sharpcap and Starlight Live running simultaneously. Sharpcap was running the ZWO ASI185MC on my Orion 50mm Guidescope taking widefield images while Starlight Live collected from the Ultrastar in the Orion Skyview Pro. Skytools 3 was also running. There was no noticable lag.
My inverter has the 24" LED TV and the USB hub plugged into it. The Jumpstarter battery has the inverter and the mount plugged into it.
I also added the free software AutoHotKey. It allows you to set up hot key macros which can start programs and switch between them (e.g. <Alt>-C to start SharpCap, and <Ctrl><Shift>-C to switch the view to SharpCap). My eventual goal is to use the macro to connect to my Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter (MWDA) using a <CTRL>-j keystroke. My login to the computer is just a pin number so I'm hoping I can successfully log into the computer and run the script to connect to the MWDA blind. The script works, but the stick won't stay connected to the adapter, so I have to troubleshoot that. The adapter works fine with my phone so I'm not sure what the issue is. I noticed that an Intel WiDi notification pops up. When I click it, it takes me to a website which says that Intel is no longer supporting it's Intel WiDi since the OS supports miracast directly. It makes me think it's interfering with the connection. In the meantime, I just connect with a long HDMI cable.
I'm replacing my Bluetooth keyboard/mouse with something different. It was an old Motorola mouse/keyboard that was used with my old phone (Motorola Atrix). It worked a little but it was flaky (constantly disconnecting and reconnecting). I bought this wifi keyboard from Amazon. It's small and has a little track pad on it. I can probably just put it in a large coat pocket when it's not in use to keep dew off it.
My monitor is a 24" RCA LED TV. It's 1900x1080.
One other thing I that worked out great is some Scotch Fastener tape that I thought was Velcro when I was buying it. I bought from Home Depot. When I first opened it, I thought it was missing the fuzzy fabric side. But it actually just fastens to itself. It has a nice solid click feel when you press it on.
I took my stick out last night. It worked great. I even got it to run off my hub's powered USB port, which which got it's power from an inverter (I have a simple 2 outlet inverter that was hooked up to my jumpstarter battery). Some on CN were saying it was spotty on USB power. The hub is a 6-port Cirago USB 3.0 hub. The hub has two ports which are dedicated charging ports (2amp). I just plugged the computer into that port and had no issues. I'm only using two of the ports on the hub (other than the powered port for the computer). I plan to hook up the mount to it as well. The USB 3.0 connection was put into the 3.0 port of the stick.
I had both Sharpcap and Starlight Live running simultaneously. Sharpcap was running the ZWO ASI185MC on my Orion 50mm Guidescope taking widefield images while Starlight Live collected from the Ultrastar in the Orion Skyview Pro. Skytools 3 was also running. There was no noticable lag.
My inverter has the 24" LED TV and the USB hub plugged into it. The Jumpstarter battery has the inverter and the mount plugged into it.
I also added the free software AutoHotKey. It allows you to set up hot key macros which can start programs and switch between them (e.g. <Alt>-C to start SharpCap, and <Ctrl><Shift>-C to switch the view to SharpCap). My eventual goal is to use the macro to connect to my Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter (MWDA) using a <CTRL>-j keystroke. My login to the computer is just a pin number so I'm hoping I can successfully log into the computer and run the script to connect to the MWDA blind. The script works, but the stick won't stay connected to the adapter, so I have to troubleshoot that. The adapter works fine with my phone so I'm not sure what the issue is. I noticed that an Intel WiDi notification pops up. When I click it, it takes me to a website which says that Intel is no longer supporting it's Intel WiDi since the OS supports miracast directly. It makes me think it's interfering with the connection. In the meantime, I just connect with a long HDMI cable.
I'm replacing my Bluetooth keyboard/mouse with something different. It was an old Motorola mouse/keyboard that was used with my old phone (Motorola Atrix). It worked a little but it was flaky (constantly disconnecting and reconnecting). I bought this wifi keyboard from Amazon. It's small and has a little track pad on it. I can probably just put it in a large coat pocket when it's not in use to keep dew off it.
My monitor is a 24" RCA LED TV. It's 1900x1080.
One other thing I that worked out great is some Scotch Fastener tape that I thought was Velcro when I was buying it. I bought from Home Depot. When I first opened it, I thought it was missing the fuzzy fabric side. But it actually just fastens to itself. It has a nice solid click feel when you press it on.