50 replies to this topic

[Astrowl]

Hi,

 

For few years I have started a project to build an ultra portable EAA system which is called Astrowl Box. Maybe most of you will discover this system for the first time (if you want to read more about this project there is a topic here : https://www.cloudyni...y-portable-eea/ and you can also find details on www.astrowlbox.com).

 

In short it is an ultra portable system which onboard everything you need in a small box (camera sensor, 4" display, internal program) that can be inserted in your telescope focuser like an eyepiece and which offers automatic and easy image processing functionnalities like smart telescopes  (stacking, frame aligning, light pollution correction, extra image processing filters, ...). The Astrowl Box has its own wifi access point, so you can connect to it to set its parameters (lots of details can be found in the user guide). 

 

The first batches of the Astrowl Boxes were built around a Sony IMX462 sensor (same as Seestar 50) and the last release (still under test) will be around an IMX283 (a big boy).

 

However after thinking twice I have decided to release a free version of the Astrowl Box and give you all the details and steps to build your own Astrowl Box to democratize EAA.

 

I made intermediate choices in terms of functionalities and sensor, not that I do not want to offer you the full potential of this box, but if we want to make it easy to build by many people as possible, we must make compromise.

 

In summary, the sensor will be the IMX477 (not as sensitive as the IMX462, nor as large as the IMX283 which will equip the new Astrowl Box), but you will benefit from an improvement with 2x2 binning which significantly increases its sensitivity . Having tested it on the sky, it is already formidable.

In addition, it is the official Raspberry sensor, so it is inexpensive, easy to obtain. You will be able to keep the basic C-Mount adapter in addition to the EOS-T adaptor which will allow you to install objectives for very large fields

You will benefit from the latest version of Raspberry, the Pi5 which is significantly faster than the Pi4.

There won't be the hardware part for ST4 guiding that is also present on commercial release of Astrowl Box (maybe we will see how to add it to the free version on a future step), because this requires manufacturing the electronic card yourself, therefore not accessible to everyone.

 

There you go, I hope that you will be interested and you will make your own Astrowl Box and that a community will be able to form to share on the subject.

 

You will find everything you need to make your own Astrowl Box via the following link:
https://www.astrowlbox.com

 

A guide which details the creation of the Astrowl Box, the files to print the box in 3D, the Astrowl program and the user manual. Don't be afraid, this is really easy to build.

 

Please feel free to ask your questions in this discussion thread.

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Edited by osbourne one-nil, 31 July 2024 - 03:53 AM.

[zjc26138]

This is fantastic!

[Taylor]

Thanks for sharing!
What are your thoughts on the IMX585 sensor for your project?

https://soho-enterpr...rt-sample-sale/

[Astrowl]

Thanks for sharing!
What are your thoughts on the IMX585 sensor for your project?

https://soho-enterpr...rt-sample-sale/

Hi Taylor, thanks for the idea.

I have already planed to add the Sony IMX283 sensor on the next commercial release of the Astrowl Box. Probably available in september after few tests this summer. But you can already see this information on this topic : https://www.cloudyni...able-eea/page-7

 

The free version of Astrowl Box use the Sony IMX477 sensor with 2x2 binning to increase sensitivity and it is already quite powerfull. Attached is a picture done with this sensor, and that's exactly what you can see on the onboard 4" display of the Astrowl Box.

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Edited by Astrowl, 31 July 2024 - 03:51 AM.

[Astrowl]

Another picture done with the IMX477 sensor. It is cropped, normaly you have a wider field of view and pictures are PNG format not compressed (but need to convert to jpg to reduce size an be able to post here)

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Edited by Astrowl, 31 July 2024 - 03:53 AM.

[Taylor]

Hi Taylor, thanks for the idea.

I have already planed to add the Sony IMX283 sensor on the next commercial release of the Astrowl Box. Probably available in september after few tests this summer. But you can already see this information on this topic : https://www.cloudyni...able-eea/page-7

 

The free version of Astrowl Box use the Sony IMX477 sensor with 2x2 binning to increase sensitivity and it is already quite powerfull. Attached is a picture done with this sensor, and that's exactly what you can see on the onboard 4" display of the Astrowl Box.

What scope did you take that picture with?
I'm thinking about putting together the IMX477 model you posted since I have all the required parts laying around, except I have a Pi4 sitting around instead of a Pi5. 

 

I have a AT102EDL 714mm focal length refractor I could try it out with. 

[Astrowl]

I use a 120mm apo refractor fd7 without any corrector or field flatenner.

[Taylor]

In your build instructions you mention the IR filter is optional on the IMX477. What do you recommend, with or without? 

[Astrowl]

I suggest to remove it, because for some nebula it is better without and if needed you can add one easily on the nose extension like you can see on previous photo.

[Astrowl]

Attached is another example how you can use the Astrowl box for live viewing Orion nebula. The smartphone camera degraded the image of the box display. Real image on Atrowl display is far better.

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Edited by Astrowl, 04 August 2024 - 08:02 AM.

[Taylor]

Just finished building the IMX477 Astrowl, excited to try it! Need the nighttime clouds to go away first. I'll report back once I get to play with it. 

I removed the IR filter on the RPi HQ Cam. I ended up using the official RPi5 cooler add on, and a Pimoroni NVME base with an NVME drive so I'm not limited by SD card speeds and write lifespan. 

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Edited by Taylor, 04 September 2024 - 11:47 AM.

[Astrowl]

Great work ! Were you able to connect to the Astrowl box ? The cooler is a really good idea because the IMX477 is quite noisy when it heats. And see some improvements with the NVME drive. You insert the NVME drive in the box ?

And pay attention to the power supply, because I have some reports that a weak power supply can make the box shutdown during heavy processing like stacking.

Edited by Astrowl, 04 September 2024 - 12:22 PM.

[Taylor]

I'm going to print an enclosure for this one, it supplies 5A: https://www.amazon.c...,aps,115&sr=8-3

 

Yeah I was able to connect over WiFi. 

I edited the STL to add 2.5mm heat set inserts and the RPi5+Pimoroni NVME base mount onto those. 

 

Edit: Going to try this Printables model for the buck converter. https://www.printabl...-buck-converter. Maybe add a Vixen finder dovetail to it to hold it in place. 

Edited by Taylor, 04 September 2024 - 04:01 PM.

[Taylor]

Made a little hard case with TPU liner for it, with space for a USB C cable. 

 

https://www.printabl...mera-carry-case

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Edited by Taylor, 09 September 2024 - 03:46 PM.

[Astrowl]

Wow, love it. Did you make some tests on the night sky ?

[Taylor]

Haven't got it out under the stars yet, been busy working nights at work. 

[Astrowl]

Hello,

 

Just to let you know that a new release of the internal Astrowl Box software is available. It corrects a big bug, that deteriorates the quality of images.

You can download the new release from the Download page of the Astrowl Box website : https://www.astrowlbox.com/download

Edited by Astrowl, 22 September 2024 - 02:38 PM.

[Richard Giuliani]

---

 

Updates for the sale of the new version of Astrowl with the new chip?

 

... 

Edited by Richard Giuliani, 22 September 2024 - 03:55 PM.

[Astrowl]

Hi Richard, thanks for your interest. It is about to be released, I want to make some few other tests (weather does not help).

But I have already ordered hardware to be able to build some few new Astrowl Box.

[Astrowl]

Hi guys,

 

Some of you ask me what are the functionnalities of the Astrowl Box, and I think it was a good idea to make a short and quick summary.

 

It offers 3 modes: Live (almost video view of the image), Stack (stacking of images) and TimeLapse (to produce video sequences, for example of solar activity).

 

In Live mode, the user can adjust:
- Gain, Exposure, saturation, stretch, anti-light pollution filter
- Available on commercial release : calibrate and activate ST4 guiding
- Colors are automatically adjusted by the box

 

In Stack mode, you start with the Live setting (Gain, exposure, etc.), and the user can activate the following filters:
- Contrast improvement,
- Deconvolution Richardson Lucy
- Wiener deconvolution
- Wavelet Sharpen
- Threshold for selecting the best frames to stack (for example if you adjust this parameter to 80%, you reject 80% of the worst frames)

Automatically the box:
- aligns the frames,
- stack the frames,
- corrects colors,

 

In Timelapse mode, the user can create a video from image sequences and can define:
- Number of stacks to build an image that will be added to the video,
- Number of images to create in the video,
- The time interval between each shot,
- Time interval between each image making up the video.

 

In addition, you can save images whether in Live mode or Stack mode.
You can also view the image displayed on the Astrowl Box screen on your smartphone, computer or tablet to present it or share it with other

[Richard Giuliani]

Hi Richard, thanks for your interest. It is about to be released, I want to make some few other tests (weather does not help).

But I have already ordered hardware to be able to build some few new Astrowl Box.

Thanks for the reply. I ask for confirmation: the 3rd version with the new sensor has come out. I see it on the site. I am about to send an email. Best regards.

[Astrowl]

Thanks for the reply. I ask for confirmation: the 3rd version with the new sensor has come out. I see it on the site. I am about to send an email. Best regards.

Yes Richard, the Astrowl Box V3 with the large IMX283 is available on the website https://www.astrowlbox.com

Edited by Astrowl, 18 October 2024 - 06:50 AM.

[Astrowl]

Hi guys, a new release of the internal program is available to be installed on your box.

This version correct some bugs and improve greatly performances of 'Details enhance' filters from stack mode.

 

Program can be downloaded here : https://1drv.ms/f/c/...yufApA?e=zS5IUC

 

Feel free to contact me for any questions.

[Astrowl]

Hi, a new release (1.59) of internal software is available for download from https://www.astrowlbox.com/download.

 

Please carefully choose the correct version for your box version and follow instructions in readme.txt file.

Contact me if you are not sure about your box version.

[ThomasM]

One thing is not clear to me, do I need a driven equatorial mount? Or is an azimuthal mount sufficient?