So Much Confusion...

2026/02/17. I am slightly boggled with the thought of using a Mele mini PC (in particular a Mele Quieter 4C) to control the Wave, guider, camera, etc etc. All of it. I would very much like not having to set up the Toughbook and its cable(s). It would be great if the computer could ride along with the OTA and minimize concern for cable snags during slews and flips, while also saving me the need for the notebook and its stand in the wild. And I would very much like to be able to control the kit while sitting in the warmth nearby.

Tonight, I discovered that I cannot run the remote desktop app ("Windows" confusingly enough) on my iPad Mini 4 which will not run the OS required. That means that to add a Mele to the existing kit, my tablet needs upgrading, first. Unless there is a compelling reason to abandon the Panasonic Toughbook in favor of a Mele/tablet combination, I can stop tormenting myself with the possibility and enjoy the Toughbook's solid performance. Of course, if a steal on the right Mele 4C turns up at the same time as a bargain ios17-capable iPad, all bets are off.

All bets are off.

2/19: bluff called on the iPad. I found good deals on Gen 7 and Gen 8 iPads and went with a Gen 7 because it had 128GB rather than 32GB of RAM (it was also cheaper). The key is that it can run ios17 et seq which is needed for Remote Desktop for Windows. When it arrived, I upgraded its IOS to 18.something. Now for the Mele.

The idea of using a miniPC to control the rig is driving me a little nuts anticipating both software and mechanical issues -- just stop anticipating every possibility; buy one, and solve only the actual problems. Pick up cables, bracketry, etc as needed. In the meantime, get the iPad's remote desktop app working on a handy Win11Pro notebook for practice and experience.

2/25 Rats! Could not get Remote Desktop on the iPad to connect to any Win10 Pro or Win11 Pro machines so I cancelled a snipe on a nice enough Mele. Work out the connection issues, then shop one up. Later that same day, I re-entered a slightly lower bid because it all works reasonably well using Chrome Remote Desktop. That's worthwhile though not optimal since Chrome's answer to RDP requires internet access. A better solution will come along sooner or later. On the upside, Chrome's RDP works across the net so it would, if needed, allow me to control the kit from anywhere with network connections, not just within wifi range.

Still later that same day, I won the eBay auction for an 8GB / 128 eMMC Quieter 4C with N100 processor and an extra 512GB NVMe for $165 (current price new is $280-320 plus $85-$200 depending on the NVMe). I have USB-C power cables on the way. I'll borrow the HDMI cable and second monitor from my desktop for set-up. An older USB keyboard and a wired mouse will help get it squared away. The auction win and success (finally!) in connecting the new iPad to a Win11 Pro computer via RDP took place within minutes (perhaps seconds) of each other. (Whew.) The hardly-ever-unmentioned key to RDP access seems to be the existence of a local account on the Windows machine in addition to the default account. Connect via the new account. (But keep experimenting.) Credentials are simply the account name and assigned password. When this goes into "production" make the IP address of the Windows machine static. And to be really sure it's ready for the dark wilds, try it with the router off (be prepared to add a tiny router to the kit, or work through the steps in a link from Cuiv "the lazy geek" provided down below.

3/3/2026. The Mele is here and it is a delight. Like new; it's an N150 rather than the promised N100. Good deal. I stole the 2nd monitor from my desktop, its HDMI cable, and my mouse to ty it out. Perfect! There are some details to nail down. I have the iPad talking to it through a local account (astro, pasword "stars" when needed) but it needs either a useful machine name or a static IP and a hot spot on startup so that it's fully useful in the wild. The hotspot key is presumably here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL-Fih-J9o4

It's also possible that the Wave 100i provides the hotspot needed. If I login to the mount with the Mele and the iPad, is that all it takes? At worst, a travel router should make everything simple(ish). Told you it was confusing (or, rather, that I am confused). Film when it works.

It's all promising enough that I've ordered a field case / keyboard / touchpad for the iPad and some spare 12vdc-to-USB-C power connectors for the Mele. If all this works, it's going to really feel like living in the future.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

The most disruptive ice storm in my experience --we could not leave the porch from Jan 24 until Feb 13-- preempted stargazing and focused my efforts on the on-again off-again miniPC project.

When the ice went out just a bit, I got the 6mm fisheye under the stars long enough to see that it has real potential. Pixel-peeping will be in order to make the most of it, but it's pretty damned nice as is.

2/14/2026. I got up early to see a SpaceX flight carrying four new crew to the ISS. The 5:15 launch was two hours before sunrise in Lernoir, about half an hour too early to produce a full-blown space jellyfish, but part of the plume expanded into sunlight out over the Atlantic. It wasn't much to see, but the R6/105mm performed beautifully. The early photos are "just" the usual Federation-emblem-shaped shock of the exhaust in the upper air. The plume was the thing:

The ice kept me from watching the most active sunspot group of the current cycle. We'll see what comes back around the limb on about 2/24.

Changes are afoot at Rusty's, and I am trying out plans to cope. It's another thing we'll see about soon enough.

There's a lunar eclipse coming up in a couple of weeks (cloudy, rainy, didn't even think about getting up for it) and a Kreutz sungrazer due to enter the evening sky one month after that. I'm thinking I may try the Wave 100i sans guiding for both which would allow me to drive it from an iPad without computer assistance. Short exposures at 400mm should be fine --how short is to be determined-- and I'm guessing that the 105mm will work nicely.

:: top ::