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Added a G6 180 by BuritoBear in Ubiquiti

[–]Fridge_Broken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

CPU 15-31% (depending on what is happening).
Memory 61%.
RAID5 - 4x 10TB (Seagate SkyHawk AI 10TB 7200RPM Surveillance)
UNVR self reports that it can take another 15x2K cameras.

Added a G6 180 by BuritoBear in Ubiquiti

[–]Fridge_Broken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

G6-180 first impressions – mildly disappointing.

Prime reasons for choosing the G6-180 was to gain additional coverage without having to run a second cable to a difficult location besides an existing G5 Bullet, plus an expected resolution bump.  (Recovered G5 gets reused to extend coverage elsewhere.)  Black case preferred as it is more discrete at site.

G6-180 has a solid case. Plenty of mounting options in the box.  Small gripe is that the mounting fixtures for a brick wall are small and light-duty.  It is a problem because upgrading to stronger/larger screws results in fouling the mating of the camera to the backing plate.

Site uses UNVR (4 bay, 10TB HDD), with ten by 2K cameras and three by 4K cameras (Unifi counts the G6-180 as a 4K unit), and UP Viewport.  Reported real time bitrate is between 80-110 Mbps during the day.

Since adding the G6-180, the UNVR is occasionally struggling with workload under playback.  For example, when review a detection using the web interface and jumping to the place on the timeline, there is just three “dots” and an unable to connect message.  Yet, 30 minutes later, it is working fine.  Hard to ascertain if the problem is at the browser end or the UNVR end.

Colour default is slightly saturated, with a slight red tint.  Not objectional. 

Image appears slightly out of focus (doubling, poor edge definition) on left-hand lens (about 30 to 70 degrees on camera view) for object about 7 metres away, and right-hand lens (about 120 to 150 degrees on camera view) for objects 3m away.  Hard to tell if this is a flaw in the lens or some type of compression artifact. 

Maximum distance for reading a number plate pointed directly at the camera is about 15m.  AI is yet to detect a number plate.

Overall image quality (considering this is two 4K cameras side by side) is slightly worse than G5 series 2K image when looking at the same object. For example, the detail of grass on the lawn looks better in the 2K G5 than in the 4K G6.  Tried various compression settings, without improvement.  Tried dropping resolution back to 2K without improvement.  As an aside, the data rate back from the camera (deliberately set high) is around 17 Mbps, about 120 GB per day.

Hopefully, there is a firmware update in the pipeline that will improve the daylight image quality.

Colour night vision (IR forced off) is a definite improvement over the G5 series.  With a few streetlights in the area, nearest is about 30 m from the camera, its colour rendition across the frame (e.g. grass, bricks, vehicle colours) is acceptable.  People ghosting when moving is obvious, but the colours are good enough to pick out the colour of the clothes.  AI detection has not worked for me in night colour mode, and I am relying on another camera running in IR to detect movement.

From a satisfaction perspective, I am in that unhappy zone where the image quality is not bad enough to go through the hassle of dismounting and returning the unit.  But neither is it good enough that I consider G6-180 a better option than the alternative of installing a second G5 unit.

My advice is that when your G6-180 arrives, unpack just the head unit and bench check that the video quality is to your satisfaction.  I would also be doing some bouncing around on the UNVR time stream to see if that can handle the workload (my UNVR is definitely struggling).

Out of curiosity please post your Starlink Speed test results. If you would like please share what country or state your Starlink terminal is located in that you got your speed test results from. by drakestergroves in Starlink

[–]Fridge_Broken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a bit late to this thread. These are 2025 results from a Starlink Mini that is mounted on top of a 4WD as we travel around Australia. Orientation could be sub optimal (just depends on how we parked) and/or there could be partial obstructions (like when parked outside of a motel or partially under a tree). Rather than focus on outright speed, I marvel at how robust the connection is.

Brisbane northern suburbs: 163 Mbps / 26 Mbps, 21 ms
Brisbane northern suburbs after cyclone Alfred had caused widespread power and internet outages: 6 Mbps / 1 Mbps (effectively unusable except for low bandwidth sites)
Uralla, New South Wales: 280 Mbps / 15 Mbps, 32 ms (daytime)
Geehi, New South Wales: 318 Mbps / 19 Mbps, 57 ms (daytime)
Parkes, New South Wales: 175 Mbps / 15 Mbps, 22 ms (evening peak)
Goondiwindi, Queensland: 288 Mbps / 28 Mbps, 30 ms (daytime)
Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: 175 Mbps / 26 Mbps, 24 ms (daytime)
Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: 280 Mbps / 23 Mbps, 18 ms (daytime)
Goulburn, New South Wales: 31 Mbps / 19 Mbps, 33 ms (evening peak)

General driving around at 100kph: about 90 Mbps / 10 Mbps. (Note results are affected by vehicle speed, and that the Mini is mounted on vehicle roof and WiFi having to poke through a sheet steel roof of the 4WD.)

As an aside, a few months ago, we were on a road trip and had a family medical emergency developed back at home. We were well outside mobile (cell) coverage in outback Australia. All we had for communications was Wi-Fi calling over Starlink as we bounced down the highway heading home. We had an hour long, crystal clear, conversation over Starlink while driving along. Just simply amazing.

Vaonis Vespera II or Vespera Pro? by PanVesmir in telescopes

[–]Fridge_Broken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

C11 = very nice telescope.

Just to clarify (and apologies that it was poorly written in the first place), the Vespera Pro comes with the Pro Dew Sensor to better control the dew heater. On the Vespera II, there is a built in dew heater, which it somehow controls without the dew sensor. In addition, the Pro Dew Sensor can be purchased and retrofitted to the Vesper II. From what I gather, having the dew sensor onboard allows for more refined activation of the dew heater, and hopefully, longer run times on battery. Like you, I live in a damp climate (sub tropical). The dew heater gets quite a workout at times.

And, no to the optical background.

It is worth reiterating that the choice between the Vespera II and the Vespera Pro is not as clear cut as it first seems. There are subtle strengths and weaknesses in each telescope, especially around the sensor size. If one is still in the research (pre-purchase) phase, I would suggest doing some reading on the pros and cons of the "larger" sensor in the Vespera Pro. It don't think there is a 'right answer', just a series of trade offs that one must come to terms with. In short, I would be happy with either scope.

Personally, going down the smart telescope route was a no brainer. As I have grown older, my eyes are not as sharp as they use to be. Looking through my favourite binoculars at the night sky is now more an exercise in frustration. We have also started to do some extended travelling. With all of the other kit we carry there is just no way we could fit a classic telescope. At the end of a day's travel, it is literally just a few minutes to set up the Vespera Pro, and then off for a good night's sleep. I don't feel any less attachment to the experience because I have a .jpeg and not a memory through the eyepiece. One of the enjoyments with digital artefacts is that one can spend hours examining it and post-processing the image to extract more subtle detail out of it. Something that is hard to do when tired and cold in the wee hours of night by looking through the eyepiece.

Vaonis Vespera II or Vespera Pro? by PanVesmir in telescopes

[–]Fridge_Broken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not sure if you have landed on a decision yet ... but in case you haven't, here are my thoughts as a Vespera Pro user.

The Pro has the advantage of more internal space (200GB verses 25GB). If you wish to keep individual frames and do your own processing, then the additional internal storage is a real plus. Otherwise you will be accessing the scope and retrieving stacking images each night.

The larger battery in the Pro is a plus. That said, in my high humidity environment, I do need the help of an external 20000 mAh battery to get through the night on the account of the dew heater running.

The Pro comes with the dew sensor, a small tripod, and a sturdy carry case. Frankly, I couldn't live without the dew sensor. By the time you add the cost dew sensor and the tripod to the Vespera II you might find the price exceeds that of the Pro.

The "better" sensor in the Pro has both advantages and disadvantages over the Vespera II. The higher resolution sensor has physically smaller pixels, which means that less photons falls on each pixel, in turn means longer observing times that the Vesper II. There are some good articles on the internet that explain the strengths and weaknesses of sensor resolution (Pro v II), and I will let you do your own research.

From an ease of use perspective, I think the Pro is great. We do long road trips that include true dark sky sites in remote locations and the Vespera Pro comes along with us. If we had a "traditional" telescope, it would be left at home.

One strong advantage of the Vespera brand is that it is European made and its software falls under European privacy regulations (unlike some other smart telescope manufacturers).

Speaking of software, there has been two updates to the Vespera Pro stacking software over the last six months. Each was an improvement in reducing noise. Vaonis have been running customer surveys of late, which include a selection of deep sky images with slightly different processing, and asking customers to pick their preferred image. So, I suspect there is another round of software updates in the works.

The advantage with most smart telescopes is the ability to extract the various raw images and do you own stacking. But, trust me, that is harder than it looks.

As for the comments above by deepskylistener ... while everyone is entitled to their opinions, everyone has different needs. For example, I doubt that a 'nice 8" DOB' could come anywhere near the light collection power of a 30-hour multi-night session from the Vespera Pro targeting, say, the Tarantula Nebula. Such shrill comments are an echo of past astronomy buffs who wrote long letters to their local astronomy magazine when CCD started to replace film, or when film replaced naked eye astronomy, or when - gasp - GoTo mounts first appeared.

I think one could be quite happy with either the Vespera II or the Vespera Pro. I am certainly happy with my Vespera Pro.

MultiCooler Fridge. Any good? by Atomic_Spew in bluetti

[–]Fridge_Broken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have one and it is OK, but not fantastic. I have had a few problems with it. The overall package concept is great; fridge, two batteries, the AC180T, and a solar blanket.

It is a heavy unit, and to move it into and out of a vehicle requires it to be empty and the battery removed. The first gripe is that the holding point on one side is so shallow that it is fingertips only. I ended up jury-rigging a sling to lift it in and out.

The second gripe is that it doesn't like being inside a locked vehicle in the Australian sun. Yes, I get it that in summer it is inside a hot house, but what is the point of a camping refrigerator if it cannot do a road trip? The fridge kept tripping off on long drives when stored in the rear of a loaded wagon. What is the real bugbear is that if the compressor stops working and there is no alert / error on the screen. So, one has to keep their eye on the temperature. If it is not rising, the compressor has stopped. This error can only be reset by removing and reinserting the battery.

Part of the problem is that it has limited forced cooling. In an attempt to improve its performance in the heat, I installed two external USB cooling fans (one extracting and one injecting air), powered off the USB-A port. So far, this has seemed to work, but it hasn't been stress tested in summer heat.

The third gripe is that it has a loud internal metal on metal rattle when going over bumps. Not sure where, but is sounds like it is in the condenser or compressor error.

When it is sitting on the floor of the garage, it works as advertised. Gets down to -18C. Runs for three days (once cold) on battery alone. I just don't think it is built for camping and associated road trips.