We at ZWO got some great news for you guys, where we announce that the ASI USB3.0 CCDs support Android devices. You attach the camera to the device’s USB and make sure that the device supports OTG.
Although the app is still in Alpha stage, with loads of bugs, crashes and misspellings, we strive to achieve feedback from you to improve the development of this app. You also can provide us some suggestions/wishes that we can apply within it that helps you to capture your shots. In that case, send your thoughts to：feedback@zwoptical.com
Above you can see a preview of a working demonstration between a Vivo X9 phone and an ASI1600MC CCD. You simply attach the cable to the CCD’s USB3.0 port and to your device’s mini-USB port, enable OTG in the settings so the device finds the CCD, installs all the necessary drivers to run it, start the app and start using it.
Follow the link to see a demonstration video of the feature： https://youtu.be/bEHsBHnF8qs
Smartphones are not the only Android devices which this app works with. We are making it possible to run it with a portable projector as well, where you achieve up to a 180 inch resolution of what the CCD captures. No need for large and heavy clumsy monitors or laptops for public displays.
Demonstrations below：
A short video of how it works to run this with a projector： https://youtu.be/KysgIQ7CksE
We are changing the way of astronomy and wide-field photography for public audience with this new technology of ours and we sincerely hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoy of making it for you. The projector and CCD together weighs approximately 800 grams while the entire set of a monitor, laptop, CCD and all the necessary cables in between 8 to 40 kilograms. That’s a lot of spare weight with this app of ours, don’t you think?
System requirements：
ASI CCD with USB3.0
Android 4.0.3 or later
USB OTG (On-The-Go) support on Android device
Demo downloads：
ASI CCD Android demo
EFW Android demo
SDK download：
ASI Camera SDK & Source Codes
EFW SDK & Source Codes
Known bugs：
The following video will show you how to enable OTG on your Android phone or pad：
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60 Comments
George
Will you also be doing an iPhone/iPad app version?
That would be cool !!!
Sam Wen
not so quickly because some right restriction under iPhone
Mike Turney
Very very interested in this setup for public outreach.
Can you recommend tablet/OS and color video camera combinations which are working well now?
Does the camera get it’s power from the USB?
Please keep us posted!
Thanks,
Mike
Sam Wen
Yes, all camera run and powered from USB
this setup is very good for outreach
Renato
The APP looks very interesting. I tried to use it with a Samsung Galaxy S7 but when I press the RESCAN button I get error message: “zwocamera has stopped”
Please advise.
Sam Wen
please feedback in our forum
we are going to release a new app soon
http://zwoug.org/viewforum.php?f=30
Scott
Does it have to be a usb3 otg for the camera to connect?
Sam Wen
USB2.0 otg is ok too
Scott
Thanks for the quick response.
One more question.
I got it all working on my Samsung s5. But it only seems to save 8 bit bitmaps.
Can it save other file formats? I am using the 1600mmc
Thanks
Sam Wen
we are going to release ASICAP soon
ASICAP will allow you to capture in fit or tif format
Scott
Ok. Thanks for the information
mich
bonjour,
je connecte ma asi 120mc usb2 à l’application et j’ai ce message d’erreur :
“getCameraProperty error code:16”
pourriez-vous m’aider s’il vous plaît ?
merci 🙂
Sean Wang
what software did you use for astro imaging?
mich
ASICAP 🙂
Sunblack
Hi, asi usb 3 cameras, now, work with Samsung s7 without problems? Which asi cameras (models name please) now work with android devices? And cameras do need external power to run or USB provides power too??
Sean Wang
Hard to say that, maybe need a extra-power.
Jeff S Smith
I have a 224 MC and would love to capture with my Android phone instead of trying to hold a laptop and my phone running Sky Safari.
Is the app available in beta yet?
Sam Wen
yes, you can download from google play, just search ASICAP
Jeff S Smith
I found the App “ASICAP” on the Google Play store and it works. Thanks for creating this great app for ZWO customers.
Sam Wen
just upgraded to a new version, you can try the new one
James
Can this be used on iPad or iPhone? If not are you working on it?
Sam Wen
no, IOS has some right problem and we cannot do it right now
juergen claus
I habe a asi 120mm und use a smartfone ,the camera is found but I can start it .General erorr .what can I doo?
Sam Wen
ONLY USB3.0 camera is supported
Gustav Makula
Great software. I have one issue though. Any file I recorded FIT or SER cannot be read by any astronomy software. I have tried Nebulosity 4, Registax 6, so on. They all give me the same message, file cannot read the file. How do I fix this?
Sam Wen
we will check and fix
Riyad
How much power will it draw from my phone? Or laptop for that matter.
Sam Wen
different camera need different power
usually, 200ma-400ma needed when running
Leif
I have an asi290mc.
What android device is required to run full frame rates (above 150 fps).
Leif
Sam Wen
USB3.0 android device required, but most of android device is not so powerful
Leif
Thanks Sam
Do you think a Galaxy Note8 (2017) with 6GB Ram would be enough to capture full frame rates with ASI290mc?
Has anybody used the new Galaxy Note8?
Cheers
Leif
Sam Wen
sorry, we donot have this device to test
you can test by yourself
Efrem
Hello
Would this work with a ASI 174 mono?
Sean Wang
Yes，It is.
Stefan
is it possible to stream that picutre then?
Sean Wang
Hi Stefan
We are plan to develop more softwares with much fan. I think some day stream will appears in our new APPs.
Tim
How fast does the drivers have to be? I watched the demo with the 6GB Vivo X9 and was wondering if it would okay to use a 4GB microprocessor or a quadcore with 4 1.9 GB each?
Tim
Sorry, I got RAM mixed up with CPU speed. I just want to know how fast the Android phone has to be to use the program.
Sean Wang
We didn’t test it, but most popular android smart phones will have no problem with ASICAP.
Sean Wang
Yes, also can be used on 4GB RAM Phones.
Jhony de Barros
Hello! I tested it on ASI120MC, but when I clicked preview it appeared the message GENERAL ERROR, what to do in this situation?
Sean Wang
Please feedback this to support(at)zwoptical.com
armando
Ho lo stesso problema
ZWO ASI Camera
what’s your question?
Ed
Tried running ASICAP on a notebook with ASI224 and can only record 2044 frames max, even though I ran it long enough to run far more frames than that. And the right hand menu starts to move back and forth rapidly (like the planet I was recording) when I recorded beyond 100 secs. Also, how do you turn on and use ROI?
Thanks
Sean Wang
choose a small resolution will turn on ROI.
Ed
I used right click and hold the mouse to draw ROI around planet instead of usual left click.
When I open each of several avis in Autostakkert2, I only capture 2044 frames total even though ASICAP program says I captured far more than that when I ran the camera. File sizes are different for each avi. Autostakkert3 shows same total frames.
Using Firecapture, I was able to get one avi that was 2680 frames, but was dropping lots of frames when running camera. I’m using an HP Elitebook 8470 laptop.
Sean Wang
please send a email to support(at)zwoptical.com
Edward
The latest ASICAP version 1.2.1 has taken care of the problems I was experiencing with version 1.2. Thank you very much.
Does ASICAP have a color histogram feature?
Sean Wang
Yes, Edward. Color histogram is on the way. 🙂
V Moy
I have it installed and running on a galaxy tab s2, with ny asi224mc. I am running android 7.0. Everything is working fine so far. When do you plan on being able to record video in avi or ser format on android?
Sean Wang
Well, as you know, uncompressed avi and ser is too big for cell phones.
David
Do I have the possibility to take more than one frame at a time? Like we have on computer? thanks
Sean Wang
Yes, firstly ASICAP can record videos. Depand on the transmit speed, you could use ROI to improve FPS.
armando
Ho una asi 120 Usb2 errore generale , chiedo le asi usb2 non sono compatibili con android
ZWO ASI Camera
asi120mini or asi120 MM?
ghbashar
I have downloaded the ASIcap on my Huawei 20 pro with android 10 but its not detecting my ASI 120mm mini.
My mobil otg is working very will
Support@ZWO
ONLY USB3.0 camera is supported.
Billy
Will asicap work with the Zwo asi120mc-S?
sara.liu
Certainly.