UCO staff recently used from a UCO Mini Grant to develop updated remote observing stations with modern capabilities using low-cost off-the-shelf components. The new stations have been used since 2017 June for observing at both Keck and Lick. As intended, the new stations required no changes at Keck nor Lick. Observers who have chosen to use the new system find that it is more convenient for running some instruments, and as good as the older remote stations for all instruments.
The new stations consist of off-the-shelf components available at many consumer electronics stores, with a couple of particular parts that enable use of 4k monitors. The cost of the two new stations was $4000 at 2017 prices. Half of that cost was the 4k monitors, and those are now cheaper.
Stations with components similar to these are also suitable for the
experimental remote observing from home that Keck and Lick have been
using while the pandemic restricts access to mountain and campus
facilities.
See the web page with
details and system requirements about home observing for Lick.
Contact Keck for details on home observing for Keck.
We have pictures of the new stations in operation.
The two new remote observing stations at UCSC were purchased for a total cost of under $4000, including tax. Adding on the webcams for non-Polycom video sessions brought the total cost to $4200.
The Jabra Speak 510 has been added after-the-fact. We have come to understand that these stations will also become the replacements for Polycom as the means of video conferencing to Keck and Lick. This desktop microphone lists for $150.
The principal variation in the final cost depends on the 4k monitors. It should be possible to buy a complete station with small monitors for less than $1500. It may be possible to get a useable system for about $1000.
Not every workstation will need everything in the above list. The available components change every year, so this list will always be out of date, but most components have newer versions that are more capable than our original choices at similar prices. We discuss details and explanations about the components below.
The 7th generation processors fully support multiple 4k video outputs. The Core i5 version is enough for VNC and Zoom video.
Do not get the X1 models, that is, not with Optane memory, because only Windows has the drivers to make use of that.
The NUC7i7 model was a beefier alternative for the CPU. That could enable the station to do more things than just run the remote observing, possibly allowing some data reduction on board. That depends on how single-purpose these stations are going to be, and whether the cost difference makes any difference.
The BNK version is an alternative to the BNH. BNK means the system cannot have an internal SATA HDD or SSD. An internal SATA disk would be useful for a system that is going to store and process images. We have been getting the BNH just in case we decide to upgrade at a later date, for the cost difference is small.
In 2018 Intel released the 8th generation NUC systems. As of late 2018 most Linux distros did not have the drivers necessary for the new hardware in these 8th gen systems. Therefore we recommend caution about the newest model of NUC, possibly buying last year's model of NUC in order to avoid having to find or build custom drivers or use bleeding-edge Linux distros that nobody else has tested.
As of 2020 we can say that the NUC10iN boxes work with LinuxMint19 and CentOS8.
Note that the original specifications from Intel said 2133 MHz memory would work. To our dismay we found that many of the 7th gen NUC boxes run faster than many of the 2133 MHz SO-DIMMs. Together they generated hundreds of memory errors per second. Intel quietly rewrote their specifications to require 2400 MHz memory even though the NUC7iN models only run at about 2133 MHz.
16 GB is enough for the VNC sessions. It is also enough to handle Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts using the USB video cameras we have added for non-Polycom video sessions running on the same machine as the VNC sessions.
Again, for a system that might also do data reduction on the same host then doubling that memory might be a good idea.
250 GB is generous for a VNC host, even with Zoom video. Alternatives are various 2.5" SATA III drives, but those require one of the NUCxxxxxH models because the NUCxxxxxK models do not have room for an internal 2.5" drive. If the machine is to be used for other data storage then a larger drive may make sense. The 960 models of Samsung SSD have higher performance that could be useful for a host doing tasks other than remote observing, and a spinning HDD would probably suffice even though it is much slower than a SSD.
Of the 4k monitors, at least one should have HDMI input, and it is nice if it also has DisplayPort input. Monitors may or may not come with an HDMI cable. If not then it will be necessary to order at least one HDMI cable.
The 4k monitors are where this list goes into Goldilocks mode. Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear all have different preferences. I cannot recommend particulars because every two weeks the list of available models and sizes has been different. That also means that there is a chance that any given monitor is a brand name that will exist only for a month, and the hardware last only a month, and the same manufacturer will be shipping the next month after changing its brand name to something else. So it may make sense to get the 4k monitors off the shelf of a retailer who is easy with returns.
I can comment on these limits of the size of the 4k monitors:
43-inches means 100 dpi.
That is the same as most of what we have had in older monitors.
The dot pitch is comfortable for presbyopic eyes, but the size
may invoke issues of neck strain as people move their heads
around.
28-inches means 160 dpi.
That is useable, and should be no problem to folks accustomed to
reading everything off of their cell phones.
I need to remove my distance glasses (but that's true with
anything).
UCSC initially got one pair of 43-inch and one pair of 28-inch. I thought our Goldilocks scenario would have one big station and one small station, but it turns out that we have put one large and one small monitor on each. The observers get to move whichever VNC windows into whatever monitor works best, and we are still exploring the ergonomics of the layouts.
The ergonomics and layout will not become final until both Keck and Lick have such a system and the SAs figure out the best sizes and arrangements for the control clients running in the VNC sessions.
These may not be needed if the monitors come with HDMI and built in speakers, for the NUC can play the event sounds through the monitors. Nevertheless, the volume control in the monitors can be annoyingly hard to use.
If the other monitor has only DisplayPort then this cable is necessary.
If the other monitor has only HDMI then this cable is necessary, and also another HDMI cable if that does not come with the monitor
There are other cable vendors besides j5create, but note that these cables contain processors which are doing the protocol conversion between Thunderbolt and DisplayPort or HDMI. Some cables cannot drive 4k at 60 Hz, and some reviews of some cables indicate that they pretty much catch fire while trying.
We have added inexpensive Logitech webcams to the stations at UCSC. Note that it was not the original intent that these new Remote Observing stations would be able to do video. We added these webcams in order to enable experiments in replacments for Polycom hardware. Over the year that these new systems have been in operation we have found that we can use these in place of Polycom.
The webcams have proven their worth on nights when we had two separate sessions to Keck and sessions to both Lick and Keck. We have run video sessions using Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, BlueJeans, and the freeware Ekiga program acting as a Polycom.
Ekiga works just fine connecting to Lick and Keck as a Polycom. No special arrangements are needed at Lick or Keck to do this. UCSC remote observing has run several sessions to Lick and Keck using Ekiga.
Keck has announced that they will switch from Polycom to Zoom rooms as the default video conferencing for remote observing. Preparations for this change have been announced, but at this date Zoom sessions to Keck are special cases which require advance arrangements and testing.
Lick has not chosen a particular new video technology. As at Keck, sessions other than Ekiga using Polycom protocol require advance arrangements and testing. Lick is about to test the use of Zoom rooms.
This performs echo cancellation in hardware, and Keck has recommended hardware like this. There are other models and other brands, but this one has a visible mute mode and volume control. It works well at a list price of $150.
On the NUC the system setups and application preferences must be configured to use this device for audio input and output of the video conferencing applications. It is possible to configure such that the default sound output for the system and other applications goes to other speakers.
This may be useful for a crowded remote observing room.
The UCSC remote observing room has 4 stations, and even when only two are in use it becomes cacophony. Even something as simple as iPhone earbuds work with the NUC and make the room quieter.
Bluetooth headsets will probably also work.
Switching between audio inputs and outputs usually requires changing system setups and application preferences.
Use anti-static gear when handling the silicon of the SO-DIMMs of RAM and the M.2 SSD to assemble the NUC.
If the M.2 SSD is not in complete electrical contact this can show up as memory errors of the RAM because of the interconnectedness of the NUC motherboard. Giving the RAM and M.2 SSD some exercise with several insertion and removals seems to help them have good contacts.
To our great dismay we have found that some SO-DIMMS are flaky. We recommend testing the installed memory using MemTest86 or something similar.
The NUCs ship from China with firmware that is usually 4 or more months out of date on arrival. The Intel website has updated versions of the firmware for each model of NUC.
These NUCs fit in my pants pocket, so for the first time we have bothered to use the Kensington security slot to K-lock them in the remote observing room.
For the OS on these NUCs we originally chose Linux Mint 18.2. This is because Mint includes all the desktop niceness that people expect, whereas RedHat eschews things that might be encumbered by intellectual property issues. We are currently using Linux Mint 19.3.
Alternatively, CentOS 7 is an option for these NUCs to run VNC. The Remote Observing software that we have been distributing to UC sites has install instructions and a list of necessary additional packages for both CentOS and Linux Mint.
The Remote Observing software that we have been distributing to UC sites has install instructions and a list of necessary additional packages for both CentOS and Linux Mint. We are prepared to support these distros.
We know of remote sites which have adapted the recipe on this page when getting new hardware for Remote Observing. Other Linux distros and configurations may work, but we are not prepared to support them. One site has achieved success using Fedora Linux. One site has achieved success using Ubuntu Linux running in a VM on a Windows 10 system, and Ekiga running on Windows 10.