iKarus Stellar Mate Plus, User Manual

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The StellarMate Plus Manual
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It must have a serial, USB, Bluetooth, Wired, or Wireless interface to an extermal
device or computer.
The documentation for each mount, including supported connection methods, are included
in the
mount-specific documentation on the INDI devices portal.
Mounts
Mounts
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Celestron
Before connecting to your mount
1.
Ensure the mount firmware is the latest as provided by your manufacturer.
2.
Ensure mount has proper and suffcient power to operate. This is often a primary source
of issues connecting to mounts.
3.
Read the mount manual and learn about the mount startup or Home Position . This is
the mechanical position the mount must be in before you turn on the power to the
mount. This basically falls under three categories:
o
Equatorial Mount : Telescope should be looking at the Celestial Pole (Polaris for the
Northern Hemisphere) with counter-weights down.
o
Alt-Az Mount : Telescope should parallel to the ground looking exactly North (for
Northern Hemisphere) or South (for Southern hemisphere).
o
Alt-Az Mount on Wedge : Telescope should be looking at Celestial Equator due South
(for Northern Hemisphere) or Celestial Equator Due North (for Southern hemisphere).
4.
Decide on how you will connect to the mount. Is it using a cable to the handset? or
cable directly to the mount? WiFi? Bluetooth?
5.
If connecting over WiFi, then ensure the device where you are running the INDI driver
(e.g. Raspberry PI4) is on the same network as your mount so they can communicate
with each other. Such mounts can be configured to run in two modes:
o
Mount Wireless Hotspot Mode : The mount hotspot acts as the router and you can
connect your devices to the mount's own network (e.g. your Raspberry PI and iPad).
o
Mount Wireless Station Mode : The mount joins an existing WiFi network (e.g. your
home WiFi network or StellarMate hotspot). The IP address assigned to the mount is
determined by your router. It is best to know the IP address assigned to the mount so
that you can enter it in the IP address field in the driver Connection tab. However, this is
not strictly necessary since the driver can automatically scan the local network for
mounts, albeit this operation may take a few minutes to complete whereas if the IP
address is known beforehand then the connection is immediate.
Selecting the correct driver
Selecting the appropiate driver for your mount usually depends on two factors:
·
Mount model.
·
Connection method (AUX Port, PC Port, Handset, WiFI, ..etc).
Mount Driver Connection Method Comments
·
Advanced AVX
·
CGEM / CGEM II
·
Celestron GPS
·
Celestron CPC
·
Older Nexstar HCs come with RJ9
plug. You need Serial-to-USB
When connecting to your mount via Nexstar Handset (HC), there is a single driver (Celestron