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iKarus Stellar Mate Plus, User Manual

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The StellarMate Plus Manual

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Modules

StellarMate App has a total of six Ekos Modules which are used to control various
astronomical instruments such as: CCD cameras, DSLR cameras, mounts/telescopes,
dustcaps, domes, roll-off shutters, filter wheels, rotators, focusers, and more.

Focus

Align

Guide

Capture

Mount

Observatory

                                               

                                               

                  

                                               

Scheduler

Focus

The Focus module allows you to do focusing using your focuser, it has the following

features:

·

Presets: you can save an unlimited amount of presets, which have all the camera
settings needed for focusing.

·

Goto absolute motor step

Summary of Contents for Stellar Mate Plus

Page 1: ...Copyright 2018 2022 by Ikarus Technologies All Rights Reserved User Manual Version 2 1 Released 2022 08 07...

Page 2: ...Port Selector 15 Weather Inforrmation 17 Ekos 19 Quick Controls 24 Mount 25 Camera 30 Preview Framing 30 Video Recording 31 Live Stacking 31 Settings 35 Rotator 36 Modules 38 Focus 38 Align 45 Guide...

Page 3: ...pment Via Bluetooth 145 Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard 146 Manual Pairing 149 Connecting CCDs 150 Connecting DSLRs 151 Supported DSLRs 152 Canon 152 Nikon 153 Troubleshooting 154 Connecting Mo...

Page 4: ...tware 177 Network 178 Diagnostics 180 Backup and Restore Process 181 Logs 184 Goto 187 EkosLive 188 How does it work 188 Supported Browsers 189 Getting Started 189 Connecting Ekos to the Cloud 189 Usi...

Page 5: ...EQUIPMENT WILL OCCUR Package Contents Thank you for purchasing StellarMate Please follow this guide before you starting using your StellarMate Gadget After unboxing your package you should have the f...

Page 6: ...when it is shipped It might have moved or detached during shipping please make sure it is secured into its designated slot at the bottom of the unit Connect the USB C power supply cable to StellarMate...

Page 7: ...count 3 Connect the power adapter to StellarMate and turn power on 4 Open network settings in your phone tablet and connect to the StellarMate WiFi hotspot 5 Open StellarMate App Go to Setup tab Click...

Page 8: ...kos Video Tutorials StellarMate App You can connect to StellarMate Plus Controller in several ways including 1 StellarMate Mobile App for Tablets 2 PC Mac using KStars 3 Any Web browser or VNC client...

Page 9: ...te com username and password Beware that you must be connected to the internet for the initial sign in to proceed After sign in is successful no internet connection is required and you can switch netw...

Page 10: ...id 2 Tap on the Register button 3 Enter registration information to sign up in StellarMate website and then click Next 4 Scan the QR Code found at the back of the unit After registration is successful...

Page 11: ...al 11 227 HotSpot first Once connected proceed to run the StellarMate App After connecting to StellarMate go back to the App Tap on RESCAN to start the scanning process Discovered devices would be lis...

Page 12: ...nt Profile page Now you are ready to connect to your astronomical equipment Connecting your devices Most astronomical equipment such as telescopes cameras filter wheels and focusers connect via a USB...

Page 13: ...ly by tapping on the Auto Detect button on the top right corner You can then insert each device and wait for a confirmation after it gets detected Sometimes you need to confirm the type of device befo...

Page 14: ...Optionally you can also add a Guide scope if desired Optionally you can also add a Guide scope if desired Please use descriptive information as illustrated above to make it easy to select telescopes...

Page 15: ...u need to supply the device hostname or IP address and the device port This information is usually supplied by your device manufacturer It is important to ensure that all networked devices are within...

Page 16: ...you can also enter your own port manually Network For any network enabled device e g Mounts over WiFi like SkyWatcher AZ Gti To connect to networked devices ensure they are connected to the same netw...

Page 17: ...o you can choose the network type TCP UDP Weather Inforrmation Weather Information are available in the setup page The weather bar displays current weather information for the surrounded region It pro...

Page 18: ...nd observability of the sky relative to light pollution Bortle Class 1 is ideal and 9 is the worst The cloud button displays the 3 hour cloud map based on your current location The visibility bar disp...

Page 19: ...n equipment profile is started the Ekos modules becomes active In the Ekos screen you can capture images stream video and create image sequences Furthermore it provides the following facilities Canvas...

Page 20: ...ator icon changes to yellow and once motion is complete it switches to green Capture a preview to verify the mount indeed centered the target as desired Repeat if necessary Can also be seen in the bel...

Page 21: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 21 227 On success the animation will turn to green On capture new image the target lock animation will be reset to default Modules...

Page 22: ...keep it always centered 4 Capture create edit and delete presets job sequencing Filter Settings Limit Settings Calibration Settings File Settings 5 Mount tracking on off park unpark Meridian Flip Limi...

Page 23: ...ell as the target Moreover the Right Ascension Declination Azimuth Alt Azimuth and Pier Side are also shown in the status bar 2 Also Shows the camera information temperature 3 Save image icon is also...

Page 24: ...lus Manual 24 227 Quick Controls StellarMate App has a total of three Quick Controls Modules which are used to control three astronomical instruments as suggested by their names mounts telescopes came...

Page 25: ...ur mount quickly and easily it has the following features Mount Speed Park Unpark Tracking On Off Goto Sync Directional Pad Control Lock Mount Controls Reverse North South Reverse West East Unparking...

Page 26: ...on button If tracking is engaged the icon turns to green and the mount status bar will show Tracking Goto or Sync You can goto or sync by clicking on the GOTO button a dialog will pop up where you can...

Page 27: ...he StellarMate Plus Manual 27 227 Moving to a specific direction manually You can move your mount to a specific direction manually by using the Directional pads on the left and right side of the scree...

Page 28: ...n This will disable all the controls and can be used to avoid any accidental touches Parking Your Mount You can park your mount by clicking on the red button this will turn the button to the yellow co...

Page 29: ...nual 29 227 Reverse Directions You can reverse the directions of your mount North South Mount directions will be reversed for North South when enabled West East Mouth directions will be reveresed for...

Page 30: ...camera Get amazing pictures with Livestacking Preview Framing 1 You can capture a preview image by tapping on the Camera button o An animated circular progress icon will show the progress of the curr...

Page 31: ...the predefined video durations or select Until Stopped to to make the recording continues until explicitly stopped 6 FPS Record stream until these many frames are captured Videos are recorded as lossl...

Page 32: ...g performance Livestacking can be toggled directly or during the execution of a sequence job in the Capture module When no sequence queue is running the livestacker would trigger a capture loop using...

Page 33: ...cess You can control the upper and lower limits of this envelope by adjusting the slower and supper default is set to 3 parameters in the app The contrast and saturation controls do not affect the sta...

Page 34: ...ew with a thumbnail carousel at the bottom Each image is numbered sequentially To ensure proper performance only the last 10 captured images are available in the carousel To view a specific image simp...

Page 35: ...he camera s info bar Settings You can quickly take custom preview captures or loop frames by tweaking the settings in the quick settings bar by tapping on the Quick Settings button The quick settings...

Page 36: ...ngles are in degrees Goto absolute angle 10 step Counter ClockWise Movement 10 step ClockWise Movement Abort Motion Going to absolute angle You can go to an absolute angle by tapping on the textbox an...

Page 37: ...lus Manual 37 227 Going to an angle position by steps You can rotate the rotator to a different angle using the CW and CCW rotation buttons which will change the rotation by 10 steps depending on the...

Page 38: ...ras mounts telescopes dustcaps domes roll off shutters filter wheels rotators focusers and more Focus Align Guide Capture Mount Observatory Scheduler Focus The Focus module allows you to do focusing u...

Page 39: ...options settings process mechanics Image viewer HFR Plot Preset Settings You can add new preset edit or delete presets by tapping on the button the pencil button or the trash button Focus Presets has...

Page 40: ...captured by your camera with a square around the detected star An HFR Plot is also available on the right side of the screen to inform you about the current motor step and the HFR Half Flux Radius Th...

Page 41: ...ses Suspend Guiding Suspend Guiding while autofocus in progress If the focus process can disrupt the guide star e g when using Integrated Guide Port IGP whereas the guider is physically attached to th...

Page 42: ...s useful for users who do not have a motorized focuser and prefer to focus manually with the aid of a Bahtinov Mask After capturing an image in the focus module with the Bahtinov mask algorithm select...

Page 43: ...and Max Travel for the desired sampling interval and range around start focus position Tolerance should be around 5 Tolerance The tolerance percentage values decides when the autofocus process stops i...

Page 44: ...be limited to this maximum value Settle Sets the amount of seconds to wait after moving the focuser before capturing the next image during Auto Focus Max Travel Maximum travel in ticks before the aut...

Page 45: ...is synchronized and then commanded to slew to the correct target position This cycle repeats until the mount is within a few arcsecs from the target It has the following features Presets you can save...

Page 46: ...It can be faster than FastSolving but does not work nearly as well as the next 2 o 3 ParallelLargeScale This profile is meant to solve DSLR scale images very fast It assumes larger image scales to sol...

Page 47: ...n using Load Slew For automatic control the mechanized rotator is commanded to rotate to match the desired position angle For manual control the user is asked to manually rotate the camera until the d...

Page 48: ...les of different images scales 4 Use Position Set estimated speed to speed up astrometry solver as it does not have to search in other areas of the sky Polar Alignment Assistance If your mount support...

Page 49: ...electing the preferred rotation speed Mount Rotation 3 allows the user to modify the amount of rotation the mount rotates after every capture Manual Slew 4 the option to allow the user to manually rot...

Page 50: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 50 227 First Capture First Rotation...

Page 51: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 51 227 Second Capture...

Page 52: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 52 227 Second Rotation Third Capture...

Page 53: ...he StellarMate Plus Manual 53 227 Select Star Once all 3 images have been captures you are shown the correction vectors You can select a star to see the correction vectors relative to the selected sta...

Page 54: ...4 227 The correction vectors and screen will move to the selected position At this stage you can use the pinch or spread gesture to use zoom in or out as shown The zooming and tap features also works...

Page 55: ...m In the Refresh Stage the user can adjust the refresh rate by using the slider on the right pressing Refresh to start the process Note at this stage the refresh only starts once Refresh is clicked Th...

Page 56: ...A triangle is overlayed on the above captured image User selects a star and moves the star along the triangle to improve the polar alignment Corrected polar alignment error is not estimated during the...

Page 57: ...Mate Plus Manual 57 227 Manual Slew If the option is enabled after each capture the you have to rotate the mount apporixmately by the specified amount as shown Once done press the yellow check button...

Page 58: ...lution bar on the bottom and the points on the Alignment plot The points on the alignment plot have 3 different colors Red Yellow and Green If a point is red that means that the error is 1 5 times or...

Page 59: ...ew and selecting an image to slew to StellarSolver is very accurate at this and will be able to slew to object in the image Guide The Guide module allows you to do guiding using your mount and camera...

Page 60: ...ing Preview Advanced Settings Image viewer Guide Plot Preset Settings You can add new preset edit or delete presets by tapping on the button the pencil button or the trash button Guide Presets has the...

Page 61: ...he guide module will start by calibrating and then will start the guiding process When guiding is in progress you will be able to see the Guide plot being populated with lines for the RA drift DE drif...

Page 62: ...ings page You can also clear the calibration model if you want to restart the calibration process Capture The Capture module is where you create sequences to capture your targets In the typical astrop...

Page 63: ...HA filter for 300 second exposure Sequence Capture a number of images with the settings specified in a preset 1 The count field in capture module specify the number of images to capture using that pre...

Page 64: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 64 227 After filling the preset settings you need to add a sequence...

Page 65: ...StellarMate Plus Manual 65 227 Once the sequence is added you have to tap on the Save Icon on the top right The default directory is under Pictures You can go back to previous directories by going ba...

Page 66: ...nual 66 227 Sequence files are saved in home stellarmate sequences path with respect to camera name By selecting the sequence file you will be able to add a sequence in your sequences and can capture...

Page 67: ...e StellarMate Plus Manual 67 227 Capture Presets has the following structure 1 Preset name 2 Camera 3 Frame Type 4 Exposure 5 Binning 6 Format 7 Filter Wheel 8 Filter 9 Temperature 10 Gain ISO 11 Offs...

Page 68: ...to the sequence list In the below example you can see that there are 3 different jobs in the sequence list as shown by the filter in the beginning of each one red green and blue Sequences have the fo...

Page 69: ...d for each capture you can turn on sounds by switching from Ekos Tab to Settings Tab and then toggling sounds on After the capture is complete you will see a notification message that says CCD capture...

Page 70: ...r to Focus In by 300 ticks Relative positive focus offsets denote Focus Out while negative values denote Focus In Auto Focus Check this option to initial AutoFocus process whenever the filter is chang...

Page 71: ...it on the panel on the right side of the page All of its details will be filled in the panel on the left side to be edited After you edit the filter tap on the Save button to save the filter settings...

Page 72: ...ions 1 Flat Field Source o Manual The flat light source is manual o Dust Cover with Built In Flat Light If using a dust cover with built in light source e g FlipFlat For dark and bias frames close the...

Page 73: ...n once the guiding deviation goes below this limit Autofocus if HFR exceeds a value If autofocus is enabled in the focus module and at least one autofocus operation was completed successfully you can...

Page 74: ...Red and your frame type is Light the generated file names will be as following o M45_Light_Red_001 fits o M45_Light_Red_002 fits If TS was checked a timestamp will be appended to the filename e g o M4...

Page 75: ...Library The Dark Library is a collection of dark frames captured from your cameras under different settings There are basically five primary types of frames 1 Light Frame This is the regular image cap...

Page 76: ...e match is found the light frame is calibrated and this can greatly enhance the performance and accuracy of all Ekos modules Note Dark Library is not used to calibrate your sequence images it is only...

Page 77: ...umber of individual dark frames 1 Select the range of exposures binning temperatures and count if applicable required 2 Each time you change a selection the Total Frames count is updated to reflect th...

Page 78: ...s especially evident when using uncooled guide cameras that can exhibit hot pixels that are hard to treat with classical dark frame subtraction methods 1 Selecting the master dark frame loads the info...

Page 79: ...the specified value Capture and Guiding will be suspended and resumed after the flip is complete o Pier Side Shows the pier side direction Limit Settings You enable Altitude Limits or Hour Angle Limit...

Page 80: ...nds to bring the mount to the exact location it was tracking prior to the flip Next it will automatically capture a frame and select a suitable guide star performs calibration and resumes autoguiding...

Page 81: ...s Manual 81 227 To enable auto park every day check the Every day box Otherwise if the desire is only to park it once keep it disabled Select the time you want to park the mount To start the countdown...

Page 82: ...7 Observatory The Observatory module allows you to control your Dust Cap and Dome Roll off roof it has the following features Dust Cap Park UnPark Dome Park UnPark Roll off roof Park UnPark Abort Dome...

Page 83: ...the textbox next to the Azimuth label and setting the angle value to go to Now tap on the GO button to go to that angle position The dome will now try going to that position the dome status badge wil...

Page 84: ...face to interact with the drivers of the devices connected to Stellarmate It is a front end for the INDI controls available on KStars The connected devices are show at the top 1 Selecting one will sho...

Page 85: ...hange from gray idle to green successful red failed or yellow in progress when any changes have been set Some properties allow values to be adjusted They can be changed using text field and sometimes...

Page 86: ...are read only and cannot be changed Some buttons show the active button 1 and a different button can be set active simply by pressing it Other buttons 2 only send the action once pressed and we can te...

Page 87: ...rs and settings adjusted to achieve best result With Ekos the user can utilize the powerful sequence queue to image batches of images for a particular target In simple setups the user is expected to f...

Page 88: ...interface to aid the user in setting the conditions and constraints required for an observation job Each observation job is composed of the following 1 Target name Target name is displayed here 2 GOTO...

Page 89: ...elect the file using Directory browser 8 Profile Select which equipment profile to utilize when starting Ekos If Ekos INDI are already started and online this selection is ignored 9 Steps The user sel...

Page 90: ...ll the contraints if any are met The best candidate target shall be imaged first 4 Algorithm Classic Start jobs that meet the constraints by priority and score Greedy Always attempt to run a job It pi...

Page 91: ...onditions become dangerous shutdown procedure is initiated 4 Twilight The twilight restriction constraints jobs to execute in astronomical darkness Use the dusk and dawn offsets in the Ekos Scheduler...

Page 92: ...ion The observation job is completed when the sequence is complete 2 Repeat for No of times sequence will repeat 3 Repeat until teminated Restrat the sequence job indefinetly 4 Repeat until Terminate...

Page 93: ...ome position o UnPark Mount Park telescope to home position o Uncap Open dust cover 2 Script One time startup procedure to be executed before starting Ekos The script is executed before the startup pr...

Page 94: ...dule abored jobs o Queue Reschedule aborted jobs as soon as all executable jobs are either completed or aborted o Immediate Reschedule an aborted job immediately 2 ReSchedule errors Treat errors like...

Page 95: ...e dust cover o Park Mount Park telescope to home position o Park Dome Park dome to home position 2 Script One time shutdown procedure to be executed after all Scheduler jobs are completed The script i...

Page 96: ...n stage of the observatory workflow The overall procedure typically utilized in an observatory can be summarized in three primary stages 1 Startup 2 Data Acquisition including preprocessing and storag...

Page 97: ...supported by all astronomical image processing software For DSLR cameras saving RAW images directly e g CR2 is also supported by editing the DSLR camera capture preset Depending on the camera setting...

Page 98: ...do not require any debayering Capture modes 1 Previews Preview images captured using Quick Camera Control are not saved to the internal StellarMate storage 2 Sequences Sequence images captured in the...

Page 99: ...Plus Manual 99 227 All sequence images are saved along with their metadata and can be viewed in the View tab 3 Live Stacking Live Stacked images are automatically saved to home stellarmate Pictures l...

Page 100: ...nal storage by clicking on the Video icon in Camera Quick Control By default video files are stored under home stellarmate indi_D where D designates the date 1 SER Save streaming images in SER lossles...

Page 101: ...under home stellarmate Pictures To access the images over the network there are two options On Windows click on the Network icon in the left pane of File Explorer as illustrated below If you do not s...

Page 102: ...ectory browser You can now choose files i e Script file Sequence file fits file etc Directory browser will extract the path from Stellarmate dolphin and set it according to the requirement input We ar...

Page 103: ...e StellarMate Plus Manual 103 227 While selecting the sequence file or fits file for Scheduler we use Directory browser Directory browser is alsi used in Scheduler Settings in order to add script file...

Page 104: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 104 227 2 Path It is also used to set path for images in File Settings recording settings using Directory browser...

Page 105: ...anning tool to streamline your observation session Search from thousands of objects and filter them according to criteria important to every astrophotographer Add objects of interest to a quickly acce...

Page 106: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 106 227 Date Time You can preview the targets available at a different date or time by changing the settings This option is disabled if Ekos is running Sun Moon Visibility...

Page 107: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 107 227 1 Moon rise set times 2 Illumination percentage and lunar phase name 3 Sunset Sunrise 4 Astronomical Twilight Dusk Dawn Filters...

Page 108: ...jects that remain above 20 degrees for at least two hours are going to be included in the search results 3 Minimum Field of View FOV in arcminutes This is only applicable to extended objects like nebu...

Page 109: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 109 227 Search Results...

Page 110: ...splayed image This aids in target framing By default the FOV rectangle color is green with the top marked in orange The top coincides with your camera frame top Using the overlay helps to determine ex...

Page 111: ...file first 1 FOV profile dropdown 2 Add Edit Delete FOV profile 3 Exit list returns to normal targets browsing Adding an FOV profile in 5 opens up the following panel After setting the Focal Length Ca...

Page 112: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 112 227 It contains Lists dropdown Add Edit the list name or Delete the selected list Target Info 1 Object designations...

Page 113: ...he object s current Azimuth and Altitude values in degrees 7 Add to Favorites 8 Add to custom list 9 Remove from current list 10 Go Solve Go to object and plate solve required to use Framing Assistant...

Page 114: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 114 227...

Page 115: ...border A red border indicated alignment error or alignment is not within threshold Please wait until the solver iterates to center the target exactly in the center of the sensor Once this is done the...

Page 116: ...fset are updated Repeat this process as many times as necessary until you are satisfied with the result Your goal is to bring the Angular Offset down to zero 2 Adjust the rotation of the desired FOV o...

Page 117: ...using framing assistant in Scheduler module Device The Device tab shows the health and information of your StellarMate If StellarMate is connected to the internet you can also run the software update...

Page 118: ...hen supply the password if it is protected After a successful connection please wait up to 2 minutes before using any of the unit functions again o Forget WiFi WiFi network information is removed and...

Page 119: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 119 227 To update StellarMate simply click the download button and wait for the the process to complete...

Page 120: ...d Changing Hotspot WiFi Band You can change the Hotspot WiFi band by clicking on the settings button next to the WiFi Band label You can now choose the Band you want to switch to as well as the channe...

Page 121: ...is operation WARNING StellarMate App could be disconnected and channel switching might fail due to variety of reasons in which case the hotspot will be restored to default settings You might have to w...

Page 122: ...e displayed in a grid view Under each image there are badges for Filter exposure duration and binning By default all images are displayed in the grid without any filtering or sorting Click on an image...

Page 123: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 123 227...

Page 124: ...larMate aggregates images in Virtual Folders based on the selected Virtual Group 1 Show all Images Show all directories images under home stellarmate Pictures 2 Target Group images by each unique targ...

Page 125: ...125 227 physically located on the device 3 Directory Default This is similar to a traditional File Explorer where images are grouped by directory on StellarMate 4 Frame Group images by each unique fr...

Page 126: ...tellarMate Plus Manual 126 227 5 Date Group images by date whereas images captured on the same day are grouped together 6 Per filter Images are shown per filter Those folder directories are Virtual fo...

Page 127: ...he chrono selector For example tapping 1H would only show images captured within the last hour You can view the image in full size by click on a specifc image Below the list of images which are in tha...

Page 128: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 128 227 You can also download and delete the specific image Sort It allows you to sort the images according to different options which includes Name date...

Page 129: ...ll images will delete all the images exists in the specifc directory i e If you are in Per filters option and RED filter directory It will only delete your images within RED directory virtual folder S...

Page 130: ...ro subscription refer to Resources section In case the SM App becomes unresponsive you can wipe all the settings by tapping on the Reset App button on the settings page Close the App afterwards then r...

Page 131: ...ot mode when the other connection modes become unavailable This is to enable you to always access the device regardless of network availability StellarMate gadget is shipped with a 1 8 meters HDMI cab...

Page 132: ...necting your equipment StellarMate supports connecting to your equipment via WiFi Ethernet Bluetooth or USB USB is the primary connection method for most astronomical devices Make sure all equipment i...

Page 133: ...ion and download any extra data Internet connection required Launch Ekos either by press Ctrl K or by pressing on the Dome shaped icon in the Toolbar It is recommended to use the Ekos Profile Wizard t...

Page 134: ...our equipment is attached to StellarMate or elsewhere Since you are directly connected to HDMI then you select Equipment is attached to this device Next select your equipment profile name and any addi...

Page 135: ...ou must first complete the First Time Setup guide before proceeding with this tutorial By default StellarMate operates in HotSpot mode Even if configured for WiFi connection or LAN StellarMate always...

Page 136: ...r USB USB is the primary connection method for most astronomical devices Make sure all equipment is sufficiently powered and initialized before connecting them to StellarMate For mounts most mounts ne...

Page 137: ...availability Infrastructure Connection Note Infrastructure mode is where StellarMate joins an existing WiFi network You must first complete the First Time Setup guide before proceeding with this tuto...

Page 138: ...nge cogwheel next to green wifi icon The App should display a list of detected WiFi networks in the vicinity Select the desired WiFi network from the list and press Connect Enter and double check the...

Page 139: ...it will default back to the HotSpot StellarMate Address Whether you are accessing StellarMate from PC Mac or Mobile you can always reach it by the address stellarmate local This is the address that s...

Page 140: ...ars on your system before proceeding forward Connecting from Ekos Please refer to Connecting from Ekos via Ethernet WiFi VNC When StellarMate is first started it shall create a HotSpot Access Point na...

Page 141: ...6080 directly click Connect and then use smate as the password Go to stellarmate local and then click on the button on the bottom right corner then select Desktop you should be redirected to the VNC...

Page 142: ...checked It is recommended to use the Ekos Profile Wizard to set up your first profile The wizard automatically starts up the first time you fire Ekos in KStars To start it again please click on the w...

Page 143: ...ou are running Ekos on a PC Mac then select Equipment is attached to a remote device If you clicked on Equipment is attached to a remote device this page will show up click on StellarMate If you click...

Page 144: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 144 227 Next select your equipment profile name and any additional services you want to run then proceed to create the profile...

Page 145: ...te to your home router Alternatively you can also directly connect StellarMate to your PC Mac This can be done using a regular Ethernet cable at home or in the field Wired connections are very fast an...

Page 146: ...r your bluetooth device Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard StellarMate allows connecting bluetooth mounts easily through StellarMate Web Manager all you have to do is follow these steps Connecting...

Page 147: ...paired your device to StellarMate before you can set it to Auto bind on startup by clicking on the Bind button next to the device s details You will be met with a dialog that confirms that your device...

Page 148: ...uetooth devices 8 If the scanner does not find any devices click on RESCAN 9 If you find your device enter the pin code and then click on the Connect button eg Shoestring Astronomy HC 06 s pin code is...

Page 149: ...nded on startup go to the Bluetooth Wizard by following steps 1 4 and then click on Unbind Previous Device A confirmation dialog will be shown to you Manual Pairing Bluetooth dongles are supported Bef...

Page 150: ...them in USB 2 0 ports they will operate with a reduced speed For applications other than Electronically Assisted Astronomy EAA where a high FPS is required USB 2 0 is sufficient for most scenarios Ca...

Page 151: ...program Tip Some modern cameras do not have a Bulb B dial You can set Bulb Mode by selecting Manual M dial and then change the exposure duration until you see BULB in the camera Tip Some modern camer...

Page 152: ...s and can autofocus using the Ekos Focus module Manual focus is available via Live View or Bahtinov Mask Assistant Tool Supported DSLRs StellarMate supports a wide selection of DSLR cameras manufactur...

Page 153: ...0D PTP mode EOS M5 EOS 450D PTP mode EOS M50 EOS 500D EOS M6 EOS 50D EOS M6 Mark II EOS 550D EOS R EOS 5D normal mode EOS R2 EOS 5D PTP mode EOS Rebel T1i EOS 5D Mark II EOS Rebel T6 EOS 5D Mark III E...

Page 154: ...g Make sure the battery in the camera is full Make sure the SD card in the camera has enough space Make sure camera is set to Bulb Manual mode You might need to rotate the dial to Bulb or Manual and t...

Page 155: ...outhern 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...

Page 156: ...unt 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 Nor...

Page 157: ...on Sirrius Orion Atlas EQMod Mount Bluetooth HEQ5 EQ6 EQ6R Pro AZ EQ5 AZ EQ6 Pro EQ8 EQ8 Pro EQ3 Pro EQM 35 Pro Orion Sirrius Orion Atlas EQMod Mount Synscan Wifi Adap AZ GTi With Equatorial Wedge AZ...

Page 158: ...ssible but offers limited 3 Some WiFi mounts e g AZ GTi offers direct WiFi commu mounts require external dongle 4 Bluetooth communication supported with external bluetooth d iOptron Yes Yes Yes NA NA...

Page 159: ...NA NA Yes Yes NA OnStep Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Rainbow RS 125 Yes NA NA NA NA ArgoNavis Yes NA NA NA NA Digital Setting Circle Yes NA NA NA NA Methods of Connection The following diagrams illustrates th...

Page 160: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 160 227 2 WiFi Infrastructure Bluetooth...

Page 161: ...or many Mounts Focusers that use RS232 connectors you need to purchase a Serial To USB adapter suitable for your Mount Focuser model from the manufacturer When you plug in your Serial To USB devices t...

Page 162: ...et StellarMate etc are all connected to the mount hotspot This is to ensure that all the devices are on the same network talking to each other You cannot have half the devices on a different network O...

Page 163: ...d lead to communication issues With the help of StellarMate Serial Port Assistant you can assign permanent designations for your devices so that they always get the same port whenever they are connect...

Page 164: ...e port whenever they are connected If your Filter Wheel mode does not uses a Serial To USB chip you will not see any settings for serial Port settings in the driver and can therefore connect directly...

Page 165: ...n Therefore GPS is the recommended solution in the long term The following are the supported GPS sources Tablet Mobile GPS The StellarMate App relays the tablet mobile time and location information to...

Page 166: ...he system would also synchronize the time to online time servers and synchronize the RTC clock accordingly Now both the internet time and RTC clock are again in sync to account for any drifts that mig...

Page 167: ...most accurate and reliable for time location information By default KStars is the master source for time and location data WARNING Turn off DST Daylight Saving settings in the handset as this could in...

Page 168: ...imulator CCD Simulator Focuser Simulator You can run the Simulator profile to test the simulators and connect to them from any client Web Manager URL You can access the Web Manager from any browser at...

Page 169: ...on StellarMate Unit name StellarMate Unit model StellarMate OS Version List of IP addresses Connection to StellarMate is usually done via its hostname however you can connect directly via IP address A...

Page 170: ...r equipment profile whenever StellarMate is powered on check the AutoStart checkbox Auto Connect In addition to Auto Starting an equipment profile you can also connect all equipment which is equivalen...

Page 171: ...USB ports However it is highly recommended to use an external powered USB Hub as it can reliably support power to your equipment WARNING Most problems in operating your equipment with StellarMate are...

Page 172: ...u need its IP address or hostname and its port StellarMate Serial Assistant Serial Port Assistant ensures that your serial device designations are saved permanently When you plug your mount it is assi...

Page 173: ...web application for StellarMate OS It provides any functions such as displaying the connection status of the controller backup and restore network and factory reset etc Status Bar The Status Bar is a...

Page 174: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 174 227 Dashboard The home page of the StellarMate Control Panel is the Dashboard which shows the...

Page 175: ...following information 1 RAM Usage 2 Storage Usage 3 CPU Usage 4 Device Temperature 5 Network Graph 6 Weather and Location Information 7 Screen Resolution Weather Units Weather units can be toggled fro...

Page 176: ...227 Hardware In this page you can see all the hardware devices that are connected to StellarMate Clicking on a device will show its information which can be downloaded by clicking on the Download but...

Page 177: ...y following these steps 1 Click on Download 2 Wait for download to complete 3 Click on Install The application should now be installed on your StellarMate Release Type You can switch between the Stabl...

Page 178: ...broadcasted HotSpot network To connect to StellarMate through a WiFi Router you have to connect StellarMate to the WiFi Router first by following these steps 1 Click on Connect on the WiFi Router card...

Page 179: ...ys switch back to HotSpot mode whenever you want by clicking on the Turn On button under HotSpot Wired StellarMate can be connected through Router Ethernet or Direct Ethernet To connect to StellarMate...

Page 180: ...this change to take effect Reset Factory In case StellarMate is experiencing unresolved instablities it is possible to restore it to Factory Settings by click on the the Factory Reset button After the...

Page 181: ...o help fix the issue StellarMate support may ask you to attach logs in your support ticket if they need to investigate the issue Backup and Restore Process This is an instructional guide for the Backu...

Page 182: ...generated 4 You should get a Backup Successful message You should You now have a backup file on your computer that you can use later to restore your StellarMate configuration Restoring StellarMate co...

Page 183: ...tellarMate Plus Manual 183 227 2 Select your backup file and click on Open 3 Wait for the upload process to complete 4 You should get a Upload Successful message which means that the restore was succe...

Page 184: ...port when there are issues about EkosLive being down or for issues with Live Stacking This is an instructional guide for how to View or Extract Logs It will be explained step by step in this section o...

Page 185: ...ou can view the logs for kstars and INDI as well On the left side you can see different files for each day Note You can also watch the Video on how to enable logging in Kstars from the link given belo...

Page 186: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 186 227 4 Web Manager 5 Network Manager 6 Device Manager...

Page 187: ...ual 187 227 7 Boot Goto In every page of the StellarMate Control Panel there is a GOTO button on the bottom right corner Clicking on GOTO opens up a menu that allows you to navigate to 3 different are...

Page 188: ...ide from one central location Use it on your phone tablet or computer The interface is designed to be flexible on whatever platform you prefer If you re mobile you can get the best results by using it...

Page 189: ...we highly recommend using Google Chrome on all platforms to get the best experience Firefox is unfortunately not supported at the moment since it does not support dual websocket technology that is emp...

Page 190: ...uthentication the EkosLive cloud icon should turn Green Now you are ready to use EkosLive Web Application Using EkosLive Web Application Go to the EkosLive URL and login with your username password Af...

Page 191: ...his icon should turn When no profile is active and Ekos is not connected to your equipment this icon should turn Cloud Status Icon This icon should remain as long as you are connected to the internet...

Page 192: ...to uniquely identifies images of interest Turn on sound notifications on to get audible alerts on tasks such as when an image is captured and so on It supports multiple themes Normal Dark and Night t...

Page 193: ...parent if you re on the go with a mobile setup For a fixed observatory the only factor you have to worry about synchronizing is time On the other hand a mobile setup requires both location and time se...

Page 194: ...h ZWO ASI cameras 17 18 Can I use my ASCOM drivers and software with StellarMate 17 19 What is EkosLive 17 20 How can I connect to StellarMate directly via Ethernet cable 17 21 How to access images on...

Page 195: ...dows Mac OS Linux application to control your equipment 17 3 What do I need to run StellarMate You need equipment Mounts Cameras Focuser etc that can be connected to a computer vi modern gadget includ...

Page 196: ...smate 17 8 How can I reset WiFi How can I reset to Factory Defaults To reset StellarMate use VNC or connect via HDMI and click on the StellarMate Tools icon on th After clicking the icon a small windo...

Page 197: ...type in sudo reboot to reboot StellarMate and pre StellarMate should hopefully bootup normally next time 2 Wrong Home WiFi password If you entered a wrong home WiFi password this can lea able to esta...

Page 198: ...control my mount Please follow instructions in Controlling your Mount with Joystick tutorial 17 14 How do I update StellarMate Use Web Based VNC Viewer or any VNC Viewer to access StellarMate Simply...

Page 199: ...g in remotely How about SFTP Yes Use port 5624 to login to StellarMate using your username and password The same FileZilla You can perform the remote update using the following command sudo apt get up...

Page 200: ...compatible firmware Download the ASI Cameras Firmware Upgrade Tool for your OS and flash the camera with the your camera is ASI120MM then flash the camera with this file ASI120MM compatible iic This i...

Page 201: ...n sound notifications on to get audible alerts on tasks such as when an image is captured Normal Dark and Night to suit your seeing preferences More on this 17 20 How can I connect to StellarMate dire...

Page 202: ...ion involves creating a static IP address on StellarMate using Network M 17 21 How to access images on StellarMate from PC Mac If you captured images and saved them to StellarMate then they should be...

Page 203: ...ntacting support regarding DSLR co Make sure the camera battery is full Make sure there is enough space on your SD card Make sure the camera is set to Bulb Manual mode In some models you need to rotat...

Page 204: ...your desktop Double click it to learn of the location of the driver In the example above the drive location is home stellarmate Elements This is the location U you need to save in a directory inside...

Page 205: ...Manual 205 227 2 Using KStars on Windows Mac OS Linux If you are running KStars remotely on a Windows Mac OS or Linux machine th the Upload mode to either Local save images only in StellarMate or Both...

Page 206: ...oes the unit have StellarMate comes with one 10 100 mbps Ethernet port 17 26 I hear a loose part inside StellarMate RTC Clock StellarMate Controller comes preinstalled with a Real Time Clock module On...

Page 207: ...27 17 27 EQMod position is incorrect on startup The Default Position for EQMod after power up is the home position The home position is def facing the celestial pole with the weights down For northern...

Page 208: ...arMate Plus Manual 208 227 In rare circumstances users might see the initial position for EQMod in Ekos to be wrong position it should always start near the celestial pole An off position might look l...

Page 209: ...l 209 227 To fix this issue please perform the following steps 1 If the mount is not already unparked unpark it click the green flag in the toolbar 2 Go to INDI Control Panel EQMod Site Management and...

Page 210: ...ient power to make the slews Power is one the primary prob least issues users suspect or investigate so make sure to rule out power as the cause for the m Alignment GOTO mounts learn how to go to spec...

Page 211: ...osing alignment data Time Location This is the most common cause for inaccurate and erratics GOTOs StellarMate requires an ac to drive the mount correctly If you are using Ekos on a PC Mac KStars woul...

Page 212: ...off If you are using board then there is no way to keep the time ticking and accurate StellarMate would sync connection to the internet In case you are using StellarMate in HotSpot mode the unit has...

Page 213: ...ny mount that uses INDI Alignment Subsystem it improves its the night sky in the driver itself This is in contrast to traditional mounts when the model is built the model inadvernetly lead to wrong GO...

Page 214: ...EQMOD Mount should point toward the celestial pole and a new default parking position is recorded 2 Other Mount should point toward the last alignment star that you used in the handset alignment proce...

Page 215: ...te a new equipment profile with the same drivers started in the App equipment profile 3 Set the profile to remote and the host to stellarmate local 4 Make sure INDI Web Manager is UNCHECKED This is ve...

Page 216: ...your mount is running In case Ekos reports it failed to communicate with the mount still please make sure of the follow 1 Read your specific mount driver documentation 2 Telescope is properly powered...

Page 217: ...StellarMate from a retailer please submit a new ticket and attac don t see an order in the Orders page To be able to use a different MicroSD than the already built in one you need to flash StellarMat...

Page 218: ...218 227 3 Download balenaEtcher and install it then open it 4 Connect an SD card reader to your computer with the MicroSD card inside 5 Open Etcher and select from your hard drive the StellarMate OS...

Page 219: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 219 227 6 Select the MicroSD card you wish to write your image to...

Page 220: ...The StellarMate Plus Manual 220 227 7 Review your selections and click Flash to begin writing data to the SD card...

Page 221: ...ked Questions To report any issues with StellarMate or Ekos please submit a ticket and our support team should get back to you as soon as possible Please make sure to submit the relevant logs to aid i...

Page 222: ...lso Horizon see also Zenith Overview Celestial Coordinate Systems Celestial Equator The Celestial Equator see also Equatorial Coordinates Celestial Poles The Celestial Poles see also Equatorial Coordi...

Page 223: ...Live EkosLive FAQ EkosLive FAQ Supported browsers Supported Browsers Web application Using EkosLive Web Application Elliptical Galaxies Elliptical Galaxies Epoch Epoch Equinoxes The Equinoxes see also...

Page 224: ...e Display Shading Customizing the Display J Julian Day Julian Day L Latitude see Geographic Coordinate System Leap Years Leap Years Local Meridian The Local Meridian see also Celestial Sphere see also...

Page 225: ...Tracking Centering and Tracking Operation Slot Operating Filter Wheel Orbit Trails Attached to centered object Centering and Tracking P Parallax Parallax Parsec see Parallax Planner Observation Plann...

Page 226: ...tup Quick Startup Specification Specifications Support Support Tools StellatMate Tools Web Manager Web Manager Autoconnect Auto Connect Autostart Auto Start URL Web Manager URL T Telescope Control Con...

Page 227: ...apture Capture Focus Focus Guide Guide Logs Logs Profile Editor Profile Editor Profile Wizard Profile Wizard Scheduler Scheduler Setup Ekos Setup Tutorials Ekos Tutorials User Interface User Interface...

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