Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel
Related Manuals for iKarus StellarMate Plus
Summary of Contents for iKarus StellarMate Plus
- Page 1 The StellarMate Plus Manual Copyright © 2020 by Ikarus Technologies. All Rights Reserved.
-
Page 2: Table Of Contents
The StellarMate Plus Manual Table of contents 1. Warnings ..................... 6 2. Package Contents ..................6 3. Introduction ....................7 3.1 Quick Startup ........................ 8 3.2 Specifications ....................... 8 3.3 Passwords ........................9 3.4 Learning StellarMate ....................9 4. StellarMate App ..................9 4.1 Registration ........................ - Page 3 The StellarMate Plus Manual 5.3.5 Downloading Ekos ................... 68 5.3.6 Connecting from Ekos ..................68 5.4 VNC ..........................68 5.5 Connecting from Ekos via Ethernet/WiFi ............69 5.6 Direct Ethernet ......................74 6. Connecting Equipment Via Bluetooth ............74 6.1 Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard ..............75 6.2 Manual Pairing ......................
- Page 4 The StellarMate Plus Manual 15.7 Goto ........................... 112 16. EkosLive ....................113 16.1 How does it work? ....................113 16.2 Supported Browsers ..................... 114 16.3 Getting Started ....................... 114 16.3.1 Connecting Ekos to the Cloud ..............114 16.3.2 Using EkosLive Web Application ............... 115 16.4 EkosLive FAQ ......................
- Page 5 The StellarMate Plus Manual 18.4.8.2 Scheduler ....................209 18.4.8.3 Capture ....................217 18.4.8.4 Focus ....................... 230 18.4.8.5 Guide ....................... 238 18.4.8.6 Align ......................255 18.4.8.7 Mount ....................... 277 18.4.8.8 Observatory ..................282 18.4.8.9 Analyze ....................286 18.4.9 Jupiter Moons Tool ..................288 18.4.10 Observation Planner ..................
-
Page 6: Warnings
StellarMate. Quick Start Guide. MicroSD Card 32GB U1 or larger depending on checkout selection (already inserted to StellarMate Plus with SM OS 1.5.3). Optional Mount to USB cable (can be purchased separately on checkout). 6 / 341... -
Page 7: Introduction
Connect the USB-C power supply cable to StellarMate Plus and then turn power on. You should initially see a solid red light with occasional flashes of green. Wait for 30 seconds, your StellarMate Plus is now ready to be used! https://www.youtube.com/embed/2cOau9jBeJo... -
Page 8: Quick Startup
StellarMate is the solution you have been waiting for. 3.1 Quick Startup The following is the quick startup guide to getting StellarMate Plus up and running in a few minutes using your phone/tablet: Download Stellarmate App from the Android/iOS store. -
Page 9: Passwords
· 12v to 5v USB-C 2-meter cable. Power SM Plus on the field from any 12v power source. RTC module: StellarMate Plus ships with a Real-Time Clock with battery to keep StellarMate Plus time accurate even when power is off. A real-time clock is critical for accurate astronomy &... -
Page 10: Registration
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate on the Google Play StellarMate on the App Store WARNING The App is required to connect to the unit and configure it for first-time use, so do this step now and do not skip ahead! 4.1 Registration... -
Page 11: Steps
The StellarMate Plus Manual If you purchased StellarMate OS, the Device Serial Number is automatically generated for you. 4.1.2 Steps Register your controller after downloading the SM App. Make sure your tablet is connected to the internet. Launch StellarMate App on iOS or Android. - Page 12 The StellarMate Plus Manual After connecting to StellarMate, go back to the App: · Tap on RESCAN to start the scanning process. Discovered devices would be listed on the left side pane. 12 / 341...
- Page 13 The StellarMate Plus Manual · After StellarMate is detected, tap on it to establish connection. Wait for a few seconds and the LED would turn green indicating a stable successful connection. The right side pane should now display the Equipment Profile page. Now you are ready to connect to your astronomical equipment.
-
Page 14: Connecting Your Devices Using Stellarmate App
The StellarMate Plus Manual 4.3 Connecting your devices using StellarMate App Most astronomical equipment such as telescopes, cameras, filter wheels, and focusers connect via a USB cable. To add your devices, you need to create a new Equipment Profile. Tap on the Add (+) icon next to the profiles to start the equipment profile wizard. -
Page 15: Adding Telescopes
The StellarMate Plus Manual You can select the drivers for your devices manually, or you can let StellarMate detect them automatically 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. -
Page 16: Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual Please use descriptive information as illustrated above to make it easy to select telescopes in the future. After the telescope is added, select it from the dropdown menu. Your equipment profile is now ready. Tap Start to establish connection to your devices. -
Page 17: Quick Controls
The StellarMate Plus Manual position and current angle representation. · Quick Controls: Quick Controls are simplified quick-access settings for the camera, mount, and rotator located on the top-right panel. They can be toggled at any time. Once toggled, the corresponding control is overlayed on the top of your existing view where you can quickly and efficiently control your devices. -
Page 18: Mount
The StellarMate Plus Manual Mount Quick Controls Camera Quick Controls Rotator Quick Controls 4.5.1.1 Mount Mount quick controls allows you to control your mount quickly and easily, it has the following features: · Mount Speed · Park/Unpark · Tracking On/Off ·... - Page 19 The StellarMate Plus Manual Goto or Sync You can goto or sync by clicking on the GOTO button, a dialog will pop-up where you can goto or sync to your last target, choose one of your last recently used targets, or select and category and choose a new target.
- Page 20 The StellarMate Plus Manual 20 / 341...
- Page 21 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 screen. 21 / 341...
- Page 22 The StellarMate Plus Manual Locking Mount Controls You can lock mount controls using the Lock button on the bottom-right of the screen. This will disable all the controls, and can be used to avoid any accidental touches. Parking Your Mount...
-
Page 23: Camera
The StellarMate Plus Manual to the yellow color while Parking your mount. After it is done parking, the button will turn to the color green, showing Parked status in the mount status bar. 4.5.1.2 Camera Camera quick controls allows you to control your camera quickly and easily, it has the following features: ·... - Page 24 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Video Streaming · Live Stacking · Quick Settings Editing Camera 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.
-
Page 25: Rotator
The StellarMate Plus Manual Live Stacking StellarMate also features Live Stacking, which can be turned on by clicking on the LIVE button. This will start live stacking process in which images are stacked to increase the signal to noise ratio. It utilizes a median stacking algorithm and automatic background extraction follow by contrast adjustments to bring out the details. - Page 26 The StellarMate Plus Manual Rotator quick controls allows you to control your rotator quickly and easily, it has the following features: · Display Current Angle (please note all angles are in degrees) · Goto absolute angle · 10-step Counter-ClockWise Movement ·...
-
Page 27: Modules
The StellarMate Plus Manual Going to an angle position by steps You can rotate the rotator to a different angle using the CW and rotation buttons, which will change the rotation by 10 steps depending on the direction chosen. 4.5.2 Modules... -
Page 28: Focus
The StellarMate Plus Manual mounts/telescopes, dustcaps, domes, roll-off shutters, filter wheels, rotators, focusers, and more. Focus Align Guide Capture Mount Observatory 4.5.2.1 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. - Page 29 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 the following structure: Preset name Focuser Camera Exposure Binning...
- Page 30 The StellarMate Plus Manual When the Auto Focusing is done, the status badge above the HFR Plot will turn to green and say "Complete". Settings You can change lots of settings by going to the Settings, Process, and/or Mechanics setting pages.
- Page 31 The StellarMate Plus Manual image. · Subframe: Subframe around the focus star during the autofocus procedure. Enabling subframing can significantly speed up the focus process. · Full field: Measure average HFR from all stars combined in a full frame. This method defaults to the Centroid detection, but can use SEP detection too.
- Page 32 The StellarMate Plus Manual o Centroid: a source detection based on estimating star mass around signal peaks. o Gradient: a single source detection based on the Sobel filter. Initial or full-field analysis will use SEP instead of this method. o Threshold: a single source detection based on pixel values. Initial or full-field analysis will use SEP instead of this method.
- Page 33 The StellarMate Plus Manual likely result in a failed autofocus process. · Average over: Sets the number of frames to capture in order to average the HFR value at the current focuser position. · Num. of rows: The number of rows set in this field will be combined in the Bahtinov max average calculation.
-
Page 34: Align
The StellarMate Plus Manual 4.5.2.2 Align The Align module enables highly accurate GOTOs and dead-center target images by utilizing plate-solving. The process starts with capturing an image and plate- solving it to get the exact sky coordinates. Once the coordinates are obtained, the mount is synchronized and then commanded to slew to the correct target position. - Page 35 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 the following structure: Preset name Camera Scope Exposure Binning SEP Profile: the profile used for solving o 1-FastSolving: solve images fast, but it does NOT do parallel solves.
- Page 36 The StellarMate Plus Manual Capture & Solve To start capturing and solving, just tap on the Capture & Solve button and the StellarMate will take care of the rest. When it's done, you will be able to see the current Alignment capture preview, alignment info on the solution bar on the bottom, and the points on the Alignment plot.
-
Page 37: Guide
The StellarMate Plus Manual Load and Slew You can start a load and slew action by tapping on Load & Slew and selecting an image to slew to. StellarSolver is very accurate at this and will be able to slew to object in the image. - Page 38 The StellarMate Plus Manual camera settings needed for guiding. You can also choose the scope. · Start guiding · 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.
- Page 39 The StellarMate Plus Manual Guiding You can start guiding by tapping on the Start button. The 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 drift and the Total RMS.
-
Page 40: Capture
The StellarMate Plus Manual Guide Advanced Settings You can edit the directions for guide corrections and the proportional gain in this settings page. You can also clear the calibration model if you want to restart the calibration process. 4.5.2.4 Capture... - Page 41 The StellarMate Plus Manual camera settings needed for guiding. You can also choose the scope. · Start guiding · Preview · Advanced Settings · Pixmap Image viewer · Guide Plot Creating a sequence To create a sequence, you should first create a new preset by tapping on the + button next to the preset dropdown box.
- Page 42 The StellarMate Plus Manual After creating your presets, you can now tap on the preset dropdown in order to select the preset you want, and then tap on Add to Sequence, so the sequence can be added to the sequence list.
- Page 43 The StellarMate Plus Manual After adding the sequences, tap on the Play button under the Progress header to start the sequence. During the capture, a soft "ding" sound will be played for each capture (you can turn on sounds by switching from Ekos Tab to Settings Tab and then toggling sounds on).
- Page 44 The StellarMate Plus Manual Filter Settings You can edit filters by tapping on the Filter button. The filter settings page will open and allow you to edit filter settings for each filter of the filter wheel selected in the dropdown menu.
- Page 45 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Auto Focus process is initiated. · Once Auto Focus is complete, the filter is changed to H_Alpha. · A focus offset of -1200 is applied. · Capture sequence is resumed. To edit a filter, tap on 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.
- Page 46 The StellarMate Plus Manual Calibration Settings You can edit calibration settings for capture jobs that have the frame type as Bias, Dark, or Flat. For Flat Field frames, you can set calibration options in order to automate the process. The calibration options are designed to facilitate automatic unattended flat field frame capture.
- Page 47 The StellarMate Plus Manual calibration settings unless you want to close the dust cover to ensure no light at all passes through the optical tube. For flat fields, you must specify the flat field light source, and then specify the duration of the flat field frame. The duration can be either manual, or based on ADU calculations.
- Page 48 The StellarMate Plus Manual Limit Settings Limit settings are applicable to all the images in the sequence queue. When a limit is exceeded, Ekos shall command the appropiate action to remedy the situation as explained below. · Guiding Deviation: If checked, it enforces a limit of maximum allowable guiding deviation for the exposure, if autoguiding is used.
- Page 49 The StellarMate Plus Manual File Settings Settings for specifying where captured images are saved to, and how to generate unique file names. · Prefix: Specify prefix to append to the generated filename. You may also append the frame type, filter, expose duration, and ISO 8601 timestamp. For...
-
Page 50: Mount
The StellarMate Plus Manual 4.5.2.5 Mount The Mount module allows you to do Meridian Flips and set limits for your Mount, it has the following features: · Tracking On/Off · Mount Park/UnPark · Meridian Flip o Flip if HA >: Request a meridian flip if the hour angle exceeds the specified value. -
Page 51: Observatory
The StellarMate Plus Manual Meridian Flip You can do a Meridian Flip from the Mount Module. Equatorial mounts flip after crossing the meridian in order to prevent the imaging equipment train from hitting the tripod. With Ekos, you can set an hour angle limit which if exceeded, the mount will be commnded to flip. - Page 52 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 Motion · Goto Absolute Dome Angle...
-
Page 53: Device Status
The StellarMate Plus Manual 4.6 Device Status The Device tab shows the health and information of your StellarMate. If StellarMate is connected to the internet, you can also run the software updater and install the latest firmware updates. 53 / 341... - Page 54 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can perform the following functions: · Change Name: You can change device name (and its hostname) to another name without any spaces. For example, if you rename it to myobservatory, the host name shall be changed to http://myobservatory.local.
- Page 55 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can now choose the Band you want to switch to, as well as the channel. We recommend using default if you are not sure which Channel to choose. After choosing the band you want to switch to, tap on connect to start the switching process.
- Page 56 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 wait until the hotspot starts broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal again, if it's successful, you will be able to connect back to StellarMate and find that it shows the band you switched to, in the Device tab.
-
Page 57: Cloud
The StellarMate Plus Manual If not, StellarMate will go back to the Automatic band. 4.7 Cloud The Cloud tab displays your images saved on the cloud (requires EkosLive Pro subscription, refer to Resources section) and it also displays offline images captured on StellarMate. -
Page 58: Connection Methods
The StellarMate Plus Manual then re-launch it. You can always log back into you account in order to use StellarMate App. 5. Connection Methods Depending on how you want to connect to StellarMate, click on any of the following options... -
Page 59: Direct Hdmi Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual 5.1 Direct HDMI Connection Note You 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 switches back to HotSpot mode when the other connection modes become unavailable. -
Page 60: Connecting Your Equipment
The StellarMate Plus Manual This is the same username and password you will use when accessing the unit over Web VNC as well. It is highly recommended to change the default password after your first login to the system. 5.1.1 Connecting your equipment StellarMate supports connecting to your equipment via WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, or USB. - Page 61 The StellarMate Plus Manual Click Next to proceed to the next screen. 61 / 341...
- Page 62 The StellarMate Plus Manual In here you need to select if your 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 additional services you want to run then proceed to create the profile.
-
Page 63: Ethernet Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to your equipment and start using Ekos, simply click the Start button as illustrated above.A 5.2 Ethernet Connection Note You 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 switches back to HotSpot mode when the other connection modes become unavailable. -
Page 64: Stellarmate Address
The StellarMate Plus Manual 5.2.1 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 should be used in Ekos if you are using Ekos on a PC/Mac to connect remotely to Ekos. To... -
Page 65: Hotspot Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Direct Connection to the StellarMate HotSpot or · Joining StellarMate to your Home WiFi. By default, StellarMate runs in HotSpot Mode. Click on the desired mode of connect to learn more about connecting StellarMate. 5.3.1 HotSpot Connection... - Page 66 The StellarMate Plus Manual Connecting to WiFi Network Use the StellarMate App to connect to your WiFi network. From your mobile OS, connect first to the StellarMate HotSpot, then launch the StellarMate App and go to Device tab. Here you can see a few controls to configure StellarMate.
- Page 67 The StellarMate Plus Manual Select the desired WiFi network from the list and press Connect. Enter and double check the WiFi password. A final confirmation warning popup about switching to WiFi infrastructure mode is displayed, press Yes to continue. The App will command StellarMate to join the WiFi network and then begins to scan for StellarMate in the local network.
-
Page 68: Stellarmate Address
The StellarMate Plus Manual 5.3.3 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 should be used in Ekos if you are using Ekos on a PC/Mac to connect remotely to Ekos. To... -
Page 69: Connecting From Ekos Via Ethernet/Wifi
The StellarMate Plus Manual To access StellarMate through VNC, you have to first connect to the WiFi Hotspot and then open your favorite browser and you can either: · Go to stellarmate.local:6080 directly, click Connect and then use smate as the password. - Page 70 The StellarMate Plus Manual Make sure INDI Web Manager checkbox is 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...
- Page 71 The StellarMate Plus Manual In here you need to select if your equipment is attached to StellarMate or elsewhere: If you are running Ekos within StellarMate OS, then select Equipment is attached to this device. If you are running Ekos on a PC/Mac, then select Equipment is attached to a remote device.
- Page 72 The StellarMate Plus Manual If you clicked on Equipment is attached to a remote device, this page will show up, click on StellarMate. 72 / 341...
- Page 73 The StellarMate Plus Manual If you clicked on Equipment is attached to a remote device before, this page will show up. In this page you have a choice to specify the StellarMate Address & Port. These settings are for advanced usage of StellarMate, so just click the Next.
-
Page 74: Direct Ethernet
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to your equipment and start using Ekos, simply click the Start button as illustrated above. 5.6 Direct Ethernet StellarMate includes a Gigabit (1000Mb/s) Ethernet port. You can connect StellarMate to your home router. Alternatively, you can also directly connect StellarMate to your PC/Mac. -
Page 75: Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard
The StellarMate Plus Manual There are two ways to connect your bluetooth device: Bluetooth Wizard provided in Serial Port Assistant Manually pair your bluetooth device 6.1 Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard StellarMate allows connecting bluetooth mounts easily through StellarMate Web... - Page 76 The StellarMate Plus Manual 4. Check the Bluetooth device checkbox, and then click Next. 5. If you have already 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.
- Page 77 The StellarMate Plus Manual 6. If you have not paired your device and would like to add a new device, click on Add New Device button. 7. The Bluetooth Wizard will now scan for available bluetooth devices. 8. If the scanner does not find any devices, click on RESCAN.
- Page 78 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 1234, you can find the pin code number by finding the bluetooth device's documentation made by the manufacturer) 10.
-
Page 79: Manual Pairing
After you pair your device, you should have a bluetooth ported assigned to it (e.g. /dev/rfcomm0). This is the port you should use in INDI when communicating with your device. 7. Connecting CCDs StellarMate Plus supports a broad range of camers (CCD/CMOS). Find out if your 79 / 341... -
Page 80: Connecting Dslrs
Camera Portal. StellarMate Plus includes 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports, it natively supports USB 3.0 cameras using full bandwidth. While USB 3.0+ cameras are compatible, if you plug them in USB 2.0 ports, they will operate with a reduced speed. -
Page 81: Supported Dslrs
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. 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. -
Page 82: Canon
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate supports a wide selection of DSLR cameras manufactured by popular brands like Canon, Nikon and several others. The following is a list of the most popular supported cameras. 8.1.1 Canon Supported Models Digital Rebel XT (normal mode) EOS 650D... -
Page 83: Nikon
The StellarMate Plus Manual EOS 40D (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) -
Page 84: Troubleshooting
The StellarMate Plus Manual DSC D3500 DSC D80 (PTP mode) DSC D3s (PTP mode) DSC D800 DSC D3x (PTP mode) DSC D800E DSC D4 DSC D810 DSC D40 (PTP mode) DSC D810A DSC D40x (PTP mode) DSC D850 DSC D4s... -
Page 85: Mount Connection Guide
The StellarMate Plus Manual 9.1 Mount Connection Guide In order to know what connections your mount supports, check the following table: Manufacturer Direct WiFi Ethernet Bluetooth Comment Cables WiFi requires external Stella IKA-203 & Meade Yes* WiFi Adapter IKA-204 1. Native WiFi support Evolution Mounts using INDI Celestron Aux driver. - Page 86 The StellarMate Plus Manual Losmandy G11 Explore Scientific EXOS2 Explore Scientific iEXOS100 Losmandy Gemini Temma Takahashi Ethernet connection TeenAstro supported (Firmware > v1.1) SkyWatcher Virtuso SkySensor200 Pulsar2 SkyWalker OnStep Rainbow RS- ArgoNavis Digital Setting Circle Methods of Connection The following diagrams illustrates the methods of connection: ·...
- Page 87 The StellarMate Plus Manual · WiFi HotSpot mode WiFi Infrastructure 87 / 341...
-
Page 88: Serial To Usb
IMPORTANT In order to connect your mount via Serial to USB, you need to get a mount-specific Serial to USB cable, which can be bought from Ikarus Technologies. Most mounts provide an RS232 port (usually located in the handset). An RS232 to USB cable is required in order connect the mount to StellarMate. -
Page 89: Wired Network
The StellarMate Plus Manual Most problems in operating your equipment with StellarMate are related first and foremost to power problems. Therefore, please invest in reliable power supply for all your equipment! For 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. -
Page 90: Connecting Focusers
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. Once the devices join the mount HotSpot network, they should be assigned their own IP addresses. -
Page 91: Connecting Filter Wheels
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0). However, this port is not static. That is, next time you plug in the same device on another session, it might get assigned another port (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB1). Since INDI drivers require the port name to communicate with the device, this could lead to communication issues. -
Page 92: Operating Filter Wheel
Therefore, the time and location on StellarMate must be in sync with the time and location on all connected devices, especially mounts. StellarMate Plus Controller is equipped with a Real Time Clock (RTC). This ensures that the internal clock keeps ticking even when the power is switched off. - Page 93 The StellarMate Plus Manual itʼs recommended to invest in installing an DS3231 RTC module or use a GPS dongle. While the RTC provides acceptable time tracking, it does not offer location information. Therefore, GPS is the recommended solution in the long term. The following are the supported GPS sources: ·...
- Page 94 GPS location. You can also change the KStars location from Settings → Geographic and then select or add a new location. You can use StellarMate App to quickly synchronize StellarMate Plus time and location. The time and location are automatically set whenever the App communicates with StellarMate.
-
Page 95: Web Manager
The StellarMate Plus Manual Therefore, in KStars, the time and location information MASTER source can be selected from the following sources: · KStars Updates All Devices: KStars time and location is the primary source and all connected devices (mounts..etc) are synchronized to KStars time and location. -
Page 96: Web Manager Url
The StellarMate Plus Manual By default, StellarMate is shipped with the Simulator profile. It is composed of the following drivers: · Telescope Simulator · CCD Simulator · Focuser Simulator You can run the Simulator profile to test the simulators and connect to them from any client. -
Page 97: Device Information
The StellarMate Plus Manual Note Interacting with the StellarMate Web Manager is usually not necessary since both Ekos and the StellarMate App can operate the equipment profiles directly. The Web Manager is useful when you are not using the StellarMate App and need to remotely manager the drivers directly. -
Page 98: Removing Profile
The StellarMate Plus Manual Click the Plus button Once the new device is added, select the appropriate drivers from the list. Please note that you may need to run some drivers from the Auxiliary class in the following situations: o Joystick: If you plan to use a joystick with your mount, select the Joystick driver from the auxiliary list. -
Page 99: Serial Port Assistant
The StellarMate Plus Manual 14. Serial Port Assistant StellarMate supports a broad range of astronomical equipment including Mounts, DSLRs, CCDs, Focusers, Filter Wheels, Domes, Weather Stations, and other Auxiliary devices. For a complete list, please check INDI Devices Page. StellarMate Equipment video All equipment must be powered before you connect them to StellarMate. -
Page 100: Network
The StellarMate Plus Manual WARNING Most problems in operating your equipment with StellarMate are related first and foremost to power problems. Therefore, please invest in reliable power supply for all your equipment! For many Mounts & Focusers that use RS232 connectors, you need to purchase a Serial-To-USB adapter suitable for your Focuser model from the manufacturer. -
Page 101: Stellarmate Control Panel
The StellarMate Plus Manual device, it is always assigned a designated port that INDI uses to communicate with the device. To use the Serial Port Assistant, go to StellarMate Web Manager either from StellarMate App or from any browser and click on the Serial Port Assistant Icon at the bottom right. -
Page 102: Dashboard
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Shows the Date and Time · Allows shutting down or restarting StellarMate If the connection is spotty and keeps getting disconnected, the status bar will inform you by showing a yellow exclamation icon. To update using the status bar, click on the update icon and a dialog will pop-up, allowing you to check for an update and install it. - Page 103 The StellarMate Plus Manual The home page of the StellarMate Control Panel is the Dashboard, which shows the following information: RAM Usage Storage Usage CPU Usage Device Temperature Network Graph Weather and Location Information Screen Resolution Weather Units Weather units can be toggled from Metric to Imperial and vice-versa.
-
Page 104: Hardware
The StellarMate Plus Manual 15.3 Hardware In this page, you can see all the hardware devices that are connected to StellarMate. 104 / 341... -
Page 105: Software
The StellarMate Plus Manual Clicking on a device will show its information, which can be downloaded by clicking on the Download button (cloud icon) on the top-right. 15.4 Software 105 / 341... - Page 106 The StellarMate Plus Manual Auto Start In the software center it is possible to toggle Auto Start for KStars and/or PHD2. If toggled on, it allows KStars and/or PHD2 to start-up with StellarMate OS. Installed Installed applications appear in this section and you can remove/uninstall them by clicking on the remove button.
-
Page 107: Network
The StellarMate Plus Manual 15.5 Network Wireless You can connect to StellarMate through a WiFi Router or the 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:... - Page 108 The StellarMate Plus Manual Connect to the same WiFi network on your computer/laptop and then refresh the page, the network page should look like the image below. You can always switch back to HotSpot mode whenever you want by clicking on the Turn On button under HotSpot.
-
Page 109: Diagnostics
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to StellarMate through Direct Ethernet, follow the video tutorial on this page. 15.6 Diagnostics The Diagnostics page contains Backup and Reset functions as well as many important information to help StellarMate developers fix any issues that StellarMate users face. -
Page 110: Backup And Restore Process
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Restore: StellarMate settings can be restored through a backup file generated by the backup function. Test Test your hardware devices such as DSLR. This will tell you if your DSLR is working correctly with StellarMate or not. - Page 111 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 configuration In order to restore your StellarMate configuration, please follow these steps: Click on the Restore button.
-
Page 112: Goto
The StellarMate Plus Manual Wait for the upload process to complete. You should get a Upload Successful message, which means that the restore was successful. 15.7 Goto In every page of the StellarMate Control Panel, there is a GOTO button on the bottom-right corner. -
Page 113: Ekoslive
The StellarMate Plus Manual 16. EkosLive EkosLive is an online Real Time cloud-based Web Application to remotely control your equipment from anywhere and at any time. Get notifications about the imaging progress, watch a live video feed of planets, align your mount, and auto- focus, auto-guide from one central location. -
Page 114: Supported Browsers
The StellarMate Plus Manual Cloud Storage is available for EkosLive Pro users. Captured images (not preview) may be saved to the cloud as lossless compressed FITS images (.fits.gz). Users can view the cloud images and utilize an advanced metadata system to search and categorize their images. -
Page 115: Using Ekoslive Web Application
The StellarMate Plus Manual After successful authentication, the EkosLive cloud icon should turn Green. Now you are ready to use EkosLive Web Application. 16.3.2 Using EkosLive Web Application Go to the EkosLive URL and login with your username & password. After login,... - Page 116 The StellarMate Plus Manual In the main toolbar, the following controls/icons are visible: · Main Menu : Click here to access the following: o Profiles: Start/Stop Ekos Profiles o Settings: Change EkosLive Settings such as notifications, sounds, and theme. · Ekos Status Icon: When Ekos is connected to your equipment, this icon should turn .
-
Page 117: Ekoslive Faq
The StellarMate Plus Manual clicking the Menu, and then selecting Profiles, and then selecting which profile to start. Once the Ekos Profile is active, you can start using EkosLive controls. 16.4 EkosLive FAQ Questions on EkosLive Real-Time Web Application for Observatory Control &... -
Page 118: Using Gps
The StellarMate Plus Manual to upload and view images in addition to cloud storage & video streaming capabilities. But the basic version of EkosLive is already quite powerful and can perform Capture, Alignment, Focusing, and Guiding! 4. Is EkosLive Secure? Absolutely! EkosLive transmits all traffic over SSL and WSL (for Secure Websockets) using industry-proven encryption at both ends. -
Page 119: Configuring Gps In Stellarmate
The StellarMate Plus Manual can be connected to any USB slot in StellarMate. 17.2 Configuring GPS in StellarMate After plugging the USB dongle for the first time, you need to do the following: Use StellarMate Serial Port Assistant tool assign a permanent designation to the USB dongle. - Page 120 The StellarMate Plus Manual DSLRs, focusers, filters, and a lot more. Ekos supports highly accurate tracking using online and offline astrometry solver, autofocus and autoguiding capabilities, and capture of single or multiple images using the powerful built in sequence manager.
-
Page 121: A Quick Tour Of Kstars
The StellarMate Plus Manual about astronomy and the night sky. To this end, the KStars Handbook includes the AstroInfo Project, a series of short, hyperlinked articles on astronomical topics that can be explored with KStars. In addition, KStars includes D-... -
Page 122: The Setup Wizard
The StellarMate Plus Manual The above screenshot shows a typical view of the KStars program. You can see the sky display centered on Betelgeuse, the brightest star in the constellation Orion. Stars are displayed with realistic colors and relative brightnesses. In three corners of the sky display, there are on-screen text labels displaying data on the current time (“LT: 3:08:30 AM EEST Wednesday, July 6, 2016”), the current... -
Page 123: Have A Look Around
The StellarMate Plus Manual 18.1.2 Have a Look Around Now that we have the time and location set, let us have a look around. You can pan the display using the arrow keys. If you hold down the Shift key before panning, the scrolling speed is increased. -
Page 124: Objects In The Sky
The StellarMate Plus Manual 18.1.3 Objects in the Sky KStars displays thousands of celestial objects: stars, planets, comets, asteroids, clusters, nebulae and galaxies. You can interact with displayed objects to perform actions on them or obtain more information about them. Clicking on an object will identify it in the status bar, and simply hovering the mouse cursor on an object will label it temporarily in the map. - Page 125 The StellarMate Plus Manual The appearance of the popup menu depends somewhat on the kind of object you right-click on, but the basic structure is listed below. You can get more detailed information about the popup menu. The top section contains some lines of information which are not selectable: the object's names ("Uranus"), object type ("Solar system object"), and the...
- Page 126 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can search for named objects using the Find Object tool, which can be opened by clicking on the search icon in the toolbar, by selecting Find Object... from the Pointing menu, or by pressing Ctrl+F. The Find Object window is shown below: The window contains a list of all the named objects that KStars is aware of.
- Page 127 The StellarMate Plus Manual dialogue will pop-up. Once you resolve an object by using this method, it is stored in KStars database, so if you close KStars and open it again, your object will still be there. You can choose to enable or disable this feature by checking or unchecking...
-
Page 128: End Of The Tour
The StellarMate Plus Manual Centering and Tracking KStars will automatically begin tracking on an object whenever one is centered in the display, either by using the Find Object window, by double-clicking on it, or by selecting Center & Track from its right-click popup menu. You can disengage tracking by panning the display, pressing the Stop Tracking icon in the Main toolbar, or selecting Stop Tracking from the Pointing menu. -
Page 129: Configuring Kstars
The StellarMate Plus Manual This concludes the tour of KStars, although we have only scratched the surface of the available features. KStars includes many useful astronomy tools, it can directly control your telescope, and it offers a wide variety of... -
Page 130: Setting The Time
The StellarMate Plus Manual world map as a small dot, and when a city is highlighted in the list, a red crosshairs appears on its location in the map. It is not practical to scroll through the full list of 3400 locations, looking for a specific city. -
Page 131: The Configure Kstars Window
The StellarMate Plus Manual Note KStars can accept very remote dates beyond the usual limits imposed by QDate. Currently, you can set the date between the years -100000 and +100000. We may extend this range even further in future releases. -
Page 132: Catalogs
The StellarMate Plus Manual System, Satellites, Supernovae, Guides, Colors, FITS, INDI, Ekos, Xplanet and Adv anced. In the Catalogs page, you determine which object catalogs are displayed in the map along with several properties. In the Solar System page, you can specify whether the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed. - Page 133 The StellarMate Plus Manual In the Catalogs page, you can configure which object catalogs are displayed by KStars, as well as how much information you would like to be included on the Sky Map. By default, KStars includes ~300,000 named and unnamed stars up to magnitude 8.
- Page 134 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Steinicke NGC/IC Catalog: is a more complete NGC/IC catalog. · Abell Planetary Nebulae Catalog: is a catalog of 86 planetary nebulae. The maximum magnitude is represented by Abell 47's value of 19.5. · Sharpless HII region Catalog: is the Sharpless (Sh2) catalog of HII regions (diffuse nebulae).
- Page 135 The StellarMate Plus Manual Steinicke NGC/IC Abell Planetary Up to 19.5 Nebulae magnitude Catalog Sharpless region Catalog Hickson Compact Groups The Stars section allows you to manage how stars are displayed in KStars. You can choose to see the stars or not by checking the Star Catalogs checkbox. If you check it, then multiple options will be enabled.
- Page 136 The StellarMate Plus Manual · 6: planetary nebula · 7: supernova remnant · 8: galaxy · 18: radio source The SpType is a short string for the spectral type. For example, “B5” or “G2”. The coordinates should be given as floating-point values, in the J2000.0 epoch. The name can be anything you wish.
- Page 137 The StellarMate Plus Manual It will report any problems, and if any lines at all were successfully parsed, you are given a choice to accept the data file (ignoring any unparsed lines), or to cancel the operation to attempt to resolve the problems first.
- Page 138 The StellarMate Plus Manual Note that, if you want to load a catalog that is already loaded, a warning dialog will pop-up. remove custom catalogs highlighting checkbox the Catalogs window, and pressing the Remove Catalog... button (this button is active only if a custom catalog is highlighted in the list of checkboxes). Note that it can not be used for removing KStars default catalogs.
- Page 139 The StellarMate Plus Manual For radio sources catalogs, you must include the flux frequency and units. For example: # Flux Frequency: 1420 Mhz # Flux Unit: mJy The following is a simple catalog file: # Name: my_catalog # Prefix: et_radio...
- Page 140 The StellarMate Plus Manual the # symbol. o ID number: integer value. o Right Ascension: colon-delimited hh:mm:ss.s or floating-point value. o Declination: colon-delimited dd:mm:ss.s or floating-point value. o Object type: integer value, one of [ 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ]. o Common name: string value (if it contains a space, it *must* be enclosed in quotes!).
- Page 141 The StellarMate Plus Manual raw data file and add the necessary columns. This is especially convenient for large data sets. Since the original raw data contains an area field which is not supported by KStars, we need to approximate it to a usable value which is the Major Axis.
- Page 142 The StellarMate Plus Manual In the dialog window, find your raw file, select it and then press Open button. 142 / 341...
- Page 143 The StellarMate Plus Manual Now, you need to specify the correct order of the catalog fields within the raw data file. The fields must be added inside Catalog fields list. Note that you can drag fields in order to build the right order or you can use additional fields from Available fields fields.
- Page 144 The StellarMate Plus Manual · After you set the fields so that they match to your catalog raw file, you can move to the next step: completing the remaining input fields: Coordinate epoch, Catalog name prefix, Catalog name and Save catalog as. You can also choose the Symbol color used for your catalog.
-
Page 145: Solar System
The StellarMate Plus Manual again to create and save your catalog. · After you successfully imported your catalog, it will be displayed in the catalogs list. You can choose to be displayed or not, by pressing on its checkbox. 18.2.5 Solar System... -
Page 146: Satellites
The StellarMate Plus Manual In the Solar System page, you can specify whether the Sun, Moon, planets, comets and asteroids are displayed, and whether the major bodies are drawn as colored circles or actual images. You can also toggle whether solar system bodies have name labels attached, and control how many of the comets and asteroids get name labels. - Page 147 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Satellites page allows you to set the satellites view options. Firstly, you can see or hide the satellites on the skymap using Show satellites checkbox from the top View options section. By default, satellites are drawn as small light red filled circles with an optional dark red name label next to them.
-
Page 148: Supernovae
The StellarMate Plus Manual reduced only to its best matches. You can add satellites to KStars default satellites set editing the kstars/data/satellites.dat file. As each line of this file is a group of satellites, you need to add a new entry for your desired satellites group. An entry should... -
Page 149: Guides
The StellarMate Plus Manual in the sky. You can set the magnitude limit for showing a supernova as well as magnitude limit for supernova alerts using the spin boxes control. The limiting magnitude is the faintest apparent magnitude of an skyobject that is visible with the naked-eye or a telescope. -
Page 150: Fits
The StellarMate Plus Manual The Colors page allows you to set the color scheme, and to define custom color schemes. The tab is split into two panels: The left panel shows a list of all display items with adjustable colors. Click on any item to bring up a color selection window to adjust its color. -
Page 151: Indi
The StellarMate Plus Manual FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) is a popular open standard for storage, transmission and processing of digital data. For the details, one is referred to corresponding Wikipedia article. This page allows you to configure presentation and processing of FITS data in KStars. -
Page 152: Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual For detailed explanation of the options on the INDI page see the Configure INDI section. 18.2.12 Ekos 152 / 341... -
Page 153: Advanced
The StellarMate Plus Manual Ekos is an astrophotography suite, a complete astrophotography solution that can control all INDI devices including numerous telescopes, CCDs, DSLRs, focusers, filters, and a lot more. Ekos supports highly accurate tracking using online and offline astrometry solver, autofocus and autoguiding capabilities, and capture of single or multiple images using the powerful built in sequence manager. - Page 154 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Advanced page provides fine-grained control over the more subtle behaviors of KStars. The Correct for atmospheric refraction checkbox controls whether the positions of objects are corrected for the effects of the atmosphere. Because the atmosphere is a spherical shell, light from outer space is “bent” as it passes through the atmosphere to our telescopes or eyes on the Earth's surface.
-
Page 155: Customizing The Display
The StellarMate Plus Manual There are three situations when KStars must redraw the sky display very rapidly: when a new focus position is selected (and Use animated slewing is checked), when the sky is dragged with the mouse, and when the time step is large. In these situations, the positions of all objects must be recomputed as rapidly as possible, which can put a large load on the CPU. - Page 156 The StellarMate Plus Manual The list of defined FOV symbols is displayed on the left. On the right are buttons for adding a new symbol, editing the highlighted symbol's properties, and removing the highlighted symbol from the list. Note that you can even modify or remove the four predefined symbols (if you remove all symbols, the four defaults will be restored the next time you start KStars).
-
Page 157: Hips Progressive Overlay
The StellarMate Plus Manual This window lets you modify the four properties that define a FOV symbol: name, size, shape, and color. The angular size for the symbol can either be entered directly in the Field of View edit box, or you can use the Eyepiece/Camera Tabs to calculate the field-of-view angle, given parameters of your telescope/eyepiece or telescope/camera setup. -
Page 158: Command Reference
The StellarMate Plus Manual The above screenshot shows the DSS Color visual overlay in KStars. HiPS Settings submenu includes the following pages: · Display: Enable or disable Linear Interpolation and HiPS Grid. The interpolation is enabled by default and should make the overlay appear smoother. - Page 159 The StellarMate Plus Manual File → Printing Wizard Starts a wizard to configure capturing sky objects images using telescope and printing the results as a good looking printout for further use or catalogization. File → Print... (Ctrl+P) Send the current sky map to the printer (or to a PostScript/PDF file) File → Quit (Ctrl+Q)
- Page 160 The StellarMate Plus Manual Center the display on specific sky coordinates Pointing → Find Object (Ctrl+F) Locate an object by name using the Find Object Window Pointing → Stop Tracking (Ctrl+T) Toggle tracking on/off. While tracking, the display will remain centered on the current position or object.
- Page 161 The StellarMate Plus Manual Tools Menu Tools → Calculator (Ctrl+Shift+C) Opens the AstroCalculator Tool, which provides full access to many of the mathematical functions used by KStars. Tools → Devices → Telescope Wizard... Opens the Telescope Wizard, which provides a step-by-step guide to help you connect to your telescope and control it with KStars.
- Page 162 The StellarMate Plus Manual Tools → Flags Opens the Flag manager Tool, which can be used to assign color labels and icons to the given positions on the sky chart. Data Menu Data → Download New Data... (Ctrl+N) Open the Get Hot New Stuff dialog to download additional data for KStars.
- Page 163 The StellarMate Plus Manual Settings → Info Boxes → Show Location Box Toggle display of the Location Info Box. By default, the Location Info Box is located in the bottom left side of the screen. You can change the position of Location Info Box by holding the left-click mouse button and dragging it to the new position.
- Page 164 The StellarMate Plus Manual statusbar. Settings → Color Schemes This submenu contains all of the defined color schemes: Classic, Star Chart, Night Vision and Moonless Night. It can also include your custom color schemes. Select any item to set that color scheme.
- Page 165 The StellarMate Plus Manual Selecting this will open Manage Observers window that enables you to register a number of observers which are using KStars on this computer. You can add a new entry observers list completing mandatory fields: Name and Surname and then pressing the + (Add observer) button. Note that Contact field is optional, KStars allowing you to add a new observer even though Contact text box is empty.
- Page 166 The StellarMate Plus Manual press Next button, you will get the “Choose Your Home Location” page. Here you can select your exact home location or a city near your home location if your accurate location is not present in KStars cities database. Browsing the entire list is not so efficient and thus, KStars provides you a easy-to-use method for selecting your desired city in a short time.
- Page 167 The StellarMate Plus Manual Add flag...: Open KStars “Flag manager” window. Here you can manage your flags and use some of KStars features. When “Flag manager” window is open for a selected object, Right ascension and Declination text boxes will be automatically filled with the coordinate values of the selected object on the Sky Map.
-
Page 168: Keyboard Commands
The StellarMate Plus Manual [All] Attach Label: Attach a permanent name label to the object. If the object already has a label attached, this item will read Remove Label. [All] Add to Observing WishList: Add the selected object to Observation Planner's Wish List. - Page 169 The StellarMate Plus Manual Arrow Keys Use the arrow keys to pan the display. Holding down the Shift key doubles the scrolling speed. + / - Zoom In/Out Ctrl+Z Restore the default Zoom setting Ctrl+Shift+Z Zoom to specified field-of-view angle 0–9...
- Page 170 The StellarMate Plus Manual Advance the simulation clock backwards by one time step > Advance the simulation clock forwards by one time step Menu Shortcuts Ctrl+N Download extra data Ctrl+O Open a FITS image in the FITS Editor Ctrl+I Export sky image to a file...
- Page 171 The StellarMate Plus Manual Switch sky chart view to the azimuthal equidistant projection. Switch sky chart view to the orthographic projection. Switch sky chart view to the equirectangular projection. Switch sky chart view to the stereographic projection. Switch sky chart view to the gnomonic projection.
-
Page 172: Mouse Commands
The StellarMate Plus Manual Start an Angular Distance measurement at the current mouse cursor position. The angular distance between start and end points is displayed at the endpoint. Ctrl+G Open the Set Geographic Location window Ctrl+C Open the AstroCalculator Ctrl+A Open the Altitude vs. -
Page 173: Kstars Tools
The StellarMate Plus Manual Click-and-dragging Dragging the sky map Pan the display, following the drag motion. Ctrl+dragging the sky map Define a rectangle in the map. When the mouse button is released, the display is zoomed in to match the field-of-view to the bounds of the rectangle. - Page 174 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Object Details Window presents advanced data available about a specific object in the sky. To access this tool, right-click on any object, and select the Details... item from the popup menu. The window is divided into a number of Tabs. In the General Tab, we present basic data about the current object.
-
Page 175: The Astrocalculator
The StellarMate Plus Manual object. To use these databases, double click on the desired database in the list to see the results of your query in a web browser window. The query is made using the primary name of the object you clicked on to open the Details Dialog. The following databases are available for querying: ·... - Page 176 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Angular Distance · Apparent Coordinates · Ecliptic Coordinates · Equatorial/Galactic Coordinates · Horizontal Coordinates · Geodetic Coordinates Solar System · Planets Coordinates Time Calculators · Almanac · Equinoxes and Solstices · Julian Day · Sidereal Time...
- Page 177 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Angular Distance tool is used to measure the angle between any two points on the sky. You simply specify the Equatorial coordinates of the desired pair of points, and then obtain the angle between the two points.
- Page 178 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Apparent Coordinates module converts the catalog coordinates of a point in the sky to its apparent coordinates for any date. The coordinates of objects in the sky are not fixed, because of precession, nutation and aberration. This module takes these effects into account.
- Page 179 The StellarMate Plus Manual This module converts between Equatorial coordinates and Ecliptic coordinates. First, select Date & time. Then, fill in the coordinate values in either the Ecliptic Coordinates or Equatorial Coordinates section. Alternatively set the equatorial coordinates by selecting an object using the Find Object dialog. Then the complementary coordinates will be filled in.
- Page 180 The StellarMate Plus Manual This module converts from Equatorial coordinates to Galactic coordinates, and vice versa. Fill coordinate values either the Galactic coordinates or Equatorial coordinates section. Alternatively set the equatorial coordinates by selecting an object using the Find Object dialog. Then the complementary coordinates will be filled in.
- Page 181 The StellarMate Plus Manual This module converts from Equatorial coordinates to Horizontal coordinates. First, select the date, time, and geographic coordinates for the calculation. Then, fill in the equatorial coordinates to be converted or use the Find Object dialog in the Equatorial Coordinates section.
- Page 182 The StellarMate Plus Manual The normal geographic coordinate system assumes that the Earth is a perfect sphere. This is nearly true, so for most purposes geographic coordinates are fine. If very high precision is required, then we must take the true shape of the Earth into account.
- Page 183 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Planet Coordinates module computes positional data for any major solar system body, for any time and date and any geographic location. Simply select the Solar system body from the drop-down list, and specify the desired date,...
- Page 184 The StellarMate Plus Manual This module computes the length of day as well as sunrise, sun-transit (noon), and sunset times for any calendar date, for any location on Earth. First select the desired geographic coordinates and date, then the data is computed and displayed.
- Page 185 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Equinoxes and Solstices module calculates the date and time of an equinox or solstice for a given year. You specify the year and the date and time of the events (Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, or Winter Solstice) are displayed.
- Page 186 The StellarMate Plus Manual This module converts between the calendar Date and time, the Julian Day, and the Modified Julian Day. The Modified Julian Day is simply equal to the Julian Day - 2,400,000.5. To use the module, enter one of the three dates and the corresponding values for the other two date systems will be displayed.
-
Page 187: Altitude Vs. Time Tool
The StellarMate Plus Manual Sidereal Time module This module converts between Universal Time and Local Sidereal Time. First, select a geographic location and a date for the calculation. Then the corresponding value for the other Time will be displayed. There is a batch mode for this module. To use it, simply generate an input file... - Page 188 The StellarMate Plus Manual This tool plots the altitude of any objects as a function of time, for any date and location on Earth. The top section is a graphical plot of altitude angle on the vertical axis, and time on the horizontal axis. The time is shown both as standard local time along the bottom, and sidereal time along the top.
- Page 189 The StellarMate Plus Manual thick white line, and its name is added to the listbox at the lower right. Any objects that were already present are plotted with a thinner red curve. You can choose which object is plotted with the thick white curve by highlighting its name in the listbox.
-
Page 190: Simulate Eyepiece View
The StellarMate Plus Manual Plot the Sun's Altitude curve. Make sure the geographic location is not near the equator. Change the Date to some time in June, and then again to sometime in January. You can see easily why we have seasons; in the winter, the Sun is above the horizon for less time (the days are shorter), and its altitude is never very high. - Page 191 The StellarMate Plus Manual · In Sky Map, right click on the desired object and click Simulate eyepiece view in the popup menu. · In observation planner, right click an object and click Simulate eyepiece view in the popup menu.
-
Page 192: What's Up Tonight? Tool
The StellarMate Plus Manual To export the view to a file, click Export button. Export enables adding ticks for printed charts as shown above and save the image. 18.4.5 What's Up Tonight? Tool The “What's Up Tonight?” (WUT) tool displays a list of objects that will be visible at night from any location, on any date. -
Page 193: The Script Builder Tool
The StellarMate Plus Manual which are up on the selected night are displayed (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). When an object in the list is selected, its rise, set and transit times are displayed in the lower-right panel (i.e. Mars rises at 17:13, transits at 21:46 and sets at 02:16). In addition, you can press the Object Details... - Page 194 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Script Builder is shown in the above screenshot. The box on the left is the Current Script box; it shows the list of commands that comprise the current working script. The box on the right is the Function Browser; it displays the list of all available script functions.
- Page 195 The StellarMate Plus Manual (you can also add a function by double-clicking on it). The rest of the buttons operate on the function highlighted in the Current Script box, either removing it, duplicating it, or changing its position in the current script.
-
Page 196: Solar System Viewer
The StellarMate Plus Manual available options, organized by topic. In addition, each item has a short explanation of what the option does, and the data type of the option's value. We find UseAltAz under the Skymap Options category. Just highlight this item and press OK, and it will be selected in the combobox of the Function Arguments panel. - Page 197 The StellarMate Plus Manual This tool displays a model of our solar system as seen from above. The Sun is drawn as a yellow dot in the center of the plot, and the orbits of the planets are drawn as ellipses with the correct shapes and orientations. The current position of each planet along its orbit is drawn as a colored dot, along with a name label.
-
Page 198: Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual advance beyond this range, you will see Pluto behave very strangely! We are aware of this issue, and will try to improve Pluto's orbit model soon. 18.4.8 Ekos Ekos is an advanced cross-platform (Windows®, Mac® OS, Linux®) observatory control and automation tool with a particular focus on Astrophotography. -
Page 199: Setup
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Automated unattended meridian flip. Ekos performs post meridian flip alignment, calibration, focusing, and guiding to resume the capture session. · Automatic focus between exposures when a user-configurable HFR limit is exceeded. · Powerful sequence queue for batch capture of images with optional prefixes, timestamps, filter wheel selection, and much more! ·... - Page 200 The StellarMate Plus Manual Ekos is a part of KStars. KStars/Ekos is already included with your StellarMate gadget. It is also available for Linux®, Mac® OS, and Windows® if you want to install on your primary machine. After you run KStars on your PC or on...
- Page 201 The StellarMate Plus Manual User Interface Ekos Astrophotography Tool is organized into several Modules. A module is a set of functions and tasks for a particular step in astrophotography and/or data acquisition. Currently, the following modules are included with Ekos: ·...
- Page 202 The StellarMate Plus Manual Summary & Setup Module As its name suggests, this is where you will create and manage your equipment profile, and connect to your devices. It also provides a summary view where the capture progress along with the focus & guide operations is displayed in a compact format to convey the most important information relevant to the user.
- Page 203 The StellarMate Plus Manual trails. In the guide module, it can automatically select a suitable guide star and then lock the mount to always keep that star in its position. If the guide module detects any deviation from this locked position, it sends correction pulses to the mount to bring it back to the original position.
- Page 204 The StellarMate Plus Manual The first greeting screen contains some links to learn more about Ekos & INDI. Click Next to continue. Equipment Location Page Next, you will be presented with the equipment location page. Your selection depends on where your equipment is connected to: o Equipment is attached to this device: Select this option if Ekos is running on your StellarMate (via HDMI or VNC), PC (Windows®/Linux®)
- Page 205 The StellarMate Plus Manual Remote Device Type page, here you will choose what type of device you are using. It could be StellarMate, AtikBase or any other remote devices such as another Computer for example. Remote Connection Page In case selected StellarMate in the last step, you shall be presented with the Remote Connect Page for StellarMate, here you will enter the hostname or IP address of the StellarMate unit.
- Page 206 The StellarMate Plus Manual Profile Creation Page Now you get to name your equipment profile. Afterwards select which guider application to use. The Internal Guider is the only officially supported selection in StellarMate. You may opt to select PHD2/LinGuider but the details are out of the scope of this documentation.
- Page 207 The StellarMate Plus Manual In the example above, we select Remote Astrometry, WatchDog, and SkySafari drivers. The detailed explanations for each is provided in the tooltip when you over them. Once done, click Create Profile button. You should now be presented with the Profile Editor.
- Page 208 The StellarMate Plus Manual Profiles You can define profiles for your equipment and their connection mode using the Profile Editor. Ekos comes pre-installed with the Simulators profile which can be used to start simulator devices for demonstration purposes: o Connection Mode: Ekos can be started either locally or remotely. Local mode is when Ekos is running in the same machine as INDI server, i.e.
-
Page 209: Scheduler
The StellarMate Plus Manual o INDI Hub: Share your observatory on indihub.space in one of these modes: Solo, Share, or Robotic (Experimental). o Device Selection: Select your devices from each category. Please note that if you have a CCD with a guide head, you can leave the guider drop-down menu blank as Ekos will auto-detect the guide head from the CCD camera. - Page 210 The StellarMate Plus Manual Introduction Ekos Scheduler is an indispensable arsenal in building your robotic observatory. A Robotic observatory is an observatory composed of several subsystems that are orchestrated together to achieve a set of scientific objectives without human intervention. It is the only Ekos module that does not require Ekos to be started as it is utilized to start and stop Ekos.
- Page 211 The StellarMate Plus Manual user in selecting candidates for imaging. After selecting the desired candidates, the user can add them to the Ekos Scheduler list for evaluation. The user may also add the targets directly in Ekos scheduler or select a FITS file of a previous image.
- Page 212 The StellarMate Plus Manual higher priority target followed by higher altitude target is selected for execution. If no candidates are available at the current time, the scheduler goes into sleep mode and wakes up when the next job is ready for execution.
- Page 213 The StellarMate Plus Manual first observation job is close (default lead time is 5 minutes before startup time). Once the startup procedure is completed successfully, the scheduler picks the observation job target and starts the sequence process. If a startup script is specified, it shall be executed first.
- Page 214 The StellarMate Plus Manual conditions can be summed in three states: Ok: Weather conditions are clear and optimal for imaging. Warning: Weather conditions are not clear, seeing is subpar, or partially obstructed and not suitable for imaging. Any further imaging process is suspended until the weather improves.
- Page 215 The StellarMate Plus Manual import sys print "Turning on observatory equipment..." sys.stdout.flush() time.sleep(5) print "Checking safety switches..." sys.stdout.flush() time.sleep(5) print "All systems are GO" sys.stdout.flush() exit(0) The startup and shutdown scripts must be executable in order for Ekos to invoke them (e.g.
- Page 216 The StellarMate Plus Manual indeed have impressive equipment and dedicated observatories worth tens of the thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, many amateurs can obtain stellar wide-field images by combining smaller images into a single grand mosaic. We are often limited by our camera+telescope Field of View (FOV). By increasing FOV by means of a focal reducer or a shorter tube, we gain a larger sky coverage at the expense of spatial resolution.
-
Page 217: Capture
The StellarMate Plus Manual shall be copied to all the jobs generated by the Mosaic tool. With Ekos Scheduler, multi-night imaging is greatly facilitated and creating super mosaics has never been so easy. Ekos Tutorials Viewer StellarMate is shipped with a VNC Server. This enables you to access the whole StellarMate desktop remotely. - Page 218 The StellarMate Plus Manual The CCD Module is your primary image and video acquisition module in Ekos. It enables you to capture single (Preview), multiple images (Sequence Queue), or record videos along with a selection of filter wheel and rotator, if available.
- Page 219 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Restart Camera Driver: Restarts the INDI driver for the active camera. · Clear Camera Configuration: Resets the INDI driver camera configuration back to default. · FW: Select the active Filter Wheel device. If your camera has a built-in filter wheel, the device would be the same as the camera.
- Page 220 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Delay: Delay in seconds between image captures. · Format: Specify capture save format. For all CCDs, only FITS option is available. For DSLR cameras, you can an additional option to save in Native format (example: RAW or JPEG).
- Page 221 The StellarMate Plus Manual Settings for specifying where captured images are saved to, and how to generate unique file names in addition to upload mode settings. · Prefix: Specify the prefix to append to the generated filename. You may also append the frame type, filter, expose duration, and ISO 8601 timestamp.
- Page 222 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Remote: When selecting either Remotely or Both modes above, you must specify the remote directory where remote images are saved to. Limit Settings Limit settings are applicable to all the images in the sequence queue. When a limit is exceeded, Ekos shall command the appropriate action to remedy the situation as explained below.
- Page 223 The StellarMate Plus Manual Sequence Queue Sequence Queue is the primary hub of the Ekos Capture Module. This is where you can plan and execute jobs using the sequence queue built-in powerful editor. To add a job, simply select all the parameters from the capture and file settings as indicated above.
- Page 224 The StellarMate Plus Manual IMPORTANT Job Progress: Ekos is designed to execute and resume the sequence over multiple nights required. Therefore, if Remember Progress option is enabled in Ekos Options, Ekos shall scan the file system to count how many images are already completed and will resume the sequence from where it was left off.
- Page 225 The StellarMate Plus Manual following options: o File name: Set SER video file name. Record files may contain some patterns to make them dynamic: § _D_ for the date in YYYY-MM-DD. § _H_ for time in HH:MM:SS. § _T_ for ISO8601 time stamp.
- Page 226 The StellarMate Plus Manual · FPS: Displays the average FPS of the live video being streamed. Filter Settings Click the filter icon next to the filter wheel selection box to open the filter settings dialog. If you are using filters that are not parafocal with each other and require a specific amount of focus offsets in order to get them into proper then set all the relative focus offsets in the dialog.
- Page 227 The StellarMate Plus Manual autofocus for this filter. Flat Focus Position: this value is set automatically once you finish autofocus for some filter. If the sequence queue contains flat images, then Ekos would first move the focuser to the filter absolute focus position before capturing the flat images.
- Page 228 The StellarMate Plus Manual Field Rotators are supported in INDI & Ekos. The rotator angle is the raw angle reported by the rotator and is not necessary the Position Angle. A Position Angle of zero indicates that frame (indicated small arrow) pointing directly at the pole.
- Page 229 The StellarMate Plus Manual For Flat Field frames, you can set calibration options in order to automate the process. The calibration options are designed to facilitate automatic unattended flat field frame capture. It can also be used for dark and bias frames if desired. If...
-
Page 230: Focus
The StellarMate Plus Manual o ADU: Duration is variable until specified ADU is met. Before the calibration capture process is started, you can request Ekos to park the mount and/or dome. Depending on your flat source selection above, Ekos will use the appropriate flat light source before starting flat frames capture. - Page 231 The StellarMate Plus Manual In order to focus an image, Ekos needs to establish a numerical method for gauging how good your focus is. It's easy when you look at an image and can see it as unfocused, as the human is very good at detecting that, but how can Ekos possibly know that? There are multiple methods.
- Page 232 The StellarMate Plus Manual saturated during the focusing process. A magnitude 3 or 4 star is often sufficient. Ekos then begins the focusing process by commanding the focuser to focus inwards or outwards, and re-measures the HFR. This establishes a V-shaped...
- Page 233 The StellarMate Plus Manual the focuser zero position is when the drawtube is fully retracted. When focusing outwards, the focuser position increases, while it decreases when focusing inwards. The following focuser types are supported: · Absolute: Absolute Position Focusers such as RoboFocus, MoonLite, etc.
- Page 234 The StellarMate Plus Manual again will place the focus frame back into the docked position. · Show in FITS Viewer: Shows the focus frame image in FITS Viewer. · Bin: Specify horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) binning. · Gain: Specify the value of gain between 0% to 100%. This will increase the signal to noise level of your image.
- Page 235 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Box: Sets the box size used to enclose the focus star. Increase if you have very large stars. · Annulus: During full field focusing, stars which are inside this percentage of the frame are filtered out of HFR calculation (default 0%). Detection algorithms may also have an inherent filter.
- Page 236 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Kernel size: This is the gaussian blur kernel size. Used for blurring the image before for instance the Bahtinov edge detection. · Sigma: This is the gaussian blur sigma value. Used for blurring the image before for instance the Bahtinov edge detection.
- Page 237 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Initial Step Size: Initial step size in ticks to cause a noticeable change in HFR value. For timer-based focuser, it is the initial time in milliseconds to move the focuser inward or outward. · Max Step size: The maximum single step size the algorithm is allowed to command as it searches for the critical focus zone.
-
Page 238: Guide
The StellarMate Plus Manual When framing, the horizontal axis denotes the frame number. This is to aid you in the framing process as you can see how HFR changes between frames. Relative Profile The relative profile is a graph that displays the relative HFR values plotted against each other. - Page 239 The StellarMate Plus Manual Introduction Ekos Guide Module enables autoguiding capability using either the powerful built- in guider, or at your option, external guiding via PHD2 or lin_guider. Using the internal guiding, guider CCD frames are captured and sent to Ekos for analysis.
- Page 240 The StellarMate Plus Manual a two-step process: Calibration & Guiding. Guiding introduction During the two processes, you must set the following: · Guider: Select the Guider CCD. · Via: Selects which device receives the autoguiding correction pulses from Ekos. Usually, guider CCDs have an ST4 port. If you are using the guider's ST4 to autoguide your telescope, set the guider driver in the Via combo box.
- Page 241 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Manual Dither: Allows manual dithering. · Guider: Select active guide camera. · Via: Select which device receives the guiding correction commands. · Exp: Exposure time in seconds. · Bin: Guide camera binning. It is recommended to set binning to 2x2 or higher.
- Page 242 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Guiding Delta ": Immediate Guiding RA deviation in arcseconds and Immediate Guiding DEC deviation in arcseconds respectively. · Pulse Length (ms): Generated RA pulse and Generated DEC pulse respectively. · RA RMS": RA Guiding RMS error.
- Page 243 The StellarMate Plus Manual It is recommended to take dark frames covering several binning and exposure values so that they may be reused transparently by Ekos whenever needed. Calibration 243 / 341...
- Page 244 The StellarMate Plus Manual In the calibration phase, you need to capture an image, select a guide star, and click Guide to begin the calibration process. If calibration was already completed successfully before, then the autoguiding process shall begin immediately, otherwise, it would start the calibration process.
- Page 245 The StellarMate Plus Manual to the edge. If the image is not clear, you may select different Effects to enhance Ekos begins the calibration process by sending pulses to move the mount in RA and DEC. If the calibration process fails due to short drift, try increasing the pulse duration.
- Page 246 The StellarMate Plus Manual Once the calibration process is completed successfully, the guiding shall begin automatically hereafter. The guiding performance is displayed in the Drift Graphics region where Green reflects deviations in RA and Blue deviations in DEC. colors RA/DE...
- Page 247 The StellarMate Plus Manual deviations from the guide star along with the correction pulses sent to the mount. The RMS value for each axis is displayed along with the total RMS value in arcsecs. The internal guider employs PID controller to correct the mount tracking.
- Page 248 The StellarMate Plus Manual GPG RA Guider 248 / 341...
- Page 249 The StellarMate Plus Manual Ekos also supports GPG RA Guider, but this is for RA only--that is, guiding for DEC still happens, but using the existing guiding algorithms. This guider can be enabled by going to the Guide Module, clicking on Options (bottom-right) and then clicking on the GPG RA Guider tab and then checking the Enable GPG checkbox.
- Page 250 The StellarMate Plus Manual aggressiveness is controlled with Control Gain and Minimum Move, with a predictive correction controlled by Prediction Gain. Again, The most important parameter is Major Period. If you can determine it for your mount, it's much better to set it yourself and uncheck Estimate Period.
- Page 251 The StellarMate Plus Manual XXX--but really min move is in units of pulse ms, so don't put out a shorter correction pulse than XXX) and Max (don't put out a pulse greater than XXX.) Note You can make the GPG guiding less aggressive by reducing control gain.
- Page 252 The StellarMate Plus Manual selecting which axis shall receive corrective guiding pulses and within each axis, you can indicate which direction (Positive) + or Negative (-) receives the guiding pulses. For example, for the Declination axis, the + direction is North and - is South.
- Page 253 The StellarMate Plus Manual this event was recorded. A vertical slider to the right of the image can be used to adjust the height of the secondary Y-axis for pulses corrections. The Trace horizontal slider at the bottom can be used to scroll through the guide history.
- Page 254 The StellarMate Plus Manual If PHD2 is selected, the Connect and Disconnect buttons are enabled to allow you to establish a connection with the PHD2 server. You can control PHD2 exposure and DEC guide settings. When clicking Guide, PHD2 should perform all the required actions to start the guiding process.
-
Page 255: Align
The StellarMate Plus Manual .local/share/kstars/guide_log.txt. This log is only available when using the built-in guider. 18.4.8.6 Align Introduction Ekos Alignment Module enables highly accurate GOTOs to within sub-arcseconds accuracy and can measure and correct polar alignment errors. This is possible thanks to the astrometry.net solver. - Page 256 The StellarMate Plus Manual field, feeding that image to astrometry.net solver, and getting the central coordinates (RA, DEC) of the image. The solver essentially performs a pattern recognition against a catalog of millions of stars. Once the coordinates are determined, the true pointing of the telescope is known.
- Page 257 The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarSolver is an astrometric plate solving library that has been integrated into Ekos in order to provide accurate and efficient offline plate solving. For plate solving there are several parts in StellarSolver that are important: Source Extraction To find the stars in your image in order to solve.
- Page 258 The StellarMate Plus Manual · BuiltIn Sextractor: This uses whatever method of source extraction the solver uses by default. StellarSolver uses SEP, just like the Internal SEP setting. Local astrometry.net uses its own source extraction method which uses a bunch of external resources including python, netpbm and other packages.
- Page 259 The StellarMate Plus Manual 3-ParalleLargeScale: This profile is meant to solve DSLR scale images very fast. It assumes larger image scales to solve faster than the above. 4-ParallelSmallScale: The DEFAULT for solving. This profile is meant to solve telescopic images quickly. Most users should probably use this one.
- Page 260 The StellarMate Plus Manual ASTAP is an astrometric plate solver, stacking of images, photometry, and FITS Viewer application available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux on multiple architectures. Ekos included support for solving via ASTAP in the Align module in addition to the existing astrometry.net solver.
- Page 261 The StellarMate Plus Manual The ASTAP Solver Settings page can be accessed by clicking on the Options button on the bottom-right corner. It has the following options: · Search Radius: The program will search in a square spiral around the start position up to this radius.
- Page 262 The StellarMate Plus Manual an a psudo online solver that happens to be running a server on their machine. It is not recommended given that StellarSolver is built-in and faster. It is left in the documentation for users who want to try it out.
- Page 263 The StellarMate Plus Manual simply change solver type to Remote and ensure that your equipment profile includes Astrometry driver which can be selected under the Auxiliary dropdown. This is applicable to all operating systems and not just Windows. StellarSolver vs. Remote Remove Solver can be used if you are running Ekos on a PC/MacOS and you would like to execute the plate-solving on StellarMate.
- Page 264 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Automatic download is only available for Ekos users on Linux® & Mac® OS. For Windows® users, please download ANSVR solver. To access the download page, click the Options button in the Align module then select Astrometry Index Files tab. The page displays the current FOV of your current setup and below it a list of available and installed index files.
- Page 265 The StellarMate Plus Manual installed, the checkmark shall be checked, otherwise check it to download the relevant index file. Please only download one file at a time, especially for larger files. Once you installed all the required files, you can begin using the offline astrometry.net solver immediately.
- Page 266 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Debian packages are suitable for any Debian-based distribution (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.). If you downloaded the Debian Packages above for your FOV range, you can install them from your favorite package manager, or via the following command: sudo dpkg -i astrometry-data-*.deb...
- Page 267 The StellarMate Plus Manual WARNING Never solve an image at or near the celestial pole (unless Ekos Polar Alignment Assistant Tool is used). Slew at least 20 degrees away from the celestial pole before solving the first image. Solving very close to the poles will make your mount pointing worse so avoid it.
- Page 268 The StellarMate Plus Manual need to install python. · Rotator: Rotator threshold in arc-minutes when using Load & Slew. If the difference between measured position angle and FITS position angle is below this value, the Load & Slew operation is considered successful.
- Page 269 The StellarMate Plus Manual Basic Options · --no-fits2fits: This option should ONLY be checked if your astrometry.net version is 0.67 or earlier. Uncheck for any versions greater than 0.67. · --resort: Check this option if your image does not have much nebulosity. If it does have strong nebulosity, uncheck it.
- Page 270 The StellarMate Plus Manual o Low: The lower end of the imager scale, calculated as a little smaller than the shorter dimension of the image. o High: The high end of the imager scale, calculated as a little bigger than the longer dimension of the image.
- Page 271 The StellarMate Plus Manual Using Ekos Alignment Module, aligning your mount using the controller's 1, 2, or 3 star alignment is not strictly necessary, though for some mounts it recommended to perform a rough 1 or 2 star alignment before using Ekos alignment module.
- Page 272 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Increase binning to the maximum supported by your camera. · Increase exposure time to 10 seconds or more. · Enable Dark Frame option to clean up the image before sending it to the solver. · Perform rough Polar Alignment before using the alignment module.
- Page 273 The StellarMate Plus Manual Since mounts are not perfect, they cannot perfectly keep track of object as it transits across the sky. This can stem from many factors, one of which is the misalignment of the mount's Right Ascension axis with respect to the celestial pole axis.
- Page 274 The StellarMate Plus Manual After the first capture, you can rotate the mount by a specific amount (default 30 degrees) either West or East. After selecting the magnitude and direction, click Next to continue and the mount will be rotated. Once the rotation is complete you shall be asked to take another capture, unless you have checked Auto Mode.
- Page 275 The StellarMate Plus Manual Fullscreen button If you are away from StellarMate or PC, you can use your Tablet to monitor the camera feed while making corrections. Use the StellarMate's web-based VNC viewer or use any VNC Client on your tablet to access StellarMate. If Ekos is running on your PC, you can use applications like TeamViewer to achieve the same results.
- Page 276 The StellarMate Plus Manual alignment errors. To measure Azimuth error, point your mount to a star close to the meridian. If you live in the northern hemisphere, you will point the mount toward the southern meridian. Click on Measure Az Error to begin the process.
-
Page 277: Mount
The StellarMate Plus Manual Now slew to a bright star either on the eastern or western horizon, preferably above 20 degrees of altitude. It has to be as close as possible to the eastern (90 azimuth) or western (270) cardinal points. - Page 278 The StellarMate Plus Manual the values set for your telescope in your current running profile. · Focal Length (mm): Specify value focal length your telescope. Defaults to the values set for your telescope in your current running profile. Configurations: You can set up to 6 configurations for your mount module. To save the information, select an unused Config # from the drop-down menu and then enter a name in the field next to it, then click on Save Telescope Info.
- Page 279 The StellarMate Plus Manual performs calibration, and resumes autoguiding. If In-Sequence focuing is enabled, it will also capture and focus a suitable star. It then resumes the capture process form where it left. All these steps are completely automated and require no user intervention! So just set when you want the meridian flip to occur at the mount module.
- Page 280 The StellarMate Plus Manual This feature Auto Parks your mount at a specific time and you can choose if you want to park it everyday or not. To start the Auto Parking process, click on the Start button. · Park At: Specify the time when you would to park your mount.
- Page 281 The StellarMate Plus Manual Mount Control: Opens up the Mount Control dialog. This control is also accessible from KStars toolbar. Tracking: You can enable or disable tracking from the mount module. Parking: You can park or unpark your mount from the mount module.
-
Page 282: Observatory
The StellarMate Plus Manual to control your Mount manually using arrow buttons and abort movement using a STOP button. It is possible to reverse the controls if you feel it is easier that way to control your mount. The speed of the mount can be controlled using a slider which has four speeds: Guide, Centering, Find, and Max. - Page 283 The StellarMate Plus Manual Dome 283 / 341...
- Page 284 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Position: Controls the position of the Dome. o Motion: You can move the Dome in four ways. § Absolute: Select the absolute position you want the Dome to move and then click on Move (abs). This will move the Dome to the absolute position you set.
- Page 285 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Dome: If selected, the dome needs to be unparked for the observatory status being "READY". · Shutter: If selected, the shutter needs to be open for the observatory status being "READY". · Weather: If selected, the weather needs to be OK for the observatory status being "READY".
-
Page 286: Analyze
The StellarMate Plus Manual can zoom in or out using the scroll wheel. Actions · Alert: Check this checkbox in order to get an Alert whenever any weather value goes under or above the range set in your weather driver INDI Control Panel. - Page 287 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Analyze Module records and displays what happened in an imaging session. That is, it does not control any if your imaging, but rather reviews what occurred. Sessions are stored in an analyze folder, a sister folder to the main logging folder.
-
Page 288: Jupiter Moons Tool
The StellarMate Plus Manual Timeline shows the major Ekos processes, and when they were active. For instance, the Capture line shows when images were taken (green sections) and when imaging was aborted (red sections). Clicking on a green section gives information about that image, and double clicking on one brings up the image taken then in a fitsviewer, if it is available. -
Page 289: Observation Planner
The StellarMate Plus Manual This tool displays the positions of Jupiter's four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) relative to Jupiter, as a function of time. Time is plotted vertically; the units are days and “time=0.0” corresponds to the current simulation time. - Page 290 The StellarMate Plus Manual Kristian Ivanov Since KDE SC 4.4, Prakash Mohan's GSoC work been released in KStars. KStars now has an awesome observation planner to plan your observation sessions. The execute session option allows you to log information about objects as you observe them. Alternately, you may also write a short log in the session planner itself.
- Page 291 The StellarMate Plus Manual This is an SDSS image of a galaxy 291 / 341...
- Page 292 The StellarMate Plus Manual This is an DSS image of the same galaxy The Delete all Images button does the opposite. It deletes all downloaded images. 292 / 341...
- Page 293 The StellarMate Plus Manual The image for the galaxy is now deleted You can add more objects by pressing the Find Object button. It will open the Find Object tool which provides two accurate methods for sorting out the items, depending on what criteria you want to use. You can filter the list by...
- Page 294 The StellarMate Plus Manual Add objects to Session Plan window Here is the second way of adding objects in your Observation Plan, using the Observing List Wizard. You just need to press the fourth button on the top-left corner of the Observation Planner window.
- Page 295 The StellarMate Plus Manual 295 / 341...
- Page 296 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can choose where these objects to be on the sky. There are four options available for you: All over the sky (which is the default option), by constellation and in a region (rectangular or circular).
- Page 297 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can choose the date for the observation and the place you are going to observe from. 297 / 341...
- Page 298 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can choose the treshold of magnitude for the objects to be shown. In astronomy, absolute magnitude (also known as absolute visual magnitude when measured in the standard V photometric band) measures a celestial object's intrinsic brightness.
- Page 299 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can save your observation plan. And it will save it with a .obslist extension. 299 / 341...
- Page 300 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can also access the WUT (What's up tonight), which could be of a great assistance to you. It can give you ideas what to observe on a date, time and place that you specify using the configuration buttons int the top-right corner of the What's up tonight window.
- Page 301 The StellarMate Plus Manual This is how the Execution Session Window look. It can be opened by pressing Ctrl+2. In it you can also see some information about the selected object and you are able to add observing notes. 301 / 341...
- Page 302 The StellarMate Plus Manual First Execute Session window By pressing the Next Page button you will access the second page of Session Plan. Here you are able to see information not about your object, but about your equipment. 302 / 341...
-
Page 303: Fits Viewer Tool
The StellarMate Plus Manual Second Execute Session window Pressing the Next Target button will cause the Execute Session to open the first window about the next object. 18.4.11 FITS Viewer Tool The Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) is the standard format for representing images and data in Astronomy. - Page 304 The StellarMate Plus Manual The above diagram illustrates the FITS Viewer work area and window. The tool provides basic functions for image display. FITS data depth is preserved throughout all processing, open, and save functions. While the tool adhere to the FITS standard, it does not support all possible FITS features: ·...
- Page 305 The StellarMate Plus Manual § Zoom Controls: Zoom in, Zoom out, standard Zoom. § Filters: Auto Stretch, Contrast, High Pass, Rotate, Flip. § Mark Stars: Detect and mark stars in the image. Main Toolbar o Open File. o Save File: Save FITS data. Any filters applied to the image will be saved.
- Page 306 The StellarMate Plus Manual right. When dragged to the left, the side panel can also be closed. o Statistcs: Displays image statistics including Minimum, Maximum, Average, and Median values. o Histogram: Displays image histogram with controls to adjust the minimum and maximum values for each channel. Both linear and logarithmic scalings are available to apply to the image.
- Page 307 The StellarMate Plus Manual toggle their behavior in KStars Settings FITS page. Hovering over any option shall display a detailed tooltip that explains its function. Features · Support for 8, 16, 32, IEEE-32, and IEEE-64 bits formats. · Support Color FITS images (3D Cubes) and Bayered FITS images.
- Page 308 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Undo/Redo. Histogram Displays multi-channel FITS histogram. The user can rescale the image by optionally defining an upper and lower limit for the cutoff region. The rescaling operation (linear, logarithmic, or square-root) may then be applied to the region enclosed by the upper and lower limits.
- Page 309 The StellarMate Plus Manual In Ekos Focus, Guide, and Align modules, captured images are displayed in the embedded FITS Viewer. The embedded viewer includes a floating bar that can be used to perform several functions: · Zoom Out · Zoom In ·...
- Page 310 The StellarMate Plus Manual The 3D data visualization tool can plot 3D graphs of the selected region of the image. This is particularly useful for astrophotographers who want to visualize the profile of a star they are considering focusing or guiding on. For scientists, it enables them to examine a cross-section of the data to understand the relative brightness of different objects in the image.
- Page 311 The StellarMate Plus Manual Then the user has the Zoom To combo box, which the user can use to zoom the graph to different preset locations. Next is the combo box that lets the user select the color scheme of the graph. Then are the HFR and the Peak checkboxes, which will both turn on the HFR and Peak labels on each found star in the image, but will also display one of them at the bottom of the screen.
- Page 312 The StellarMate Plus Manual This third slider is very useful to get really big peaks out of the way so you can study the finer details in the image. There is a checkbox at the top to enable/disable the cutoff slider. And finally at the bottom of the sliders is the Auto scale button.
-
Page 313: Command-Line Mode For Image Generation
The StellarMate Plus Manual 18.5 Command-Line mode for Image Generation You can use KStars to generate an image of the sky without actually launching the GUI portion of the program. To use this feature, start KStars from a command prompt using arguments to specify the filename for the image, as well as the... -
Page 314: Questions And Answers
The StellarMate Plus Manual 18.6 Questions and Answers 1. What do the different symbols for deep-sky objects mean? 2. What do the different colors of Deep-sky objects mean? 3. Why are there so many more U.S. cities than in other countries? 4. - Page 315 The StellarMate Plus Manual us your list of cities and coordinates. 4. How can I add a new custom location to KStars? If you would like to use a location that is not on the list, enter the relevant information (longitude, latitude, city name, province name, and country name), then press Add to list button.
- Page 316 The StellarMate Plus Manual KStars is pretty accurate, but it is not (yet) as precise as it can possibly be. The problem with high-precision calculations is that you start having to deal with a large number of complicating factors. If you are not a professional astronomer, you will probably never have a problem with its accuracy or precision.
-
Page 317: Credits And License
The StellarMate Plus Manual absolutely safe, I removed them from the standard distribution, and marked the download archive as being "free for non-commercial use". I am really enjoying the beautiful images I have downloaded through KStars! I would like to share them with the world; can I publish a calendar featuring... -
Page 318: Faq
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Alexey Khudyakov (alexey.skladnoy AT gmail.com) · Mederic Boquien (mboquien AT free.fr) · Akarsh Simha (akarsh.simha AT kdemail.net) · Jerome Sonrier (jsid AT emor3j.fr.eu.org) · Prakash Mohan (prakash.mohan AT kdemail.net) · Victor Carbune (victor.carbune AT kdemail.net) ·... - Page 319 The StellarMate Plus Manual 17.3. What do I need to run StellarMate? 17.4. How do I connect to StellarMate? 17.5. Should I upgrade to Ubuntu 18.04 on StellarMate? 17.6. What programs can be used to control StellarMate? 17.7. What is the default username and password for StellarMate OS? 17.8.
- Page 320 The StellarMate Plus Manual The gadget includes several methods that enable you to connect your equipment. StellarMate communication channels include 4x USB 2.0 ports, 10/100 MBPS Ethernet, 802.11n Wireless LAN, and Bluetooth 4.0. You connect your equipment to StellarMate using any of the supported communication channels.
- Page 321 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Wired: Connect StellarMate to your LAN via Ethernet. You can access it like any other device on your network. You can use Network Discovery tools on your operating system (e.g. Avahi/Bonjour) to detect it as it advertises its services over the network.
- Page 322 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Factory Reset: Click this button to reset all settings, including WiFi. This action is irreversible! Please make sure to back up any important data on the SD card! StellarMate must be restarted for the above to take effect.
- Page 323 The StellarMate Plus Manual change? StellarMate WiFi HotSpot password: stellar@mate To change the default password, follow the steps in this video: 17.11. How do I figure out StellarMate hostname? By default, the unit hostname is stellarmate.local From StellarMate App, go to My Mates then select your unit. The hostname is the unit name.
- Page 324 The StellarMate Plus Manual If for any reason you are having problems with the GUI Software Updater, you can directly write command to start the update process. Double click the Mate Terminal icon and a terminal window shall be opened. Type in the following command and press Enter: sudo apt-get update &&...
- Page 325 The StellarMate Plus Manual password. The same port should be used for SFTP (e.g. in FileZilla). You can perform the remote update using the following command: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade 17.16. How can I save my images on StellarMate? StellarMate ships with 16GB MicroSD card and over 9.5GB of free space to...
- Page 326 The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate is based on Open Astronomy Instrumentation Protocol (INDI) and does not use ASCOM. INDI enables native remote control of your equipment numerous devices supported manufacturers today. Ekos is the officially supported client, but you can also use...
- Page 327 The StellarMate Plus Manual From the example screenshot above, we know the auto-IP address is 169.254.10.197. Now open the terminal application in your operating system and simply type: ping 169.254.10.197 After which the PC/Mac should register the IP address and you can start using stellarmate.local address as usual.
- Page 328 The StellarMate Plus Manual 17.22. Can I add a Real-Time Clock? StellarMate Gadget already ships with RTC clock configured and ready to go. For users of StellarMate OS running on their RPI3/RPI3B+, you can purchase a DS3231 module and install it. There is no need to perform any additional software configuration as StellarMate OS supports DS3231 natively.
- Page 329 The StellarMate Plus Manual external driver icon on 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 URL you need to save your images to. If you need to save in a directory inside the drive, then simply double-click it and copy the URL from the location bar.
- Page 330 The StellarMate Plus Manual 2. Using KStars on Windows®/Mac® OS/Linux® If you are running KStars remotely on a Windows®/Mac® OS or Linux® machine, then in this case you need to change the Upload mode to either Local (save images only in StellarMate) or Both (save images in StellarMate and send a copy to us).
- Page 331 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 very rare occasions, it can come loose. But do not worry, you can easily put it back in.
- Page 332 The StellarMate Plus Manual home position is defined as the position where the mount is facing the celestial pole with the weights down. For northern hemisphere users, the mount needs to point roughly at polaris. In rare circumstances, users might see the initial position for EQMod in Ekos to be wrong.
- Page 333 The StellarMate Plus Manual on Purge Data under Park Options. 3. Power off the mount. 4. If the mount is not pointed at the celestial pole with the weights down, adjust it manually until you reach this position. 5. Power on the mount.
- Page 334 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Hibernation: For mounts that support hibernation (e.g. AVX), it is possible to hibernate and later on wake up the mount without losing alignment data. Time & Location This is the most common cause for inaccurate and erratics GOTOs.
- Page 335 The StellarMate Plus Manual the StellarMate App. When using StellarMate App, would automatically syncs StellarMate system time and location when it establishes communication with the unit. The time and location information are extracted from your phone/tablet. To explicity sync the GPS information, click on the Sync GPS button in the app.
- Page 336 The StellarMate Plus Manual 3. Disconnect and Stop Ekos. 4. Power off the mount. 5. For equatorial mounts, if the mount is not pointed at the celestial pole with the weights down, adjust it manually until you reach this position.
- Page 337 The StellarMate Plus Manual 1. Start your equipment profile. 2. That's all. In Ekos on PC/Mac 1. Make sure you are connected to the same network as StellarMate. 2. Create a new equipment profile with the same drivers started in the App equipment profile.
- Page 338 The StellarMate Plus Manual In case Ekos reports it failed to communicate with the mount still, please make sure of the following: 1. Read your specific mount driver documentation. 2. Telescope is properly powered and connected via RS232 to your PC (in case of USB connection).
- Page 339 The StellarMate Plus Manual 1. Login to the stellarmate.com website and then go to the Orders page. 2. You should see a list of your orders. Click on your order link, then scroll down to see the downloads. Make sure to download the SM OS version appropiate for your hardware platform.
- Page 340 The StellarMate Plus Manual 6. Select the MicroSD card you wish to write your image to. 340 / 341...
-
Page 341: Support
The StellarMate Plus Manual 7. Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the SD card. 8. When it's done, connect the MicroSD to StellarMate and power it up! 20. Support We are proud to offer top-notch support to our customers. Please make sure to...
Need help?
Do you have a question about the StellarMate Plus and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers