iKarus Stellar Mate Plus User Manual

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User Manual

Version 2.1

Released 2022.08.07

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Page 2: Table Of Contents
The StellarMate Plus Manual Table of contents Welcome ......................5 Warnings ......................5 Package Contents ....................5 Introduction ...................... 6 Quick Startup ....................7 Specifications ....................7 Passwords ..................... 8 Learning StellarMate ..................8 StellarMate App ....................8 Registration ....................9 QR Code ....................
Page 3 The StellarMate Plus Manual Connecting your equipment ..............132 Connecting from Ekos ................133 Ethernet Connection ................... 135 StellarMate Address ................136 Connecting your equipment ..............136 Downloading Ekos .................. 136 Connecting from Ekos ................136 WiFi Connection ..................136 HotSpot Connection ................
Page 4 The StellarMate Plus Manual Network ....................172 StellarMate Serial Assistant ................172 StellarMate Control Panel ................. 173 Status Bar ....................173 Dashboard ....................174 Hardware ....................176 Software ....................177 Network ....................178 Diagnostics ....................180 Backup and Restore Process ..............181 Logs .....................
Page 5: Welcome
The StellarMate Plus Manual Welcome StellarMate Plus Manual Warnings WARNING: NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN WITH YOUR TELESCOPE OR CAMERA WITHOUT APPROPRIATE FILTERS IN PLACE. PERMANENT AND IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO YOUR EYES AND YOUR EQUIPMENT WILL OCCUR. Package Contents Thank you for purchasing StellarMate! Please follow this guide before you starting using your StellarMate Gadget.
Page 6: Introduction
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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). IMPORTANT A 32GB (or more, depending on your order) MicroSD card is already inserted into the StellarMate Gadget when it is shipped.
Page 7: Quick Startup
The StellarMate Plus Manual Connect your equipment (Mount, DSLR/CCD, Focuser, Filter Wheel, etc.) to StellarMate via USB/Bluetooth or Network. Connect to StellarMate from either your Mobile, Tablet, or Laptop/Desktop Computer. Start controlling your observatory and imaging from any major platform (Desktop or Mobile).
Page 8: Passwords
The StellarMate Plus Manual accurate astronomy & astrophotography work. Passwords · The default StellarMate OS password is smate · The default StellarMate WiFi HotSpot password is stellar@mate Learning StellarMate For new users, using StellarMate effectively can take a bit of a learning curve (like everything else) especially given the breadth of the features if provides.
Page 9: Registration
The StellarMate Plus Manual this step now and do not skip ahead! Registration When using StellarMate App for the first time, you need to register your device, or sign in using your existing stellarmate.com credentials: StellarMate Plus and StellarMate Plus: If you purchased an SM+ or SM Pro device, you need to register the device first before proceeding.
Page 10: Qr Code
The StellarMate Plus Manual QR Code If you received the StellarMate Controller, you will find the Device QR Code on the back of the unit. If you purchased StellarMate OS, the Device Serial Number is automatically generated for you. Steps Register your controller after downloading the SM App.
Page 11 The StellarMate Plus Manual HotSpot first. Once connected, proceed to run the StellarMate App. After connecting to StellarMate, go back to the App: · Tap on RESCAN to start the scanning process. Discovered devices would be listed on the left side pane. 11 / 227...
Page 12: Connecting Your Devices
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 13 The StellarMate Plus Manual to default by clicking on the Clear Driver Config. button. 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 14: Adding Telescopes
The StellarMate Plus Manual Adding Telescopes You can specify a Primary Scope and a Guide Scope for your equipment profile. Tap on the Add button next to the primary scope to enter the details of the telescope. All units are in millimeters.You can specify a Primary Scope and a Guide Scope for your equipment profile.
Page 15: Port Selector
The StellarMate Plus Manual firewall. However, there is no authentication/authorization portal provided by StellarMate, so only open portals at your own risk or by providing an additional layer of security. The minimum required ports that have to be opened to allow using INDI remotely over the internet are ports 7624 and 8624.
Page 16 The StellarMate Plus Manual Connection Status · Green: device is connected. · Yellow: connecting to device. · Red: connecting to device failed. Connection Mode · Serial: For mounts, filter wheels, and focusers that are connected via a Serial-to-USB adapter. To connect to serial devices, you need to select the port and baud rate. StellarMate provides the detected system ports in a dropdown menu to select from, but you can also enter your own port manually.
Page 17: Weather Inforrmation
The StellarMate Plus Manual For network devices, you have to specify the hostname or IP of the device and the port. Also you can choose the network type (TCP/UDP). Weather Inforrmation Weather Information are available in the setup page. The weather bar displays current weather information for the surrounded region.
Page 18 The StellarMate Plus Manual the brightness and observability of the sky relative to light pollution. Bortle Class 1 is ideal and 9 is the worst. The cloud button displays the 3-hour cloud map based on your current location. The visibility bar displays the percentage of cloud coverage over the map. 18 / 227...
Page 19: Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual Ekos When an equipment profile is not started, only the Ekos Scheduler module is available for use. From the scheduler, you may select targets and sequences to create jobs. You may specify job constraints and observatory startup and shutdown procedures. Once the scheduler is running, it will select the best targets to image and would automate the rest of the workflow without any human intervention.
Page 20 The StellarMate Plus Manual Tap and hold the target for approximately one second to command the mount to slew. If successful, the indicator icon changes to yellow and once motion is complete, it switches to green. Capture a preview to verify the mount indeed centered the target as desired. Repeat if necessary.
Page 21 The StellarMate Plus Manual On success, the animation will turn to green. On capture new image, the target lock animation will be reset to default. Modules · 21 / 227...
Page 22 The StellarMate Plus Manual Focus: Focus your camera either automatically via an electronic focuser, or manually by adjusting the focus while framing, or by using Bahtinov Mask Assistant. Create presets for different configurations and set advanced settings to control the star detection and focusing algorithms. Align: Align your mount to get highly accurate GOTOs and to ensure you target is always in the center.
Page 23 The StellarMate Plus Manual directional pad control. Camera: preview, loop, video stream, live stacking, and quick settings. Rotator: goto absolute position and CCW/CW step rotation. Mount Status Bar · Shows the status of the mount if it is parking/unparking, slewing, tracking, etc. as well as the target.
Page 24: Quick Controls
The StellarMate Plus Manual Quick Controls StellarMate App has a total of three Quick Controls Modules which are used to control three astronomical instruments as suggested by their names: mounts/telescopes, cameras, and rotators. 24 / 227...
Page 25: Mount
The StellarMate Plus Manual Mount Quick Controls Camera Quick Controls Rotator Quick Controls 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 · Goto/Sync ·...
Page 26 The StellarMate Plus Manual Tracking On/Off For mount that support tracking control, you can toggle tracking by clicking on button. If tracking is engaged, the icon turns to green and the mount status bar will show Tracking. Goto or Sync You can goto or sync by clicking on the GOTO button, a dialog will pop-up where you can goto or sync to your last target, choose one of your last recently used targets, or select...
Page 27 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. 27 / 227...
Page 28 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 You can park your mount by clicking on the red button, this will turn the button to the yellow color while Parking your mount.
Page 29 The StellarMate Plus Manual Reverse Directions: You can reverse the directions of your mount: · North/South: Mount directions will be reversed for North/South when enabled. · West/East: Mouth directions will be reveresed for West/East when enabled. 29 / 227...
Page 30: Camera
The StellarMate Plus Manual Camera Camera quick controls allows you to control your camera quickly and easily. · Settings Preview You can quickly change and capture a image, or start a continuous loop · Framing until explicitly stopped. Record Stream and videos if supported by your camera.
Page 31: Video Recording
The StellarMate Plus Manual Video Recording These are the following options in Video Recording: Directory: Path of videos is set using Directory browser. File Name: Set SER video file name. Record files may contain some patterns to make them dynamic. o _D_: For the date in YYYY-MM-DD o _H_: For time in HH:MM:SS.
Page 32 The StellarMate Plus Manual in a crisp and smooth image. The livestacked images are only as good as the data. Therefore, for Live-stacking to operate successfully, the following conditions must be met: 1. The image must be well-focused. 2. The image must contain sufficient stars for the algorithm to work. The livestacking algorithm inspects stars in each captured frame and performs the necessary star- alignment to compensate for any offsets or rotations among the captured images.
Page 33 The StellarMate Plus Manual Sigma clipping helps with noise reduction during the stacking process. The mean and standard deviation are calculated from the first three captures. Subsequent captures are then sigma-clipped to remove any outliers outside the envelope of acceptable ranges around the mean.
Page 34 The StellarMate Plus Manual When Livestacked images are received, they are displayed in the main view with a thumbnail carousel at the bottom. Each image is numbered sequentially. To ensure proper performance, only the last 10 captured images are available in the carousel. To view a specific image, simply tap its thumbnail in the carousel.
Page 35: Settings
The StellarMate Plus Manual All livestacked images are saved as JPG in StellarMate Pictures directory, where they can be accessed later via the Gallery, StellarMate network share, or FTP. To save an image in the tablet/phone storage, tab the Disk icon in the camera’s info bar. Settings You can quickly take custom preview captures or loop frames by tweaking the settings in the quick settings bar by tapping on the...
Page 36: Rotator
The StellarMate Plus Manual Rotator 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 37 The StellarMate Plus Manual Going to an angle position by steps You can rotate the rotator to a different angle using the CW and CCW rotation buttons, which will change the rotation by 10 steps depending on the direction chosen. 37 / 227...
Page 38: Modules
The StellarMate Plus Manual Modules StellarMate App has a total of six Ekos Modules which are used to control various astronomical instruments such as: CCD cameras, DSLR cameras, mounts/telescopes, dustcaps, domes, roll-off shutters, filter wheels, rotators, focusers, and more. Focus Align Guide Capture...
Page 39 The StellarMate Plus Manual · In/Out step movement: can be edited in Mechanics settings. · Preview · Loop · Advanced options (settings, process, mechanics) · Image viewer · HFR Plot Preset Settings You can add new preset, edit or delete presets, by tapping on the + button, the pencil button or the trash button.
Page 40 The StellarMate Plus Manual Auto focusing You can do auto focusing by either keeping the preset setting as default or choosing an existing preset and then tapping on Auto Focus. The image viewer will show you the current image being captured by your camera, with a square around the detected star. An HFR Plot is also available on the right side of the screen to inform you about the current motor step and the HFR (Half-Flux-Radius).
Page 41 The StellarMate Plus Manual Settings You can change lots of settings by going to the Settings, Process, and/or Mechanics setting pages. The Settings page has the following options: · Auto Select Star: Automatically detect and select best star for guiding in the image. ·...
Page 42 The StellarMate Plus Manual Process The Process page has the following options: · Detection: Select star detection algorithm. Each algorithm have its strengths and weaknesses. It is recommended to keep the default value unless it fails to properly detect stars. o SEP: Source Extractor and Photometry, an efficient source detection method based on Source Extractor (Bertin and Arnouts 1996;...
Page 43 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Algorithm: Select the autofocus process algorithm: o Iterative: Moves focuser by discreet steps initially decided by the step size. Once a curve slope is calculated, further step sizes are calculated to reach optimal solution. The algorithm stops when the measured HFR is within percentage tolerance of the minimum HFR recorded in the procedure.
Page 44 The StellarMate Plus Manual Mechanics The Mechanics page has the following options: · 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.
Page 45: Align
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 46 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 47 The StellarMate Plus Manual Alignment Settings: Rotator Control: Use automatic or manual rotation control when using Load & Slew. For automatic control, the mechanized rotator is commanded to rotate to match the desired position angle. For manual control, the user is asked to manually rotate the camera until the desired position angle is reached.
Page 48 The StellarMate Plus Manual between measured position angle and FITS position angle is below this value, the load & slew operation is considered successful. Use Scale: Set image scale to speed up solver as it does not have to search index files of different images scales.
Page 49 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can adjust the mount direction (1) by selecting West or East rotation. Adjusting the Mount Speed (2) by opening the speed menu and selecting the preferred rotation speed. Mount Rotation (3) allows the user to modify the amount of rotation the mount rotates after every capture.
Page 50 The StellarMate Plus Manual First Capture First Rotation 50 / 227...
Page 51 The StellarMate Plus Manual Second Capture 51 / 227...
Page 52 The StellarMate Plus Manual Second Rotation Third Capture 52 / 227...
Page 53 The StellarMate Plus Manual Select Star Once all 3 images have been captures, you are shown the correction vectors. You can select a star to see the correction vectors relative to the selected star. 53 / 227...
Page 54 The StellarMate Plus Manual The correction vectors and screen will move to the selected position. At this stage you can use the pinch or spread gesture to use zoom in or out as shown. The zooming and tap features also works while the image is minimized. 54 / 227...
Page 55 The StellarMate Plus Manual Select Refresh & Algorithm In the Refresh Stage, the user can adjust the refresh rate by using the slider on the right, pressing Refresh to start the process. (Note: at this stage, the refresh only starts once Refresh is clicked) There are three different algorithms you can choose for PAA: 55 / 227...
Page 56 The StellarMate Plus Manual Plate Solving: Uses plate solving to track what the corrected alignment error is during the refresh process . User should try reduce the error in the Updated error line below and minimize the size of arrows. This is the only scheme that can fully correct an error larger than the image field-of-view, but depends on reliable plate solving.
Page 57 The StellarMate Plus Manual Manual Slew If the option is enabled, after each capture, the you have to rotate the mount apporixmately by the specified amount as shown. Once done, press the yellow check button to continue. 57 / 227...
Page 58 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 59: 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 60 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 61 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 62: 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. Capture The Capture module is where you create sequences to capture your targets. In the typical astrophotography workflow, Capture module is used last after you finished Focusing, Aligning, and Guiding your target.
Page 63 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Presets: Specific camera and File Settings. This includes: ROI, binning Frame type Format filter (if any) etc. You need to create a preset with your desired settings and give it a descriptive name (e.g QHY_HA_300 would refer to using QHY camera using HA filter for 300-second) exposure.
Page 64 The StellarMate Plus Manual After filling the preset settings, you need to add a sequence 64 / 227...
Page 65 The StellarMate Plus Manual Once the sequence is added, you have to tap on the Save Icon on the top-right. The default directory is under "Pictures". You can go back to previous directories by going back. 65 / 227...
Page 66 The StellarMate Plus Manual Sequence files are saved in "/home/stellarmate/sequences" path with respect to camera name. By selecting the sequence file, you will be able to add a sequence in your sequences and can capture your images accordingly. 66 / 227...
Page 67 The StellarMate Plus Manual Capture Presets has the following structure: Preset name Camera Frame Type Exposure Binning Format Filter Wheel Filter Temperature Gain/ISO Offset 67 / 227...
Page 68 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. In the below example, you can see that there are 3 different jobs in the sequence list as shown by the filter in the beginning of each one.
Page 69 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). After the capture is complete, you will see a notification message that says "CCD capture completed"...
Page 70 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 71 The StellarMate Plus Manual · 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. After you edit the filter, tap on the Save button to save the filter settings.
Page 72 The StellarMate Plus Manual Calibration Settings Note: You can only edit calibration settings for capture jobs that have the frame type as Bias (B), Dark (D), or Flat (F). 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 73 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 appropiate flat light source before starting flat frames capture. If ADU is specified, Ekos begins by capturing a couple of preview images to establish the curve required to achieve the desired ADU count.
Page 74 The StellarMate Plus Manual (where x is the amount minutes input by the user) 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.
Page 75 The StellarMate Plus Manual Dark Library The Dark Library is a collection of dark frames captured from your cameras under different settings. There are basically five primary types of frames: Light Frame: This is the regular image captured by your sensor. It is called light 75 / 227...
Page 76 The StellarMate Plus Manual because it captures the incoming light received at the sensor. Dark Frame: A frame captured with the same settings as the light frame (same temperature, exposure time, and binning) but with the shutter closed so that no photons reach the sensor.
Page 77 The StellarMate Plus Manual Create a master dark frame by capturing and averaging a number of individual dark frames. Select the range of exposures, binning, temperatures and count (if applicable) required. Each time you change a selection, the Total Frames count is updated to reflect the required frames.
Page 78 The StellarMate Plus Manual After creating a master dark, you can create a defect map for your camera. Usually, defect maps are used when dark frame subtraction does not improve the quality of the calibration result. This is especially evident when using uncooled guide cameras that can exhibit hot pixels that are hard to treat with classical dark frame subtraction methods.
Page 79: Mount
The StellarMate Plus Manual Inspect master frames of a specific camera. 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 80 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 81 The StellarMate Plus Manual To enable auto park every day, check the Every day box. Otherwise if the desire is only to park it once, keep it disabled. Select the time you want to park the mount. To start the countdown timer, press start. 81 / 227...
Page 82: Observatory
The StellarMate Plus Manual Observatory The Observatory module allows you to control your Dust Cap and Dome/Roll-off roof, it has the following features: · Dust Cap Park/UnPark · Dome Park/UnPark · Roll-off roof Park/UnPark · Abort Dome Motion · Goto Absolute Dome Angle 82 / 227...
Page 83 The StellarMate Plus Manual Changing Dome settings To change the settings, click on Parameters: Going to an absolute angle position You can go to an absolute angle position on your dome by tapping on the textbox next to the Azimuth label and setting the angle value to go to. Now tap on the GO button to go to that angle position.
Page 84: Indi Control Panel
The StellarMate Plus Manual INDI Control Panel INDI Control Panel provides an interface to interact with the drivers of the devices connected to Stellarmate. It is a front-end for the INDI controls available on KStars. The connected devices are show at the top (1). Selecting one will show it's control groups (2).
Page 85 The StellarMate Plus Manual Each property (1), can have multiple sub-properties (2). The current value for the sub- property is shown at (3). The status of the property (1) would change from gray (idle) to green (successful), red (failed) or yellow (in-progress) when any changes have been set. Some properties allow values to be adjusted.
Page 86 The StellarMate Plus Manual Some properties are read only and cannot be changed. Some buttons show the active button (1), and a different button can be set active simply by pressing it. Other buttons (2) only send the action once pressed and we can tell if it was successful from the property status (3).
Page 87: Scheduler
The StellarMate Plus Manual Scheduler Ekos Scheduler is an indispensable arsenal in building your roboic 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 utlized to start and stop Ekos.
Page 88 The StellarMate Plus Manual Ekos Scheduler provides a simple interface to aid the user in setting the conditions and constraints required for an observation job. Each observation job is composed of the following: Target name: Target name is displayed here. GOTO: Select the target from GOTO and it's name, coordinates get selected.
Page 89 The StellarMate Plus Manual J2000: RA and DEC are displayed of a specific target. Position angle: You can also specify and position angle. Priority: Set job priority in the range of 1 to 20 where 1 designates the highest priority and 20 the lowest priority.
Page 90 The StellarMate Plus Manual prior to culmination. ON: Start the job on the specified date and time. ASAP: Start the observation job as soon as all the contraints, if any, are met. The best candidate target shall be imaged first. Algorithm: Classic: Start jobs that meet the constraints by priority and score.
Page 91 The StellarMate Plus Manual Alt: The object's altitude must remain equal or higher than the given value. Moon: The moon separation must remain equal to or higher than the given value. Weather: Weather conditions must remain safe. When weather conditions become dangerous, shutdown procedure is initiated.
Page 92 The StellarMate Plus Manual Sequence Completion: The observation job is completed when the sequence is complete. Repeat for: No. of times sequence will repeat. Repeat until teminated: Restrat the sequence job indefinetly. Repeat until: Terminate the job on given date and time. 4- Observatory Startup: 92 / 227...
Page 93 The StellarMate Plus Manual o UnPark dome: Park dome tohome position o UnPark Mount: Park telescope to home position. o Uncap: Open dust cover. Script: One time startup procedure to be executed before starting Ekos. The script is executed before the startup procedures (i.e Unpark scope), if Selected, are executed.
Page 94 The StellarMate Plus Manual o None: Do not reschedule abored jobs. o Queue: Reschedule aborted jobs as soon as all executable jobs are either completed or aborted. o Immediate: Reschedule an aborted job immediately. ReSchedule errors: Treat errors like aborts. (Delay in seconds). 6- Observatory shutdown Procedure: 94 / 227...
Page 95 The StellarMate Plus Manual o Warm CC: Turn off CCD cooler. o Cap: Close dust cover. o Park Mount: Park telescope to home position. o Park Dome: Park dome to home position. Script: One-time shutdown procedure to be executed after all Scheduler jobs are completed.
Page 96 The StellarMate Plus Manual You must select the Target and Sequence before you can add a job to the Scheduler. When the scheduler starts, it evaluates all jobs in accord to the conditions and constraints specified and attempts to select the best job to execute. Selection of the job depends on a simple heuristic algorithm that scores each job given the conditions and constraints, each of which is weighted accordingly.
Page 97: Data Storage
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Perform post-alignment focusing since the frame might have moved during the plate solving process. · Perform calibration and start auto-guiding: The calibration process automatically selects the best guide star, performs calibration, and starts the autoguide process. ·...
Page 98 The StellarMate Plus Manual Color cameras can export a three channel RGB24 (8 bit per channel) or RGB48 (16 bit per channel) if supported by the camera sensors. Usually, the RGB output is generated by an internal debayer mechanism in the camera firmware. Files tend to be larger in size compared to RAW images but do not require any debayering.
Page 99 The StellarMate Plus Manual · All sequence images are saved along with their metadata and can be viewed in the View tab. Live Stacking · Live Stacked images are automatically saved to /home/stellarmate/Pictures/livestacking and 99 / 227...
Page 100 The StellarMate Plus Manual are also available in the View tab. · If a sequence is already in progress, then live stacking starts when the next sequence image is captured. When no sequences are in progress, StellarMate starts capturing images continuously (looping) as per the settings in the Camera Quick Settings.
Page 101 The StellarMate Plus Manual clicking on the save icon on the camera status bar. It is saved as a time-stamped JPG image. Exporting to PC/Mac If you captured images and saved them to StellarMate, then they should be available by default under /home/stellarmate/Pictures.
Page 102: Directory Browser
The StellarMate Plus Manual Directory Browser Directory browser: You can now choose files i.e Script file, Sequence file, fits file etc. Directory browser will extract the path from Stellarmate dolphin and set it according to the requirement input. We are using Directory browser on different places. 1.
Page 103 The StellarMate Plus Manual While selecting the sequence file or .fits file for Scheduler, we use Directory browser. Directory browser is alsi used in Scheduler Settings in order to add script files. 103 / 227...
Page 104 The StellarMate Plus Manual 2. Path: It is also used to set path for images in File Settings & recording settings using Directory browser. 104 / 227...
Page 105: Targets
The StellarMate Plus Manual You can also create directories via Directory browser. Targets StellarMate Targets is the StellarMate Planning tool to streamline your observation session. Search from thousands of objects and filter them according to criteria important to every astrophotographer. Add objects of interest to a quickly accessible Favorites list, or create and manage lists for your seasonal targets.
Page 106 The StellarMate Plus Manual Date & Time: You can preview the targets available at a different date or time by changing the settings (This option is disabled if Ekos is running) Sun/Moon Visibility 106 / 227...
Page 107 The StellarMate Plus Manual Moon rise/set times Illumination percentage and lunar phase name Sunset/Sunrise Astronomical Twilight Dusk/Dawn Filters 107 / 227...
Page 108 The StellarMate Plus Manual Minimum object alititude in degrees. Minimum duration in hours where the object must meet the altitude condition above. For example, if altitude is 20 degrees, and duration is two hours, then only objects that remain above 20 degrees for at least two hours are going to be included in the search results.
Page 109 The StellarMate Plus Manual Search Results 109 / 227...
Page 110 The StellarMate Plus Manual Number of results Filter by object name (only filters currently displayed results) Extended Search: You can search for an object by name only without adjusting any filters. This would search for ALL objects of all types regardless of filters. If the object is found, it is then added to the My Searches list.
Page 111 The StellarMate Plus Manual In order to use the Framing Assistant, it is necessary to select an FOV profile first. FOV profile dropdown Add | Edit | Delete (FOV profile) Exit list (returns to normal targets browsing) Adding an FOV profile in (5) opens up the following panel: After setting the Focal Length, Camera width &...
Page 112 The StellarMate Plus Manual It contains Lists dropdown. Add, Edit the list name or Delete the selected list. Target Info Object designations. 112 / 227...
Page 113 The StellarMate Plus Manual Object name. Object Phase: o Green: Object is rising o Yellow: Object is transiting the meridian o Red: Object is sitting Magnitude Object Image and FOV Overlay Altitude vs. Time Plot. The X-Axis designates time starting from 12 PM to 12 AM, with local Midnight (00:00) at the center of the image.
Page 114 The StellarMate Plus Manual 114 / 227...
Page 115: Framing Assistant
The StellarMate Plus Manual Framing Assistant To open the framing assistant, make sure to have selected an FOV Profile and press Go & Solve. StellarMate will command the mount to slew to the target location. This is indicated by a magenta border around the target.
Page 116 The StellarMate Plus Manual The Framing Assistant has two modes of operation: o Automatic: This mode is available if a rotator device (e.g. Nightcrawler) is coupled with your imaging camera and can rotate it on its axis. With a rotator, no manual intervention is necessary as StellarMate calculates the exact offset required to arrive at the target orientation.
Page 117: Device
The StellarMate Plus Manual If Ekos is offline, you can Schedule your target coordinates by using framing assistant in Scheduler module. Device The Device tab shows the health and information of your StellarMate. If StellarMate is connected to the internet, you can also run the software updater, install the latest firmware updates and also download the Teamviewer Software in your SM device.
Page 118: Updating Stellarmate Software
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 119 The StellarMate Plus Manual To update StellarMate, simply click the download button and wait for the the process to complete. 119 / 227...
Page 120: Changing Hotspot Wifi Band
The StellarMate Plus Manual Once the update is complete, you will be prompted to restart Stellarmate for the updates to take effect. Changing Hotspot WiFi Band Changing Hotspot WiFi Band You can change the Hotspot WiFi band by clicking on the settings button next to the WiFi Band label.
Page 121 The StellarMate Plus Manual An alert will posp-up informing you about what might happen if you proceed with this operation. Tap on YES to continue with this operation. WARNING StellarMate App could be disconnected and channel switching might fail due to variety of reasons in which case the hotspot will be restored to default settings.
Page 122: View
The StellarMate Plus Manual you switched to, in the Device tab. If not, StellarMate will go back to the Automatic band. View The View tab displays online images saved on the cloud (requires EkosLive Pro subscription, refer to Resources section) and offline images captured on StellarMate. All metadata is preserved so you can sort and search your images at any time.
Page 123 The StellarMate Plus Manual 123 / 227...
Page 124 The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate aggregates images in Virtual Folders based on the selected Virtual Group: Show all Images: Show all directories & images under /home/stellarmate/Pictures. Target: Group images by each unique target together regardless of where they are 124 / 227...
Page 125 The StellarMate Plus Manual physically located on the device. Directory (Default): This is similar to a traditional File Explorer where images are grouped by directory on StellarMate. Frame: Group images by each unique frame type (i.e. Light, Bias..etc). 125 / 227...
Page 126 The StellarMate Plus Manual Date:Group images by date whereas images captured on the same day are grouped together. Per filter: Images are shown per filter. Those folder directories are Virtual folders. 126 / 227...
Page 127 The StellarMate Plus Manual Images can be further filtered chronologically by tapping on the bottom chrono selector. By default, images captured at all times are displayed. To filter only recent images, tap the chrono selector. For example, tapping 1H would only show images captured within the last hour.
Page 128 The StellarMate Plus Manual You can also download and delete the specific image. · Sort: It allows you to sort the images according to different options which includes, Name, date, 128 / 227...
Page 129: Settings
The StellarMate Plus Manual Size, frame, Filter and Exposure. · Delete all: Deleting all images will delete all the images exists in the specifc directory. i.e If you are in Per filters option and RED filter directory. It will only delete your images within RED directory virtual folder.
Page 130: Connection Methods
The StellarMate Plus Manual following options: · Language · High Bandwidth mode (not recommended on slow WiFi connections) · Transfer images · Notifications · Sounds · Cloud Storage (requires EkosLive Pro subscription, refer to Resources section) · In case the SM App becomes unresponsive, you can wipe all the settings by tapping on the Reset App button on the settings page.
Page 131: Direct Hdmi Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 132: Connecting Your Equipment
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate unit is shipped with a full-featured Linux® Operation System that you can directly access. The default username and password are: username: stellarmate password: smate This is the same username and password you will use when accessing the unit over Web VNC as well.
Page 133: Connecting From Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual detailed equipment connection guide. Connecting from Ekos Click on KStars icon on the desktop to launch it. After initial startup, complete the wizard to set up geographical location and download any extra data (Internet connection required). Launch Ekos either by press Ctrl+K, or by pressing on the Dome-shaped icon in the Toolbar It is recommended to use the Ekos...
Page 134 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 135: Ethernet Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to your equipment and start using Ekos, simply click the Start button as illustrated above.A 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 136: Stellarmate Address
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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 access StellarMate Web Manager, type in stellarmate.local:8624 Note...
Page 137: Hotspot Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual By default, StellarMate runs in HotSpot Mode. Click on the desired mode of connect to learn more about connecting StellarMate. HotSpot Connection Note You must first complete the First Time Setup guide before proceeding with this tutorial.
Page 138 The StellarMate Plus Manual Click on the Manage WiFi button (orange cogwheel next to green wifi icon). The App should display a list of detected WiFi networks in the vicinity. Select the desired WiFi network from the list and press Connect. Enter and double check the WiFi password.
Page 139: Stellarmate Address
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. This assumes your phone/tablet will automatically switch to your home WiFi network since it will be disconnected from the hotspot and in most cases this causes Android/iOS to fall back to the next available network.
Page 140: Downloading Ekos
The StellarMate Plus Manual Downloading Ekos Ekos is the official astrophotography tool used for StellarMate. It is part of KStars, a popular planetarium application for Windows®, Mac® OS, and Linux®. Download and setup KStars on your system before proceeding forward. Connecting from Ekos Please refer to Connecting from Ekos via...
Page 141: 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 142 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 again, please click on the wizard icon in Ekos summary screen.
Page 143 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 144 The StellarMate Plus Manual Next, select your equipment profile name and any additional services you want to run then proceed to create the profile. 144 / 227...
Page 145: Direct Ethernet
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to your equipment and start using Ekos, simply click the Start button as illustrated above. 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. This can be done using a regular Ethernet cable, at home or in the field.
Page 146: Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard
The StellarMate Plus Manual Bluetooth Wizard provided in Serial Port Assistant Manually pair your bluetooth device Serial Port Assistant Bluetooth Wizard StellarMate allows connecting bluetooth mounts easily through StellarMate Web Manager, all you have to do is follow these steps: Connecting to a Bluetooth Device 1.
Page 147 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. You will be met with a dialog that confirms that your device has been binded to StellarMate.
Page 148 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. 9. If you find your device, enter the pin code and then click on the Connect button.
Page 149: Manual Pairing
The StellarMate Plus Manual 10. Wait a few seconds until a pop-up dialog shows up to confirm if the pairing and binding process was successful or not. Unbinding a Bluetooth Device To stop a device from being auto-binded on startup, go to the Bluetooth Wizard by following steps 1-4 and then click on Unbind Previous Device.
Page 150: Connecting Ccds
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. Connecting CCDs StellarMate Plus supports a broad range of camers (CCD/CMOS). Find out if your camera is supported in the INDI Camera Portal.
Page 151: Connecting Dslrs
The StellarMate Plus Manual · Web Cameras. · DSLRs StellarMate supports cameras with built-in Filter Wheels and ST4 port for pulse-guiding. Connecting DSLRs StellarMate supports DSLR cameras using the INDI GPhoto driver based on libgphto2 library. It includes supports for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and other DSLR cameras. To know if your specific model is supported, please check the DSLR Supported Cameras List.
Page 152: Supported Dslrs
The StellarMate Plus Manual Pentax cameras are supported in INDI GPhoto driver and also in INDI Native Pentax driver. The native driver is experimental but offers more support to Pentax cameras. It’s recommended to try both drivers to see which is more fit for your specific camera model.
Page 153: Nikon
The StellarMate Plus Manual EOS 20D (normal mode) EOS Kiss Digital (normal mode) EOS 20D (PTP mode) EOS Kiss Digital (PTP mode) EOS 250D EOS Kiss Digital N (normal mode) EOS 300D (normal mode) EOS Kiss Digital X (PTP mode) EOS 300D (PTP mode) EOS Kiss X2 (PTP mode) EOS 30D (PTP mode)
Page 154: Troubleshooting
The StellarMate Plus Manual DSC D300 (PTP mode) DSC D700 (PTP mode) DSC D3000 (PTP mode) DSC D7000 (PTP mode) DSC D300s (PTP mode) DSC D70s (PTP mode) DSC D3100 (PTP mode) DSC D7100 DSC D3200 DSC D7200 DSC D3300 DSC D750 DSC D3400 DSC D7500...
Page 155: Mounts
INDI devices portal. Mounts Mounts Copyright © 2018-2022 by Ikarus Technologies. All Rights Reserved. Celestron Before connecting to your mount Ensure the mount firmware is the latest as provided by your manufacturer. Ensure mount has proper and suffcient power to operate. This is often a primary source of issues connecting to mounts.
Page 156: Skywatcher
The StellarMate Plus Manual adapter cable from HC to PC/Device. ·CGX / CGX-L · Celestron Nexstar · Modern Nexstar HCs come with ·CPC / CPC Deluxe · Celestron AVX USB Type-B port that you can · Celestron CGX ·Nexstar connect directly via a USB cable to ·Evolution your device (no serial to USB adapter is required).
Page 157 The StellarMate Plus Manual Selecting the correct driver Selecting the appropiate driver for your mount usually depends on two factors: ·Mount model. ·Connection method (Cable, WiFI, Bluetooth..etc). Mount Driver Connection Meth ·HEQ5 ·EQ6 \ EQ6R Pro ·AZ-EQ5 \ AZ-EQ6 Pro EQMod Mount EQDirect Cable ·EQ8 \ EQ8 Pro...
Page 158: Mount Connection Guide
The StellarMate Plus Manual WiFi SkyWatcher Star Adventurer 2i ·SkyWatcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro WiFi ·SkyWatcher Star Adventurer SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Mount Connection Guide In order to know what connections your mount supports, check the following table: Manufacturer Direct WiFi Ethernet Bluetooth Comment...
Page 159 The StellarMate Plus Manual Pulsar2 AOK SkyWalker OnStep Rainbow RS- ArgoNavis Digital Setting Circle Methods of Connection The following diagrams illustrates the methods of connection: · HC (HandSet Controller) · Direct · WiFi HotSpot mode 159 / 227...
Page 160 The StellarMate Plus Manual WiFi Infrastructure · Bluetooth 160 / 227...
Page 161: Serial To Usb
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 162: Wireless Connection
The StellarMate Plus Manual Ethernet cable (StellarMate to Mount direct), or the mount can be connected to a wired router where it can be accessed over the network. Consult the mount manual to find which mode it supports and what is the default IP address and port of the mount once it is connected to the network.
Page 163: Serial To Usb
The StellarMate Plus Manual To check if your focuser is supported, please visit the INDI Focuser Portal. Check the documentation for your focuser before you operate it for the first time. Serial to USB Most equipment is connected via USB. StellarMate is equipment with 4 USB ports. However, it is highly recommended to use an external powered USB Hub as it can reliably support power to your equipment.
Page 164: Operating Filter Wheel
The StellarMate Plus Manual foremost to power problems. Therefore, please invest in reliable power supply for all your equipment! Some filter wheels are connected to USB as regular USB devices while others are connected as Serial-To-USB devices. For the latter case, you need to purchase a Serial- To-USB adapter suitable for your filter wheel model from the manufacturer.
Page 165 The StellarMate Plus Manual the internal clock keeps ticking even when the power is switched off. When SM Plus is powered on, it reads the time from the onboard RTC. While this value might drift off by a few seconds over time, it is critical to minimize any large errors that otherwise would accumulate over time unchecked.
Page 166 The StellarMate Plus Manual Every time the StellarMate Mobile App is connected to StellarMate, it syncs both time and location information from the tablet/phone GPS. If the SM App is not used (for example, when using Ekos on a PC/Mac), then StellarMate relies primarily on RTC as the time source.
Page 167: Web Manager
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. When using SM App, it’s recommended to leave this option as is. ·...
Page 168: 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. Web Manager URL You can access the Web Manager from any browser at this url: http://stellarmate.local:8624...
Page 169: 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 170: Removing Profile
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. o SkySafari: To monitor and control your mount from SkySafari, select the SkySafari driver from the auxiliary list.
Page 171: Usb
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate Equipment video All equipment must be powered before you connect them to StellarMate. Most astronomical devices can be connected to StellarMate via the following methods: · USB. This includes Serial-To-USB devices. · Bluetooth · Network: Wired or Wireless Most equipment is connected via USB.
Page 172: Network
The StellarMate Plus Manual (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 173: Stellarmate Control Panel
The StellarMate Plus Manual StellarMate Serial Assistant is only applicable to Serial-To-USB devices, for regular USB devices, do not use it. StellarMate Control Panel IMPORTANT In order to open the StellarMate Control Panel you need to be connected to the same network as your StellarMate.
Page 174: Dashboard
The StellarMate Plus Manual Dashboard The home page of the StellarMate Control Panel is the Dashboard, which shows the 174 / 227...
Page 175 The StellarMate Plus Manual 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. 175 / 227...
Page 176: Hardware
The StellarMate Plus Manual Hardware In this page, you can see all the hardware devices that are connected to StellarMate. Clicking on a device will show its information, which can be downloaded by clicking on the Download button (cloud icon) on the top-right. 176 / 227...
Page 177: Software
The StellarMate Plus Manual Software 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 178: Network
The StellarMate Plus Manual 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: Click on Connect on the WiFi Router card Select your WiFi Router network connection and then put in the password if there is one, then click on Connect.
Page 179 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 180: Diagnostics
The StellarMate Plus Manual To connect to StellarMate through Direct Ethernet, follow the video tutorial on this page. 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. Backup and Reset This section provides the user with the ability to: ·...
Page 181: Backup And Restore Process
The StellarMate Plus Manual Test your hardware devices such as DSLR. This will tell you if your DSLR is working correctly with StellarMate or not. Logs In order to check the logs, you can Extract logs for diagnosing an error or an issue that has happened during usage of StellarMate.
Page 182 The StellarMate Plus Manual Click on the Download button (cloud icon) and select the backup file that has been generated. 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 183 The StellarMate Plus Manual Select your backup file and click on Open. Wait for the upload process to complete. You should get a Upload Successful message, which means that the restore was successful. 183 / 227...
Page 184: Logs
The StellarMate Plus Manual Logs EkosLive logs should be sent to the Stellar Mate support when there are issues about EkosLive being down or for issues with Live Stacking. This is an instructional guide for how to View or Extract Logs. It will be explained step by step in this section of the manual.
Page 185 The StellarMate Plus Manual KStars & INDI: You can view the logs for kstars and INDI as well. On the left side, you can see different files for each day Note: You can also watch the Video on how to enable logging in Kstars from the link given below: https://www.indilib.org/individuals/logs-howto.html 185 / 227...
Page 186 The StellarMate Plus Manual 4. Web Manager 5. Network Manager: 6. Device Manager: 186 / 227...
Page 187: Goto
The StellarMate Plus Manual 7. Boot: Goto In every page of the StellarMate Control Panel, there is a GOTO button on the bottom-right corner. Clicking on GOTO opens up a menu that allows you to navigate to 3 different areas. Web Manager ·...
Page 188: Ekoslive
The StellarMate Plus Manual Desktop (VNC) · 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 189: 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 190: 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. Using EkosLive Web Application Go to the EkosLive URL and login with your username & password. After login, the EkosLive Home screen should be displayed: 190 / 227...
Page 191 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 192: Ekoslive Faq
The StellarMate Plus Manual active, you can start using EkosLive controls. EkosLive FAQ Questions on EkosLive Real-Time Web Application for Observatory Control & Monitoring. What is Ekos Live? Is EkosLive a replacement for Ekos? Is EkosLive free? Is EkosLive Secure? Can I access EkosLive Web App from multiple browsers/phones? How do I access EkosLive? Do I need to purchase StellarMate to use EkosLive?
Page 193: Using Gps
The StellarMate Plus Manual 4. Is EkosLive Secure? Absolutely! EkosLive transmits all traffic over SSL and WSL (for Secure Websockets) using industry-proven encryption at both ends. Your data is securely stored where you are the only party that can download and view them. No data is shared with any 3rd party. 5.
Page 194: Faq
The StellarMate Plus Manual Create an Equipment profile with the GPSD driver selected in one of the Aux. dropdowns. The following is a video tutorial that covers all the steps above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXE5NFC6Vs8 17.1. What is StellarMate? 17.2. How does it work? 17.3.
Page 195 The StellarMate Plus Manual the supported communication channels. Once connected, you can use a mobile (Phone & Tabl application to control your equipment. The gadget includes several methods that enable you to connect your equipment. StellarMate c 2.0 ports, 10/100 MBPS Ethernet, 802.11n Wireless LAN, and Bluetooth 4.0. You connect your the supported communication channels.
Page 196 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Direct Connection: Plug the supplied HDMI cable to a monitor to gain direct access to your Mouse & Keyboard. · Wired: Connect StellarMate to your LAN via Ethernet. You can access it like any other Network Discovery tools on your operating system (e.g.
Page 197 The StellarMate Plus Manual Usual Cause StellarMate HotSpot is only active when StellarMate is not connected to any network. If you connect StellarMate to your WiFi network, or if you connect StellarMate to LAN via Ethern only reactivated again when there is no network to reach. Other Causes 1.
Page 198 The StellarMate Plus Manual from Auxiliary. Video instructions For complete instructions, please visit SkySafari INDI support page. 17.13. How can I use a Joystick to control my mount? Please follow instructions in Controlling your Mount with Joystick tutorial. 17.14. How do I update StellarMate? Web-Based VNC Viewer or any VNC Viewer to access StellarMate.
Page 199 The StellarMate Plus Manual If for any reason you are having problems with the GUI Software Updater, you can directly write Double click the Mate Terminal icon and a terminal window shall be opened. Type in the followin sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade 17.15.
Page 200 The StellarMate Plus Manual 3. If you are using Ekos directly on StellarMate, simply set the Directory field in the capture m The Upload mode should remain as Client. 17.17. Problems with ZWO ASI cameras? If you are using USB2 cameras from ZWO, they must be flashed with the -compatible firmware Download the ASI Cameras Firmware Upgrade Tool for your OS and flash the camera with the...
Page 201 The StellarMate Plus Manual use over 15+ clients on across many operating systems. 17.19. What is EkosLive? EkosLive is a real-time web application that can be run from any browser. It allows you to cont browser. It is built around material-ui from Google, so it is very friendly for mobiles & tablets on a It supports capture, focus, guiding, alignment, and polar assistant tools.
Page 202 The StellarMate Plus Manual From the example screenshot above, we know the auto-IP address is 169.254.10.197. Now 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.loca A more permanent solution involves creating a static IP address on StellarMate using Network M 17.21.
Page 203 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 user RPI3/RPI3B+, you can purchase a DS3231 module and install it. There is no need to perform a StellarMate OS supports DS3231 natively.
Page 204 The StellarMate Plus Manual 17.24. Can I hook up an external USB drive for storing images and videos? Absolutely. After you connect the external USB drive. You need to login to StellarMate OS desk see the 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.
Page 205 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, th the Upload mode to either Local (save images only in StellarMate) or Both (save images in Stel 205 / 227...
Page 206 The StellarMate Plus Manual You will see the Remote field getting enabled for editing. Simple paste the location URL here an images saved to the external USB disk. 17.25. How many Ethernet ports does the unit have? StellarMate comes with one 10/100 mbps Ethernet port. 17.26.
Page 207 The StellarMate Plus Manual 17.27. EQMod position is incorrect on startup? The Default Position for EQMod after power up is the home position. The home position is def facing the celestial pole with the weights down. For northern hemisphere users, the mount needs 207 / 227...
Page 208 The StellarMate Plus Manual In rare circumstances, users might see the initial position for EQMod in Ekos to be wrong. position, it should always start near the celestial pole. An off position might look like this: 208 / 227...
Page 209 The StellarMate Plus Manual To fix this issue, please perform the following steps: 1. If the mount is not already unparked, unpark it (click the green flag in the toolbar). 2. Go to INDI Control Panel --> EQMod --> Site Management and click on Purge Data under 209 / 227...
Page 210 The StellarMate Plus Manual 3. Power off the mount. 4. If the mount is not pointed at the celestial pole with the weights down, adjust it manually un 5. Power on the mount. 6. Start the Ekos equipment profile again. Now EQMod should point toward the celestial pole and a new default parking position is performing these steps, please open a ticket in the support...
Page 211 The StellarMate Plus Manual · Hibernation: For mounts that support hibernation (e.g. AVX), it is possible to hibernate a losing alignment data. Time & Location This is the most common cause for inaccurate and erratics GOTOs. StellarMate requires an ac to drive the mount correctly.
Page 212 The StellarMate Plus Manual However, this only sets the mount time (in the handset) and not the StellarMate System Time. Th calculations, so it is prudent that StellarMate system time is accurate. StellarMate gadge (RTC) module that keeps the system time even when the unit is turned off. If you are using board, then there is no way to keep the time ticking and accurate.
Page 213 The StellarMate Plus Manual If you are using a GPS dongle in StellarMate, then it would be sufficient to sync the StellarMate up. Without the GPS dongle, using the StellarMate App is the next best option as it always keep synchronized with your phone/tablet.
Page 214 The StellarMate Plus Manual 4. Disconnect and Stop Ekos. 5. Power off the mount. 6. For equatorial mounts, if the mount is not pointed at the celestial pole with the weights dow position. For Alt-Azimuth mounts, make sure the mount is in its home position. 7.
Page 215 The StellarMate Plus Manual In StellarMate App 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 3.
Page 216 The StellarMate Plus Manual · USB: This is the most common type of connection type between StellarMate and the m RS232 Serial to USB connector where the USB end is connected to StellarMate while the sometimes directly to mount). · Bluetooth: Limited supported for Bluetooth dongles for some mounts. Please chech Stella ·...
Page 217 The StellarMate Plus Manual Before contacting support, please make sure to enable the logs and submit them in the ticket. 17.31 How to install StellarMate OS on another MicroSD? IMPORTANT If you have purchased StellarMate from a retailer, please submit a new ticket and attac don't see an order in the Orders...
Page 218 The StellarMate Plus Manual 3. Download balenaEtcher, and install it, then open it. 4. Connect an SD card reader to your computer with the MicroSD card inside. 5. Open Etcher and select from your hard drive the StellarMate OS .xz file you just downloaded 218 / 227...
Page 219 The StellarMate Plus Manual 6. Select the MicroSD card you wish to write your image to. 219 / 227...
Page 220 The StellarMate Plus Manual 7. Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the SD card. 220 / 227...
Page 221: Support
The StellarMate Plus Manual 8. When it's done, connect the MicroSD to StellarMate and power it up! Support We are proud to offer top-notch support to our customers. Please make sure to check out first the Frequently Asked Questions. To report any issues with StellarMate or Ekos, please submit a ticket and our support team should get back to you as soon as possible.
Page 222 The StellarMate Plus Manual Blackbody Radiation, Blackbody Radiation (see also Star Colors and Temperatures) Catalogs Deep-Sky Catalogs, Catalogs Star Catalogs, Catalogs Catalogs page Short overview, Catalogs CCD Video Control Setup, CCD and Video-Capture Setup Celestial Coordinate Systems Ecliptic Coordinates, The Ecliptic Coordinate System (see also Ecliptic) Equatorial Coordinates, The Equatorial Coordinate System (see also Celestial Equator)
Page 223 The StellarMate Plus Manual Solar System page, The Configure KStars Window, Solar System Supernovae page, The Configure KStars Window, Supernovae Xplanet page, The Configure KStars Window Cosmic Distance Ladder, Cosmic Distance Ladder Dark Matter, Dark Matter Date and Time Extended range of dates, Setting the Time Setting, Setting the Time The simulation clock, Setting the Time Declination (see Equatorial Coordinates)
Page 224 The StellarMate Plus Manual Horizon, The Horizon (see also Horizontal Coordinates) Hour Angle, Hour Angle (see also Local Meridian) (see also Sidereal Time) Image-dump Mode, Command-Line mode for Image Generation INDI Setup, INDI Setup, Telescope Setup INDI Control Overview, Astronomical Device Control with INDI Info Boxes Customizing, Customizing the Display Shading, Customizing the Display...
Page 225 The StellarMate Plus Manual Objects in the Sky Centering, Mouse Commands Details, Object Details Window Finding by Name, Finding Objects Hiding, Advanced Identifying, Mouse Commands Internet Links, The Popup Menu (see also Popup Menu) Customizing, Object Details Window Invoking Popup Menu for, Mouse Commands Keyboard Actions, Keyboard Actions, Actions for the Selected Object Labeling Automatic, Advanced...
Page 226 The StellarMate Plus Manual (see also Hour Angle) Spiral Galaxies, Spiral Galaxies Star Colors and Temperatures, Star Colors and Temperatures (see also Blackbody Radiation) (see also Magnitude Scale) Stars, Stars: An Introductory FAQ StellarMate App, Software Login, Connecting to StellarMate Register, Registeration Setup, Connecting your devices using StellarMate App Connection, Connecting to StellarMate...
Page 227 The StellarMate Plus Manual Equatorial/Galactic Coordinates module, Equatorial/Galactic Coordinates module Equinoxes and Solstices module, Equinoxes and Solstices module Geodetic Coordinates module, Geodetic Coordinates module Horizontal Coordinates module, Horizontal Coordinates module Julian Day module, Julian Day module Planet Coordinates module, Planet Coordinates module Sidereal Time module, Sidereal Time module Ekos, Ekos Align, Align...