StellarMate PLUS is the Next Generation Internet-Of-Things (IoT) astrophotography gadget! The principle behind StellarMate is simple:
- 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.
StellarMate is powered by Open Astronomy Instrumentation protocols (INDI), and Ekos, a cross-platform astrophotography suite for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It supports highly accurate GOTOs, autofocus and autoguide capabilities, in addition to powerful image aquisition features and support for numerous mounts, CCDs, DSLRs, focusers, and much more. From controlling a lone mount in the field, to orchestration of state of the art observatory, StellarMate is the solution you have been waiting for.
StellarMate features Ekos, a powerful free tool to automate your astrophotography workflow. Select your target, slew your mount, and begin imaging immediately. Millions of stars and deep sky objects are at your fingertip. Coupled with powerful observational planner and a smart scheduler, you can automate your workflow to achieve a true robotic operation!
Cross-Platform Support: While you can use StellarMate without any computer, if you opt to control it from a computer, then we support Ekos on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Use the software on your own favorite platform. In addition, StellarMate App is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Extensive Equipment Support: Numerous devices are supported including, but not limited to:
- Mounts: Meade, Celestron Nexstar, SkyWatcher, Paramount, IOptron, Avalon, Takahashi, Argo Navis, 10-Micron, Losmandy, EQMod...etc.
- Cameras: Canon, Nikon, Sony, & Pentax DSLRs. SBIG, QHY, QSI, FLI, Starlight Xpress, DMK, Apogee, iNova, ATIK, ZWO ASI, Morovian, Meade DSI..etc..
- Filter Wheels: ZWO, ATIK, Apogee, Starlight Xpress, FLI, QHY...etc.
- Focusers: FocusLynx, TCF-S, MoonLite, RoboFocus, NStep, Pegasus, Baader, Microtouch...
- Other Devices: Field Rotators, Adaptive Optics, Domes, Weather-Stations, Spectrographs, Game Pads, GPS...
- More INDI drivers are added by the community and manufacturers. With StellarMate, you get all the latest updates as soon as they are released!
Advantages:
- Auto HotSpot: By default, StellarMate works in HotSpot mode so you can connect to it from any mobile or desktop device. It can also connect to your network by Wifi or Ethernet.
- Modern Planetarium: StellarMate is shipped with KStars, a modern feature-rich planetarium software for all platforms.
- Equipment Profiles: Define any number of equipment profiles and load them on the go when you need to operate specific sets of equipment.
- Observation Planner: Find new targets using the Observation Planner. Use the highly-configurable wizard to find objects of interest using numerous parameters.
- Powerful Capture Tool: Enjoy one of the most powerful image acquisition capabilities available today. You can simply capture a preview, frame an image, or even record live video stream of Jupiter.
- Versatile FITS Viewer: KStars simple, yet powerful FITS Viewer tool supports monochrome and colors FITS files in addition to bayered images.
- Smart Dark Library: Every time you capture a dark frame, it is tagged and saved to the Smart Dark Library.
- Sharp AutoFocus: Get pin-point stars with the Focus module. StellarMate can automatically pick a focus star, subframe it to reduce download times, to get you as close as possible to the critical Focus Zone. (Focus motor required)
- Powerful Guiding Capabilities: Use the built-in Internal guider to lock unto a star and keep it bounded during the imaging session. (Guide Camera required).
- Precision Astrometry: The days of 2 or 3 stars alignment are of the past. Welcome to the world of Astrometry, where captured images are analyzed and results are used to correct the mount position to achieve highly accurate GOTOs.
- Easy Polar Alignment: Measure and correct polar alignment errors with the highly acclaimed Polar Assistant Tool.
- Dome Slaving: Ekos supports operation of domes and roll-off roofs.
- Robotic Operation: Let StellarMate capture your data while away or asleep. It covers the whole spectrum from cold startup of the observatory, target evaluation and data acquisition, to safe and secure shutdown in case of unfavorable weather conditions.
- Free video tutorials: Online Step-by-step video tutorials that cover StellarMate in a scenario-based approach where you can watch what is relevant to you in order to make the most use of your software and hardware.
Hardware: StellarMate is based on the Raspberry PI 4B, a proven platform for embedded computers for many years.
- SoC: Broadcom BCM2711 64-bit SoC
- CPU: Quad core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) @ 1.5GHz
- GPU: Broadcom VideoCore VI
- Memory: 2 GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM
- Real Time Clock (DS3231) with battery.
- Storage: 32GB MicroSD card class 10.
- USB 2 USB 3.0 ports; 2 USB 2.0 ports.
- Network: Gigabit Ethernet, 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
- Mini HDMI: 1.8m Gold Plated Mini HDMI cable.
- Power: 3A 5V USB-C power supply. EU plug type
- 12v to 5v USB-C 2-meter cable. Power SM Plus on the field from any 12v power source.
Note: Video tutorials and manuals are currently only available in English. For now we recommend this product mainly for english speaking and computer savvy users.
