15. Connecting Filter Wheels
StellarMate supports a broad range of filter wheels. Most filter wheels fall in the following two categories:
Standalone: The filter wheel operates independently from any other device and has its own USB connection to StellarMate/PC. The filter wheel is operated from a dedicated INDI driver. Internal: Several camera models ship with an internal Color Filter Wheel (CFW) and therefore operating the filter wheel happens in the INDI camera driver. The INDI control panel would include an additional Filter tab whereas the filter slots and corresponding designations can be updated.
To check if your filter wheel is supported, please visit the INDI Filter Wheel Portal. Check the documentation for your filter wheel before you operate it for the first time.
15.1. USB & 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.
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!
15.2. Operating Filter Wheel
- Filter Wheels are relatively simply devices. There are two primary controls for most filter wheel drivers:
Filter Slot: This is the current active slot of the filter wheel. It starts from 1 to the maximum number of slots available. To change the filter, simply change the slot number. Filter Names: On first connection, filter names (e.g. Red) are generated by the driver. Change the filter names to reflect the actual installed filter using the Capture Module in Ekos (KStars).
15.3. Filter Wheel
Mount |
Driver |
Devices |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
FLI CCD FLI CFW FLI PDF |
indi_fli_ccd |
indi_fli_wheel indi_fli_focus |
|
Optec IFW |
indi_optec_wheel |
||
QHY CCD |
indi_qhy_ccd |
||
QSI CCD |
indi_qsi_ccd |
||
Quantum Wheel |
indi_quantum_wheel |
||
Baader SBIG CCD |
indi_sbig_ccd |
||
Starlight Xpress Filter Wheel |
indi_sx_wheel |
||
TruTech |
indi_trutech_wheel |
||
XAGYL Wheel |
indi_xagyl_wheel |
||
ASI EFW |
indi_asi_wheel |