StellarMate is a small mobile astronomy gadget that you can connect your astronomy devices to. It enables you to control your mount, camera, focuser, filter wheel, dome, and many more devices. Designed for astrophotgorahy, it includes free powerful astrophotography tool that supports mount control, batch capture, autofocus, autoguide, and astrometry.

The gadget include several methods that enables 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. Once connected, you can use a mobile (Phone & Tablet) or desktop (Windows, MacOS, Linux) application to control your equipment.

You need equipment (Mounts, Cameras, Focuser...etc) that can be connected to a computer via either USB, Bluetooth, or Ethernet. All modern gadget include connectors to computers. For mount with Serial connectors, you will need to purchase a Serial-2-USB adapter. Since StellarMate uses INDI for device control, you need to make sure your device is supported. While not strictly required, it is highly recommened to use an external powered USB hub to connect your devices to.

To use the StellarMate App, you need either an Android or iOS based smart phone.

After you purchased StellarMate OS, you should receive a confirmation email with links to the downloads. In the future, if you want to download StellarMate OS again, make sure you are logged in to the stellarmate.com website and then go to the Orders page.

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.

In case you have an issue with flashing the image with Raspberry PI imager, please follow these steps:

1. Using the Raspberry Pi Imager install Misc Utility Images -> Bootloader -> SD Card Boot.
2. Move card to RP and boot, power off, removed card.
3. Erase card using Raspberry Pi Imager, remove card from computer and insert again.
4. Using Raspberry Pi Imager install the StellarMate image. 

Absolutely! StellarMate works with all variants of RPI4. We recommend you purchase the 4GB version.

You can connect to StellarMate via the following methods:

• Direct Connection: Plug the supplied HDMI cable to a monitor to gain direct access to StellarMate OS. You also need to plug your Mouse & Keyboard.
• 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.
• Wireless: Use StellarMate App for Android and iOS to connect to your gadget.

The maximum reported SD card size is 128GB.

Make sure to use a reputable class 10+ SD card.

No, it's not broken. That's the normal behavior. Here are what the LED lights mean:

Red LED

• Keeps steady on when powered.
• Flashes if the power drops below ~4.63V.

Green LED

• Steady on if no SD card during boot.

• irregular flashes for SD card access.

So if the Green LED is off, it means there isn't much activity going on. If you cannot detect StellarMate HotSpot on your phone, please use the supplied HDMI cable and connect it to an external TV/Monitor. Check what you get on the TV:

• If you see StellarMate OS desktop, then the unit is working fine. Check the network settings.
  1. Attach a keyboard and mouse (wireless would work as well).
  2. Click on StellarMate Tools App.
  3. Click on Network Reset. Confirm network reset.
  4. Reboot the unit.
• If you see error messages on the console, there there is a problem in booting up the Operating System. If you have StellarMate OS image, then the best course of action is to reflash the image. Check the integrety of the microSD cards as they tend to degrade with time. If you do not have StellarMate OS image, Contact support so we can help you resolve this issue.

There are many mobile and desktop applications that you can use to control StellarMate. For a complete list, please check INDI Clients page.

However, only Ekos and StellarMate App are officially supported.

username: stellarmate

password: smate

To reset StellarMate, use go to StellarMate Control Panel (stellarmate.local) and click on the Diagnostics icon on the side menu as illustrated below:

After clicking the icon, the diagnostics tab will open with lots of options including:

• Reset Network: Click this button to reset WiFi settings in case you have issues accessing the unit via WiFi or HotSpot. It will restore StellarMate to HotSpot mode.
• Reset Factory: Click this button to reset all settings, including WiFi. This action is irreversible! Please make sure to backup any important data on the SD card!

StellarMate must now be restarted for the above to take effect.

If you have trouble connecting StellarMate to your router via WiFi, please access your router and clear all cache and any entries for StellarMate.

StellarMate HotSpot is only active when StellarMate is not connected to any WiFi network. By default, the StellarMate Hotspot operates at 5Ghz WiFi (not 2.4Ghz). Therefore, your phone/tablet/PC must support 5Ghz WiFi. It is possible to switch StellarMate WiFi to 2.4Ghz but you need to use SM App to switch and you need a 5Ghz WiFi capable device first to connect to it.

Common Issues

1. Insufficient power: You must use a reliable power supply that can deliver 5 volts at 3.1 Amperes. If powered via battery, make sure it can consistently deliver 3A to StellarMate.

2. Noisy WiFi Environment: In case you have a very active and noisy WiFi environment (many WiFi network), it can overwhelm the WiFi controller in StellarMate and it cannot generate a proper hotspot. Try to get away from very noisy WiFi environments to have a successfully HotSpot.

3. Metal Enclosures: If using StellarMate OS with your own Raspberry PI with a metal case, then it can lead to attentuation of WiFi signals. Try to use a plastic enclosure.

4. Close Promixity to other electronic devices: Some users reported HotSpot signal loss when StellarMate is stacked with other devices like monitors or USB hubs. Try to maintain at least 15 cm away from any other electronic device that can cause interferance with the HotSpot Signal.

5. USB 3.0: There is a known issue with USB 3.0 ports causing significant interfaces with 2.4Ghz signals. If an active USB 3.0 port is used by any peripheral, it may lead to signal degradation. There are two methods to resolve this issue:
5.1 Connect USB 3.0 peripherals to the StellarMate USB 2.0 port
5.2 Switch StellarMate OS WiFi HotSpot Frequency to 5Ghz range which is immune to this interference from USB 3.0.

6. HDMI Resolution: If you connect StellarMate to an external display using an HDMI cable, then high resolution is known to cause interference with WiFi. Try to lower the HDMI resolution to improve the situation.

If you have trouble connecting StellarMate to your router via WiFi, please access your router and clear all cache and any entries for StellarMate.

The StellarMate WiFi Hotspot by default operates at 2.4Ghz. As with any WiFi-enabled device, the signal strength and reliability can be affected by several factors:

1. Power Supply: StellarMate requires the use of a 3A+ 5V power supply (3 Amperes or higher) in order to properly operate StellarMate OS on Raspberry Pi 3/4. Using anything less than 3A would result in system instabilities and possible corruption. To solve this problem, invest in a reputable power supply before you boot StellarMate OS.

2. Congestion: if there are many WiFi Networks in the area surrounding StellarMate, the WiFi Hotspot might be slow due to signal and channel congestion. A possible solution in case of severe interference is to toggle WiFi frequency (2.4Ghz/5Ghz) in StellarMate OS and try to locate a channel that is relatively free of congestion.

3. Obstructions: If you used a metal case for StellarMate or the unit is attached to a metal surface, this can attenuate the signal. Try to keep StellarMate separate from any nearby metallic objects.

4. USB 3.0: There is a known issue with USB 3.0 ports causing significant interfaces with 2.4Ghz signals. If an active USB 3.0 port is used by any peripheral, it may lead to signal degradation. There are two methods to resolve this issue:
4.1 Connect USB 3.0 peripherals to the StellarMate USB 2.0 port
4.2 Switch StellarMate OS WiFi HotSpot Frequency to 5Ghz range which is immune to this interference from USB 3.0.

5. HDMI Resolution: If you connect StellarMate to an external display using an HDMI cable, then high resolution is known to cause interference with WiFi. Try to lower the HDMI resolution to improve the situation.

If none of the above solutions work, another possible solution to to try using a Wired connection using Ethernet cable. This can be achieved via a direct Ethernet connection between StellarMate and your PC/Mac, or via a router. It is a last-resort solution but is known to be reiable and almost 10 times faster than WiFi.

StellarMate WiFi HotSpot password: stellar@mate

To change default password, follow the steps in this vide:

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. If you changed the unit name, then just use the name followed by .local

For example, if you changed the unit name to observatory, then your new hostname is observatory.local

Another way to find the hostname is to open the Web Manager from the StellarMate App and you will see the unit hostname in the browser address bar.

If you using StellarMate Web Manager, please add SkySafari driver to your Auxiliary drivers. From within Ekos, select SkySafari from Auxiliary.

For complete instructions, please visit SkySafari INDI support page.

Please follow instrucitons in Controlling your Mount with Joystick tutorial.

Use Web-Based VNC Viewer or any VNC Viewer to access StellarMate. Simply double click the Software Updater icon to fetch updates. If there are any available updates, a window shall appear with the required upgrades. Click Install to download and install them. It is recommended to restart the unit after installation updates.

If for any reason you are having problems with the GUI Software Updater, you can directly write a command to start 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 && sudo apt-get -y upgrade

Yes. Stellarmate does not use the default SSH port. Use port 5624 to login to StellarMate using your username and password.

ssh -p 5624 stellarmate@stellarmate.local

The same port should be used for SFTP (e.g. in FileZilla). You can perform remote update using the following command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade

StellarMate ships with 32GB MicroSD card. Images are saved by default to the internal SD card. It is possible to change the default Pictures directory (/home/stellarmate/Pictures) to a different location using either StellarMate Tools or StellarMate App.

StellarMate Tools via VNC

Once the Pictures Directory is set, KStars and Network Storage is updated to the new directory. StellarMate requires a restart for this to take effect.

StellarMate App

From StellarMate App Capture Module, toggle File Settings to change the default Pictures directory or set it to an external storage.

KStars on PC/Mac

If you are using Ekos on PC/Mac, then you need to set Upload mode to Local and then set the Remote Directory to /home/stellarmate/Pictures as illustrated below:

2. If you are using Ekos directly on StellarMate, simply set the Directory field in the capture module to /home/stellarmate/Pictures. The Upload mode should remain as Client.

/home/stellarmate/Pictures is case sensitive. Make sure not to set it by mistake to /home/stellarmate/pictures

No.

StellarMate is based on Open Astronomy Instrumentation Protocol (INDI) and does not use ASCOM. INDI enables native remote control of your equipment and numerous devices are supported by manufacturers today. Ekos is the officially supported client, but you can also use over 15+ clients on across many operating systems.

It is possible to connect to StellarMate directly without going via a router. Simply connect an ethernet cable from your PC/Mac to StellarMate. There is no need to use a crossover cable, any regular Ethernet cable would do. You can access StellarMate as you would normally do via the address http://stellarmate.local

Using the App or StellarMate Dashboard, you can set StellarMate to Direct Ethernet mode. In this mode, StellarMate IP address is set to 192.168.100.1

Using your OS network configuration tool, Change your Network Adapter IP settings to the following:

• IP Address: 192.168.100.2
• Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
• Gateway: 192.168.100.1
• DNS: 192.168.100.1

After applying the settings, you can access StellarMate either via http://stellarmate.local or via http://192.168.100.1 address.

If you captured images and saved them to StellarMate, then they should be available by default under /home/stellarmate/Pictures. To access the images over the network, there are two options:

• On Windows, click on the Network icon in the left pane of File Explorer as illustrated below.

If you do not see the StellarMate network share, please map the network drive as shown in this video:

• On Linux & MacOS: Use FileZilla to connect to StellarMate via Secure FTP (sftp) using your username (stellarmate) and password (smate). Remember to set port to 5624.

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.

The following is a list of checks you need to verify before contacting support regarding DSLR connectivity issues:

• Make sure the camera battery is full.
• Make sure there is enough space on your SD card.
• Make sure the camera is set to Bulb/Manual mode. In some models you need to rotate the dial first to Manual then change the setttings to make it Bulb.
• Turn off any power-saving features in the camera that might be making the camera go to sleep mode without your knowledge. Some cameras support inactivity timer, try to set it to 10 or 15 minutes to be on the safe side.
• Try a different USB cable.
• Try plugging the camera to a different USB port on StellarMate.

If none of the above works out, please submit a support ticket with details on your setup.

Absolutely. After you connect the external USB drive, use SM App to connect to StellarMate and start an equipment profile.

Then go to Capture module and File Settings

 Tap the external storage name and it would be set as the default location for the Pictures directory. Restart StellarMate for the change to take effect.

If the USB storage is not detected by StellarMate, it will fall back to the default /home/stellarmate/Pictures directory

1. Using KStars on StellarMate

if you are running KStars inside StellarMate directly, then simply browse the location in the Directory filed of the Capture Module. You can also paste the URL there directly.

2. Using KStars on Windows/MacOS/Linux

If you are running KStars remotely on a Windows/MacOS 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). 

You will see the Remote field getting enabled for editing. Simple paste the location URL here and start the capture process to have your images saved to the external USB disk.

StellarMate comes with one 10/100 mbps Ethernet port.

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.

Simply remove the top cover of StellarMate, then put it in the pins that are enclosed by the red rectangle in the image below. You can apply light glue to the base to ensure it remains secured.

If you have purchased StellarMate from a retailer, please submit a new ticket and attach your order receipt and tell us if you don't see an order in the Orders page.

To be able to use a different MicroSD than the already built-in one, you need to flash StellarMate OS onto your MicroSD.

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.

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 to write it to the MicroSD card.

6. Select the MicroSD card you wish to write your image to.

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!

There are a few reasons for failing to get a 3D FIX from your GPS dongles.

• Indoor obstructions. Test with GPS outside with clear access to the sky so that it can communicate with the satellites.
• USB3 Interferance: If the GPS antenna is is connected close to an active USB3 port (a USB3 port connected to a device like a camera), then the interferance may lead to failure in obtaining a fix. It's recommended to get a GPS dongle with a long wire away from StelarMate to protect against unwanted interferance.
• Incorrect baud rate: Some older GPS dongle uses a baud rate of 4800. The default baud rate in StellarMate is configured as 9600. Therefore, StellarMate would fail to communicate with the GPS dongle unless the rate is changed within StellarMate to match the GPS dongle rate.

The Default Position for EQMod after power up is the home position. The 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. Unless you set it to a custom parking position, it should always start near the celestial pole. An off position might look like this:

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 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.
6. Start the Ekos equipment profile again.

Now EQMod should point toward the celestial pole and a new default parking position is recorded. If you still have issues after performing these steps, please open a ticket in the support area.

Power

Make sure your mount have sufficient power to make the slews. Power is one the primary problems faced by users but it is one of the least issues users suspect or investigate, so make sure to rule out power as the cause for the mount erratic behavior.

Alignment

GOTO mounts learn how to go to specific objects in the night sky after they are properly calibrated and aligned at power up.

All mounts must be first aligned using the handset using 2 or 3 star alignments before you can use them with StellarMate. The only exception to this rule is as following:

• EQMod: When using Skywatcher mounts with EQMod driver, no alignment is necessary at startup. It should start pointing at the celestial pole (unless custom parking position is used). Make sure the mount is powered up while it is in the Home Position. Afterwards, slew to a nearby star and use Ekos Alignment module to sync the telescope. EQMod would then be ready to make accurate GOTOs.

   

• 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. StellarMate requires an accurate Time and Location data in order to drive the mount correctly. If you are using Ekos on a PC/Mac, KStars would automatically set the mounts time and location. You can double check the mount time and location settings by going to INDI Control Panel --> Mount Driver Tab (e.g. EQMod Mount) --> Site Management Tab.

However, this only sets the mount time (in the handset) and not the StellarMate System Time. The system time is still important for other calculations, so it is prudent that StellarMate system time is accurate. StellarMate gadget is shipped with a Real Time Clock (RTC) module that keeps the system time even when the unit is turned off. If you are using StellarMate OS on a plain Rasbperry Pi board, then there is no way to keep the time ticking and accurate. StellarMate would sync the system time once it has an active connection to the internet.

In case you are using StellarMate in HotSpot mode, the unit has no access to the internet and the time must be either it Manually via VNC or via the StellarMate App. When using the StellarMate App, it 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.

If you are using a GPS dongle in StellarMate, then it would be sufficient to sync the StellarMate system time and location once powered up. Without the GPS dongle, using the StellarMate App is the next best option as it always keeps StellarMate system time and location synchronized with your phone/tablet.

Mount Model

When using EQMod mount or any mount that uses INDI Alignment Subsystem, it improves its GOTO accuracy by building a model of the night sky in the driver itself. This is in contrast to traditional mounts when the model is built in the handset (e.g. Meade). Sometimes the model inadvernetly lead to wrong GOTOs and you keep adding more sync points to correct this issue, it might end up getting worse. The best thing to do in this situation is to follow these steps:

1. If the mount is not already unparked, unpark it (click the green flag in the toolbar).
2. Go to Ekos Mount tab, and click on Purge all configuration. This will clear all settings related to the mount.
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. For Alt-Azimuth mounts, make sure the mount is in its home position.
6. Power on the mount.
7. Start the Ekos equipment profile again.

Now, depending on the mount type, it should have the correct startup position:

• EQMod: Mount should point toward the celestial pole and a new default parking position is recorded
• Other: Mount should point toward the last alignment star that you used in the handset when performing the initial 2 or 3 star alignment process.

When performing GOTOs, the mount should slew normally and track.

Support

If you still have issues after performing these steps, please open a ticket in the support area.

Please make sure to submit the logs required to investigate your issue. Turn on INDI + Mount logging and send the logs to support.

Depending on your mount type, you can connect to your telescope mount using different connection types:

• USB: This is the most common type of connection type between StellarMate and the mount. The connection usually requires RS232 Serial to USB connector where the USB end is connected to StellarMate while the serial plug connects to the handset (or sometimes directly to mount).
• Bluetooth: Limited supported for Bluetooth dongles for some mounts. Please chech StellarMate Manual for more details.
• Ethernet/WiFi: Connects to the mount over Ethernet or WiFi network. In the Mount driver connection tab, switch the mount to Ethernet mode and set the host name and port where your mount is running.

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).
3. RS232 or RS232-to-USB cable is firmly connected at the mount and PC USB port.
4. Telescope is aligned (2 or 3 star alignment).
5. Use StellarMate Serial Port Assistant to assign permenant designation in situations where you have multiple USB-to-Serial devices.
6. Ensure the port specified is the correct port. Usually your port is /dev/ttyUSB0 but sometimes if you unplug and plug the USB cable again, you might get port /dev/ttyUSB1. Use dmesg to find out which port your mount is connected to if all of the above fails.

Before contacting support, please make sure to enable the logs and submit them in the ticket.

If you are using USB2 cameras from ZWO, they must be flashed with the -compatible firmware in order to be used with StellarMate.

Download the ASI Cameras Firmware Upgrade Tool for your OS and flash the camera with the -compatible firmware. For example, if you camera is ASI120MM, then flash the camera with this file: ASI120MM-compatible.iic

This is not required for USB3 cameras.

However, when using USB3 camera with a built-in USB hub (e.g. ASI385), then such camera must be connected to USB 2.0 ports (Not USB 3.0). Otherwise, StellarMate would not be able to detect any cameras or filter wheels connected to the camera built-in Hub. If you are using an external hub (e.g. Pegasus Astro Power Box) then ensure you are connected to the USB 2/3 combined ports.

It's right there! Check under Diffraction Limited manufacturer and you should see the SBIG drivers.

Fast Exposure is an experimental features in all INDI Camera drivers. It enables client (e.g. Ekos) to take multiple exposures in a sequence without awaiting the client to request the next frame.

You can enable Fast Exposure by toggle it in the camera Options tab as shown below. You do not need to set Fast Count as it is handled automatically by Ekos.

In Ekos or App, take exposure as you normally would. For example, if you add a Job with 5 exposures, without Fast Exposure it works like this:

1. Ekos asks camera to take 1st exposure.
2. Camera takes exposure. Once done, driver downloads the image from the camera.
3. The driver uploads image to Ekos.
4. After Ekos receives an image, it requests camera to take the 2nd exposure and so forth.

With Fast Exposure enabled, the driver immediately starts the next exposure as soon as the image data is downloaded from the camera.

Therefore, the camera is always busy exposing and downloading data without any wasted time setting as IDLE.

If supported by the camera, set the Read Mode property to the desired value. A value of 1 indicates High Gain mode.

Celestron Focus Motor is supported in StellarMate. It can be connected either directly to the AUX port of the mount, or via USB cable to StellarMate.

If the focuser is connected via USB, then you need to select Celestron SCT focuser driver in your equipment profile in order to control it.

Connectiong via AUX is only supported in the Celestron Nexstar/GPS drivers as explained below.

StellarMate provides two different Celestron drivers:

• Celestron Nexstar/GPS driver: If focuser is connected via AUX port, this driver would automatically recognize the focuser and provides complete control for it.
• Celestron AUX/Evolution driver: This driver does not support control of the focuser via the AUX port, and therefore the focuser must be connected via USB and controlled via its own dedicated Celestron SCT focuser driver.

Ekos Live is a real-time web application that can be run from any browser. It allows you to control many aspects of Ekos right from the browser. It is built around material-ui from Google, so it is very friendly for mobiles & tablets on any platform.

It supports capture, focus, guiding, alignment, and polar assistant tools. Furthermore, it can save your images directly to the cloud where they are stored along with a rich metadata system that enables easy search for images in the future. You can define your own tags to uniquely identifies images of interest.

Turn on sound notificaitons on to get audible alerts on tasks such as when an image is captured and so on. It supports multiple themes (Normal, Dark, and Night) to suit your seeing preferences.

No. EkosLive is a complementary tool to Ekos. It actually requires Ekos in the background. The benefit for EkosLive is that you can access it at any time you have internet access. There is no need to use TeamViewer or 3rd party solutions to login remotely to your PC to check the observatory status. All of this can be done easily and securely with EkosLive. Since it was designed with mobile in mind, you'll find its user interface particullay suited for tablets and phones.

Yes! We offer two tiers of EkosLive subscriptions:

1. EkosLive Basic: Free

2. EkosLive Pro: $4.99/Month subscription.

The EkosLive Pro version differes from Basic in that you get unlimited bandwidth 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!

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.

No. Currently, only one connection is permitted to EkosLive. If you try to login from another login, you will be logged out from your current location.

You can access EkosLive from this address https://live.stellarmate.com

No, StellarMate is not required. You just need KStars/Ekos to use EkosLive.

The Serial Number and Licence Key for the Stellarmate App are listed in the Licence Management page.

• If you purchased StellarMate Controller, then the Serial Number can be found on the bottom of the unit. You need to enter the Serial Number in the Licence Management page to generate a license key.
• If you purchased StellarMate OS, then the Serial Number and Licence are automatically generated for you. So just go to the Licence Management page to view them.

If you purchased StellarMate OS or StellarMate Controller before June 1st, 2019, then in order to use the StellarMate App you must download StellarMate OS v1.4.0+ and burn it to the StellarMate SD card.

Yes. It is possible to do this by following these steps:

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. Set the profile to remote and the host to stellarmate.local
4. Make sure INDI Web Manager is UNCHECKED. This is very important.
5. Save and then click start.
6. Done!

While a view to the celestial pole is desirable, it's not strictly necessary. The App would work almost anywhere in the sky, prefereably closer to the meridian.

Please check the following suggestions:

1. Ensure that you can see stellarmate HotSpot network name in the list of networks detected by your tablet. If the stellarmate network is not listed, then check StellarMate power. If power is OK (steady Red Led with occasional Green flashes) then check and make sure the SD card at the bottom of the unit is plugged in securely. If SD card OK, use the HDMI cable to connect the unit to a nearby monitor/TV and check for any error messages. Take a photo of the error and open a support ticket in order for our technical support to help you further.
2. Ensure Tablet must be connected to the HotSpot (default password is stellar@mate)
3. Ensure that StellarMate power is sourced from a 5v @ 3A steady power source. Anything less than 3A would make it unstable.
4. If you have equipment connected to the USB3 ports of StellarMate, try to unplug them and restart StellarMate as USB3 might sometimes causes interferance with 2.4Ghz wireless networks

Live Stacking image can be saved to the Tablet/Phone storage or photo gallery by clicking on the save button in the LiveStacking options as illustrated below:

Please note that the Live Stacking images are already saved to StellarMate internal storage and can be accessed via the View tab or via browsing SM shared network drive. All Livestacked images are automatically tagged with #livestacking tag so you can easily search for via the tag.

Usually this message is displayed when there is a communication error between your phone/tablet and StellarMate. Try to check the following steps:

1. If you have Mobile Data enabled on your phone, then disable it as this might interfer with your connection to StellarMate Hotspot.
2. Double check you are fully connected to the hotspot, sometimes Android/iOS do not fully connect, check network settings for any warnings. If possible, click Keep This Connection.
3. Check if you can reach StellarMate WiFi using your tablet browser. Open the browser and then go to http://10.250.25.1 You should see StellarMate Dashboard if all connection is OK.
4. If you changed your username, then this automatically invalidates your license and you need to be re-issued a new license. Please contact support to request this. After a new license is generated for you, uninstall the App completely and then reinstall it so that the new license is downloaded.
5. If you cannot connect with StellarMate WiFi at all, double check the power. It must be supplied 5v@3A.
6. If no response at all after reboot (i.e. not hotspot created), try to connect HDMI cable to the mini-HDMI port closest to the USB-C power port and connect it to an external monitor. Do you see any messages? Please send a screenshot to support.
7. If all above fails, you can try re-flashing StellarMate OS image unto the SD card (or a new SD card).

On startup, StellarMate X wil attempt to duplicate the internal virtual display to an external HDMI monitor. You can configure the Display Configuration from StellarMate App or VNC. In VNC, follow the steps highlighted in the picture below to duplicate the VIRTUAL1 output to your external HDMI monitor.

No, StellarMate X OS requires a separate license.

Once the Compositor is set to off. The flickering issue via VNC will be improved and get better