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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!