Astrophotography by Astrodogger

Computer Platform: Raspberry PI4 with StellarMate (Previously Astroberry)

Last updated on February 28th, 2022 at 02:23 am

My previous imaging computer platform was built using the free and open source version of Astroberry. Astroberry is a prepackaged Linux image with kStars and EKOS ready to go in a hotspot configuration out of the box. The software is well maintained and consistently being updated with new features and bug fixes. This software has a few bugs that I have learned how to work around (polar alignment reset to home) and did the job allowing me to automate my full image train. I found it best to run the Astroberry in local mode with EKOS and everything connected as close to the imaging system then using TigerVNC from my Mac to Remote Desktop into the device. It first looked to see if my home network was available and would connect there first and if not it would automatically fire up the hot spot mode that I could connect wirelessly if I was in the field away from WiFi. Using kStars to select and preview your target is pretty straight forward and is well documented in YouTube videos as well as hot tips.

Caution: The raspberry PI cannot supply a huge amount of current via the USB ports so it is best to get a powered USB distribution box so everything has enough power. Things are much more stable in this configuration however I have made it work (after a lot of painful trial and error) by being very careful which USB ports powers which devices. Save the USB3.0 ports for higher power devices.

I recently tried StellarMate OS on my Raspberry PI which uses the same backend application stack (e.g. kStars, EKOS, and INDI) which made this very familiar to use but the developers at Stellarview created an iOS and Android compatible app that talks to kStars and EKOS. Recent updates to StellarMate OS 1.6.1 seem to have fixed my prior problems with polar alignment that I experienced in earlier version of StellarMateOS and after a few nights of using the iPad application I and convinced this is the way for my future imaging train. I had a Raspberry Pi4 w/ 8GB RAM and a Power over Ethernet module available so I was able to build my own hardware instead of purchasing the StellarMate Pro. I extended my network out to my new concrete Pier in my backyard to for just this reason. Raspberry PIs are hard to find these days and all the system listed on this site use them so availability of each of these solutions my be limited.

Another option is the ASIAir Pro. I do not have any experience with this system but from what I have read it is on par with StellarMate and has some interesting 12V power adapters added to the unit to provide additional power and reduce some cables. The limiting factor here is the hardware support favors ZWO products and may not have the same hardware suite available as StellarMate or Astroberry.

Current Recommended Option:

Second Choice:

Untested:

seadogger