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- Description
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Details
StarAid Revolution Product Features
Stand-alone autoguiding revolutionised
No configuration
- Autoguiding starts automatically as soon as you power on your StarAid. Point your telescope anywhere in the sky, and StarAid will find multiple guide stars. Even under a full moon or in a rich star cloud in the milky way under pristine skies.
- No laptop or any other device needed
- Guiding automatically resumes when clouds pass by or when you move your mount to a new location
Accurate and fast tracking for the best image quality
Accurate:
Fast: - Recognises and tracks 1 to 20 stars simultaneously
- Advanced, high performance proprietary star recognition and centering algorithm
- Guiding accuracy not affected by mount backlash
- Up to 30% sharper photos due to faster and multi-star guiding
- automatically handles meridian flips
- less image waste due to more images being useful
- Sends up to 5 corrections per second (5Hz) to the mount to minimise drift effects and correct some of the seeing (5Hz)
- Finishes mount calibration in 4-30 seconds
Automatically optimised guiding parameters
- StarAid automatically monitors the seeing conditions and the mount response
- It uses Artificial Intelligence to find the optimal guide parameters
Live LED status feedback
- LEDs indicate the status of guiding, warnings or errors
- Different patterns for specific actions
- No need to connect your laptop or phone
- Adjust their brightness or turn them off completely from the StarAid App
Comet guiding
- Image comets with long exposures. StarAid provides a well maintained catalogue of interesting comets. Simply select a comet from object guiding and point your main telescope at the comet. StarAid tracks and keeps the comet stationary so you can confidently take long exposures for crisp comet images.
- Once object guiding is enabled, no laptop or any other device is needed.
No laptop needed
Free built-in StarAid Application to access extras
The StarAid provides its own WLAN that can be accessed by smartphone, tablet or computer. Using your device's web browser, you can access and control the StarAid's web interface. So this "StarAid app" is also a Web-Applicaiton and runs on the StarAid itself. You only need a web browser on a device that you connect to the WLAN that the StarAid provides. Therefore, the StarAid-Web-Application cannot be accessed for testing purposes on devices that are not connected to the StarAid. And there is also no app to download from an app store
Even though StarAid autoguiding is fully autonomous, and requires no additional device, there is a handy StarAid App available to access advanced functionality:
- Monitor the status of autoguiding.
- Super eas, AI-powered polar alignment.
- Automatic plate-solving (“Sky Recognition”)
- Live view to help you focus your StarAid.
Use it with any device
- Access and use the app on your smartphone, computer or tablet
- Works without Internet
- Connect your device via StarAid’s built-in wifi or the USB cable
Accurate polar alignment within 30 seconds with a tap in your app
- Just point your telescope anywhere in the sky. No need to see the celestial pole from your location.
- StarAid will tell you how to set your mount.
- Works equally well in the Southern hemisphere, Northern hemisphere and at the equator.
- Works well for apartment windows or balconies where the celestial pole is obscured.
- Choose fast or high accuracy: typically 30″ within 2 minutes (good enough for guiding), 10″ within 4 minutes (accurate), or 1″ within 12 minutes (precise).
- Intuitive guidance with real-time visual feedback while making adjustments.
- All mounts with adjustable screws or knobs are supported (even single-axis tracking mounts).
- Polar alignment also works without a connection to the guide port.
Automatic platesolving within 2 seconds
Star field recognition speeds of StarAid with a 200mm guide scope. The colors denote solution time in seconds. The dark blue, unsolved areas align with the plane of the Milky Way. In most cases, the actual solve time is less than 1 second.
- The Sky Recognition functionality recognises 96% of all locations within 2 seconds (under clear skies, without moonlight)
- Start it with a tap from your StarAid App
- No Internet needed
- Check the coordinates in the app, and enter it in your mount to use it for GOTO
No large guide-scope required
StarAid Revolution works best with small focal lengths between 100 and 150mm. This makes a very lightweight and sturdy setup possible. You can attach it in a 1.25" eyepiece clamp or through the optional C-mount adapter. Camera control/dithering The StarAid Revolution also supports dithering – the telescope can be moved by some pixels during an imaging session to avoid structural artifacts of the camera. A 2.5mm cable for camera control is available separately.
Camera control/dithering
The StarAid Revolution also supports dithering – the telescope can be moved by some pixels during an imaging session to avoid structural artifacts of the camera. A 2.5mm cable for camera control is available seperately.
Power Supply via USB
The StarAid is powered via the USB-C port on the StarAid device. The USB-C port on the StarAid is used for both data connections and power. It only needs 5V/0.5A, so you can power it with any USB power supply or a USB power bank, or through the USB-port of your computer.
A difference from Revision A and B is that the power is supplied by the StarAid itself rather than a USB-C splitter, which is redundant and no longer needed. The StarAid's USB-C port is used to power and access the web app via a laptop. StarAid Rev. C is not compatible with the Rev. A or Rev. B splitter. The ST-4 cable plugs directly in the back of the StarAid RevC
All modern mounts supported
Tested on several models
- All mounts with a ST-4 compatible guide port are supported.
- Tested on the following mounts and mount types:
- All mounts with Astro-Elektronik FS-2 control system
- Astro-Physics 1100
- Astro-Physics1200
- Astro-Physics Mach1
- Astro-Physics models with GTOCP v2, v3 and v4
- Celestron AVX (the same control as, among others CGEM, CGEM DX, CGEM II, CGX, CGX-L)
- Losmandy GM-8 with originals DDS
- Meade FORK mount
- SkyWatcher EQ5
- SkyWatcher EQ6
- Vixen Super Polaris with BoxDorfer MTS-3 Kit
- Can be used with Losmandy DDS control box
Related Articles
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Celestron CGX mount in combination with StarAid Revolution as guiding cam
The CGX: A Versatile Mount For Everyone! Recently I was able to work with the Celestron CGX, the Baader Apo 95/560 Travel Companion, the Nikon D810A and the StarAid Revolution as guiding system for the first time. Once again the results proved how much you can get out of a good system if you take some time to tweak the settings a little bit instead of simply working with the factory settings of the software without taking a closer look at them. To get straight to the point: I'm really excited about what the CGX delivered last night! For polar alignment, I used the star Regulus and the integrated AllStar Polar Alignment (ASPA) system of the CGX. My alignment routine only consisted of a 2-star alignment, with Regulus added as another calibration star. Then I let the mount slew across 2/3 of the sky to the star Vega. The CGX placed Vega in the middle of the field of view of the APO 95 and the Z6, with less than 5% deviation! That's AMAZING, because it means that I don't need an additional high-precision goto, even with small sensors! In any case, high-precision goto is only intended for those times when the...
Additional Information
| General | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | StarAid |
| SKU (#) | 1485002 |
| EAN Code | 4047825056689 |
| Sensor Information | |
| Sensor | Sony IMX290LL monochrome STARVIS CMOS |
| Sensor Size | 1/2.8” |
| Pixel Size | 2.9µm |
| Imaging Features | |
| Read Noise (e- RMS) | 0.72e- |
| Peak QE | 75% |
| Operating Temperature | Storage temperature (air): -20C - +60C | Operating temperature (air): -15C - +40C | |
| Storage Temperature | -20C - +60C |
| Interface | Optical interface: 31.65mm (1¼”) OD x 12 mm ocular guidescope, 1¼” filter, C-mount lens / guidescope via C-mount adaptor (sold separately), camera shutter control via 2.5 mm adaptor cable (sold separately) |
| Additional Features | |
| Included Accessories | USB-A to USB-C cable (1m); Uplink cable RJ-45 (CAT6 cable, 2.0 m flex /3 mm OD), Guide cable (RJ-12, 6P6C cable, 0.5 m flat, USB 2.0 cable), Splitter (36 x 22 x 20 mm) |
| Electronics | |
| Power Input | Standard USB 5.0V, 0.5A or better - typical power pack or USB wall outlet |
| Power consumption | 1.2W (active), 2.5W (peak) |
| Body and Connections | |
| Diameter (mm) | 39 mm |
| USB Connection | USB 2.0 via USB-C Port |
| Telescope connection | ST-4 compatible guide port |
| Guiding Port | ST-4 kompatibler Anschluss |
| Adaptable to | All mounts with an ST-4 compatible guiding port are supported |
