18 replies to this topic

[shurik]

Is there a solution outside of ZWO/Asair to control telescope and camera image acquisition using iPad/iPhone?

 

I have SkySafari plus, go-to function only, but no time slew planning, no scope parking, no camera control either…so any other advices? 

[rjkrejci]

I use a Mele mini PC with Nina and PHD2 on the scope and remote desktop in through an Ipad (sometimes even my Iphone)

[Stllrr]

I use a Mele mini PC with Nina and PHD2 on the scope and remote desktop in through an Ipad (sometimes even my Iphone)

This! And if you use N.I.N.A. they are currently developing an app called Touch N Stars, you can access it on IOS through safari. I made a cool button on my Home Screen using the "shortcuts" app for both Remote Desktop and NINAs "Touch N Stars" so it looks clean.

[rjkrejci]

This! And if you use N.I.N.A. they are currently developing an app called Touch N Stars, you can access it on IOS through safari. I made a cool button on my Home Screen using the "shortcuts" app for both Remote Desktop and NINAs "Touch N Stars" so it looks clean.

Agreed.    Touch N Stars is great so I don't have to take my laptop out to do a 3 Point Polar Align through Nina.   I can also monitor how the imaging is going on my phone (or ipad) as well.

 

I originally had an ASIAIR which was great, but Nina is leaps above in capability and flexibility, but with a bit of a learning curve.

[Cliff Hipsher]

StellarmateX  Runs KStars/Ekos.  Supports iOS and Android.  Same price as a pre-tariff Air Plus.

 

And I am an Air Plus user....

[AstroFromHome]

You can also use Touptek's StellaVita.

The box is more or less a clone of the AsiAir Plus. It runs on Indi but is not restricted to Touptek stuff only. If you are using standard camera makes, focuser and mount it should run.

 

If you could share what cameras and mount you have I may help with an advice if you gear would work.

 

It can be controlled via Android tablet or iPad.

[Scott_AstroSweden]

You can also use Touptek's StellaVita.

The box is more or less a clone of the AsiAir Plus. It runs on Indi but is not restricted to Touptek stuff only. If you are using standard camera makes, focuser and mount it should run.

 

If you could share what cameras and mount you have I may help with an advice if you gear would work.

 

It can be controlled via Android tablet or iPad.

Martin, is it Android tablet which is needed? Was thinking of perhaps using my mobile?

[johnsoda]

I use Remote Desktop (well, now it’s called the “Windows” app) on my iPad to a mini-PC at the setup.  I use SGP, which I’ll admit is not that great to use without a mouse and a keyboard, but I have a keyboard built-in to my iPad cover, and I use a bluetooth mouse with my iPad (yes, that’s legal) to set my runs up.  Once I have everything running, I find I don’t really need the mouse just to check things and do minor adjustments.  I do have to zoom in using the “Windows” app sometimes to make fine adjustments.  I used to use a Windows laptop to remote in, but I’ve found that I don’t use it any more, which is good because it’s old and no longer works.

[shurik]

Thank you for all the replies ! 
 

my overall goal was to figure out direct use of iPad/iPhone for imaging bypassing intermediate pc/minipc/accessory boxes

so I wonder if any app is available around or is in development stages

Sky Safari has been advertised heavily but I don’t see anything, besides pointing a telescope of real use for AP.

Edited by shurik, 26 March 2025 - 11:44 PM.

[Cliff Hipsher]

NEWS FLASH!  The answer is HERE.

 

Click on MacOS and then click DOWNLOAD to download  ASI Studio

[shurik]

NEWS FLASH!  The answer is HERE.

 

Click on MacOS and then click DOWNLOAD to download  ASI Studio

I have zero ZWO equipment in my million-item storage Astro room :-)

[Cliff Hipsher]

I have zero ZWO equipment in my million-item storage Astro room :-)

 

So I guess the final answer to your question is a resounding NO.

[w7ay]

You can also use Touptek's StellaVita.

It can be controlled via Android tablet or iPad.

Not only can you use StellaVita with iPhones and iPads, the iOS StellaVita app runs on macos (with M-series chips):

 

 

Granted, like running ASIAIR on a Mac, the StellaVita app is still a single window app.  Pretty big disavantage compared to N.I.N.A. and the others.   I assume though, that like ASIAIR, two different clients can be connected to one StellaVita server, and be able to have each client opened to a different window in StellaVita.  (The ASIAIR is still limited to only two clients per server; but at least you can monitor the main camera and the guide camera views simultaneously.  I have no chance yet to find out if StellaVita will work with more than one server controlling it.)

 

That being said, on macos, INDIGO A1 is arguably the best solution, and feels most "Apple-like," if you are used to macos and iOS user interfaces.  INDIGO can use any device that is supported by INDI.   Unlike INDI, INDIGO was designed from the ground up to support as many clients as possible on an "INDIGO bus."  Although StellarMate works fine too (through the built in Ekos) on macos, although I find the iOS app is a little clunky (and limited to one window).

 

https://cloudmakers....4/indigoa1.html

https://stellarmate.com/downloads.html

 

With INDIGO, you can run INDIGO Sky on a Raspberry Pi 5 (or a Windows or Mac laptop or Mac Mini) as an INDIGO "server" at the telescope as part of the "INDIGO Bus," and controlling the server using INDIGO Dashboard or INDIGO A1 running on the Mac as the INDIGO Client of the bus.  You can even just open up any HTML browser to control an INDIGO client.  INDIGO Sky is free if you already have some spare Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 sitting around.

 

And if you develop code on macOS, the INDIGO Framework is available for Xcode to include in any Objective-C or Swift project.

 

With StellarMate, you can run a number of turn key StellarMate products on the telescope end, and also the StellarMate OS to run on your own hardware.

 

Finally, don't forget that a Mac can run the standalone Ekos, too.  Unlike the early 2000, there are tons of available astro solutions on a Mac today.  

 

Chen

Edited by w7ay, 29 March 2025 - 04:37 PM.

[shurik]

Would any of these work on iPad/iPhone? I’m not talking about Mac or any other computers I’d like to be completely mobile…

Edited by shurik, 29 March 2025 - 05:33 PM.

[w7ay]

Would any of these work on iPad/iPhone? I’m not talking about Mac or any other computers I’d like to be completely mobile…

INDIGO A1 is on the iOS App Store.  So is StellarMate.  I have both installed on my iPads.

 

Right now, the INDIGO A1 app for the iPad is only a graphical user interface that talks to the full INDIGO A1 that runs on a Mac on the same network.  The INDIGO A1 that runs on the Mac is the one actually controlling the INDIGO servers.  I didn't ask Peter about his plans on a full INDIGO A1 running on an iPad, but you will lose some of the appeal anyway because the iPad will only see one window at a time.

 

If you don't need the full blown bells and whistles of INDIGO A1, you can always use the Safari browser to connect directly to an INDGO Sky (on Raspberry Pi), but with pretty rudimentay GUI, and may lack some "agents."It might not have the Astrometry agent that has the plate solving stuff, for example.  But I have not tried the browser interface for a long time now, so I am not certain that it is even missing that.

 

Because it can use anything that INDI can use, INDIGO gets updated quite often and don't lag much behind when new devices appear on the market.   Heck, I have seen INDIGO support a new ZWO camera even before the ASIAIR does.  Works wonderfully with stuff that has no chance of running on the ASIAIR, like the better IMX585 monochrome cameras, and all the better electronic focusers than the ZWO EAF.  One of its principals is an IT person, who himself is a Mac nut (ordered his MacStudio when it was first released, even before I ordered mine).  So, it tends to be Apple centric.  The other INDIGO principal's day job is as an astro-phycists, and is a Linux nut.  Both are based in Europe, and if you look at GitHub, unlike the "usual suspect," INDIGO complies with the Open Sources rules :-).

 

The StellarMate app on an iPad will talk directly to StellarMate hardware (or StellarMate OS running in a Raspberry Pi).  Nothing wrong with Ekos, but it is not as fluid, nor intuitive as INDIGO. 

 

Both have a steeper learning curve than ASIAIR or StellaVita, but mostly because they (like N.I.N.A) can do so much more (especially with Xcode and INDIGO).  If you restrict yourself to just what ASIAIR and StellaVita can do, the more complete solutions are really not much more difficult to get used to than the "easy as 1,2,3" solutions.   And if you are used to Apple GUIs, you might just find INDIGO more intuitive than the ASIAIR user interface.

 

An obvious example is the ability to control the ADC offset of a camera.  The ASIAIR has no way to control the offset of their own camera (leading to non-optimal image captures), while both INDIGO and StellarMate (and even StellaVita) allows to to change the offset.  That is just a simple example.

 

Now, if you want to use something that is as simple to use as ASIAIR, check out StellaVita.  It just got released to the International market, but is miles ahead already compared to the ASIAIR after two years of its release.

 

Chen

Edited by w7ay, 29 March 2025 - 07:09 PM.

[MartinNI]

Stellarmate X is not that bad, a small box with many connections and certainly runs Indi supported equipment. When the quirks in setting it up are resolved the system is very powerful. But DO read the recent 3.4 manual online or PDF.

[shurik]

INDIGO A1 is on the iOS App Store.  So is StellarMate.  I have both installed on my iPads.

 

Right now, the INDIGO A1 app for the iPad is only a graphical user interface that talks to the full INDIGO A1 that runs on a Mac on the same network.  The INDIGO A1 that runs on the Mac is the one actually controlling the INDIGO servers.  I didn't ask Peter about his plans on a full INDIGO A1 running on an iPad, but you will lose some of the appeal anyway because the iPad will only see one window at a time.

 

If you don't need the full blown bells and whistles of INDIGO A1, you can always use the Safari browser to connect directly to an INDGO Sky (on Raspberry Pi), but with pretty rudimentay GUI, and may lack some "agents."It might not have the Astrometry agent that has the plate solving stuff, for example.  But I have not tried the browser interface for a long time now, so I am not certain that it is even missing that.

 

Because it can use anything that INDI can use, INDIGO gets updated quite often and don't lag much behind when new devices appear on the market.   Heck, I have seen INDIGO support a new ZWO camera even before the ASIAIR does.  Works wonderfully with stuff that has no chance of running on the ASIAIR, like the better IMX585 monochrome cameras, and all the better electronic focusers than the ZWO EAF.  One of its principals is an IT person, who himself is a Mac nut (ordered his MacStudio when it was first released, even before I ordered mine).  So, it tends to be Apple centric.  The other INDIGO principal's day job is as an astro-phycists, and is a Linux nut.  Both are based in Europe, and if you look at GitHub, unlike the "usual suspect," INDIGO complies with the Open Sources rules :-).

 

The StellarMate app on an iPad will talk directly to StellarMate hardware (or StellarMate OS running in a Raspberry Pi).  Nothing wrong with Ekos, but it is not as fluid, nor intuitive as INDIGO. 

 

Both have a steeper learning curve than ASIAIR or StellaVita, but mostly because they (like N.I.N.A) can do so much more (especially with Xcode and INDIGO).  If you restrict yourself to just what ASIAIR and StellaVita can do, the more complete solutions are really not much more difficult to get used to than the "easy as 1,2,3" solutions.   And if you are used to Apple GUIs, you might just find INDIGO more intuitive than the ASIAIR user interface.

 

An obvious example is the ability to control the ADC offset of a camera.  The ASIAIR has no way to control the offset of their own camera (leading to non-optimal image captures), while both INDIGO and StellarMate (and even StellaVita) allows to to change the offset.  That is just a simple example.

 

Now, if you want to use something that is as simple to use as ASIAIR, check out StellaVita.  It just got released to the International market, but is miles ahead already compared to the ASIAIR after two years of its release.

 

 

Means I would still need a separate computer running Indy and everything else connected to it and then simply use it as a hub to connect my iPad….my question is if I have a wireless mount and a wireless camera can I bypass computers completely and run everything from iPad ? SkySafari allows to connect and point the mount directly. I’m pretty sure there are drivers from canon or sony to remote control cameras from iPad my problem is I cannot schedule a parking function on the mount at night or program a number of exposures from the wifi drivers. 

Edited by shurik, 30 March 2025 - 01:56 PM.

[Stllrr]

Means I would still need a separate computer running Indy and everything else connected to it and then simply use it as a hub to connect my iPad….my question is if I have a wireless mount and a wireless camera can I bypass computers completely and run everything from iPad ? SkySafari allows to connect and point the mount directly. I’m pretty sure there are drivers from canon or sony to remote control cameras from iPad my problem is I cannot schedule a parking function on the mount at night or program a number of exposures from the wifi drivers. 

As far as I know these would be your ONLY options to control a telescope directly from an iphone or iPad...

 

Celestron Origin

Unistellar eVscope or eQuinox 

Vaonis Vespera

ZWO Seestar 

 

I hope this helps you find a solution and good luck!

[Ranger Tim]

You want an iOS/Android app that will control pointing/plate solving, guiding/dithering, exposure, sequencing and file storage, all within a phone or tablet using wireless connections? I’m not aware of any such SW. The closest thing to this is one of the “Air” cameras which integrate a mini computer into the camera body or a smart telescope.

Edited by Ranger Tim, 30 March 2025 - 09:45 PM.