Replace
your standard laptop or desktop computer with the EAGLE and you will
spend less time setting up your equipment and more time imaging! Since
it includes a Windows 10 computer, EAGLE allows you to use your
preferred devices and software from any manufacturer without limitation,
while also offering many advantages and features you can’t find in a
standard computer. PrimaLuceLab’s engineers designed the EAGLE
all-in-one solution (design protected by European Patent EP3335078) to
be used with any telescope. By connecting data and power cables to the
EAGLE, when the telescope will move all the cables will move
accordingly, preventing detachments and providing the best solution for
your cables management. All you need is a single power cable from your
battery or AC adapter to your EAGLE!
EAGLE4 control unit for telescopes and astrophotography - main features:
- Windows 10 Enterprise computer lets you install your preferred devices and software
- 8 USB ports: 4 high speed USB 3.0 ports plus 4 USB 2.0 ports with remote ON/OFF capability
- 4 x 12V power out ports with remote ON/OFF control to power your mount, camera and other 12V accessories
- 3x variable 0-12V power out ports for dew heaters
- GPS sensor with high gain antenna to automatically detect latitude, longitude, elevation, date and time
- EYE sensor to monitor sky quality where the telescope is pointed (field of view: 5 degrees)
- DARK mode to turn off all the LED lights
- Powerful and fast WiFi 802.11ac with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) connection
- Power level monitoring of every device powered through the 12v power out ports of the EAGLE
- EAGLE Manager interface to easily control all the EAGLE’s features
- PLUS aluminum case, allowing you to easily attach the EAGLE to any telescope
- Weight: 1270 gr.
Compatible with any astrophotography device: built in computer with Windows 10 Enterprise.
Don’t
let others decide for you what devices to use and how to make
astrophotography! You are the telescope operator and you decide what
devices and software you use. By including a powerful Windows 10
Enterprise computer (that is 100% compatible with any software and
driver created for Windows 10 64 bit), the EAGLE will work with all the
devices (that come with Windows 10 64 bit drivers) and Windows 10
software. Windows 10 Enterprise operating system is lighter-weight and
more stable than traditional PCs with Windows 10 Home or other OEM
versions that come preinstalled with useless bloatware. EAGLE uses a 2.0
GHz Celeron processor (J4005 dual-core with Burst Mode up to 2.7 GHz
and 4MB cache) and 4 GB of fast DDR4 RAM memory - both designed for low
power consumption. This way you have the power you need to run any DSO
astrophotography software with a device that’s easy on your battery,
improving overall portability. The included high capacity SSD drive
(faster and more durable over time over traditional spinning disks)
allows you to save your data on the SSD drive in the EAGLE (or you can
connect a 3.0 USB flash drive to one of the high speed USB 3.0 ports).
Compatible with any telescope: connect it to your telescope, any type.
Thanks
to the special PLUS case, you can connect the EAGLE to any type of
telescope: refractors, Schmidt-Cassegrains, Ritchey-Chretiens,
Newtonians, and others. Thanks to the many threaded holes on the EAGLE’s
chassis and the availability of various PLUS systems accessories
(support rings, dovetail bars, dovetail clamps), connecting the EAGLE to
your telescope is easy. By using EAGLE instead of a laptop or desktop
computer, your telescope will have less cables and shorter runs that
will move in unison with your telescope (this drastically reduces the
potential for cable snagging or detaching while your telescope tracks
the stars across the sky). The EAGLE also has lower power consumption,
reducing the battery capacity needed to power your complete telescope
all night long. The electronic internal components were designed for
field use in extended temperature ranges. This way you can rely on it
all night long, in higher humidity conditions since the small amount of
internal heat generated by the processor slightly warms the chassis of
the EAGLE, helping to prevent dew from forming on body or EYE lens.
8 USB ports - four fast USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports that can be remotely turned ON/OFF.
EAGLE
allows you to connect and control many devices and should the need
arise, you can also remotely turn on/off the USB 2.0 ports, instead of
having to manually unplug or plug a cable! This can be a great feature
to save power (you can also turn off the port you do not use) but you
can also reset the port it in case of a device connection failure.
Thanks to the EAGLE’s four USB 3.0 ports, you can connect and use the
latest fast USB 3.0 cameras - With the faster processors of the EAGLE S
and PRO models, they are a great choice for the high demands of
planetary imaging, allowing high-speed video capture of the Moon,
planets, and Sun at high resolution to the fast internal SSD drive.
Advanced power bridge with 7 power out ports - power devices directly through the EAGLE.
The
EAGLE has a separate 12V power input that can run on up to 16 amps. From
there, using a special internal board, power is distributed to seven
power out ports - four 12V power out ports are designed to power your
camera, mount, focuser, or other 12v devices. These ports are equipped
with safety screw-type connections to prevent unwanted detachment of the
cables and we have made special power cables (optional) for different
devices. The three 0-12V variable power out ports are designed to power
dew heaters without the need of an external controller. Control of these
ports can be easily automated by adding the optional ECCO environmental
module for EAGLE. A dedicated chip on EAGLE’s power board protects the
electronics (both on the EAGLE and connected devices) from any
overcurrents by temporarily disconnecting power in no more than 1ms in
case of electrical problems - a lot faster than traditional fuses. Power
is automatically re-activated once the problem has been
resolved. Additionally, a special microcontroller allows you to adjust
(+- 1A) the maximum current limit of the 12V ports. This way, if you
want to connect a device to a 3A max port and that device has a maximum
power consumption of 4A, you can increase the port limit to 4A.
GPS sensor with high gain antenna - to automatically detect latitude, longitude, elevation, date and time.
In
order to control your telescope with maximum precision, it’s very
important you provide your geographical position and local time in a
very precise way. Thanks to the integrated GPS sensor the EAGLE now
automatically detects your telescope elevation, latitude, longitude and
local time by connecting to the satellites of the Global Positioning
System. The external high gain antenna allows the EAGLE to detect GPS
data in a very fast and precise way, even if you see only part of the
sky (and even if you install the EAGLE in an observatory within a
dome!). EAGLE automatically syncs the date, time and position data
captured from GPS with Windows settings: this way the software you use
for astrophotography will control your telescope with greater precision!
EAGLE EYE to monitor sky quality only where the telescope is pointed.
Did you
ever want to check the sky quality of your telescope’s field of view?
Have you ever dreamed of being able to monitor the sky all night long,
even when your telescope is moving and while you’re asleep? The new EYE
sensor automatically measures the sky brightness for you (in magnitude
per square arc second - mag/sq arcsec) with a 5 degree field of view,
only where your telescope is pointed! The EYE value is shown in real
time in the EAGLE Manager interface where you can easily monitor sky
quality measurements. EAGLE4 has two EYE sensors, one on each end of the
EAGLE. Based on how you orient your EAGLE on your telescope, you can
simply unthread and move the lens to the other sensor that is pointing
to the sky, select the proper position of the lens in the EAGLE Manager
interface, and you are ready to read the sky brightness in any
installation.
Thanks
to the special lens, the EAGLE EYE has a narrow field of view, so it
measures darkness of the night sky only in the part of the sky where
your telescope is really pointed at. This way the EAGLE EYE won’t be
influenced, for example, by clouds that may be present in other parts of
the sky. For the same reason, the proximity of your telescope or other
accessories (like dew shield) won’t interfere with the measurements,
also if you install the EAGLE close to your telescope and you have a
long tube. The small amount of internal heat generated by the processor
reduces the possibility of dew formation on the small lens.
DARK mode to turn off all the LED lights.
Every
astronomer knows artificial lights reduce telescope performance, both in
visual use and astrophotography. That’s why we designed the EAGLE4 with
a new DARK mode feature that allows you to instantly turn off all the
LED lights on the EAGLE, when needed! Not only this will prevent any
influence on your telescope but it is also a great feature for your
astronomy friends that may be close to you while enjoying the night sky
together. Thanks to the new DARK mode, the EAGLE is now a welcome guest
at star parties where standard computers may be prohibited because of
uncontrolled light emissions from LEDs and screens (the EAGLE doesn’t
need for a screen to operate).
EAGLE Manager interface to easily control all the EAGLE’s features.
EAGLE comes
with special "EAGLE Manager" software that starts automatically and
provides an easy and intuitive interface, allowing you to:
- Enable/Disable every 12V power out port:
this way you can keep all your devices connected (for example, mount,
camera, filter wheel, etc.) and activate them remotely when you turn on
the entire system. Each port shows the current consumption that can also
be monitored over time.
- Check for GPS data: elevation, latitude, longitude, date, time and number of connected satellites
- Check for EYE sky quality: select the sensor facing toward the sky and check for sky quality value
- Set the power out voltage of the 3 x 0-12V power out ports: increase
or decrease the power to dew heaters connected to EAGLE. Each port
shows the current consumption that can also be monitored over time.
- Activate DARK mode: this turns off all the LED lights.
- Connect or disconnect devices connected to the four USB 2.0 ports:
this feature is convenient in case of temporary crash of an autoguider
or planetary camera, which can then be reset without the need to go to
the telescope and disconnect/reconnect a cable.
- Check power consumption and battery lifetime: if
you power your EAGLE with a battery, a dedicated menu allows you to set
the Ampere capacity of your battery and charge percentage when EAGLE is
powered on, enabling you to monitor its expected lifetime.
- Set WiFi connectivity: to
access EAGLE in Access Point mode for field use (use your smartphone,
tablet or external computer by connecting directly to EAGLE without the
need of a WiFi router) or HOST mode for connecting to your existing
network such as your home WiFi.
- Set your automatic power routines: you
can define port status “After power on” and “Before shut down” for the
devices connected to the EAGLE. This way, for example, you can
automatically turn on all your devices after you start the EAGLE and
turn them all off when you shut down the EAGLE.
Powerful and fast WiFi 802.11ac with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) connection to remotely control your telescope from any device.
To
operate EAGLE, you don't need a keyboard and mouse - You can control the
EAGLE through a free dedicated app, available on any smartphone, tablet
or personal computer running Windows, MacOS, iOS or Android. Turn the
EAGLE on, then enable your device's WiFi connection and select the WiFi
network provided by the EAGLE. Launch the remote control app and you
will have EAGLE desktop on your screen with access to all your
astrophotography software. If you like, you can also configure the EAGLE
to connect to a pre-existing WiFi or wired/ethernet network allowing
remote access via the internet - perfect for remote observatories! Since
the EAGLE doesn't use VNC or other software for remote control, it's
faster and more stable. For your safety each EAGLE device creates a
unique WiFi network, from any other EAGLE that might be nearby. To avoid
any other issues at a star party, every EAGLE also has a unique access
password known only by you. And if you prefer a wired connection, the
EAGLE has also a gigabit Ethernet port so you can control it also
through a wired network, which can be very useful in large
observatories!
Optional ECCO environmental computerized controller for automatic dew heater control based on dew point.
By
adding ECCO, (Environmental Computerized COntroller) to your EAGLE, you
can automatically and continuously monitor the dew point (the
temperature below which moisture condenses) by sensing the temperature
and humidity of the air around your telescope and the temperature of
your lenses. ECCO will then automatically vary the voltage to the
appropriate EAGLE’s ports where your dew heaters bands are connected,
keeping dew from forming on your optics. All of this with an automatic
and easy to use device that you just have to connect to one of the EAGLE
USB ports. That’s why we call it ECCO: in Italian, it means "There you
go”!
PLUS aluminum case, to allow easy integration with any telescope and to support demanding payloads without flexure.
We
designed the EAGLE case to be incredibly rigid. It is rigid enough to a
support even a compact telescope in parallel (up to 8 kg). This way you
can also install the EAGLE below your main telescope! Precise FEM
simulations allowed us to design the EAGLE’s case in order to have a
maximum deformation of 0.002 millimeters if loaded with 10 kg of weight.
The EAGLE case comes with M5 and M6 threaded holes to seamlessly attach
PLUS accessories (support rings, guide rings, dovetail bars or dovetail
clamps), at at least 2 points to maintain the system's rigidity. For
example, the EAGLE can be installed between the PLUS support rings and
guiding rings, without any flexure improving the portability of your
telescope and allowing it to be moved to the field pre-assembled,
greatly reducing reducing your setup time.
Performance comparison with a miniPC.
EAGLE4
not only offers exclusive features for advanced astrophotography, but
also all the power of a real computer (superior to a Mini PC) to allow
you to use any astrophotography software. In order to test its
performance, we used the PCMark benchmark and compared EAGLE4/ EAGLE4 S /
EAGLE4 PRO with one of the many inexpensive Mini PCs on the market
(where we installed the same EAGLE4 operating system for a precise
results comparison). As you can see in the picture below, EAGLE4 offers
32% more performance than a common Mini PC with Intel Celeron N3160
processor, 4GB of RAM and SSD disk; EAGLE4 S still raises the gap by
bringing this difference to 109%; EAGLE4 PRO boosts everything to a
wonderful +153%!
EAGLE4: scope of delivery.
EAGLE unit
2 WiFi antennas
GPS antenna
12V power cable with cigarette plug for EAGLE - 250cm
n.4 M6x8 screws + n.4 M6x10 screws + n.4 M6x12 screws + n.4 M6x18 screws + n.4 M6x25 screws + n.4 M6x35 screws
Quick guide
EAGLE: Apollo 11 lunar module
The
Apollo Lunar Module (LM), originally designated the Lunar Excursion
Module (LEM), was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for
the US Apollo program to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the
surface and back. EAGLE is the name of Apollo 11 lunar module that, on
July 20, 1969, landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
from: Wikipedia (picture: Eagle LEM on the Moon - NASA Apollo Archive)
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