Prima Luce Eagle 3S controller

[baggywrinkle]

Prima Luce Eagle 3S controller

I bought this as I wanted to get better control of my imaging set up as well as better cable management. I also wanted something that was integrated and not cobbled together using various bits and pieces purchased separately. I am not the greatest with IT. Previously I have been using Altair cameras powered by and dumping images to a Dell PC and also a Canon 650D (astro modified) for wide field shots. All this meant I found it hard to leave the obsy in case power lines and cords got wrapped.

My mount is an LX850 holding a Meade 12” SCT and a Prima Luce Airy 65mm refractor on the side saddle. Guiding is via the built in Starlock system which works well.

As I am self exiled from the observatory at present due to a complete knee replacement on the 18^th October, this is not a first light but an unboxing and first impressions on initial set up. In the process of setting it to work in nice dry conditions I have found several things not made clear in the handbook.

There are few 'how to' videos on line, the ones on the Prima Luce web site are just nicely produced advertorials with little real technical content.

 

My Eagle S3 also came bundled with the ECCO Rh and temperature sensors that measure dew points and control dew heaters. To that I added a 12A power source for the Eagle 3S (it does come with a cigar lighter type power cord), a battery eliminator for the Canon 650D, a cable to power the LX850 mount from the Eagle, and two 1m extension cables.

All this was ordered off 365 Astronomy the equipment arrived the next day.

The Eagle 3, ECCO and power cable came well packed . Apart from recyclable plastic pouches for the cables there was no other plastic used.

First impressions of the hardware is how solid it looks and feels, the Eagle 3S checks in at just over 1.2Kg. A USB thumb drive is provided with the Eagle and that has the handbook. However I took the opportunity of downloading the handbook before purchase and printing off a copy. I am glad I did as I was able to make notes in it off the problems I found.

I had read the manual several times and it was clear the English version had not been proof read and further it IMO did not appear to have been edited by a technical author for workflow and simple technical omissions. However there is a huge amount of detail and it is one of the better manuals I have come across....Meade et al take note!

Both top and bottom casings have an abundance of 4mm and 5mm threaded holes to take accessories and to aid mounting on plates or direct onto an OTA. I did ask Prima about the open holes not in use with regards a risk of dew forming on the metal housing and running into the internal circuitry. They suggested using plastic short sealing bolts on the top. I have these on order.

There are 3 off 0-12v DC 3A sockets for dew heaters, 2 off 8A 12 v DC and 2 off 3A 12vDC power outlets to drive mounts, cameras etc. 2 HDMI slots re provided to allow connection to a monitor which I did find useful due to an error I made when setting up the wifi. The power supply outlets all have threaded connections which should ensure cables do not get pulled out when in use.

There is also an Ethernet connection to allow hard wiring in lieu of using the wifi connection. 4 USB 2 and 4 USB3 ports are also provided so plenty of room for connecting USB devices.

My intended use is that any images are dumped directly to thumb drives on the USB3 ports and the Altair cameras will be powered by the USB3 ports.

On initial power up I could see that the Eagle was making its own Wi-Fi connection, in order to connect I downloaded the Microsoft Remote Access. The Eagle runs Windows 10 Enterprise version.

This was an area I had initial problems with, the manual was confusing and the diagrams did not match any images I was seeing or what passwords were to be used where. Plus in the English version of the manual the images used were all in Italian!

Zoltan at 365 Astronomy talked me through this. And I was able to connect.

The manual misses out a step where it should make clear that once connected you need to do a sort of pairing in the Eagle set up Advanced menu. I missed this and was locked out. Luckily advice again from Zoltan saw me make an HDMI connection to a monitor and do that particular set up.

Unless you are going to make an Ethernet connection I would recommend also buying a small USB keyboard.

Once connected you see a representation of the Eagle 3 on screen. Using a mouse allows you to switch on and off the various power ports etc. It also allows you access the the Advanced menu to assign and name the various ports should you wish to do so. It also indicates the power consumption with whatever gear you have connected. You could also control the Eagle with a tablet or mobile phone.

The manual states you need to make a back up of the SSD and it recommends a piece of freeware to do this. Chrome is built in, however it comes up in Italian. I went to Chrome on my main PC and found out how to change languages. You should also download Java, this appeared to be missing on the Eagle Windows 10.

ASCOM, PHD and Cart de Ciel are preloaded, but you can load your own choice of software for control of your set up by the Eagle. I added BYEOS, Stellarium, SharpCap and Altair Capture. All this takes a while and I tested each piece of software with the relevant camera at each stage. All worked and there were no glitches.

The Eagle 3S has an 8G RAM and 250G SSD storage which is better than my second hand Dell Latitude, that will now be the PC I'll communicate with the Eagle.

There is a power on/off button and when powered there are soft red led backlights to tell you the Eagle is working. There was an extra button next to the power button which appears but is not named in the handbook illustrations.  It took a thorough reading of the handbook and the answer was eventually found in the Q&A section. The extra wee button is to reset the WiFi connection! Surely a button as important as this should be marked and mentioned in the main part of the manual?

The red LED's for power are not over-bright which is good news.

The ECCO environmental measurement device connects easily and comes with two temperature sensors which should be put under the respective dew heater bands. Once enabled through the PC interface you get a display of the sensor temperature , dew point and the ambient Rh. It will then control the dew heaters as the dew point temperature is approached. There are three ports on the ECCO to match the 3 ports on the Eagle. However only 2 temp sensors are provided with the ECCO. You have to buy the third!

The next stage is to install it onto the LX850 and get the power cable connected so it cannot tangle. That should be the only cable moving in RA & Dec. The Eagle will be mounted on the saddle plate where currently there is an RA counterweight. This will ensure that all the heater and camera cable rotate in RA without possibility of tangling.

That will have to wait until a week or so as by then I think I will be able to move around without a crutch in the right hand...just a stick.

 

 

[SteveNickolls]

Thanks for the great review. One day when I'm older I might save my state pension up and aspire to one of these. 😄 Your mention of covering the vacant holes on the top of the unit to prevent dew is of interest, I will have to do similar on my Eagle Core.

Thanks again for the review and the very best with using the new equipment.

Cheers,
Steve

[The Admiral]

6 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

Both top and bottom casings have an abundance of 4mm and 5mm threaded holes to take accessories and to aid mounting on plates or direct onto an OTA. I did ask Prima about the open holes not in use with regards a risk of dew forming on the metal housing and running into the internal circuitry. They suggested using plastic short sealing bolts on the top. I have these on order.

I guess covering them with electricians tape would also serve (in red of course ;<) ), though not really an engineered solution.

I hope you recover well with your 're-engineered' knee.

Ian

Edited November 2, 2019 by The Admiral

[AKB]

14 hours ago, The Admiral said:

I guess covering them with electricians tape would also serve

Yup, that’s what I did!

[baggywrinkle]

On 02/11/2019 at 17:17, The Admiral said:

I guess covering them with electricians tape would also serve (in red of course ;<) ), though not really an engineered solution.

I hope you recover well with your 're-engineered' knee.

Ian

Doh! the wee low energy light bulb goes on! Great idea.

[baggywrinkle]

An error on my part the threaded holes are 3 & 4 mm.