Monthly Archives: May 2022

Power*Star Pro Tips #2

 in Blog  tagged control lock / port name / Power*Star / Pro Tips / verify disable

My first tip today is very simple, and very useful:  Each of the power outputs, dew heaters, and USB ports can be assigned a name so that you don’t have to remember where each device is plugged in.  In the setup menu simply click in the field under “Change Name” and type in the name you want.  Usually this would be the name of the device, such as “ASI1600”, or “Filter Wheel”, but you can use any text you want (as long as it’s not too many characters).  For example, you could enter “LEAVE ON!”, which kind of leads to […]

Power*Star Pro Tips

 in Blog  tagged Auto On / Close Options / Disconnect / Power*Star / Pro Tips

  While all Power*Star users are quite experienced astrophotographers, there are quite a few small features that may be overlooked or misunderstood, so I’ve decided to do a few blog posts to explore them.  The first topic is one that comes up frequently in my own use of Power*Star, the “Close Options”. When you are ending an imaging session you may shut down some or all components of the system.  For use in the field we usually turn everything off to conserve battery power, but in an observatory with AC power some things may be left on for various reasons.  […]

It’s Back!

 in Blog  tagged back in stock / P*S / Power*Star

Almost 2 years ago I built the first batch of 100 Power*Star units, and except for 1 that I use myself and 1 that failed quality control, all of them were sold (about 85% of them to a wholesale customer). This is good, but I could have sold many more if I had been able to build them. Supply chain issues have made it impossible to source several key components. However, I was recently able to find enough parts to build 10 more units, and they are now available to my direct customers. The shortage of parts, and inflation made […]