I've set up StellarMate 1.5.5 on my ASIair Pro R-Pi4. It's been a steep learning curve to say the least. I am trying to get my Sony A7R working (ASIair Pro doesn't support Sony dslrs and Altair CCD cameras and I have both.) I found several YT videos and in one of them the presenter said that polar alignment will be in a later version. Before I go any further, I'd like to know if PA is in 1.5.5. If not I'll wait till it is.
Yes, it has been in KStars for a while. I use it all the time.
It's in the Align tab--basically find the "polar alignment sub-tab" on the right side and click start.
After it slews twice and takes 3 pictures, you'll be presented with a view you can zoom in on, where the length of the line is your error.
Click on a convenient bright star to move the line to that star, and zoom in until you get a reasonable line length to work with.
Then click next, then click refresh, and use your two mount controls to move the star to the target.
Once you're done, click done.
I don't know if there are recent videos, but perhaps some of the older ones will give you the basic idea too.
Google "kstars polar alignment" and you should see some video links.
Hy
I finally got around to installing StellarMate. The supplied video on the App shows its use like AstroBerry Web.
Within the App, PA is not explicitly stated. Plate solving is. But, one feature I see missing is location. PA and plate solving require explicit location, longitude and latitude. The next big item is the mount. The motors and gears must be synced with RA and DEC circles.
I keep looking for the SYNC button. My home network’s ISP messes up location because it’s Location is 50 miles north. A picture of the sky should be all that is needed.
I am waiting for a clear night free to test this out. Maybe my AstroBerry experience is clouding my StellarMate experience.
The location is set in KStars, not in Ekos. So set it there and you're good. There is no need to sync the RA and DEC drives. The first plate solve will fix that for you. Go to the Align tab and then select Polar Alignment in the mid center.
Make sure that the index files for AstroMetry are installed as well and you're good to go.
Also, to set the Lat/Lon, you can re-run the setup wizard that runs when you first start KStars.
E.g. from the KStars Settings menu (just above the main KStars window), choose Startup Wizard,
then Next, then choose a city near you, then hit Next and then Done.
Jasem's video on the Android/OS app called StellarMate was shown to be a one stop shop for managing StellarMate. I kicked the tires and found it lacking in setting up StellarMate. Yes, KSTAR Wizards, Site Configuration, and ECHOS setting GPS to set location all work at the OS. None of these options exist in the StellarMate app. In fact, no option exists yet to determine if location is correct. Being off 50 miles is pretty significant. Ok, maybe I was just dreaming an SmartPhone app could set the bar. On my Android KSTARS works well as is. I have access to all of these functions in Android.
I did set StellarMate up like I did AstroBerry. Then, the app StellarMate is a good app for a pre-configured StellarMate system. I like the search for a StellarMate function. I am looking forward to a clear night.