Primaluce Lab Eagle Core Control Unit

EAGLE CORE is the latest PrimaLuceLab innovation and it was developed to reply a specific question: can I do astrophotography in a simple, fast and fun way? The EAGLE, EAGLE S and EAGLE OBSERVATORY control units are ideal for the amateur astronomer who wants to do more quickly and efficiently astrophotography with their advanced instruments. EAGLE CORE, thanks to the EAGLE OS integrated software, is perfect for those who start in astrophotography and want a very simple system to use.

Thanks to ongoing photography developments, modern DSLR camera are fantastic instruments for astrophotography and they allow recording even long exposures of deep sky objects with low noise. You just need a computerized equatorial mount and a compact scope (or a telephoto lens) with guide camera in parallel and EAGLE CORE will allow you to record fantastic images of Universe objects!

Watch a Youtube video: EAGLE CORE and dSLR Astro Photography

Technical comment by Filippo: "EAGLE CORE is the perfect solution for those who start making astrophotography with a telescope, for photographers that want to use their camera and telephoto lens for long exposure astrophotography o for those that always tought that astrophotography is too complicated (and then they made only visual use of their telescope). Personally I use is always together with Celestron SkyQ Link 2 or Simulation Curriculum SkyFi III to remotely control with WiFi also the mount: this way I can control telescope position fron one app (like SkyPortal or SkySafari) to align and slew it to the object I want. Then I move to EAGLE CORE app to start autoguiding and images capturing!"

As for other EAGLE control units, EAGLE CORE is installed directly on your telescope, it powers the elements of your telescope (12V, up to 3 instruments) and it has a modular PLUS case allowing you to install it on all telescopes and to personalize your configuration as you prefer. It has also been designed to allow you to do long exposure astrophotography even with telephoto lenses thanks to a special shooting mode with the guide scope positioned at the telephoto lens side (see photo below).

In order to use EAGLE CORE together with a telephoto lens (and guide scope in parallel) you have to add "140mm PLUS dovetail bar" to be connected under EAGLE CORE body, in order to install everything on the equatorial mount. In the upper part the Eagle Core has a 1 1/4" photo thread to connect a photo ball head and then the camera. If you have an heavy photo lens (for example with focal length higher than 200mm) you can add the "PLUS Vixen+Losmandy dovetail clamp". Then you can connect the "PLUS 90mm Vixen dovetail bar" under the camera and then connect everything in the dovetail clamp. The guide scope is installed, using the optional 90mm PLUS guide rings, on the lateral side of Eagle Core. In order to use EAGLE CORE with a telescope (and guide scope in parallel) you can connect it directly above the PLUS support rings of the telescope (below the PLUS support rings you need to use a PLUS Vixen or Losmandy 140mm dovetail bar). Above EAGLE CORE body you can connect PLUS guide rings with guide scope (where to insert the guide camera).

WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THE EAGLE CORE:

- Control DSLR and guide camera from your smartphone or tablet with a convenient WiFi connection: you will be able to see in real time pictures of guide stars or of the object recorded by your DSLR camera

- Remotely control your Canon EOS or Nikon DSLR camera: set acquisition parameters, then start capturing a single image or a sequence. These are the cameras already tested and verified with EAGLE CORE (we're testing other models, if your camera is still not in this list you can also ship to us and we'll send you EAGLE CORE tested with your camera):

- Canon EOS 1000D (Rebel XS/Kiss F), 550D (Rebel T2i/Kiss X4), 600D (Rebel T3i/Kiss X5), 700D (Rebel T5i/Kiss X7i), 20D, 40D, 6D
- Nikon D3300, D3400, D5600, D7000, D600, D610, D810
- Sony A7, A7S, A5000  (actually testing these Sony cameras)

- Remotely control autoguide camera: thanks to the integrated autoguide software, it automatically corrects tracking errors of the telescope's mount (compatible with QHY5II-L and Lodestar)

- Use dithering: in order to minimize electronic noise and get a better image when you stack more pictures of the same object (* feature available soon, it will be added with a software update)

- Power up to 3 devices (12V): thanks to optional cables and adapters, you can power the DSLR camera, the mount, etc directly from the EAGLE CORE eliminating the need for other batteries and other external power supplies.

EAGLE OS: INTEGRATED SOFTWARE FOR DSLR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

Thanks to EAGLE CORE you will no longer need a laptop: in fact it includes EAGLE OS software to control autoguide and DSLR camera. You can control all capture and guide parameters directly on the screen of your smartphone or your tablet (compatible with iOS and Android devices) connected to EAGLE CORE through the convenient WiFi connection.

Using the autoguide feature of EAGLE CORE, classic tracking error of the equatorial mounts are corrected: in the image below you can see how a 300 seconds exposition picture recorded at 200mm focal length shows stars not well tracked if the autoguide is not activated (left) and perfectly tracked when we use the autoguide (right).

DOWNLOADS

You can download the latest firmware for the Eagle Core here. CLICK HERE!

Comparison of EAGLE CORE, EAGLE, EAGLE S and EAGLE OBSERVATORY with all the main specifications and the type of use they are recommended for:

EAGLE CORE - scope of delivery:

- EAGLE CORE control unit

- Power cable with cigarette plug for Eagle (length 250cm)

- Spacers for guide rings in telephoto lens mode

- 4 M6 screws, 4 M5 screws, 2 M5 long screws, 2 photographic screws

- User manual

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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