Hi!

One year ago I ordered a Pegasus Astro Focus cube and power box. While the focus motor arrived quickly one year later I am still waiting for the Ultimate Powerbox v3 to arrive.

I can’t move forward as the PowerBox has the controller for the motor.

Now I am thinking to get StellarMate Pro instead.

The data sheet mentions a stepper control. Does the Pro have an Interface to drive the focus motor?

Thanks and clear skies
Stephan

I was curious after I read this, and found this:

stellarmate.com/help/StepperControl.html

so it takes a bipolar stepper (4 wire).

So I assume your version is pegasusastro.com/products/motor-focus-kit-v2-universal/ without the built in controller.

in the specs it says it's a unipolar motor. Now I do think it's possible to run a unipolar with a bioplar driver, but maybe this is not worth the effort unless you want to either modify the motor or play with custom cables.

I don't think it would be that hard, just would require a lot of DIY tinkering.

Bryan

Would this feature work with the Opetec Leo Focuser directly, bypassing the need for the focuslynx box?

You might be able to make it work with the right cabling. Stellaramate pro manual states: Two-Phase Bipolar Stepper Motors up to 2.8A Peak. and the LEO uses a 1.25A@12VDC power supply. My guess is that would work. The real question is what kind of stepper does the LEO use? The focus lynx controller states that it can control unipolar and bipolar, but the stellarmate Pro only does Bipolar motors.

For what my opinion is worth (.02$), Id buy the focus lynx controller. For the price of that focuser it's worth to just get the correct gear for 200$ more..

Focus lynx should be directly supported in indi: www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/focusers/focuslynx.html

What is still not clear to me is, and maybe @jasem can clear this up, or someone else. How does the stepper control on the Stellarmate Pro know it's a focuser and provide that back to the indi? Probably it's easy, but without more details it is unknown to me.

Thanks Bryan

Thanks Bryan. I already own the Focuslynx. Honestly I was trying to save myself the hassle of having another box with all kinds of cables connected to it if I already have stepper controller on the Stellermate that can do the same thing.

Heh.. I get it.. One less cable. Sometimes it helps to read, then re-read the documentation , so I can now answer my own question...!

From the manual :

"The INDI SM Pro driver includes focuser support that can directly drive the motor and support relative positioning, backlash compensation, and homing."

Heh.. So that answers it. From that same page there is the pinout. So you'd need to make a cable that is RJ12 to RJ45, correctly wired. And that assumes the Leo uses a bipolar. My guess is it does not. It seems that most OEM focusers are using unipolar, although I don't know why. Seems like most hobby projects favor bioplar. Either way it can usually be wired to work Bipolar controller controlling unipolar motor.

Bryan

Thank you so much. Maybe I will contact Opetec to see if they can provide more detailed specifications for the Opetec Leo focuser.