Primaluce Lab EAGLE5 S - Advanced Control Unit for Telescopes and Astrophotography

The EAGLE5 S is an advanced computer for telescopes and astrophotography with a fast i3 processor, Industrial Grade 8 GB fast DDR4 memory, large and quick 250 GB SSD drive Industrial Grade (NVMe) storage, added connectivity - now with 10 USB ports (1 x Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C type connector, 1 x Thunderbolt 4 with USB-C type connector), new Inclinometer and Motion Detector sensors, and more powerful WiFi 6 wireless networking. 

All in a lightweight, compact all-in-one design with PLUS aluminium housing to be installed on your telescope and that comes with all of the advanced features of the previous EAGLE like GPS sensor with high gain antenna to automatically detect your position and time, EYE sensor to monitor sky quality in the area your telescope is pointed, DARK mode to disable all of the LEDs on the EAGLE and much more!

EAGLE5 S computer for telescopes and astrophotography - main features:

• Windows 11 Enterprise computer lets you install your preferred Windows software and use the devices you want
• Intel’s 11th generation i3 processor with 8GB RAM DDR4 3200 MHz and 250GB SSD NVMe disk 
• Industrial grade SSD disk and RAM module to provide the best reliability also in very low temperatures
• 10 port USB hub with 3x high speed USB 3.2, 2x USB 4 type-C ports (1x Thunderbolt 3 and 1x Thunderbolt 3) plus 5x USB 2.0 ports (4 of them with remote on/off capability)
• 4 x 12V power out ports with remote ON/OFF control to power your mount, camera and other 12V accessories
• 3x variable 3-12V power out ports for dew heaters
• GPS sensor with high gain antenna to detect elevation, latitude, longitude, date and time
• EYE sensor to monitor sky quality in a 5° field of view where the telescope is pointed
• Inclinometer to measure elevation of your telescope
• Motion Detector to detect unexpected or unwanted motions of your telescope caused by high winds, sudden flexures or cable snags.
• DARK mode to turn off all the LED lights
• Powerful and fast WiFi 6 (802.11ax) with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) connection
• Power consumption of every device powered through the 12v power OUT ports of the EAGLE
• Power level monitoring provided to 12V power IN port of the EAGLE
• EAGLE Manager X interface to easily control all the EAGLE’s features
• PLUS aluminium case, allowing you to easily attach the EAGLE to any telescope by adding rings, bars or clamps
• Weight: 1.25 kg (2.75 lb)

EAGLE5 S provides more processing power and space with low power consumption.

The EAGLE5 S is perfect if you want more power and storage space in your EAGLE but you still want a compact system with low power consumption. The EAGLE5 S can still deliver desktop class performance, with an average power consumption of only 1A, so it can still be powered with a compact field battery - but it delivers more than 2x the performance of the standard EAGLE4 making the EAGLE5 S the model with the best price/performances ratio among the EAGLE line.

Intel’s 11th generation i3 processor with only 15W of TDP and 6MB of cache provides desktop class performance with low power consumption. EAGLE5 S offers three USB 3.2 type A ports, two USB 4 (with type-C connector, one is Thunderbolt 4 and one is Thunderbolt 3) ports with data transfer rates up to 40 Gbps, as well as five USB 2.0 ports, two HDMI 2.0b ports, a 2.5 Gigabit ethernet port and WiFi 6 802.11ax connectivity.

EAGLE5 S with Thunderbolt ports and USB-C connectors: high speed connectivity.

EAGLE5 S also adds incredibly fast and powerful Thunderbolt 4 and 3 ports with USB-C type connectors allowing connections up to 40 Gbps with more connectivity options. Compared to a standard USB port, USB-C/Thunderbolt adds many additional features:

- Speed: while USB 3.0 is up to 5 Gbps, the Thunderbolt 3/4 port offers connectivity speeds up to 40 Gbps

- Power: the Thunderbolt 4 port is capable of providing up to 100 W, Thunderbolt 3 up to 15W

- Connectivity: you can connect many devices like external drives, displays, multi port docking stations, audio devices, etc. It allows you to connect as many as 6 devices, daisy chained, through a single compact port. Since it has a USB-C type connector, the cable is reversible so there is no wrong way to connect it. If you have a standard USB-C device, you can connect it to the Thunderbolt port (in this case the maximum speed will be 10 Gbps).

EAGLE5 S comes with Inclinometer to measure inclination of your telescope.

The Inclinometer sensor built into the EAGLE5 S measures the elevation of your telescope with respect to the horizon level, with a resolution of 0.1 degrees (and a measured average error lower than 1 degree). Inclination data is shown in real time in the EAGLE Manager X interface and, since the EAGLE is designed to be installed in parallel to your telescope (elevation is correctly displayed also if the EAGLE is in inverted position, with the power out ports pointing the sky), you can also remotely check if your telescope is pointed at the correct elevation, if your equatorial mount elevation setting is correctly set based on your Latitude, or if your Alt-Az mount home position is correctly set in elevation.

EAGLE5 S comes with Motion Detector to detect unexpected or unwanted motions of your telescope.

When recording a sequence, you may have one of your pictures blurred while the others are sharp: many external factors like wind gusts or cable snags may impact your telescope correct tracking during an acquisition. The Motion Detector shows in the EAGLE Manager X the unwanted motions without without confusing them with mount tracking or goto movements. This way PLAY (or third party software that support Motion Detector) can automatically repeat the last acquisition if EAGLE detects an unexpected motion.

EAGLE Manager X interface to easily control all the EAGLE’s features.

EAGLE5 S comes with special "EAGLE Manager X" software that starts automatically at Windows startup and provides an easy and intuitive interface, allowing you to:

• Enable/Disable every 12V power out port: this way you can keep all your devices connected (for example, mount, camera, filter wheel, etc.) and activate them remotely when you turn on the entire system. 
• Check power consumption: it allows you to check how much power every 12V device powered through the EAGLE requires and it shows the total power consumption of your telescope this way providing you the best way to monitor your system power.
• Name power and USB ports: you can rename every port with the name of the connected device, in order to easily control them or to save COM port number associated to a specific device.
• Check for GPS data: elevation, latitude, longitude, date, time and number of connected satellites
• Check for EYE sky quality: select the sensor facing toward the sky and check for sky quality value
• Set the power out voltage of the 3 x 0-12V power out ports: increase or decrease the power to dew heaters connected to EAGLE. Each port shows the current consumption that can also be monitored over time.
• Check for Inclinometer to verify elevation of your telescope in respite to the horizon level.
• Show Motion Detector data and visualize if unwanted motions are recorded.
• Activate DARK mode: this turns off all the LED lights.
• Connect or disconnect devices connected to the A-B-C-D USB 2.0 ports: this feature is convenient in case of temporary crash of an auto-guider or planetary camera, which can then be reset without the need to go to the telescope and disconnect/reconnect a cable.
• Set wireless or wired connectivity: it shows the IP addresses you can use with remote desktop to access your EAGLE in AP mode (use your smartphone, tablet or external computer by connecting directly to EAGLE without the need of a WiFi router) or HOST mode for connecting to your existing network such as your home WiFi, also with a wired connection.
• Set your automatic power routines: you can define port status “After power on” and “Before shut down” for the devices connected to the EAGLE. This way, for example, you can automatically turn on all your devices after you start the EAGLE and turn them all off when you shut down the EAGLE.
• Automatically connect to the optional ECCO controller: if you have the environmental controller, EAGLE Manager X is able to automatically connect at startup and take control of dew heater power based on calculated dew-point.
• Save EAGLE sensors data in log files for later processing: data from various sensors are saved in log files directly on your EAGLE this way you can later download them.

EAGLE comes with Windows so you can use the software and devices you like.

In the modern world there are many operative systems that do a great job. But, when it comes to astronomy software and drivers, most of it works on Windows. That's why the EAGLE runs Windows, so you can connect to the EAGLE the devices you like (since manufacturers provide official drivers for Windows 10/11) and install the Windows software you prefer (it has just to be compatible with Windows 10/11): anything you can load on your standard Windows 10/11 computer at home, you can load on the EAGLE. This way you're not just locked in to one particular company in their hardware and you can easily customize the EAGLE in the way you like. EAGLE5 uses Windows 11 IoT Enterprise licence that is lighter-weight and more stable than traditional PCs with Windows 11 Home or other OEM versions that come preinstalled with useless bloatware.

EAGLE: a complete family of computers for telescopes.

All of the EAGLE computers run Windows so you can install your preferred Windows software and use the devices you want, but in order to better suit everyone’s needs, we developed a complete line of EAGLE computers providing different computing power, memory capacity, disk space, advanced features and integrated sensors. This allows you to choose the EAGLE that best fits your application, power requirements and budget. In the table below you will find the specifications of all the EAGLE models with different processors, RAM memories, SSD disks, USB ports, HDMI ports, wireless and wired connectivity, integrated sensors and operative systems.

Performance comparison with a mini PC.

EAGLE not only offers exclusive features for advanced astrophotography, but also all the power of a real computer (superior to a Mini PC) to allow you to use any astrophotography software. In order to test its performance, we used the PC Mark benchmark and compared EAGLE LE, EAGLE4, EAGLE5 S, EAGLE5 PRO and EAGLE5 XTM with one of the many Mini PCs on the market (where we installed the same EAGLE operating system for a precise results comparison). As you can see in the picture below, EAGLE4/LE offer 32% more performance than a common Mini PC with Intel Celeron N3160 processor, 4GB of RAM and SSD disk; EAGLE5 S still raises the gap by bringing this difference to 183%; EAGLE5 PRO increases even more to +231% and the faster EAGLE5 XTM boosts everything to an incredible +316%!

EAGLE5 S: dimensions and weight

EAGLE5 PRO includes all these advanced features in an aluminium, lightweight, compact all-in-one chassis designed to be installed on your telescope in the way you prefer. This way you can connect all the USB and 12V power cables from your devices to the EAGLE greatly improving your cable management. The EAGLE5 PRO weights just 1.25 kg (2.75 lbs). In the picture you can see all the dimensions with positions of M6 and M5 threaded holes to connect rings, bars and clamps.

EAGLE5 S computer for telescopes and astrophotography: scope of delivery.

• EAGLE5 S computer
• 2 WiFi antennas
• 1x GPS antenna
• 12V power cable with cigarette plug for EAGLE - 250cm
• n.4 M6x8 screws + n.4 M6x10 screws + n.4 M6x12 screws + n.4 n.4 M6x18 screws + n.4 M6x25 screws + n.4 M6x35 screws
• Quick guide

Watch the movie PrimaLuce Mission: the new EAGLE.

Even the most experienced spy requires the most advanced and powerful equipment! Follow Filippo on his new mission: to infiltrate PrimaLuceLab headquarters in Italy and uncover the latest intel on the new EAGLE computer for telescopes and astrophotography!

EAGLE: Apollo 11 lunar module

The Apollo Lunar Module (LM), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back. EAGLE is the name of Apollo 11 lunar module that, on July 20, 1969,  landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

from: Wikipedia (picture: Eagle LEM on the Moon - NASA Apollo Archive)