Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox v3 (UPBv3)

Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox v3 (UPBv3)

The Ultimate Powerbox V3 (UPBv3 in short) is the flagship of Pegasus Astro´s Powerbox series. You asked for more features in the same size, Pegasus Astro kept their promise:

UPBv3 is a Wi-Fi and USB controlled power hub. A USB 3.1 Hub allows you to switch on/off 8 USB ports, 8 x 12 V power outlets, 2 x adjustable outputs (3-12 V and 12-24 V), 3 dew heaters, a stepper controller that can drive almost any stepper motor in the astronomy market silently and almost vibration-free as well as a power relay and an expansion port for devices that communicates with the UPBv3 Controller!

If you are tired of carrying multiple power packs and dealing with a mess of power and data cables, the Ultimate Powerbox v3, a sophisticated power control unit, is the "Ultimate" solution. Pegasus Astro´s idea is an enclosure that makes a sufficient number of amperes available.

No cables disturb the movements of the mount and the instrument, only the main power cord and one USB data cord are attached to the Ultimate Powerbox which branches off the other cables powering all devices.

A quick glance:

Up to 12 V / 20 amps of provided electric current (240 W)

6 x 12 V smart and individual switcable outputs. Each output can be configured as constant 12 V or pulse width modulated driven

Wi-Fi or USB controllable operation

2 x 12 V / always ON outputs

3 x dew heaters outputs (automatically adjustable with AutoDew feature)

1 x adjustable power output 3-12 V - regulated output of 3 amps

1 x adjustable power output 12-24 V - regulated output of 4 amps

1 x power relay switch 250 V / 10 A

6 x USB3.1 (backwards compatible with USB2) and 2 x USB2 ports (8 USB ports in total). Individually switchable via software.

Stepper motor controller - silent and low vibrating stepper controller. Can drive nearly any stepper motor in the astro-market up to 2 amps per coil.

Physical push-button to control one function (e.g turn ON / OFF outputs). Functionality is configurable in software.

Built-in ambient temperature and humidity sensor

Power readings (input voltage, current, current per port)

VESA compatible size enclosure

In total 8 USB ports powered - USB 3.1 SuperSpeed Hub

A USB3.1 Hub controller ensures that this USB hub will work flawlessly from temperatures of -40 °C to +80 °C.

A neat feature is that each USB port can be switched ON/OFF individually by the software. A device was stuck and you had to replug the socket in the middle of a cold night? No problem! Just locate the port, click the ON /OFF switch in our software and you recycle the USB port. Simple as that!

The UPBv3 has:

6 x USB 3.1 Super-Speed ports

2 x USB 2 High-Speed ports

Each USB port provides up to 2.5 amps. All USB ports include an electronic short circuit, additional Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and overload electronic protections.

6 x 12 V DC Power outlets for your equipment

Six powerful smart MOSFET transistors provide "electric juice" to your precious equipment. Sophisticated short circuit and overload per port protections cut the power and report the incident into the software. Every MOSFET is capable to provide up to 6 amps of current.

Metal premium quality output sockets ensure that will provide all the juice you need and can secure in place your extension power cables.

Built-in Power Sensors

A precise voltmeter and an ammmeter (can measure up to 20 A) measure and display in real-time the power input. If the input is more than 14.5 V the power is instantly cut off to protect your equipment.

Individual Current Meter per 12 V smart output

Each smart 12 V output has an internal and independent digital current meter. You can view each port´s power consumption in the software.

Additional Power Outputs and Sensors

2 x Always ON 12 V outputs increase the total 12 V outputs to 10. In combination with the 2 x adjustable outputs (if configured to 12 V) the total 12 V outputs can be summed to 10 outlets. The two unregulated 12 V outputs can provide up to 8 amps. These 12 V output ports stay always ON!

1 x Adjustable Voltage Step Down output can be regulated from 3 V to 12 V of and provide up to 3 amps.

1 x Adjustable Voltage Step Up output can be regulated from 12 V to 24 V and provide up to 4 amps.

3 x Dew Heater output - the three pulse width modulation (PWM) outlets are capable to provide power to your "thirsty" dew heaters / flatpanels or telescope fans. Eliminate the moisture that is fuzzing your equipment and destroying your clear nights. These outlets can be remotely tuned from your laptop using the supplied software.

1 x Switch Relay can pass 250 V / 10 A and used to switch ON/OFF any 3rd party equipment.

A built-in ambient temperature and relative humidity sensor provides frequently readouts of the environmental conditions and automatically adjusts the heat intensity of your dew heater strips.

Embedded Stepper Motor Controller

A silent and low vibrating stepper motor controller will precisely move your drawtube of your focuser. The controller drives a Pegasus Motor Focus Kit or almost any other stepper motor in the market (Unipolar or Bipolar) e.g. Rigel, Robofocus, Moonlight, Starlight motors.

Backlash compensation is already implemented in the firmware and can be enabled, tuned and disabled from the software. A fully ASCOM6 focuser driver is already available.

Supported Stepper Motors

Make sure you have the correct cable for your motor. Every manufacturer uses its own pinout. Contact us if you have any question for the type of your motor.

Pegasus Motor Focus Kit (v1/v2): requires RJ45 to RJ45 common straight network cable

Robofocus: requires cable PEG-CMOT-RJ45DB9

Moonlite: requires cable PEG-CMOT-RJ45DB9

Lakeside: requires cable PEG-CMOT-RJ45DB9

Starlight HSM 20, 30, 35: requires cable PEG-CMOT-HSM

Starlight MSM 20, 30, 35: requires cable PEG-CMOT-MSM

Starlight DirectSync motors: requires cable PEG-CMOT-HSM

Starizona Microtouch: requires cable PEG-CMOT-MSM

Optec DirectSync or Quicksync motors: requires cable PEG-CMOT-HSM

Rigel nStep motor: requires cable PEG-CMOT-MSM

Starlight POSI Drive Motor: requires cable PEG-CMOT-HSM

Lacerta Motor: requires cable PEG-CMOT-LCRT

VESA compatible enclosure

The UPBv3 enclosure is compatible with VESA mounts. Available screw holes allow an e.g. Intel NUC to be stacked up with the Ultimate Powerbox v3.

Supported By

ASCOM 6

Ultimate powerbox fully supports ASCOM6. In combination with Pegasus Astro´s Unity Software which acts as a server, you can use their latest ASCOM 6 supplied drivers to:

Control Stepper Motor (ASCOM Focuser)

Pass environmental settings to supported software (e.g Sequence Generator Pro / MaximDL /NINA ) (ASCOM ObservingConditions)

Switch ON or OFF all 12 V outputs or USB Ports (ASCOM Switches - NINA/ MaximDL)

INDI

Ultimate Powerbox v3 is fully supported by INDI and INDIGO:

Indigo: http://www.indigo-astronomy.org

Indilib: https://indilib.org/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ultimate-power-box.html

StellarMate

RPI3 & RPI4

N.I.N.A.

The Ultimate Powerbox v3 is fully supported by NINA.

Other Key Features

Zoomable and Exportable Graphs

Software logs all voltage, current, temperature and relative humidity readings. All these plots are zoomable and easily exportable in PNG image & CSV text format. Keep a full record of your night conditions.

Scheduler to control outputs

Enable or disable each power or USB port by setting a timer and creating groups of ports.

Memory persistence outputs at startups

You can easily define which output (power or USB) should turn ON or remain OFF during startup. The settings are stored in system´s EEPROM memory.

Auto Adjustment of PWM (Dew Outputs)

Device can auto adjust the Heater Outputs by consulting the environmental sensor and calculate the Dew Point. Just click "Auto" and leave to Ultimate Powerbox v2 to decide if it is time to switch on your dew heaters.

* You can easily select which Dew Heater output is controlled by the "Auto Dew" function.

Reverse Polarity Protection

Ultimate Powerbox has been designing with reverse voltage polarity protection. It will save your night if you accidentally connect the main power supply in reverse polarity!

A hardware watchdog

A hardware watchdog resets the device if for any reason there is no response from the controller for two seconds. A neat feature in the unlikely event of a controller freeze, is when you own a remote observatory and you need to be certain that everything can be quickly recovered.

Upgradable Firmware

The firmware supports re-programming via the USB or Wi-Fi connection using upgrade software (only available for Windows), for future upgrades which may become available. Pegasus Astro constantly receives feedback from their customers and keeps updating the firmware and software with new features.

Unity Platform Support

Pegasus Astro Unity Platform is their all around application. The goal is to provide a robust and modern application that is going to support current and future products under one roof.

This modern frontend allows the full control of all Pegasus Astro devices.

Moreover, a REST JSON api helps developers from 3rd party software to interact with their products.

As they continuously develop their applications, based on customer feedback, lots of innovative features are going to be added in upcoming releases.