PrimaLuceLab EAGLE-LE - Control Unit for Telescopes and Astrophotography

PrimaLuceLab EAGLE-LE - Control Unit for Telescopes and Astrophotography

Forget having to connect your telescope to a laptop or desktop computer with lengthy cables, and big batteries. Thanks to the best features astrophotographers love in the EAGLE family, the EAGLE LE now allows you to spend less money to remotely control and power your telescope with less time setting up.

In a single control unit you have a Windows 10 Enterprise computer, fast SSD storage, eight USB ports, an advanced power distribution system for all of your imaging accessories with 7 power out ports, a special WiFi system to remotely control the telescope from any smartphone, tablet or external computer (with Windows, macOS, iOS or Android operative systems) and DARK mode to disable all of the LED lights. Everything is controlled via the included EAGLE Manager software and housed in a beautiful rigid aluminum case designed with our flexible PLUS mounting system, allowing you to perfectly connect the EAGLE LE to any telescope.

Let the EAGLE LE manage power supply of your entire equipment

Digital astrophotography can be complicated: if you want to take the best photos of the night sky, you not only need a telescope, mount and a camera? You will also need a list of accessories like a guide camera, motorized focuser, and dew heaters, and they all need to be powered and controlled with the proper software. This can quickly turn any telescope into a complicated mess of tangled cables! EAGLE LE solves all the problems and make astrophotography easier and quicker!

The EAGLE LE features at a glance

Windows 10 Enterprise computer lets you install your preferred devices and software

8 USB ports: 4 high speed USB 3.0 ports plus 4 USB 2.0 ports with remote ON/OFF capability

4 x 12 V power out ports with remote ON/OFF control to power your mount, camera and other 12 V accessories

3x variable 0-12 V power out ports for dew heaters

DARK mode to turn off all the LED lights

Powerful and fast WiFi 802.11ac with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) connection

Power level monitoring of every device powered through the 12 V power out ports of the EAGLE

EAGLE Manager interface to easily control all the EAGLE LE´s features

PLUS aluminum case, allowing you to easily attach the EAGLE LE to any telescope

Weight: 1140 g

Compatible with any astrophotography device: built in computer with Windows 10 Enterprise

The EAGLE LE eliminates the need for an external computer and you are not limited to a preset list of features - You can install whatever software and device you want to use on the EAGLE. The Windows 10 Enterprise operating system is 100% Windows 10 compatible but is lighter-weight and more stable than traditional PCs that use Windows 10 Home or other OEM versions that come preinstalled with useless bloatware. PrimaLuceLab has optimized the Windows 10 Enterprise installation on the EAGLE LE to be a faster operating system (the EAGLE LE is ready to use just 20 seconds after pressing the ON button) and to maintain better stability during your astrophotography sessions. EAGLE LE uses a 2.0 GHz Celeron processor (J4005 dual-core with Burst Mode up to 2.7 GHz and 4MB cache) and 4 GB fast DDR4L RAM memory - both designed for low power consumption. This way you have the power you need to run any astrophotography software with a device that?s easy on your battery, improving overall portability.

Fast SSD storage to install all your astrophotography software and save your data

Different from traditional spinning hard disks, the SSD drive in the EAGLE LE has no moving parts, so it´s faster and more durable over time. With the flexibility of the EAGLE LE you can save the pictures on the SSD drive for processing directly in the EAGLE LE or connect a 3.0 USB flash drive to one of the high speed USB 3.0 ports. This way, if you prefer, at the end of the your session you can quickly and easily move the files to an external computer for processing. EAGLE LE´s internal components were designed for field use in extended temperature ranges. This way you can relay on it for all night long, in higher humidity conditions since the small amount of internal heat generated by the processor prevents any problems with humidity.

4 fast USB 3.0 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports that can be remotely turned ON/OFF

This way you can connect and control lots of devices to the EAGLE LE and you can remotely turn on/off USB ports if needed, instead of having to manually unplug or plug the cables! This can be a great feature to save power (you can turn off the port you do not use) but you can also reset the port it in case of a device connection failure. Thanks to the EAGLE LE´s four USB 3.0 ports, you can connect and use the latest fast USB 3.0 cameras - This allows you to use the EAGLE LE also for planetary imaging and save videos of the Moon, planets, and Sun in the internal SSD drive.

Advanced power bridge with 7 power out ports - powers devices directly through the EAGLE LE

The EAGLE LE has a separate 12 V power input that can run on up to 16 amps. From there, using a special internal board, power is distributed to seven power out ports - four 12 V power out ports are designed to power your camera, mount, focuser, or other 12 volt devices. These ports are equipped with safety screw-type connections to prevent unwanted detachment of the cables and PrimLuceLab has made special power cables (optional) for different devices. The three 0-12 V variable power out ports are designed to power dew heaters without the need of an external controller. Control of these ports can be easily automated by adding the optional ECCO environmental module for EAGLE. A dedicated chip on EAGLE LE´s power board protects the electronics (both on the EAGLE LE and connected devices) from any overcurrents by temporarily disconnecting power in no more than 1 ms in case of electrical problems - a lot faster than traditional fuses. Power is automatically re-activated once the problem has been resolved. Additionally, a special microcontroller allows you to adjust (+- 1 A) the maximum current limit of the 12 V ports. This way, if you want to connect a device to a 3 A max port and that device has a maximum power consumption of 4 A, you can increase the port limit to 4 A.

Integrated WiFi system to allow you to remotely control your telescope from any device

To operate EAGLE LE, you don?t need a keyboard and mouse - you can control the EAGLE LE through a free dedicated app, available on any smartphone, tablet or personal computer running Windows, MacOS, iOS or Android. Turn the EAGLE LE on, then enable your device´s WiFi connection and select the WiFi network provided by the EAGLE LE. Launch the remote control app and you will have EAGLE LE desktop on your screen with access to all your astrophotography software. If you like, you can also configure the EAGLE LE to connect to a pre-existing WiFi or wired/ethernet network allowing remote access via the internet - perfect for remote observatories! Since the EAGLE LE doesn´t use VNC or other software for remote control, it´s faster and more stable. For your safety each EAGLE device creates a unique WiFi network, from any other EAGLE that might be nearby. To avoid any other issues at a star party, every EAGLE also has a unique access password known only by you.

Full aluminum PLUS case, CNC-made, designed to allow an easy integration with any telescope

You can connect the EAGLE LE to any type of telescope, allowing you to have less cabling with shorter runs that move together with the telescope. This drastically reduces the potential for a cable snagging or detaching while your telescope tracks the stars across the sky. PrimaLuceLab designed the EAGLE LE case to be incredibly rigid - rigid enough to a support a parallel telescope (up to 5 kg). The EAGLE LE case comes with M5 and M6 threaded holes to seamlessly attach PLUS accessories (support rings, guide rings, dovetail bars or dovetail clamps), at at least 2 points to maintain the system´s rigidity. For example, the EAGLE LE can be installed between the PLUS support rings and guiding rings, without any flexure (for guide telescopes up to 5 kg) improving the portability of your telescope and allowing it to be moved to the field pre-assembled, greatly reducing reducing your setup time.

Optional ECCO environmental computerized controller for automatic dew heater control

By adding ECCO, (Environmental Computerized COntroller) to your EAGLE LE, you can automatically and continuously monitor the dew point (the temperature below which moisture condenses) by sensing the temperature and humidity of the air around your telescope and the temperature of your lenses. ECCO will then automatically vary the voltage to the appropriate EAGLE LE´s ports where your dew heaters bands are connected, keeping dew from forming on your optics. All of this with an automatic and easy to use device that you just have to connect to one of the EAGLE LE USB ports. That´s why PrimaLuceLab calls it ECCO: in Italian, it means "There you go"!

EAGLE Manager interface to easily control all the EAGLE LE´s features

EAGLE LE comes with special "EAGLE Manager" software that starts automatically and provides an easy and intuitive interface, allowing you to:

Enable/Disable every 12 V 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. Each port shows the current consumption that can also be monitored over time.

Set the power out voltage of the 3 x 0-12 V 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.

Activate DARK mode: this turns off all the LED lights.

Connect or disconnect devices connected to the four USB 2.0 ports: this feature is convenient in case of temporary crash of an autoguider or planetary camera, which can then be reset without the need to go to the telescope and disconnect/reconnect a cable.

Check power consumption and battery lifetime: if you power your EAGLE with a battery, a dedicated menu allows you to set the Ampere capacity of your battery and charge percentage when EAGLE is powered on, enabling you to monitor its expected lifetime.

Set WiFi connectivity: to access EAGLE in Access Point mode for field use (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.

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.

Software package

The manufacturer provides the software "EAGLE X" with ASCOM drivers and instructions on its download site: https://eu.primalucelab.com/info/downloads.html

Video about autoguiding

Teleskop-Service has created a video on the topic of autoguiding: