PrimaLuceLab - EAGLE5 XTM Computer for Telescopes and Astrophotography

PrimaluceLab's latest product, the EAGLE5 XTM, is a highly powerful computer specially designed for telescopes and astrophotography. It boasts an incredibly fast AMD Ryzen 3 5400U processor, 32 GB of Industrial Grade DDR4 memory, and a large 2TB Industrial Grade SSD drive (NVMe). Equipped with dual LAN port, 10 USB ports (including 4 high-speed USB 3.2 ports), advanced sensors such as Inclinometer and Motion Detector, and enhanced WiFi 6 wireless networking, this all-in-one device is the ideal solution for even the most challenging scenarios, such as remote control of astronomical observatories.

Despite its power and features, the EAGLE5 XTM has a lightweight, compact design that comes with a PLUS aluminum housing. It also incorporates all the advanced functionalities of its predecessor, the EAGLE, such as a GPS sensor with high gain antenna for automatic time and position detection, an EYE sensor to monitor the sky quality, a DARK mode to disable all LEDs, and much more.

• The Windows 11 Enterprise computer is compatible with a wide range of Windows software and devices of your choice.
• Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 3 5400U processor, 32GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM, and 2TB NVMe SSD disk, the EAGLE offers powerful performance and storage capacity.
• The EAGLE also features an industrial-grade SSD disk and RAM module, ensuring reliable operation even in very low temperatures.
• The 10-port USB hub includes 2 high-speed USB 3.2 ports, 2 high-speed USB 3.2 type-C ports, and 6 USB 2.0 ports, with 4 of them supporting remote on/off control.
• Additionally, the EAGLE includes 4 x 12V power-out ports with remote ON/OFF control for powering your mount, camera, and other 12V accessories, as well as 3 variable 3-12V power-out ports for dew heaters.
• The device also incorporates a GPS sensor with high-gain antenna to detect elevation, latitude, longitude, date, and time, an EYE sensor to monitor the sky quality in a 5° field of view where the telescope is pointed, an Inclinometer to measure the telescope's elevation, and a Motion Detector to detect unexpected or unwanted movements of the telescope.
• The EAGLE offers a DARK mode to turn off all LED lights and features powerful and fast WiFi 6 (802.11ax) with dual-band (2.4 and 5 GHz) connection.
• The device also provides power consumption monitoring for every device powered through the 12V power OUT ports and power level monitoring for the 12V power IN port, and comes with the EAGLE Manager X interface for easy control of all its features.
• Housed in a PLUS aluminum case, the EAGLE weighs 1.38 kg (3 lb) and can be easily attached to any telescope using rings, bars, or clamps.

The EAGLE5 XTM comes equipped with two LAN ports, which are especially advantageous when controlling a remote telescope, such as in an astronomical observatory. By connecting the EAGLE to a router, internet access can be established (this can also be accomplished through the EAGLE's WiFi 6 connection), and by utilizing the second LAN port, an IP camera can be connected to enable remote viewing of the telescope.

Furthermore, the EAGLE5 XTM has 10 USB ports (including 2x high-speed USB 3.2 type-A ports, 2x high-speed USB 3.2 type-C ports, and 6x USB 2.0 ports), allowing up to 10 USB devices to be connected. This is especially advantageous for remotely controlling a dual telescope setup.

The Inclinometer sensor in the PrimaluceLab EAGLE5 XTM measures the telescope's elevation angle relative to the horizon with a resolution of 0.1 degrees and an average measurement error of less than 1 degree. You can view the inclination data in real-time on the EAGLE Manager X interface, and as the EAGLE is installed parallel to your telescope, you can remotely verify that your telescope is pointing at the correct elevation, your equatorial mount elevation setting is accurate for your latitude, or your Alt-Az mount home position is correctly set for elevation, regardless of the EAGLE's orientation.

During a recording session, external factors such as wind gusts or cable snags can cause one of your photos to be blurred while others remain sharp due to a disturbance in the telescope's tracking. The Motion Detector in the EAGLE Manager X distinguishes unwanted movements from mount tracking or goto movements and displays them separately. This way, you can use PLAY or third-party software that supports Motion Detector to automatically repeat the last acquisition if the EAGLE detects unexpected movement.

The EAGLE5 XTM offers a variety of useful features for remotely controlling and monitoring your telescope setup. You can enable or disable each 12V power port individually, allowing you to keep all of your devices connected and activate them remotely. The EAGLE5 XTM also allows you to monitor power consumption of each 12V device, and displays the total power consumption of your entire telescope system.

You can also name each power and USB port, making it easy to identify and control each device. In addition, the EAGLE5 XTM can provide GPS data such as elevation, latitude, longitude, date, time, and number of connected satellites. It also features an inclinometer sensor to verify the elevation of your telescope with respect to the horizon level.

Other useful features include the ability to set the power output voltage for the 3 x 0-12V power out ports, allowing you to adjust the power to dew heaters connected to the EAGLE. The Motion Detector displays any unwanted motion and differentiates it from mount tracking or goto movements, allowing you to automatically repeat the last acquisition if the EAGLE detects an unexpected motion.

You can also activate DARK mode to turn off all LED lights, and connect or disconnect devices from the A-B-C-D USB 2.0 ports. The EAGLE5 XTM offers both wireless and wired connectivity options, with the ability to set IP addresses for remote access in both AP mode (for direct connection with a smartphone or tablet) and HOST mode (for connection to an existing network).

You can define automatic power routines for each device connected to the EAGLE5 XTM, and the EAGLE Manager X can automatically connect to the optional ECCO controller to control dew heater power based on calculated dew-point. Finally, the EAGLE5 XTM saves sensor data from various sensors in log files for later processing.

The EAGLE not only provides advanced features for astrophotography but also functions as a powerful computer surpassing even a Mini PC. To test its capabilities, we used the PCMark benchmark to compare EAGLE LE, EAGLE4, EAGLE5 S, EAGLE5 PRO, and EAGLE5 XTM with a standard Mini PC that had the same EAGLE operating system installed for a precise comparison of results. The image below shows that EAGLE4/LE offer 32% better performance than a typical Mini PC with an Intel Celeron N3160 processor, 4GB of RAM, and SSD disk. EAGLE5 S widens this gap with an increase of 183%. EAGLE5 PRO increases the difference even more to +231%, while the faster EAGLE5 XTM dramatically raises everything to an incredible +316%!

The EAGLE is not only designed for astrophotography but also functions as a powerful computer with superior performance compared to a Mini PC. A benchmark test using the PCMark software showed that EAGLE4/LE offer 32% better performance than a standard Mini PC, while EAGLE5 S, EAGLE5 PRO, and EAGLE5 XTM increased this difference to 183%, 231%, and 316%, respectively.