I Tested the SmartEye and it's REALLY Cool! But is it for you?
The Pegasus Astro SmartEye turns any telescope into a smart one - give a whole new life to your visual rig! In this full review, I show you how it works, what’s in the box, and how...
The Space Koala Astrophotography by Luca Bartek
Thanks for the review, but I am passing on the smarteye.
One day later and the first night that I could test the Smart Eye. Pretty cool device, but some things are a bit rough on the edges. Not sure if that is on SkySafai or the SmartEye. I have the Pegasus Astro NYX-101 mount, so in theory the perfect companion for the SmartEye, but connecting both to the same WiFi was kind of a battle. The Pegasus Astro Unity App tends to crash a lot while searching for a local WiFi. So it takes some iterations to connect it. It also does not seem to store the WiFi password as I needed to enter the SmartEye password every time the mount was restarted. Skysafari does not allow to take one image and plate solve, you need to start a stack to do that. So to get a target centered you create a lot of stacks. RAW images on the SD card are not sorted by target in any way, just a list of files with some kind of target ID in the filename.The built quality of the SmartEye is really good, but the USB cable could be a bit longer. If your mount does not have a USB connector it is tricky to get the thing powered and I could not get it to work with a longer USB cable. Looking into the eyepiece (with or without glasses) the outer rim of the field of view is always a bit distorted. It gets a bit better the closer you get, but it does not completely disappear. There is also no shorter exposure time than 5 seconds (at least I could not find a way to set it to less than 5 sec) what could already too long close to the meridian with a longer focal length. Pegasus Astro needs to get better with their software. The iOS App and also the Unity App are constant sources of pain. The intrgration somehow works, but I would not recommend a setup like this to a beginner right now. But when you get it running, the results are amazing.
I have been using a NYX-88 with the SmartEye over the past few weeks. I had a different experience from the one you're describing, the connections have been quite straightforward and have been auto-connecting every time ever since. The plate solving behavior you described in SkySafari is extremely annoying I agree. On the interface of the SmartEye you can actually do this and sync directly without starting a stack. An absence of USB-port should not be an issue as the SmartEye comes with a DC-to-USB-C adapter (at least mine did). The pain points that remain for me are the lack of autofocus (even though the SmartEye now connects to the Pegasus Astro FocusCube v3) and the lack of polar alignment tools
Considering that an IMX533 cooled camera is already about 1000 bucks anyway the Smart Eye "only" adds up another 1000 to the experience. As it also replaces a controlling computer like the ASIAir Mini / StellaVita or a MiniPC that would add another 300 to 500 bucks, it feels not that expensive anymore. What I'm missing is the ability to polar align with it. That would be a killer feature for stand alone use. Especially if you want to use over 500mm focal length you might need a decent PA to get 10 second shots without trailing stars even with the more forgiving 3.76µm pixels of the IMX533 sensor. I just got my testing device a few weeks ago but due to the bad weather in Germany recently I was not able to test it yet. But this video showed the potential and I'm now waiting even more eagerly for a clear night. Thanks for the good overview.
I fully agree - polar alignment would be such an important feature! It's a shame that 1 year later they still haven't added it
Thank you very much for best manual for connecting SMARTEYE, AM3/5 and SkySafari Pro (i use ver. 7) You are the best! With Best Wishes, from Russia!
Hallo, ich habe das Digitale Okular Smart eye an meinem Teleskop Celestron CPC 1100 Deluxe HD getestet . Leider ist meine Nachführung zu ungenau für das Smart eye , nach dem 2. stacken kommt jedes mal eine Fehlermeldung das es nicht passt , eine Guiding Kamera dazu möchte ich mir nicht kaufen, daher habe ich es jetzt in der 14 tägigen Rückgabefrist zurück geschickt . Vielleicht ist ein Smart Teleskop wie das Dwarf 3 für mich besser geeignet , es soll ja funktionieren , ohne besonderes Zubehör kaufen zu müssen, Handy reicht da ja , viele Grüße noch.
🍍Hallo ,ich habe mir das Digitale Okular Smart eye bestellt gehabt , beim ausprobieren nach dem hochfahren wollte ich den Life Modus starten , der zeigte mir aber immer wieder nur einen voll schwarzen Bildschirm , obwohl es da hätte was zu sehen sein müssen . Ich brauche ja diesen Modus um den Fokus einstellen zu können, habe so oft probiert , auch mit länger warten hat sich nichts gezeigt , im 2. Modus New Observation dann hat der angefangen zu stakken, auch wurde das in etwa eingestellte Bild ständig heller . Nun meine Frage : Ist mein Digitales Okular etwa Fehlerhaft ?
it's best to reach out to Pegasus, but my guess is that you may be very much out of focus and that's why you don't see anything
@the_space_koala Etwas helles müßte es anzeigen ,denn im Stakken erkannte man auch umrisse relativ deutlich. Ich werde es wohl zurück schicken, ich habe mehrere Stellen probiert gehabt und es war nicht das kleinste Licht zu sehen,nur schwarzer Bildschirm
I need this!!!!
A 70mm fpl 53 f6 doublet will it work with this smart eye? Or a flatten c5 would work better?
It will work but you will have chromatic aberration (I suppose) and perhaps field curvature too
@the_space_koalaso it has to be a triplet? Or bigger diameter?
A triplet will likely have better color correction and a flattener will make the stars sharp all the way to the corners. But it’s all about how picky you are with the image you’re going to get! With telescopes, the sky is the limit both figuratively and literally
Excelente el smarteye
Hi Luca, I bought the Askar FRA600 after seeing you use it with the SmartEye. I’ve have the Celestron diagonal attached to the scope. Have you tried to focus on a tree or mountain a mile or two away with the SmartEye? I’ve been able to do this with all my cameras but the SmartEye. Thanks
hi, no I haven't tried to do any terrestrial viewing. I would think you should be able to focus just the same as with any other camera as long as the sensor is sitting at the same distance
I always respect your detailed reviews and honest opinions about Astro gear…both Pros and Cons. Thanks and keep up the good work. Since this is a digital camera is there a back focus issue or did I miss something?
the backfocus "issue" is related to the scope, not the camera itself. Most of my tests were done either on very slow (f/10-f/11) scopes or on the Petzval you see here so backfocus was not critical in either case. If someone wants to get the maximum out of it as a camera, they'd have to respect the backfocus requirements of their optical train, of course!
I tried the SmartEye with a Celestron Nextar Evolution HD 8 with original Alt/Az and/or equatorial wedge. I got poor results, as at F10, tracking with the original mount is not good enough for the stacking software, even at 10 sec exposures. At 5 sec also it is no better. In the documentation it is recommended to not use focal ratio above 7. Trying the Celestron 0.7x focal reducer, the scope is then at F7, just enough for the SmartEye. I have not tried the SkySafari option, which seems a good idea to avoid touching the scope during exposures. In a public setting it is impossible to let people watch through the eyepiece and continue stacking quietly images with this telescope/mount setup!
that sounds very frustrating, I feel you should be able to track for long enough for live stacking. I had a C9.25 on an Evolution mount and managed to take pictures of 15sec. Does it see enough stars? Regarding the stacking while people are touching the eyepiece, I'm afraid this would be an issue with any mount/scope combo, there is no way to shoot while people are moving the scope
This is a really awesome piece of equipment for any astronomy club or schools. I would love to see what it can do from a highly light polluted place. For example from bortle 9 in a city park.
Price is ridiculous. I can buy a decent camera and laptop for a lot less than $2600 USD.
My primary use would be for outreach. I have assorted scopes for my own use and occasionally bring one for an outreach event, but I primarily use a Unistellar eQuinox2 for outreach, several times per month. I cast to a smart TV during outreach, I would imagine the same can be done with SmartEye with SkySafari. At half the price of Origin and usable with all of my scopes, I may have to put this on the short list. I always have a good sized and interested group watching the TV at outreach, and really like being able to talk with folks and explain what they're seeing as they all see it, but I think adding the 'look in the eyepiece' aspect would be the apex of outreach.
Me again is it nice images on phone .just sold my seestar 50.That was nice full screen view. Ray
8" sorry Ray
Hi luca just what I've been waiting for,thinking of putting it on my celestron evaluation edge HD do you think it will be ok. Ray
hey, yes it will. i used it on my edghd 11
@the_space_koalaThanks for quick reply,I'm on 2" would i need any more spacers than I comes with to get focus,sorry for asking again. Thanks Ray. I'm in a portel 5 area my self black down hill Somerset England.
this is essentially a camera so you need to follow the correct backspacing requirements for the c8. celestron sells the necessary "t-ring" or adapter from which you need an additional 55mm to the camera sensor. you will have focus both with and without the reducer but you need to get the backfocus (the exact spacing) correct to ensure you get the best possible image
Very interesting , seen these several times now on YouTube,just what I've had in mind can be put any scope and many of which are far better than the lens you get on smart telescopes , i like seeing the images on my phone screen now my eyes are getting older.
What is its effective focal length compared to a conventional eyepiece? If it zooms, what would be the equivalent eyepiece focal lengths from widest to narrowest? I am a visual observer and I can't find any information on this. Thanks!
11mm with a 90° FOV