Based on Version: v2.5.0 (2025-03-18)

Note: SSC is rapidly developing, so screenshots here may not exactly match later versions.

This Wiki page provides a brief overview of each SSC webpage with typical screenshots. It is intended as an introductory guide for those who may not yet have SSC running, rather than a comprehensive feature listing.

Menu Bar

The menu bar appears on all SSC pages. The dropdown on the right-hand side shows each of the Seestars you have configured. Selecting a Seestar here will make the current page apply to that specific Seestar. At the bottom of the list is "SeeStar Federation," which applies the page to all connected Seestars.

At the bottom of every page, SSC version information is displayed.

Home

The Home page shows basic information about which Seestars are connected. If none are connected, it will display "SSC is in offline mode."

Startup

The startup page brings together all the command options and status display for preparing the Seestar for operation once powered on. It also provides the place to refine thePolar Alignment of an EQ mounted scope.

Commands

The top section shows the status of key activities for each Seestar, e.g., AutoFocus, Stacking, FilterWheel, etc. A green background indicates a normal state, while a red background indicates an error.

The lower section allows you to select and send commands from dropdown lists to the Seestar. Selecting "Seestar Federation" sends commands to all connected Seestars. The Start-Up Sequence section helps send commands necessary after powering up your Seestar, particularly useful for initializing and aligning EQ-mounted scopes (also works for Alt/Az scopes).

The Output box shows the status or information returned from the scope, which varies widely based on the command.

Guest Mode

This displays the control/guest status of the connection to the Seestar. In later firmware versions only one device can be in control of the Seestar at a time. If you want to switch control away from seestar_alp e.g. back to the conventional App then use the Release Control button.

Goto

This page sends the Seestar to a specified object. You can search by object name using a number of different databases (see detailed Search wiki) or select coordinates from the Clipboard, Stellarium, or an existing Seestar FITS file.

Image

The first section mirrors the GOTO page, while the second section adds exposure settings for imaging. Additional options include Gain, Filter, and autofocus settings.

Live

** WORK IN PROGRESS **
When the Seestar is not imaging then you can select the imaging type: Star, Sun, Moon, Planet or Scenery.

When imaging is in progress then the page will display the live view and a number of imaging controls (similar to those found in the Seestar app).
These include:- Focus (auto or Manual), Exposure, Start recording, Goto. A joystick-like control allows the Seestar to be moved and an information panel displays key information about the mode, RA/Dec coordinates and a calculation of SNT (signal-to-noise ratio).

Mosaic

Similar to the GOTO and Imaging pages, but also allows specifying the number of mosaic panels in RA and Dec to create a mosaic using additional software. Mosaic works best on EQ-mounted scopes; for Alt/Az, results vary due to field rotation. Generally, select at least 40% panel overlap to avoid gaps.

Note: You can choose to image specific panels in the series.

Planning

A feature-rich page for planning observing sessions, requiring internet access for most features. Note: Planning is an experimental page so you must turn on the Experimental setting in SSC config in order to see this menu option.

• AstroMosaic: Search by object name, view an image of the object, set grid size to plan a mosaic, and send the mosaic to the scheduler.
  Tip: Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the panel display.

• Graphs show visibility for the night and the year ahead.

• Twilight Times and Clear Outside forecast are also available.

Schedule

The Schedule page is the core of SSC's automated observing. Here, users can combine activities for a whole night of observations. The top part shows scheduled activities (future updates may allow schedule editing). Import/export options are available from the dropdown list.

In the lower section, select items, configure them, and add to the schedule. Available options include:

• Startup
• Wait Until
• Wait For
• Auto Focus
• Light Pollution Filter
• Dew Heater
• Image
• Mosaic
• Park Scope
• Shutdown

Click Start to begin the schedule.

Settings

Controls various Seestar options. Some settings may be familiar from the Seestar App, while SSC offers additional controls.

SSC Config

Configure SSC settings here. For more details, see the SSC configuration wiki page.

Stats

Displays various statistics about the selected Seestar (some information also appears on the Home page).

Platform

This page will display options specific to the type of computer platform that you are using to run seestar_alp on. You might use this page at the end of an observing session to shutdown the host platform cleanly. For example the options on a Raspberry Pi platform are

Support

This page has various links to the documentation wiki, Discord channels and feature request web pages. The support Bundle part helps you gather information for developers when reporting a bug.