Observing the Sun with Seestar

Solar observations are easy with your Seestar – everything you need is in the box.

1.Unpack Your Seestar

-Unpack your Seestar and get ready to image! In the box you will find; your Seestar unit and matching tripod, a USB cable, solar filter and Quick Start Guide.


-We recommend you charge your Seestar before use - You can use a normal USB C phone charger – plug it into the USB C socket on the Seestar – the LED battery indicator will show its charging and the current charge level.


-While charging your Seestar head over to the app store for your device and download the Seestar app.


2.Setting up to image

Hot Tip! You can set up Seestar inside in the cool before moving outside!

-Fold out the tripod legs. You can extend the legs if desired.
-Carefully screw the Seestar onto the 3/8” thread on the top of the tripod



-Turn on Seestar by pressing and holding the power button for 3 seconds until you hear a beep.

-A voice command will tell you when Seestar is ready to connect.


3.Getting Ready to Image

WARNING! Imaging the sun with no solar filter installed can cause serious damage to your Seestar – Always make sure the filter is in place before pressing GoTo the Sun

-Connect the Seestar app by pressing the Connect button on the main screen.



-Choose SOLAR mode on the mainscreen



-When the Solar screen loads – press the UP arrow to slew the telescope body so you can clip on the solar filter.



-Move outside and place Seestar outside on a firm flat surface such as a table, deck or path in a place you will have an unobstructed view of the sun.

-Press Installed & GoTo from the Install Solar Filter Prompt when rea
-If Seestar asks you to calibrate the compass, follow the onscreen instructions – Pick up Seestar by the tripod and rotate your body holding Seestar level until the calibration process is complete.



-Seestar will slew to the sun and center on it

-When centered – press the AF button to autofocus.



Hot Tip! If the Sun drifts from the centre tap the tracking button on the right-hand menu – centre the image using the onscreen joystick, press the tracking button again and confirm it is centered


Now you are ready to image!


4.Imaging with your Seestar

You can capture images using photo, video or timelapse modes.

-To capture a photo simply press the white image button on the bottom of the screen and Seestar will save an image of the sun to your mobile device.



-To capture a video for watching on your tablet, choose Video from the imaging menu and then press the red image button. The length of the video is displayed in the top right corner of the screen. To save a RAW file for post processing, press the RAW icon on the right-hand menu – then press the capture button again.



Hot Tip! Video captured in RAW mode is saved the Seestar’s internal memory – you can access this by plugging a PC into the Seestar USB C port.

-To capture a timelapse – press the Timelapse mode button on the imaging menu. Select the delay required between images, you can choose 1 – 60 seconds, and press the red imaging button again to start the sequence, and again to stop.




5.Processing Your Images

-You can post your Seestar images to your social media account or via the Seestar community page in the app.
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-You can process RAW video files with ZWO’s own ASI Studio package or other 3rd party apps.

-Download and install ASI Studio for free from the ZWO website (https://www.zwoastro.com/downloads) – available for PC, Mac and Linux

-Open the ASI Studio main menu and choose: ASIVideostack

-Copy the video from the Seestar directory: Myworks – Solar to your PC, Mac or Linux PC.

-Drag the file into app



-Choose the custom Bayer pattern GRGB – you should see the sun image on the main screen.



-Choose Sun / Moon Surface from the object type menu.

-And choose the % of frames you would like to capture.



-When stacked you can use the image adjustment tools to tune the image to your liking.



-Press Save to export a JPG of the on screen image.



Now Share the Wonders of the Universe with your friends and family and tell them all about the amazing Seestar!

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