How to Directly Download the Raw Data From Your Telescope to Your Computer?

Since update 3.2, it is possible to download the RAW data of your observations directly from your telescope to your computer. 

This article describes how to download the RAW data from your telescope to your computer in FITS, TIFF, or PNG format. You must update your App to version V3.2 or more.

Note: This is the first iteration of this feature, and you may experience some unexpected behavior while we are refining it with your feedback. 

Important: We would like to point out that if you upload your data, you will not be able to download it directly from your telescope, as the memory will be emptied. 

1 - Access the Experimental area / Laboratory tab 

Make sure that your telescope is connected to the UNISTELLAR App. 

This experimental feature can be found in the new Experimental area / Laboratory tab of the App. You can find the Experimental area / Laboratory in the settings menu. 

The settings menu can be accessed from any of the main pages: Homepage, Catalog, Science, or Gallery. Tap on the settings button (in the top right corner) to access the settings menu.

2 - Activate direct access to RAW data 

Once in the Experimental area / Laboratory tab, you can activate direct access to RAW data. 

The telescope saves your choice, so you can disconnect your smartphone from the telescope's Wi-Fi if you wish. We recommend that you do not use your telescope during the download.

3 - Connect to your telescope Wi-Fi on your PC

We advise you to download your data to your PC and not to your phone because of the weight of the images : 

• Connect to your telescope Wi-Fi on your PC

• Type the exact address shown in the Access URL section into the search bar (PC) : http://192.168.100.1/ (you can bookmark it to save time later on)
• Now you should have access to the interface of your telescope’s memory

4 - Your telescope’s DATA interface

On this page, you’ll find the RAW data for your Enhanced Vision observations (Dynamic Signal Amplification) for DSO, Planets, and Science mode observations. 

• You can select either all or individual observations to download or remove it from your telescope’s memory
• your RAW data can be downloaded either in FITS, TIFF, or PNG.

Note: it can take a little bit of time to load your observation on the page if you have a lot of data, you'll see a spinning icon in the top right corner while your data are loading . 

You can select either one or multiple observations

The selected observations will be highlighted in yellow, and in the top right corner, you can see the amount of selected observations. 

If you have a lot of data and are looking for a specific observation, you can use the search bar in the top left corner. 

You can perform different actions on the observations' data that you've selected : 

Download your data: 

- select the format you want in the drop-down menu : it can be either FITS, TIFF, or PNG. 

- Click the download button on the top bar to start downloading the selected data in your preferred format. 

Once you press the download button, the download of your data will start just like a normal download on your web browser, and you'll get a .zip file containing the data of your observations in your default download folder. 

In the .zip file, you’ll find: all the stack inputs, stack sum, and dark frame.

Remove or delete your data: 

- Select the observations you want to delete and click the delete button to permanently remove the selected data from your telescope's memory. 

- You can also click the delete all button to remove all the data (note that this operation can take some time if you have a lot of data). 

Tips: If you are a citizen science user and want to reduce the upload time of your science observations, you can download and delete your normal observations and leave only your science observations to be uploaded, this way you'll have much less data to upload and this will reduce your overall upload time.