Careful equipment entry is real work – sensor specs, gain modes, filter details. The Share Equipment page lets that work travel: bundle observatories, telescopes, and cameras into a single .astropmeq file that any Astro PM user can import into their own library, ready to use across projects, Sky View, and the calculators.
The Share Equipment Page #
The page shows your library in three columns – Observatories / Sites, Telescopes, and Cameras – each with per-item checkboxes, a Select All shortcut, and a live count of what you have selected. Check exactly what you want to share; each entry shows its name plus a detail line so similar items are easy to tell apart. A Refresh button re-reads the library if you have been editing equipment in another tab.
What Goes in the File #
Export Selected writes everything needed to recreate the equipment faithfully:
- Sites – the full site definition (coordinates, elevation, Bortle, time zone).
- Telescopes – complete optical and mechanical specs.
- Cameras – sensor geometry, the default gain mode, and the full gain modes and readout modes lists, so the recipient’s Exposure Calculator and NINA integration work exactly like yours.
- Filters – bundled automatically: any filter attached to an included telescope rides along with it, no separate selection needed.
The file itself is a compact archive with a manifest (what is inside, counts, when it was made) – safe to email, post to a club forum, or drop in a shared drive.
Importing a Shared File #
Click Import Equipment…, pick the .astropmeq file, and a preview dialog lists everything inside before anything touches your library:
- Each site, telescope, and camera appears as a row with an Include checkbox and an editable name.
- Rows whose names match equipment you already have show in green with the status “matches existing – will skip” – imports never overwrite or duplicate your entries.
- Want the shared version anyway? Rename the row (it turns amber, “adding new”) and it imports as a separate entry alongside yours.
- An Include Filters toggle controls whether the bundled filters come along. Filters are matched per telescope – a renamed scope imports with its complete filter set, while a scope you already own only gains filters it did not have.
After the import, a summary reports what was added and what was skipped.
Ways to Use It #
- Club and community sharing – one member enters the popular scope/camera combos properly once; everyone imports.
- New computer, instant library – export everything on the old machine, import on the new one, and your equipment definitions arrive intact.
- Shared observatories – the site owner exports the site + resident rigs; every user of the facility plans against identical, correct specs.
- Helping a friend get started – a properly filled camera entry (real read noise, gain modes, QE) is one of the best onboarding gifts you can give a new Astro PM user.