Astro PM NINA Guide
Installing the NINA Plugin
Last Updated: July 11, 2026The Astro PM plugin turns NINA into the execution arm of your planning: it pulls tonight’s schedule from the cloud, images it, and reports every captured sub back. Installation takes a minute from inside NINA itself. Requirements NINA 3.x (the plugin targets the NINA 3 plugin system). An Astro PM desktop install with your sync...
Connecting NINA to Astro PM
Last Updated: July 11, 2026Two pieces of information connect a NINA installation to your planning: your sync token (who you are) and an imaging system (which rig this machine is). Both live in the plugin’s Options page. Enter the Sync Token Copy the token from the desktop app’s NINA Sync settings and paste it into the plugin Options. Once...
Building Your Sequence
Last Updated: July 11, 2026Astro PM replaces the middle of your NINA sequence – the part that decides what to shoot – while your usual startup and shutdown instructions stay exactly as they are. This page shows the recommended sequence shape. The Building Blocks The plugin adds these to the sequencer (category Astro PM Tools): Astro PM Instructions –...
Astro PM Instructions Explained
Last Updated: July 11, 2026The Astro PM Instructions container looks like one sequencer item, but it runs your entire night. Here is what happens inside, in order, and what all the status displays mean. Schedule Build at First Run When the sequence reaches the container it: Pulls the selected rig’s latest settings from the cloud (or uses the local...
Trigger Sets: Custom Instructions
Last Updated: July 11, 2026Astro PM runs the night, but every setup has its own rituals – a settle wait here, a flip-flat nudge there. Trigger sets are drop boxes for your own NINA instructions at four key moments of the automated night. The Four Sets Before Each Exposure Instructions – runs ahead of every Astro PM exposure. After...
Automated Flat Handling
Last Updated: July 11, 2026Flats are the chore of automation: they must match tonight’s filters, camera settings, and rotator angles – which you only know once the night is over. Astro PM tracks all of it while imaging and takes exactly the right flats at session end, filing them with each target’s lights. How Tracking Works Every successful light...
The NINA Simulator Panel
Last Updated: July 11, 2026The plugin includes the same nightly simulator you use on the desktop, right inside NINA – useful for confirming what tonight looks like from the observatory machine itself. Running It Open the Astro PM simulator panel in NINA, pick a date, and run. You get the same graph, schedule log, and per-target allocations the desktop...
Playback Modes
Last Updated: July 11, 2026A schedule is a plan for an ideal night; real nights have autofocus runs, safety holds, and cloud bands. Playback mode decides how NINA follows the plan when reality has pushed it off the timeline. Time-Aware (default) After a delay, the container jumps to the entry that should be running right now according to the...
Offline & Vacation Mode
Last Updated: July 11, 2026Remote observatories lose internet; vacations happen. Offline Mode lets the rig keep imaging autonomously from its local cache – and keeps the books straight while disconnected. The Target Cache Every successful cloud fetch is cached on the NINA machine. When the cloud is unreachable – or Offline Mode is switched on deliberately – the plugin...
NINA Troubleshooting
Last Updated: July 11, 2026The plugin logs everything it decides and does. Most issues resolve to one of the patterns below. Reading the Log Open NINA’s log (or the Astro PM log panel) and filter for AstroPM |. You will find the schedule build (targets fetched, settings applied, blocks created), every block transition, every capture, and every warning with...