---
title: Imaging Systems
description: "An **Imaging System** is a named rig: one site, one telescope, one camera, working together. Examples: “Dome A – EdgeHD 8 – ASI2600MM” or “Backyard – RedCat 51 – ASI533”. Nearly everything downstream is organized per system: projects belong to…"
url: "https://astro-pm.com/docs/imaging-systems/"
updated: "2026-07-12"
category: Astro PM App Guide / Equipment Setup
---

# Imaging Systems

An **Imaging System** is a named rig: one site, one telescope, one camera, working together. Examples: “Dome A – EdgeHD 8 – ASI2600MM” or “Backyard – RedCat 51 – ASI533”. Nearly everything downstream is organized per system: projects belong to one, the simulator schedules one at a time, and each NINA installation identifies itself as one.

### Creating a System

In the Equipment panel, create a system by picking a [site](/docs/observing-sites/), [telescope](/docs/telescopes/), and [camera](/docs/cameras/) from your library and giving it a name. If you upgraded from an older version, systems were created automatically from the combinations found in your existing projects.

[![](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-120440.png)](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-120440.png)

### Default Exposure Plan

Each system can carry a default exposure plan, built with the Exposure Plan Builder in the [Filters & Exposure Plans](/docs/filters/) panel. New projects created for that system start with the plan pre-applied – a big time-saver when most of your projects use the same LRGB or SHO recipe.

### Per-System Scheduler Settings

The simulator’s Step 1 settings – strategy, sort chain, dithering, filter switching, flats, and the rest – are stored **per imaging system**. Your wide-field rig can run Proportional Time with aggressive filter rotation while the long-focal-length rig runs Manual Priority; each remembers its own tuning.

### How NINA Uses Systems

In the NINA plugin Options you select which imaging system that NINA installation *is*. From then on the plugin filters cloud targets to that rig and pulls its scheduler settings before every nightly schedule build – so changes you make in the desktop app reach the observatory automatically. See [Connecting NINA to Astro PM](/docs/connecting-nina-astro-pm/).