---
title: Sharing Equipment
description: "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…"
url: "https://astro-pm.com/docs/sharing-equipment/"
updated: "2026-07-12"
category: Astro PM App Guide / Equipment Setup
---

# Sharing Equipment

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.

[![](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-121232.png)](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-121232.png)

### 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.

[![](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-121334.png)](https://astro-pm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-12-121334.png)

### 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.

   **Tip:** After importing shared equipment, assemble it into an [Imaging System](/docs/imaging-systems/) – that is what projects, the simulator, and NINA actually select. The share brings the parts; the rig is yours to name.