Quick start

The whole flow on one page, for the impatient. Each step links to more detail if you want it, but do read the safety rule, and please rehearse before eclipse day.

From first look to eclipse day, six steps: 1 find the eclipse, 2 build the plan, 3 set the exposure, 4 rehearse (looping back to adjust the plan as often as you like), 5 preflight and arm, 6 the run console captures while you watch. Steps 1 to 4 need no telescope.
The whole path, start to finish. You can rehearse steps 1 through 4 indoors with the simulator; no telescope is needed.
HelioMaker main screen with the Tools menu open on Solar Eclipse Planner and the Capture Folder field visible in the Sequence area.
Open Tools ▸ Solar Eclipse Planner. Before the run, also set Capture Folder: in the main screen's Sequence area; this is the base root beneath which HelioMaker creates the eclipse run folder.
⚠ The one rule you cannot skip For your eyes: never look at the Sun with the naked eye or through any optic without certified eye protection, except during totality itself (disc fully covered). For your gear: keep a certified solar filter on every scope through the partial phases. When the scope filter comes off depends on the mode (Safe versus Diamond ring), but your eye protection only ever comes off during totality. Full detail: Safety & eclipse modes.
Simple full solar disk example The default Safe mode with Shared camera uses one camera and one solar filter. Guiding pauses briefly through totality and recenters itself afterwards. Choose the eclipse mode yourself after reviewing and rehearsing its filter procedure. Shared camera also requires the full solar disk to fit comfortably inside the main frame; use a separate guide scope for high magnification, partial disk imaging.
Set the imaging foundation before you start With the physical eclipse camera, scope and solar filter assembled, expose the filtered full solar disk so it is bright and detailed without clipping. Record that exposure and camera gain. In Plan preferences..., enter them as Full solar disk exposure (ms): and Full solar disk camera gain:, then select the matching effective Solar filter density: of the complete attenuation stack. If additional photographic ND is used behind a certified front-mounted solar filter, the optical densities add; photographic ND is never safe as the solar filter on its own. These three values are the most important inputs to the automatic exposure plan. HelioMaker combines them with Fred Espenak's eclipse exposure recommendations to derive the recipes for all phases. Keeping the same gain across all phases is recommended; use the Phase editor afterwards for deliberate tuning. Once automated imaging starts, exposure and gain cannot be changed for that run.

Weeks ahead do not skip

  1. Set your observing site first. Before opening the planner, open the Dynamic Target Tracking tool (the astronomer button) and select the location where you'll observe the eclipse. Its exact coordinates and time zone drive the timing of every phase. → Planner ▸ Set your site
  2. Find your eclipse & build a starting plan. Open Tools ▸ Solar Eclipse Planner and find the event for your site. Do not approve the plan yet; its main imaging inputs still need to be measured and applied. → Planner
  3. Make the plan's major choices in Plan preferences.... Choose Safe or Diamond ring (Classical), choose Still mode (exact exposures) or Live view, select the guiding camera, and enter the measured full solar disk exposure, gain and filter ND rating. The eclipse mode changes filter timing and the derived imaging plan; Still versus Live changes how the plan is captured. → Preferences
  4. Set the capture root on HelioMaker's main screen. In the Sequence area, choose the Capture Folder: with enough free space for the run. The Files group in Plan preferences controls the base filename and timestamp format, not this folder.
  5. Run the System benchmark test on your actual camera. It makes the plan's cycle counts realistic (and qualifies Still mode if you use it). → Capture mode
  6. Review and tune the derived phases in the Phase editor. Keep the reference gain across all phases unless physical testing supports a deliberate exception.
  7. Approve the completed plan with Save as final. If testing later causes a change, approve the revised plan and rehearse it again.
  8. Practise daytime polar alignment and solar guiding on ordinary sunny days. Never debug guiding on eclipse day. → Prepare in advance
  9. If you will use automatic refocus, prepare SharpCap Focus Assistant. With the physical eclipse rig, complete a successful solar focus scan, manually request SharpCap Refocus, and confirm that it returns to sharp focus. Only then enable Automatically refocus before totality. → Focusing
  10. Rehearse the run: a Dry run (timing only), then a Wet run against the eclipse simulator, until the cues feel automatic. → Simulation
  11. Logistics: sync the PC clock, charge batteries, free up disk.

Eclipse day

No last minute SharpCap tuning after preflight opens HelioMaker applies and verifies the saved plan's sequence settings and applies them again when the run is armed. If a value is wrong, cancel preflight, correct and save the plan, repeat any affected camera test, and rehearse the revision. A manual SharpCap adjustment is not a plan edit and will be replaced when HelioMaker reapplies the plan.
  1. Set up and polar align the mount using your daytime routine, secure the filter on the scope, and focus the Sun.
  2. Confirm the planned exposure and gain on the filtered Sun before starting imaging. If necessary, use the initial partial phase, but do this before selecting Start. Update Plan preferences..., derive and review the phases again, and save the revised plan as final if either value changes.
  3. Start tracking and guiding, and frame the Sun. The preflight checklist has buttons for this.
  4. Open the preflight checklist, clear the gates, then select Start to arm. → Preflight
  5. Leave the planned camera selected in SharpCap. A different active camera blocks preflight and arming. If a disconnect or camera change occurs during the run, follow the console recovery status while HelioMaker waits for and restores the planned camera.
  6. Watch the console. When it cues you and you actually see totality begin (the disc fully covered, in Safe mode), remove the scope filter; replace it early on the cue, while the disc is still dark. Your own eye protection stays until totality either way. → Run console
  7. That's it. The sequence captures automatically; with shared camera, guiding resumes and recenters the Sun after C3. You just manage the filter at the cued moments and enjoy totality.

Want the full walkthrough instead? Start at the guide index or the first chapter, Prepare in advance.