Cognisys STACKSHOT 3X User manual

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Owner’s Manual
Revision 1.0
Copyright 2016 Cognisys, Inc.
Remote

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Table of Contents
1. SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS .................................................................................................................................. 3
2. GETTING STARTED ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 CLEANING AND CARE .........................................................................................................................................4
2.1.1 Cleaning ...................................................................................................................................................4
2.1.2 Care and storage......................................................................................................................................4
2.2 THE STACKSHOT 3X REMOTE ..............................................................................................................................5
3. PAIRING PROCESS.......................................................................................................................................... 6
4. CONNECTING TO STACKSHOT 3X ................................................................................................................... 8
5. USING YOUR REMOTE ................................................................................................................................... 8
5.1.1 Buttons.....................................................................................................................................................8
5.1.2 Joystick speed...........................................................................................................................................9
5.1.3 Joystick configuration ............................................................................................................................10
5.1.4 Invert axes..............................................................................................................................................10
5.1.5 Deadzone ...............................................................................................................................................10
5.1.6 Shutdown time.......................................................................................................................................10
6. TROUBLESHOOTING .................................................................................................................................... 11
7. SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 12
8. WARRANTY ................................................................................................................................................. 13
9. WIRELESS CERTIFICATION............................................................................................................................ 14
9.1 FCC CERTIFICATION -USA ...............................................................................................................................14
9.2 IC CERTIFICATION –CANADA.............................................................................................................................15
10. REVISION HISTORY .................................................................................................................................. 16

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1. Safety Instructions
WARNING indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death
or serious injury.
Follow all CAUTION notices to reduce the risk of personal injury, prevent damage to the
StackShot 3X Remote, accessories, and devices (computers, cameras, flashes, etc). Failure to
follow all CAUTION notices may void your warranty. CAUTION may also indicate a potentially
hazardous situation which, if not avoided, may result in personal injury.
The safety alert symbol precedes a general CAUTION or WARNING statement.
The electrical hazard symbol precedes an electric shock hazard CAUTION or WARNING
statement.
CAUTION: Only use the AC/DC power adapter (cube) that was included with your StackShot 3X.
Use of other power adapters may damage the controller and/or attached equipment.
CAUTION: The StackShot 3X Remote moves your camera equipment and/or the subject you
are photographing. Motion control gives you incredible flexibility for your photography.
However, this motion can cause a shift in weight potentially causing injury or damage if the
equipment is not properly secured and/or balanced. It is your responsibility as a user to ensure
the equipment will remain properly secured and safe. Additionally, incorrect settings or misuse
of the controller could potentially damage your equipment. Cognisys, Inc. will not be held liable
for damage to your equipment. To stop the motors from moving at any point touch the display
and/or remove power from the controller.
2. Getting Started
The latest version of this manual is available at http://www.cognisys-inc.com.
The graphics included in this manual may not be identical to the software that you are running.
Improvements and adjustments to the software may happen prior to an updated version of the
manual.
This product is only compatible with the StackShot 3X controller. It is not compatible with other
Cognisys products.

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2.1 Cleaning and Care
We want your StackShot 3X Remote to last – so here are some brief steps to keep your
controller happy!
2.1.1 Cleaning
For cleaning use a dry micro-fiber cloth. If that doesn’t remove debris or smudges you can
use a slightly dampened (not wet) micro-fiber cloth. Do not spray water directly onto the
remote. Do not use a flammable liquid or cleaning agent on the remote – just a micro-fiber
cloth (dampened, only if needed).
2.1.2 Care and storage
StackShot 3X Remote is a precision piece of electronics. It’s designed to handle normal wear
and tear but there are some things to avoid:
Do not get the unit wet.
Do not drop the unit.
Remove the batteries if storing for an extended period.

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2.2 The StackShot 3X Remote
The top of the Remote has two indicator LED’s:
1. Power / Wifi status
This LED has three modes:
a. Slowly ramping up and down in brightness: The Remote is looking for a StackShot
3X that has pairing mode enabled.
b. Flashing on and off: The Remote is currently trying to connect to a previously paired
StackShot 3X.
c. Solid on: The Remote is connected to your StackShot 3X.
2. Alternate Axis / Record / Low Battery indicator
a. Solid Green: The joystick button is pressed in letting you control the alternate axis.
b. Solid Red: The StackShot 3X is currently recording a real-time move.
c. Flashing Red: The batteries need to be replaced and the Remote will now turn off.
The buttons on the Remote have different functions depending on their current setting. See
section “5.1.1 - Buttons” for details.
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To power off the Remote, press and hold the center “B” (power) button for one second until the
blue LED goes out.
3. Pairing Process
In order to use the Remote with your StackShot 3X, you first must go through a pairing process.
You will only need to do this once (unless you update your Remote software).Start with your
Remote turned off.
Note: The Remote requires that your StackShot 3X be running software version 1.0.01 or later.
You can see the current version of your controller when you first turn it on. If you need to
update your StackShot 3X version, please visit the following link:
StackShot 3X Technical Specs
The following instructions may appear slightly different for versions later than the 1.0.01
software, but the process is the same.
On your StackShot 3X controller, press the “Settings” button:
Use the down arrow and navigate to the “Wireless Config” option:

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Confirm that your StackShot 3X is set up as an “Access Point”:
If you do not see “Wireless mode: Access point”, then simply press that button to switch the
controller to an access point.
Press the down arrow until you see “Remote Pairing: Enable”. Press this button:
The button will then show “Remote Pairing: Active”.
Now turn on your remote (Press and release the “B” button). You will see the blue LED on your
remote slowly ramp up and down as it looks for your StackShot 3X controller. Once the Remote
finds it, the blue LED will turn solid on. That concludes the pairing process!
Note: The remote can be paired to only one StackShot 3X at a time.
If you wish to re-pair the remote with a new StackShot 3X controller you will have to erase the
previous pairing. To do this start with the remote turned off. Press and hold the “B” (power)
button until the blue LED goes out. Release the “B” button. The Remote will now start looking
for a StackShot 3X with pairing mode enabled.

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4. Connecting to StackShot 3X
Once your Remote is paired to your StackShot 3X, you simply have to press the “B” (power)
button to turn on your Remote. It will automatically connect up to your StackShot 3X.
5. Using your Remote
The features and functionality of your Remote are discussed in the StackShot 3X owner’s
manual. These features depend on the version of software on your StackShot 3X. Please refer
to that owner’s manual for additional details.
To view the settings for your Remote, press the “Settings” button on your StackShot 3X and
navigate to the “Remote Settings” button.
5.1.1 Buttons
5.1.1.1 Basic
This lets you control two axes with the joystick, and then the left/right button (buttons A and C)
control the third axis. The “third” axis is whichever one isn’t controlled in the “Joystick” setting.
The center “B” button fires the shutter outputs.
As the name implies, this provides basic control over the motion of all three axes. It is useful for
remote controlled camera positioning or video recording.
5.1.1.2 Control
When the buttons are set as “Control”, they no longer adjust the position of the third axis. To
control the third axis you will need to press IN (and hold) the joystick, and then adjust the
position. The function of the buttons depends on what global mode you are in.
Stacking:
The remote can be used in any of the auto modes. The left button (“A”) will set the start
position of a stack. The right button (“C”) will set the end position of a stack. The center button
(“B”) will start the stack, provided a start and end position have been set.
If a stack is in progress, any button press will abort the stack.
Motion Control:
The left “A” button will remove all key frames for all axes. The right “C” button will add a
keyframe at the current position. The center button “B” will start the move. The keyframes will
be evenly divided into the duration you’ve set under “Time Settings”. The keyframes will
automatically be smoothed between each other. The process would be:

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1. Use the joystick to move to the start position.
2. Press the left “A” button. This will set the initial position. This isn’t a “move” yet, since we
only have the start position.
3. Use the joystick to move to the next keyframe.
4. Press the right “C” button to add a keyframe.
5. Move to the next position (if desired).
When you’re done, just press the center button to return to the first keyframe and start the
move.
The thing to remember is once you have a profile created do NOT press the “A” button again
because you’ll lose your settings.
5.1.1.3 Real-time MoCo Recording
This setting is only available for motion modes.
The “A” and “C” buttons control the third axis. The center “B” button starts or stops the
playback.
To start the real-time recording, press in the joystick button. This will start the recording
process (the remote LED will turn red, and “Recording” will be displayed on the StackShot 3X
display). Move the axes using the joystick and/or the “A” and “C” buttons. When you are done
recording, press in the joystick button again.
To play back the recorded movement, press the center “B” button.
There is a maximum record time of two minutes.
5.1.2 Joystick speed
The default speed for the joystick is to run at 100% of the axis speed. For setting start/end
points this is usually just fine. If, however, you’re using the remote to adjust the position of a
microscope slide, or you’re doing a real-time motion recording – sometimes a little more finesse
is required. By decreasing the speed percentage you can achieve better control over the
movement of the joystick. You can also set the speed to 0% to disable control of that axis.
Each axis can have its joystick (or button, in the case of the third axis) maximum speed adjusted
independently.

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5.1.3 Joystick configuration
The axis that the joystick and “A”/”C” buttons control can be adjusted to suit your needs. This
setting will define which axes are controlled by the joystick. The axis that is NOT mapped to the
joystick will be controlled by using the “A”/”C” buttons.
The default is “Left/Right=X Up/down=Y”. What this means is that moving left or right on the
joystick will control the X-axis, and moving the joystick up and down (forward and back) will
control the Y-axis. The Z-axis will then be controlled by the “”A”/”C” buttons.
5.1.4 Invert axes
Sometimes it is useful to invert an axis. A perfect example is the “tilt” portion of a pan/tilt
setup. Up makes sense if you’re on one side of the camera, but if you’re on the opposite side of
the camera, now “Up” makes the camera go down. The same is true for a slider. Left makes the
slider go left on one side of the slider, but if you move to the other, left now makes the slider go
right! The easiest way to fix this is just to invert the axis for the remote.
5.1.5 Deadzone
The deadzone is a percentage of the remote’s joystick that is ignored when it is sitting at its
resting position. This is typical for all analog joysticks. If this is set too big, you have to move the
joystick quite a ways before you get a response. If set too small, the remote could cause the
motors to start moving on their own even when the joystick is not being moved.
If the motors are moving but the joystick is at its resting/center position, you may need to
increase this setting slightly.
The default setting is 15%.
5.1.6 Shutdown time
The remote will not shut down while you are using it. This “Shutdown time” is how long to wait
after the last time you used the remote before it will automatically shut off. This will conserve
the remote’s batteries.
The default is five minutes.