Helm — The Show-Control PC | Northstar Show Systems

What it does

Pre-Imaged. Hardened. Built to Run Forever.

Helm arrives at your venue ready to plug in. Static IP set, HelmOS installed as a Windows service, firewall configured, power management hardened. The first time you boot it on-site is the first time the show runs.

Hardened Windows 11 Pro

Power management locked down. Auto-update window pushed to 3 AM. USB selective suspend disabled so the Bridge never disconnects.

NSSM Service

HelmOS runs as a Windows service via NSSM. Auto-starts at boot. Auto-restarts on crash. Captures stdout and stderr to rotating log files.

Bridge USB Driver

Auto-detects the Bridge over USB serial at 115200 baud. Survives unplug/replug. Sends button events to HelmOS in real time.

Air-Gapped Networking

Static IP 10.0.0.1 on the Wi-Fi adapter. No gateway. No DNS. No Internet at runtime. Updates are sideloaded by venue tech.

UPS-Backed

Designed to ride out brownouts on a 250 VA UPS. NSSM restarts HelmOS within 5 seconds of any unexpected exit.

Compact Footprint

117 × 112 × 54 mm. Fits in any equipment cabinet. Wall-mount or shelf. Silent under normal show load.

Specifications

Built on a Proven Reference Platform.

We use the Intel NUC because we have shipped hundreds of them and know exactly how every model behaves under load. No surprises. No vendor lock to a single supplier — equivalents are explicitly supported.

Platform	Intel NUC 13 Pro (NUC13ANHi5) or equivalent
CPU	Intel Core i5-1340P (12-core, 16-thread)
RAM	16 GB DDR4-3200
Storage	500 GB NVMe SSD
OS	Windows 11 Pro 64-bit (Windows 10 Pro also supported)
Network	1 GbE wired + 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 / 5 GHz)
USB ports	4× USB-A 3.2, 2× USB-C — one reserved for Bridge
Display	HDMI for local console (optional once deployed)
Power	19 V DC, 90 W barrel
Dimensions	117 × 112 × 54 mm
Mounting	Wall, shelf, or VESA bracket

Why this hardware

Pre-Imaged Because Field Time Is Expensive.

The most expensive thing in a Northstar install is a tech in a venue on a Saturday with a problem nobody anticipated. Pre-imaging eliminates an entire class of those problems.

Every Helm leaves our office having booted, joined a lab TrueNorth, run HelmOS for 4 hours, and passed a full Bridge-and-node smoke test. The first time it boots at your venue is the second time it has booted in its life.

Static IP, firewall rule, NSSM service — all configured at imaging.
Power management hardened against Windows defaults.
Auto-update windowed to 3 AM venue time.
Auto-login as showuser so the show recovers from any power blip without keyboard intervention.
Driver bundle for the Bridge included on disk for offline reinstall.

PS> nssm status HelmOS
SERVICE_RUNNING

PS> curl http://localhost:3000/api/status
{
  "show": { "state": "IDLE", "uptime": 142 },
  "nodes": { "total": 12, "online": 12 },
  "bridge": { "connected": true, "port": "COM3" },
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

PS> ipconfig | findstr 10.0.0.1
   IPv4 Address . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1

In the box

Ships Ready to Mount.

1× Helm Unit

Imaged with HelmOS, sealed in tamper-evident box, serial-number tracked.

VESA Mount Plate

100 × 100 mm with M4 hardware. Fits standard equipment cabinets.

Power Adapter

19 V 90 W barrel adapter with US plug. International adapters available on request.

Site Folder Template

Printable venue documentation with Wi-Fi credentials, contact list, opening/closing checklists.

Ready to deploy a Helm?

Tell us about your venue. We'll spec the kit — Helm, Bridge, the right Polaris nodes, TrueNorth — and ship it pre-imaged to your install date.

Request a Kit Installer Training