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INDI Library v2.0.7 is Released (01 Apr 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

HEQ5 control

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HEQ5 control was created by Greg

I'm raising this issue again because I do NOT want to confuse it with those who use EQMOD. I am NOT using EQMOD. (I just discovered that I do not need EQMOD for computer control of the HEQ5. So last night I tried using the Celestron Nexstar mount driver, which works fine. Using Celestron Nexstar protocol is recommended in the HEQ5 manual)

However, I could not sync up the mount's idea of park and Ekos' idea of park. If I setup the HEQ5 with the hand controller and leave it in park, and I start Ekos, it reports that the mount is in park and it reports the correct Alt/Az/RA/DEC. If I click unpark, nothing happens, which is good but if I then click park, the mount slews DEC to 45 deg. What is going on here??? I also saw a console message saying the config was being overridden. I've rebooted the RPi3 at the mount and restarted Kstars/Ekos but it keeps doing this.

Why is setting the park position such an issue??? In the control panel for the mount, there are buttons that appear to set park to current or default but this does not seem to work.

Ps: the mount is connected to a stellarmate box which is remote to my laptop which is running kstars/ekos
Last edit: 6 years 2 months ago by Greg.
6 years 2 months ago #23544

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Replied by Greg on topic HEQ5 control

I think this problem may have also been addressed by YouTube video “Part 5: Time, location & parking settings”

Although I couldn’t get kstars to park according to the hand controler park location.
6 years 2 months ago #23552

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Replied by Greg on topic HEQ5 control

Parking is not working when using HEQ5 control via Celestron nexstar driver as recommended by the manufacturer.

If I put the mount in PC Direct mode and connect using eqmod driver. the park feature is working.

However, this is not desirable because it inhibits motion control via the hand controller which is necessary when operating at a dark site (i.e. mobile site)
6 years 2 months ago #23558

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Replied by Andrew on topic HEQ5 control

I believe driver such as Celestron Nexstar and EQMod are intended to be used direct to mount. So my intuition is they don't have the same command set that a passthrough configuration has. Does the SynScan driver work for you since you are going through the hand controller?
The following user(s) said Thank You: Greg
6 years 2 months ago #23559

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Replied by Greg on topic HEQ5 control

Yes, Celestron nexstar driver worked without using PC direct. however I could not park it properly.

I will try the SynScan driver and get back in a few mins.
6 years 2 months ago #23560

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Replied by Greg on topic HEQ5 control

Thank you @lhoujin ! The SynScan driver is working for pointing and parking - non-pc direct . Unfortunately, when setting preferences to get location information from the mount, this created an error. The mount was reset to lat/long of 0 deg/0 deg. and Kstars had the wrong orientation in the sky. This looks like a bug.

However I can use it like this by using custom cities for the location.
Last edit: 6 years 2 months ago by Greg.
6 years 2 months ago #23561

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Replied by Andrew on topic HEQ5 control

Awesome. Glad that worked out.
6 years 2 months ago #23565

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Replied by Eric on topic HEQ5 control

EDIT: sorry this is not so related to your issue, I didn't read your post thoroughly enough. But the issue is there anyway.

I just stumbled into that issue tonight, as I rebuilt indi from the latest source. After digging in the code, it is inditelescope that has a bug.

I'm not sure what impact and side-effect this top-level code has, but there is something wrong between the state of the buttons and the actual state of the mount.

I did a quick hack to show the incoherence, and force park/unpark when this is detected, but this will need regression testing to be fixed properly.

diff --git a/libindi/libs/indibase/inditelescope.cpp b/libindi/libs/indibase/inditelescope.cpp
index 21e67e0..0e57333 100644
--- a/libindi/libs/indibase/inditelescope.cpp
+++ b/libindi/libs/indibase/inditelescope.cpp
@@ -992,14 +992,21 @@ bool INDI::Telescope::ISNewSwitch(const char *dev, const char *name, ISState *st
 
             bool toPark = (ParkS[0].s == ISS_ON);
 
+            bool incoherentState = (toPark != IsParked);
+
             if (toPark == false && TrackState != SCOPE_PARKED)
             {
                 IUResetSwitch(&ParkSP);
                 ParkS[1].s = ISS_ON;
                 ParkSP.s   = IPS_IDLE;
-                DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Telescope already unparked.");
-                IDSetSwitch(&ParkSP, nullptr);
-                return true;
+                if(incoherentState)
+                    DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Incoherent state, forcing park.");
+                else
+                {
+                    DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Telescope already unparked.");
+                    IDSetSwitch(&ParkSP, nullptr);
+                    return true;
+                }
             }
 
             if (toPark && TrackState == SCOPE_PARKED)
@@ -1007,9 +1014,14 @@ bool INDI::Telescope::ISNewSwitch(const char *dev, const char *name, ISState *st
                 IUResetSwitch(&ParkSP);
                 ParkS[0].s = ISS_ON;
                 ParkSP.s   = IPS_IDLE;
-                DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Telescope already parked.");
-                IDSetSwitch(&ParkSP, nullptr);
-                return true;
+                if(incoherentState)
+                    DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Incoherent state, forcing unpark.");
+                else
+                {
+                    DEBUG(INDI::Logger::DBG_SESSION, "Telescope already parked.");
+                    IDSetSwitch(&ParkSP, nullptr);
+                    return true;
+                }
             }
 
             RememberTrackState = TrackState;
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by Eric.
6 years 1 month ago #23617

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Replied by Csaba Kertesz on topic HEQ5 control


Did you set the location in KStars before connecting the mount with the Synscan driver? The default behaviour in the INDI driver that it sends (overwrites) the latitude/longitude coordinates upon connection establishment. Entering the coordinates manually in the handcontroller is not support and not really needed since you can accurately set these values in KStars location settings.
6 years 1 month ago #23663

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