×

INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Synscan coordinates differ from those of the solver

  • Posts: 80
  • Thank you received: 1
Yes, I was informed about the new release and I already downloaded it.
Unfortunately I had no time to try it, but possibly I am going to try the new release just this night.
However, as I said previously in the discussion, my firmware version is the 4.39.05. Of course I will inform you on the results of my tests. ;)
5 years 9 months ago #26263

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
Frank has V4, I have V3. My V3 has been recently updated. My mount is put away right now, bad weather for a while (plus full moon), so I can't really check the exact version right now. But as of two months ago, it was the most recent V3 firmware.

Maybe, just maybe, it'll work for Frank and not me...
Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by Kevin Ross.
5 years 9 months ago #26266

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
BTW Frank,

If you wanted to, you could put your handset into "PC Direct" mode (it's in the utility menu) and use the EQMod INDI driver instead of the SynScan driver. That will work with the same cable, no new cable required. The EQmod people don't recommend that for long term use, only short term testing. They recommend a proper cable that plugs directly into the mount (not handset) for long term use.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Franck
5 years 9 months ago #26268

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 80
  • Thank you received: 1
This is the result of my test:
I tried to use both the SynScan driver and the EqMount driver, as suggested by Kross.

In the first case (SynScan) some problems occur. The problem should be in the A.R. coordinate. Every time I start to synchronize an object starting from the position of the celestial pole (more or less) the Dec coordinate seems approximately the same, whist this is not the case of the A.R coordinate.
If I synchronize an object once I've already synchronized a previous one, then the error propagates and the position showed by the SynScan marker results completely wrong.
On the other hand, if I run the session using the EqMount driver, the manual synchronization works very well and the marker points at the correct position every time I synchronize an object with the mount.

In order to have a direct view of this test I acquired a video. Apologizes if I am not enough clear.
Thank you again for your efforts! :)

Here the movie...


Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by Franck.
5 years 9 months ago #26271

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
I'm glad you found a working solution!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Franck
5 years 9 months ago #26272

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 80
  • Thank you received: 1
Other than my specific problem, I think that Kstars is a considerably useful and complete software for astrophotography and also for professional astronomy. It really worths to have also this problem fixed in future ;)
5 years 9 months ago #26274

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
Agreed! It's a complete all-in-one solution, that even works in a distributed environment over the network. I have a Raspberry Pi on my scope talking directly to the hardware, while I'm in the house with KStars/Ekos/Stellarium connected to INDI on the Pi over the network. Very nice!

Being free software (free as in freedom, open source) is what attracted me to it in the first place. That it's so feature rich is what keeps me!
5 years 9 months ago #26275

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
I've been corresponding with Skywatcher support, and they said we should only be sending the sync command to the mount, and not the reset position command. We're supposed to have clear skies tonight, so I will make the change locally, and try it out tonight. If it works well, I'll get that checked in.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Greg, Franck
5 years 9 months ago #26440

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
So did some testing. Things are improved, for sure, but not perfect. Plate solving and syncing actually works, mostly! :) The "solve and slew to target" option to re-center a target on screen sorta works. It solves and syncs properly, then slews to the new location properly. But then it takes another image while the mount is still slewing, causing a blurry captured image, which of course fails the plate solve. But it actually got us close enough on the first try I don't mind.

Polar alignment assistant still doesn't work with Synscan driver. The mount has a tendency to go crazy.

But this is a definite improvement. I put in a pull request with the change.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Greg, Franck
5 years 9 months ago #26446

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 80
  • Thank you received: 1
So ...it sounds as a greeeeeat new!!! :D
This improvement is a considerable step forward to solve this problem. :)
Actually, I prefer to use the synscan driver to use kstars ekos around. For this reason I am very interested in your work and I prefer to wait for a new release in which this issue has been fixed. :)
Thank you for your efforts!!!
5 years 9 months ago #26448

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 424
  • Thank you received: 66
Yeah, this Is great news! I'm really interested in the synscan driver too, so I can go to the scope and still get my hand controller features. Its very useful in the field. Thanks!
5 years 9 months ago #26450

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 421
  • Thank you received: 102
The changes have been committed. They should make it into the next nightly build of INDI. If you're using a Raspberry Pi with Raspbian (not Ubuntu Mate) for your INDI server, there are no nightly builds, you would have to build from source.

Polar alignment assistant still doesn't work properly, but regular star alignment with plate solving does work, as long as you're not too far off in your initial pointing (less than 5 degrees). If you do a very rough 1 star alignment from the handset first, then all the subsequent plate solves and syncs should work.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Greg
5 years 9 months ago #26476

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.301 seconds