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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Driver OnStep (LX200 like) for INDI

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I see! I'm more sure than ever we have parallel operations going on. I'm going to hold off a bit but weather permitting I'll try that in my mega when I get the chance.
5 years 8 months ago #27469

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That's correct.

kbahey's solution is to have sync call the align function, and is a better solution, because it enables the mount model without issues.

Mine does that manually, with the current Alpha. Unlike azwing's original align code, It doesn't care about only going to the stars that OnStep would accept, which was required, before the change to the geometric align. Thus why I said use the Align tab (Which should still work, but requires it to be done the old way.) or the original.
5 years 8 months ago #27486

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To expand on James' point: Alpha, as of a week or so ago, has a change to the OnStep alignment code that removes restriction on where in the sky the alignment stars can be.

This means that we are free to use the Mount Model feature of Ekos, with my internal 'step through align' code that is in my branch.

Allows for unattended alignment. What are these things called eyepieces?
5 years 8 months ago #27487

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I may get a chance to test it tomorrow Night but the humidity and heat are challenging right now. I tried out a new battery holder and caused a nice thunderstorm...then emptied over an inch of water from the "closed" box today. No damage noted so far - batteries are mostly sealed, but the charger got pretty wet. It's been set aside to dry and I'm going to take it to work and put it in our parts dryer. The mount was covered but you can bet I'll be looking for more wet spots before powering.
update: cloudy. :smirk:
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Ray Wells.
5 years 8 months ago #27490

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I ran into an issue with Onstep and ccdciel combination where clock of onstep is not initialized with current clock of PC. As a result, mount positioning is totally off. Interestingly KStars does not have this issue - it seems to be sending the currend data/time to Onstep.
Initially I thought that the fix should be in ccdciel but later changed my mind and am thinking that maybe this should be fixed in the INDI driver. Maybe more conservative approach would be to have a button somewhere in the INDI control panel which would allow user to initialize the date/time manually.
What are your thoughts?
Alex
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Alex Varakin.
5 years 8 months ago #27543

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Another question I have is about focuser - looks like only the private branch in github has the code which allows the focuser to be visible in KStars. The public release does not have this feature yet. What is the plan in terms of merging this code into the public release?
5 years 8 months ago #27544

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Hello again Alex :-)

By ccdciel, you mean CdC/Cartes du Ciels?

If so, are you using it via an ASCOM driver, INDI driver, or direct LX200?
With the direct LX200, there is a problem with date format (or was that latitude/longitude? Can't remember).

With ASCOM or INDI, that should not be the case, since the driver should 'understand' what the command formats are are do them correctly.

There is already a feature in KStars to set the date/time for OnStep (or any INDI telescope driver) from the PC, or vice versa. It is under Settings -> Configure KStars -> INDI, then Time and Location Updates. But that is only at the KStars level, not the INDI level.
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Khalid.
5 years 8 months ago #27545

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Hey Khalid!
ccdciel is a lesser known software by Patrick Chevalley, who also wrote CdC. It is similar to Ekos and is intended for imaging. I run my setup under Linux using INDI, ccdiciel for image capturing and CdC as a planetarium. I tried using Ekos few times but had weird issues, on the other hand ccdciel is extremely stable for me.
Thank you for confirming that Ekos has a feature to sync the clock. I filed a feature request with ccdciel about having the same feature in ccdciel, but then I thought that maybe this feature shoudl be in the INDI driver so that all clients can get use of this feature.

Alex
5 years 8 months ago #27547

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I use CdC regularly. In my opinion it is the best free planetarium out there. Feature rich, written by an experienced astronomer for astronomers. Better than Stellarium (which only has the more realistic sky image going for it), and KStars (which has Ekos that is better than anything else). The Ephemeris alone is bar none.

But when I played around with INDI under CdC, it was, well, weird compared to the INDI experience under KStars.

So, I do my observation planning (on my desktop) in CdC, but the actual night out under the stars is with KStars (from a separate old laptop dedicated to astronomy).

If Ekos could run under CdC, then it would be a match made in heaven, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Different worlds.
5 years 8 months ago #27548

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Khalid, Are you doing Astro Photography at night? If so, CCDCiel is a great match for CDC. It runs the camera, focuser, plate solving etc.
5 years 8 months ago #27549

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I found you can also force a time update by going to the clock icon which brings up the date/time dialog and hitting "now" which will update the time tab in indi-onstep and(i'm pretty sure) will update the mount. I usually use the android app to do this at startup as i'm right there at the mount and away from the pc end, but this comes in handy when I forget to do it(or running from hoards of bugs). Adding a real time clock module cuts down on this, and I think I read that it also helps tracking.

p.s. @kbahey I'll be trying again to get that test if conditions allow it. I read back to find that link and figured out we had forum lag on top of everything else. My journal post was trying to test for Jame Lan's indi changes. As he likes your method as well I'll now be shifting over to try out your stuff, clouds willing.

@Avarakin: I also had issues with the layout in CCdiel and never really got it working with indi. I think @knro expects us to be using Kstars for testing the driver at this point so it might complicate things. You could start a CCDiel thread and list your issues there and maybe somebody will pick it up and continue to unravel things. I did find indi control panel was the same between the two when I tried it a while back.
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Ray Wells. Reason: update
5 years 8 months ago #27569

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Hi Ray,

I could not find the clock icon you are referring to. Where is it?
I was also thinking about getting a RTC, this should be useful for imaging at a remote site with my RPi which does not have clock. Is it possible to attach GPS to Onstep as a source of accurate time?
Alex
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by Alex Varakin.
5 years 8 months ago #27572

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