I'm currently developing a mount driver for INDI and encountering an unexpected behavior with KStars. When using the 'Slew telescope to the focused object' button in the main KStars planetarium view, my mount correctly performs a GoTo operation but always switches to "Track" mode regardless of the chosen ON_COORD_SET option (Track/Slew/Sync).

This behavior differs from manually entering coordinates in Ekos's RA/Dec field, where the mount performs as expected (GoTo and then either tracks or stops based on the selected ON_COORD_SET option).

After thoroughly reviewing my code and ensuring my implementation of the INDI::Telescope class doesn't inadvertently alter the ON_COORD_SET / CoordSP state, I suspect that KStars might be influencing this behavior. However, tracing the logic within the KStars codebase hasn't led me to a clear conclusion.

Questions:

1. Is this the expected behavior when using the 'Slew telescope to focused object' button in KStars?
2. How can I achieve a scenario where I select an object in the KStars planetarium view, command the mount to slew to it, but without automatically engaging the tracking mode?

Any insights or pointers towards what might be causing this behavior or how to control it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Chris,

I can't really answer your questions but why would you want to goto a target but not track it? (The moment the goto completes and tracking is not set on, you will not be at the target Ra.)

I might be wrong but as I understand things, for most mounts at the end of a goto, the mount will automatically start tracking. I would think the logic for this is to avoid latency of a "goto" followed by a "start tracking" resulting in the target Ra not being tracked. I don't know, however, if this is done in the mount or driver, or some combination. I believe Eqmod does things this way.

I'm not sure why the behaviour is different if you enter coordinates.

I'm developing the driver primarily for satellite observation and tracking, so the GoTo a star and sit is a convenience.

Probably more deeply though is the desire to restore function to the "SLEW" and "SYNC" buttons in "On Set" which currently have no function with how kstars overrides their status.

Users who always want to track after goto can leave the "Track" button set!

Chris,

Chris,

If I read your email correctly, you want to slew to an object so that you can wait for a satellite to cross the path.

I think you would still want to track under these circumstances.

The only reason I can think of to turn off tracking is to time an object crossing the field of view but maybe I am missing something.

Paul

Paul,

Rest assured there are reasons to point to a location and stop. I might want to wait for a satellite (or several) to cross through this field of view before repositioning. I intend to integrate this INDI mount implementation with sattoolssattools , which works in this fashion.

I guess I can get my functionality through the "Set" button on HorizontalCoordsNP, but I had assumed that the functionality would be same (respecting the TRACK/SLEW/SYNC buttons) coming from KStars. Coming from KStars is more convenient for casual observing through, as I can look in the sky, know the star, and click on it. Instead of the interim step of manually figuring out what the coordinates are and then typing them in to Ekos, or slewing and then having to manually disable tracking.

Chris,

The bit I don't understand is "wait for a satellite to cross through this field of view" because the Earth is turning and the telescope needs to track to keep the same field of view.

Paul

The camera has a wide field of view and there may be uncertainty on a satellite's orbital position or timing. The point of the observation is to collect data to confirm or improve the satellite orbit parameters.