Anyone have any info on the AUX command 0x05 ?
Just wondering, I do not see it enumerated in the auxproto.h nor in the doc from paquettefamily.ca/nexstar/NexStar_AUX_Commands_10.pdf

This is what I see from the HC towards the ALT/AZ on startup
0x3b 0x03 0x0d 0x11 0x05 0xda To ALT, CMD = 5 ???
0x3b 0x05 0x11 0x0d 0x05 0x0c 0x82 0x4a
0x3b 0x03 0x0d 0x10 0x05 0xdb To AZ, CMD = 5 ???
0x3b 0x05 0x10 0x0d 0x05 0x0c 0x82 0x4b

Just wondering about AUX command and not specifically about the indi aux driver

Hi,
I have added some features to the indi_celestron_aux driver.
1. direct mount USB connection.
2. cordwrap position computed by alignment subsystem.
3. autoguide: the code is roughly copied from Rick's driver indi_celestron_cgx.
Unfortunately, I haven't any checking setup, so they compile and run without fatal errors but the functionality is completely untested.
If someone brave and patient wants to try them, the code is here github.com/fabriziop/indi-3rdparty/tree/celestronaux_eqtrack

Quick question please,

Is this a valid command?
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.ALIGNMENT_SUBSYSTEM_ACTIVE.ALIGNMENT SUBSYSTEM ACTIVE=On"

I am trying to do a scripted startup of a Celestron and this is throwing an error

Thank you for your time,

Gene

Can you please submit the driver for inclusion in INDI 3rd-party repo? This way it can make it to the nightlies and this would make testing a lot easier by end users.

Below is as far as I have gotten in scripting the startup for the Aux driver
The goal for this is I have added index sensors for the base whose status can be read via PI GPIO pins and are at a known location for my local sidereal time and scope altitude
Given the scope is at the ALT/AZ index sensors, the RA/DEC can be calculated close enough that a goto and plate solve will home it in.

So far the initial Connect must be done through the driver screen, I have not found a -t for the connect that does not error back
Two scripts are required, one sets the time and location and enables the math plugin and then need to drop over to the driver screen to enable the alignment subsystem, more on this below.

Script 1, set the parameters time, location
============================================================
#/!bin/bash
port=7624

MYLONG=40:00:00
MYLAT= 275:00:00
MYELEV=100

indi_setprop -p $port -t 10 "Celestron AUX.CONNECTION.CONNECT=On"
indi_setprop -p $port "Celestron AUX.ALIGNMENT_SUBSYSTEM_MATH_PLUGINS.INBUILT_MATH_PLUGIN=On"
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.GEOGRAPHIC_COORD.LAT;LONG;ELEV=$MYLONG;$MYLAT;$MYELEV"

#Now calculate UTC and set my offset
DATE1=`date -u --iso-8601=ns`
DATE2=(${DATE1//\,/ })
DATE=${DATE2[0]}
DATE="$DATE;-5"
echo $DATE

indi_setprop -p $port "Celestron AUX.TIME_UTC.UTC;OFFSET=$DATE"

#Here it is broken because I so far cannot find a way to setprop to set the subsystem active
echo "Now set alignment system active in driver then set RA"

#### indi_setprop -p $port "Celestron AUX.ALIGNMENT_SUBSYSTEM_ACTIVE.ALIGNMENT SUBSYSTEM ACTIVE=On"

exit 1
============================================================

After going back to the driver screen and enabling alignment subsystem
Script 2, set an initial RA/DEC then do a small slew to enable tracking
=====================================================
#/!bin/bash
port=7624

indi_setprop -p $port -t 10 "Celestron AUX.CONNECTION.CONNECT=On"
NEWRA=23:20:00
DEC=-34:10:10
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.ON_COORD_SET.SYNC=On"
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.EQUATORIAL_EOD_COORD.RA;DEC=$NEWRA;$DEC"
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.ON_COORD_SET.SYNC=On"
NEWRA=23:25:00
DEC=-34:10:10
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.ON_COORD_SET.TRACK=On"
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.EQUATORIAL_EOD_COORD.RA;DEC=$NEWRA;$DEC"

Hello Fabrizio,

I finally got around to building your latest code and have just spent a couple of hours testing, so far all is good. The cord-wrap works a treat.
I can only test in Alt/Az.

Ken

Hello Ken,

thanks for your feedback.

Fabrizio

Quick question please,

Is this a valid command for the AUX driver?
indi_setprop "Celestron AUX.ALIGNMENT_SUBSYSTEM_ACTIVE.ALIGNMENT SUBSYSTEM ACTIVE=On"

I am trying to do a scripted startup of a Celestron and this is throwing an error

Thank you for your time,

Gene

Sorry, but I use the driver with Kstars only and I have no skill about direct scripting.

Thank you.

What would be the sequence of operations using Kstars/Ekos to use the aux driver in Equatorial North mode please?
I keep seeing this with AltRate never 0
How far apart should the first, second and third etc sync's be in RA/DEC ?

09:53:05.081: [INFO] ReadScopeStatus - RA 20.812913 hours DEC -9.423441 degrees
09:53:06.168: [INFO] Tracking - Calculated Alt -15.151356 deg ; Az 156.548387 deg
09:53:06.169: [INFO] Target (AltAz): -15.151356 156.548387 Scope (AltAz) -15.100665 156.304250
09:53:06.169: [INFO] TimerHit - Tracking AltRate -3040 AzRate 14647 ; Pos diff (deg): Alt: -0.052828 Az: 0.240476

Gene

Hi Fabrizio,

Please be advised I added the following in the 'handshake' routine
bool CelestronAUX::Handshake()
...

LOG_INFO("Connection ready. Starting Processing.");
//ESN
SetApproximateMountAlignmentFromMountType(EQUATORIAL);
return true;
}

And in
bool CelestronAUX::updateLocation(double latitude, double longitude, double elevation)
{
//ESN
UpdateLocation(latitude, longitude, elevation);
SetApproximateMountAlignmentFromMountType(EQUATORIAL);

Matching up with equmod driver
handshake:
#ifdef WITH_ALIGN
// Set this according to mount type
SetApproximateMountAlignmentFromMountType(EQUATORIAL);
#endif

LOG_INFO("Successfully connected to EQMod Mount.");
return true;

And
#ifdef WITH_ALIGN
INDI::AlignmentSubsystem::AlignmentSubsystemForDrivers::UpdateLocation(latitude, longitude, elevation);
// Set this according to mount type
SetApproximateMountAlignmentFromMountType(EQUATORIAL);
#endif

Hi,

I am the first author of the driver.
First: Thanks all of you, brave souls, for testing the driver!
Just a reminder, since I have noticed some of this mentioned in few posts:

• <strong>Never</strong> use the driver with HC active (moving, alignment etc.). It is fine to use it as a serial interface. If you do, both HC and the driver will probably get confused and the movement will be unpredictable.
• We got a <strong>nasty</strong> bug in recent release (1.8.9) - the type for the position got changed to unsigned during refactoring. The effect is fast movement below encoder position 0 on Alt axis (If you have tracking on). It is already fixed in master. <strong>Please</strong> update your testing build with this fix.
• Remember that this is a <strong>beta</strong> level driver during development. <strong>Never</strong> operate it unattended without ability to stop the erratic motion. I do not want to have your damaged hardware on my conscience. If you test with OTA on the mount have your clutches not tighten - so if the tube bumps on something it will not get damaged.
• The initial code was intended to AltAz mount, so the EQ case is newer and less tested. Be extra careful. E.g. this recent bug is probably worse for EQ - since negative Alt is rare in operation. Negative Dec - not so much.
• My new development right now is located in this PR at github: github.com/indilib/indi-3rdparty/pull/348

Thanks again for testing and continuous improvements.