Hi,
I hope someone deep into the Ekos system can help me. I have a Canon 6D that is controlled by Ekos, the Astroberry 2.0.4. and Pi4 4GB Raspberry.

1.
When an exposure is finished Ekos order the camera to transfer the file in raw format, about 24MB. It takes about 4 seconds, and then another 10 seconds until it has stored the raw file on the USB memory I have attached.

A little bit strange, if I set it up to store the image file in Fits format it download the file from the camera in only 1 second, how could it be like that, it's the same raw (*.C2) file ?

2.
Why does the Ekos not send command for a new exposure alreday when the file is transfered ? It could be done after only 4 seconds, not 14 seconds as it's now.

Is Ekos a multi tasking system ? Is there any way to setup it to speed up the waste time between the exposures ? Especially when doing auto focusing, it need at lleast 15 images until it find the optimal focus. The plate solving also get slow because of this. It doesn't matter if I setup the camera in single shot or multi burst mode.

I have documented what I have done here:
www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/tutorials/t...d-data-transfer.html

/Lars

I tested different setup of the INDI DSLR Canon driver. But whatever I change I couldn't get it faster to transfer the file from the camera.

Here are the testing I did:

www.astrofriend.eu/astronomy/tutorials/t...d-data-transfer.html

If the mount could start the dithering before downloading it wouldn't be that waste of time. As it's now the dither doesn't start until the transfer of the last image is finished.

/Lars

I am using a Raspberry pi 4 with a canon Ra, and transfer takes around 4 - 5 seconds on USB2 and 3 - 4 seconds on USB3, I am not saving the files on the camera SD card.

I store fits files on the sd card.

The raspberry pi is using s Sandisk ultra 32Gb class 10 A1 micro sd card.

I did try running the raspberry pi entirely on an nvme disc using a USB adapter. In speed tests it is dramatically faster, and it speeded up boot and loading apps a bit, it made no difference once taking sequences of images.

I find the serial operation of ekos / indi really annoying, and it also means the camera heats up more, increasing the noise.

I have found that when the camera is not taking a picture it is heating up quite quickly, when taking long exposure photos it cools down while the shutter is open. On my camera the temperature is recorded in the raw and fits file.

Using libgphoto2 (which is what the indi dslr driver uses I believe), it is quite easy to :

1. open shutter
2. close shutter
3. open shutter for next image
4. transfer image while next image being taken

This only works well if the transfer time is less than the exposure time!

I suspect that ekos / indi architecture means this approach is impractical / wopuld require major changes in several different areas

I appreciate the information and advice you have shared. I'm currently experiencing the exact same thing.

Have you tried the "Fast Exposure" setting in the drivers control panel options? Previously it didn't help me with my Nikon, but it may help in your case.

UPDATE: I just tested it now without dithering (daylight) and 5x30 sec exposures took 3:32 vs 2:55 with "Fast Exposure" turned on. There is a display quirk in the capture wiindow in showing the exposure time after the image is downloaded, but othewise it seems to work.

Oh! looks good, I'll give it a try

Thanks for all information and tricks. I have given up about the Canon 6D, it's too slow. Whatever setting I use, always 9 seconds transfer time.

Looking for a Nikon D800, more pixel and the Sony sensor. But even that camera I expect to have a slow transfer time.

/Lars

FYI with my USB 3 Nikon Z7 transferring to kstars (90M fits) on a MeLe Quieter 3C the time reported is about 2.7 sec. In Reality it's a little longer as there appear to be other factors beyond what that timer captures. The fast exposure mode has helped. A RPi4 with a SSD is also reasonably quick. With a 20 minute exposure it's not that critical .

Maybe I solved the problem with the slow transfer of data from the camera to Raspberry. I setup a new astroserver system with a Raspberry Pi5, this time I chose the 64-bit version. It's not finished yet but when testing the Canon 6D camera it now transfer the image file in 2.9 seconds, much faster than the earlier 9 second.

I have also read the the 32-bit system isn't developed anymore. The Astroberry is based on 32-bit, but a new 64-bit version is in plan I think.

Lars