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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Lost star when dithering causes capture module to hang

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So I pulled the latest from Git and built it (are there nightly Windows builds somewhere?). The problem of the capture module getting stuck in dithering is indeed fixed. Thank you!

However, when setting the dithering to 10 pixels, it works for a few frames, then it doesn't hardly move at all. When this happens, the guider will say it lost track of the guide star, and then reacquire it and continue guiding. But it will do this for every frame from this point on. Hardly move at all, and say it lost the guide star. I believe this was what was happening before, I don't think this is new to this build. Maybe it's expecting the star to be 10 pixels over, but because it didn't move, maybe that's why it says it lost track?

But at least I made it through the entire evening without the capture module getting stuck! Sweet!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Alfred
5 years 9 months ago #26571

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If you turn on "Guide" logging and send that over, it would help to figure out what's causing this.
5 years 9 months ago #26572

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Sure thing. Clear skies in the forecast tonight, so I'll be doing some imaging.
5 years 9 months ago #26573

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Btw, what's your maximum pulse set at?

EDIT: Please git pull again before you test tonight, I added a couple more debug statements.
Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by Jasem Mutlaq.
5 years 9 months ago #26574

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If you're referring to the control parameters tab in the guiding module, where you can set proportional and integral gain, the max is 5000 and the min is 50

I'm using EQMod for guiding, not ST4, if that matters.
5 years 9 months ago #26576

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Also, I've been messing around with the proportional and integral gain values, just to see what effect they have on guiding, and they seem to have a positive effect. But I don't know if that would mess with the dithering at all.
5 years 9 months ago #26577

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When you say enable guide logging, do you mean saving the guiding session to a CSV file, by hitting the Save icon? Or something else? If something else, I can't find any way to enable logging that references guiding. Only in the main kstars settings, I can enable logging to a file, is that what you mean?
5 years 9 months ago #26579

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Never mind, I figured out the logging. It's the Logs button next to the Start INDI button. :)
5 years 9 months ago #26581

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Here's the log file. The problem happened right away.
5 years 9 months ago #26583
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Thanks for the log, so I know the issue.. but not sure about the solution. Check this section of the log with dithering begins:
[2018-06-15T00:04:52.932 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][   org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - Dithering...
[2018-06-15T00:04:52.932 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - "Dithering in progress."
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.055 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Loading FITS file  "C:/Users/Kevin/AppData/Local/Temp/fitsc12980"
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.065 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Received guide frame.
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.065 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Dithering process started.. Reticle Target Pos X  64.2566  Y  337.383
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.065 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Tracking Square  QRect(43,312 32x32)
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.065 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## BEGIN PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.065 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    X :  59.3008  Y  :  328.722
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle X :  64.2566  Y  : 337.383
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    RA:  163.817  DEC:  908.086
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle RA:  177.507  DEC:  932.012
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> BEFORE ROTATION Diff RA:  -13.6903  DEC:  23.9262
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> AFTER ROTATION  Diff RA:  -27.5556  DEC:  0.760876
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - RA channel ticks:  37  DEC channel ticks:  37
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Processing Axes
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 37 drift[ 0 ][ 37 ] =  -27.5556  , t_delta:  -27.5556
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 0 ]=  -27.5556
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 0 ]=  -0.893619
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 0 ]=  5000
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase RA
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 37 drift[ 1 ][ 37 ] =  0.760876  , t_delta:  0.760876
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 1 ]=  0.760876
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 1 ]=  -0.241818
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 1 ]=  115
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase DEC
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## FINISH PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Capturing frame...
[2018-06-15T00:04:54.070 Eastern Daylight Time WARN ][        org.kde.knotifications] - Audio notification requested, but sound file from notifyrc file was not found, aborting audio notification
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.805 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Loading FITS file  "C:/Users/Kevin/AppData/Local/Temp/fitsi12980"
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.835 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Received guide frame.
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Dithering in progress. Diff star X: -9.97496 Y: 0.275433
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Tracking Square  QRect(43,312 32x32)
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## BEGIN PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    X :  59.7398  Y  :  328.517
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle X :  64.2566  Y  : 337.383
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    RA:  165.03  DEC:  907.519
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle RA:  177.507  DEC:  932.012
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> BEFORE ROTATION Diff RA:  -12.4776  DEC:  24.4934
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> AFTER ROTATION  Diff RA:  -27.4088  DEC:  2.09153
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.840 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - RA channel ticks:  38  DEC channel ticks:  38
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Processing Axes
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 38 drift[ 0 ][ 38 ] =  -27.4088  , t_delta:  -27.4088
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 0 ]=  -27.4088
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 0 ]=  -1.41354
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 0 ]=  5000
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase RA
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 38 drift[ 1 ][ 38 ] =  2.09153  , t_delta:  2.09153
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 1 ]=  2.09153
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 1 ]=  -0.193416
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 1 ]=  389
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.845 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase DEC
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.850 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## FINISH PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.850 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Capturing frame...
[2018-06-15T00:04:56.880 Eastern Daylight Time WARN ][        org.kde.knotifications] - Audio notification requested, but sound file from notifyrc file was not found, aborting audio notification
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.636 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Loading FITS file  "C:/Users/Kevin/AppData/Local/Temp/fitsP12980"
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Received guide frame.
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Dithering in progress. Diff star X: -9.92183 Y: 0.757122
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Tracking Square  QRect(43,312 32x32)
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## BEGIN PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    X :  59.3559  Y  :  328.445
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle X :  64.2566  Y  : 337.383
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    RA:  163.969  DEC:  907.32
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle RA:  177.507  DEC:  932.012
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> BEFORE ROTATION Diff RA:  -13.5382  DEC:  24.6921
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> AFTER ROTATION  Diff RA:  -28.1304  DEC:  1.28926
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - RA channel ticks:  39  DEC channel ticks:  39
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Processing Axes
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 39 drift[ 0 ][ 39 ] =  -28.1304  , t_delta:  -28.1304
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 0 ]=  -28.1304
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 0 ]=  -1.93726
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 0 ]=  5000
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase RA
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 39 drift[ 1 ][ 39 ] =  1.28926  , t_delta:  1.28926
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 1 ]=  1.28926
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 1 ]=  -0.148631
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 1 ]=  235
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase DEC
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## FINISH PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.651 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Capturing frame...
[2018-06-15T00:04:58.656 Eastern Daylight Time WARN ][        org.kde.knotifications] - Audio notification requested, but sound file from notifyrc file was not found, aborting audio notification
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.276 Eastern Daylight Time INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Loading FITS file  "C:/Users/Kevin/AppData/Local/Temp/fitsw12980"
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Received guide frame.
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Dithering in progress. Diff star X: -10.1831 Y: 0.466704
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Tracking Square  QRect(43,312 32x32)
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## BEGIN PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    X :  59.44  Y  :  328.353
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle X :  64.2566  Y  : 337.383
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Star    RA:  164.201  DEC:  907.067
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Reticle RA:  177.507  DEC:  932.012
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> BEFORE ROTATION Diff RA:  -13.3059  DEC:  24.9451
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - -------> AFTER ROTATION  Diff RA:  -28.2256  DEC:  1.61931
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - RA channel ticks:  40  DEC channel ticks:  40
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Processing Axes
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 40 drift[ 0 ][ 40 ] =  -28.2256  , t_delta:  -28.2256
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 0 ]=  -28.2256
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 0 ]=  -2.51274
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 0 ]=  5000
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase RA
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.296 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - At # 40 drift[ 1 ][ 40 ] =  1.61931  , t_delta:  1.61931
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - delta         [ 1 ]=  1.61931
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - drift_integral[ 1 ]=  -0.112771
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - pulse_length  [ 1 ]=  306
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Direction     :  Increase DEC
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - ################## FINISH PROCESSING ##################
[2018-06-15T00:05:02.301 Eastern Daylight Time DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - m_starLostCounter 0 m_highPulseCounter 4

So this works by moving until current position (i.e. Star) matches target position (i.e. Reticle). You can see even with maximum 5000 pulse, it's not moving much. From the rotation matrix, the DEC diff is actually not that big which explains the relatively small corrections in DEC. I think this is somewhat related to the dither pixel being as large as they are now (10 pixels). I'm going to have to investigate this further now.
Last edit: 5 years 9 months ago by Jasem Mutlaq.
5 years 9 months ago #26585

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If you come up with something, I won't be able to test for a few days, I'm going out of town for the weekend. And who knows what the weather will be like when I get back. They can barely predict what the weather will be tomorrow, let alone 4 days from now!
5 years 9 months ago #26586

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Is it possible the eqmod driver rejects large guide pulses? Is there an internal limit or anything like that? Would explain why smaller dithers seem to move the mount just fine, but larger ones and the scope doesn't move.

I could probably also try guiding via ST4 instead of via eqmod, if you think that would make a difference. But as I said, it will have to wait for a few days.

Thanks!
-- Kevin
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq
5 years 9 months ago #26587

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