×

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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Does Any of This Work At All

  • Posts: 1067
  • Thank you received: 140
First of all, the platesolve has never worked very well with sims, especially if you pointed at Polaris, also try unbined and also with dark frame subtraction, bu I assure you the system does work very well…..
also you need to make sure you have all the index files installed as the platesolve will not work without them….this is a manual install, but just needs to be done once….
Last edit: 2 years 7 months ago by AstroNerd.
2 years 7 months ago #74038

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 969
  • Thank you received: 94
Hi
Be sure to check both verbose and file in the log selection window. The astrometry log goes by default to. /tmp
HTH
2 years 7 months ago #74041

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi Astronerd,

Thanks for the reply. I did install all the index files I could get. Its odd because there are quite a few videos on Youtube demonstrating plate solving and polar alignment using ekos/kstars using the simulated devices and they work perfectly. I expected the simulated devices to be, in effect, perfect. I didn't explain properly but I gave up pointing the simulated telescope at any particular location. Irrespective of where it is pointing it takes an image with the simulated ccd and I can see lots of stars in the image but the solver says there are not enough stars. It also says that the image is 320 pixels in each direction which I suspect is the issue but I can't find any setting for that.

Oh well, it just goes to show: Don't believe Youtube videos.

Thanks again anyway.
 
2 years 7 months ago #74042

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi Alacant,

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought of that. The button on the logging page opens a directory in a completely different location but when I think about it, the logs for this are coming from an external program so perhaps that button is unrelated. Sadly however, despite ticking verbose and file there are no useful or relevant files in /tmp. The 2 that come closest are one called internalSextractorSolver_4.cancel which contains the word "cancel" and nothing else. The other one is called indififoa34d22f6 and is completely empty. There is also a directory called kstars but that is empty.

Something else I just noticed: With a camera gain of 0.0 it claims to find 4 stars even though I can see more than that in the image. Setting the gain to 10.0 and it then claims that it cannot find any stars.

I'll maybe give it another go by building from sources on a Linux distribution of my choice rather than using Raspbian stuff that I don't like but then again I am not sure it is worth the effort.

Thanks again anyway.
2 years 7 months ago #74043

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

It should work if you decrease the scope focal length from 900 to say 400. Go to mount tab, change focal length of primary scope to 400, then go back and solve and it should work. Problem is with narrow FOVs it can fail or take a long time to solve.
2 years 7 months ago #74044

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi Jasem,

Thanks for the suggestion. 400 still didn't work but I made it 100 and that worked in that it took three images and plate solved each of them. However, it never produced the RA and DEC vectors which I have seen on Youtube videos and in the documentation. Well I say that it worked but it is hard to be sure since the image on the screen is so small. Even full screen and with maximum zooming it still only occupies a square about 5cm by 5cm in the middle of the much larger screen. Why it will not zoom out further than that will remain a mystery to me.

I have given up now. The only reason I was interested was because it was stated by several people that it supported the camera I have but as I can't get it to work with the simulated camera I suspect I am not going to get it to work with my old Nikon.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.
2 years 7 months ago #74048

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

I was able to solve in just 1.3 seconds with a focal length of 700.

  
2 years 7 months ago #74056
Attachments:

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I had another go. Starting with a formatted SD card and reinstalling everything all over again including all the index files. It finished at around 5AM this morning. Having sat through the entire night mainly watching it downloading index files you can imagine just how pleased I was when it didn't work again. It completely fails to solve and it cannot do polar alignment using the simulated devices. it makes little or no difference what focal length I use and it makes even less difference what exposure settings I use.

Note this is a straight install from the recommended download site (astroberry). I get the same results whether I use the astroberryos or a vanilla Raspbian with the ekos stuff added. It just can't solve any image no matter where I point the camera/telescope. In the attached screenshot I have copied the settings as far as possible from the image you attached and the result is the same: "Solver failed" as you can see in the attached screenshot.
2 years 7 months ago #74060
Attachments:

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

There aren't enough stars there, put the gain to 90 or something.
2 years 7 months ago #74062

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi Again,

Thanks for all your help with this. Setting the gain to 90 has made it work. Would I be right in thinking that simulated mount is already pointing at true north? I wondered about this as when I do a polar align the green/yellow/purple triangle is tiny and the alt az error is 10 or 20 arc seconds which is why the triangle is tiny I suppose. Anyway, thanks for all your help with this and for getting it working.
 
2 years 7 months ago #74074

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 1067
  • Thank you received: 140
Also, DO NOT try and solve on Polaris, you are asking for it not to work, move to another part of the sky….mine never works on Polaris either…..
2 years 7 months ago #74075

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 9
  • Thank you received: 0

Replied by Colin on topic Does Any of This Work At All

Hi Astronerd,

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a go.
2 years 7 months ago #74120

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 1.670 seconds