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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Running a distributed INDI-based astro-imaging setup

Great work Chris! This deserves to be featured!

Small note: you do not need to use sudo and you can drop the -m 100 from the commands above. The rest looks correct and spot on!
Furthermore, have you tried using KStars for MacOS instead of running it in Parallels? KStars 2.9.8 was just released yesterday.
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5 years 7 months ago #28789

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Thanks, Jasem!

Cool. I will remove sudo and -m.

I tried the MacOS KStars a year ago or so, but I'm used to running it under Ubuntu Mate, and I just went with that. I will check out the new Mac version!
5 years 7 months ago #28794

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So let me get this right. You guide, dither, image, slew, plate solve and focus all from the MacBook through the distributed INDI system in the two raspberry pi’s? Wow! Got any image to show that you took using this setup?

And another question: you save the images on the first raspberry pi and then transfer them to your processing machine (I suppose your MacBook) later or download them instantaneously via wifi?
Last edit: 5 years 7 months ago by Wouter van Reeven.
5 years 7 months ago #28795

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No images yet with this particular setup with the secondary Raspberry Pi, but I will after the next clear night! The only difference between what I described in the post and what I normally run is the additional Raspberry Pi dedicated to controlling the mount. That, and now I want to run everything off batteries located on the mount so I don't have cables going anywhere.

I have a couple different setups that I've been running for about a year. Which one I use depends on the camera, and that's mainly because large FITS files tend to slow things down. So, I do both: with smaller FITS files I setup a remote profile in the INDI control panel and do everything locally in KStars and Ekos as if my Mac is connected directly to the devices, and every command in the image sequence (change filters, shoot exposures) goes over wifi, and every image comes back and appears in the viewer as if the devices are local. The same applies to auto focusing, plate solving, guiding, etc.

For narrowband I typically use my Atik414EX, which has 6.45μ pixels at a resolution of 1394x1040, and this produces small FITS files, which transfer quickly. Nothing is stored on the Raspberry Pi in this case, but it does all the direct work with the devices. In the capture tab I have the directory set to "local", which will transfer the captured image to my Mac. You can also set it to "both" and store it on the remote and local machines.

For color imaging I have a ZWO ASI071MC, which has an APS-C sized 16MP sensor with 4.8μ pixels. The 32MB FITS files do not transfer quickly, and so I would rather they remain local to the machine connected directly to the devices. In this case I VNC into the remote machine and run everything from there.

Almost every image I've posted over the last year in my astro journal (saltwaterwitch.com/astronomy) uses one of these two methods--narrowband: remotely controlled with image data and everything else transferred over wifi, and color: VNC into the remote machine to control it directly and the image remain on the remote machine to be copied off after the night's run.

Here's a screenshot of the Profile Editor in KStars on my Mac for the above setup. Mode is set to "Remote" with the Primary Pi's IP address over port 7624. When you hit "Start INDI" all the devices connect and from my point of view it's as if they are all plugged into my local machine.

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Last edit: 5 years 7 months ago by Chris Howard.
5 years 7 months ago #28797

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Very interesting. Thanks for the detailed reply!
5 years 7 months ago #28800

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Hi,

i often use such a setup, with three distant devices :

First : Odroid
  • Mount
  • ASI178 or ASI224
  • DIY Moonlite Focuser

Second : RPi
  • ASI120MM (USB2)

Third : Conventional and powerfull HTPC
  • Astrometry

The reason to use ASI120 on its own device is that it's the only way to make it work :blink:
And the use of HTPC is for performance, Astrometry is faster than light.

The "difficult" part is to launch driver, but it all works very well
I think we can now use webmanager to chain server, i saw a commit on Github that should resolve the problem we had to do that (config file)

Gilles.
Last edit: 5 years 7 months ago by gehelem.
5 years 7 months ago #28830

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Is your RPi an RPi2 running an older kernel? The reason I ask is that ASI120MM and ASI120MC (USB2) no longer work on new Linux kernels (some 4.x version and newer) due to stricter requirements for devices to follow the USB2 protocol which the ASI120 M[MC] don’t follow. So using an older Linux with an older kernel should be a workaround for that conflict.
5 years 7 months ago #28831

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Well, this is a Pi 3 with a fresh Stellarmate install, updated with usual tools, giving this :
stellarmate@stellarmate:~$ uname -r
4.14.50-v7+
ASI120 has been flashed with "compatible firmware"
But 16bit capture still breaks
This is good enough for guiding
5 years 7 months ago #28832

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Ah yes flashing it can help. I tried but it didn’t work so I bought an ASI120MC-S and that works flawlessly.
5 years 7 months ago #28837

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You have to use the -compatible.acc file. The other one will not work.
5 years 7 months ago #28838

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Yes I did. Perhaps I was suffering from the same 16 bit image capture issue as Gilles, I don’t know. Anyway, that’s not an issue for me anymore :)
5 years 7 months ago #28839

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What a cool setup, don't forget to put it in the topic Post your INDI Setup! .
Could you please tell me more about that mini scope? found the answer on your website
William Optics ZS61.
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Last edit: 5 years 7 months ago by Gonzothegreat.
5 years 7 months ago #28939

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