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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Kstars crashes when taking flats

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If autoexposuremodes can be toggled by software, the solution is pretty simple and straightforward:

1. The user enters the exposure time.
2. Ekos checks whether the exposure time selected is <=1s or not.

In case it is <=1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) set autoexposuremode to "M"
b) set force bulb to OFF (do we still need this option at all?)
c) use widget shutterspeed:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to OFF
b) use widget shutterspeed:

In case it is >1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) set autoexposuremode to "B"
b) set force bulb to ON
c) use bulb widget eosremoterelease:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to ON
b) use bulb widget eosremoterelease:
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Alfred.
4 years 5 months ago #44776

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And maybe with this solution we could get rid of the force bulb option altogether.
4 years 5 months ago #44777

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If autoexposuremodes can NOT be toggled by software, just a minor change has to be made:

1. The user enters the exposure time.
2. Ekos checks whether the exposure time selected is <=1s or not.

In case it is <=1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) check whether autoexposuremode is set to "M". If yes, continue. If no, display a requester asking the user to set the cam to "M" mode and wait for confirmation (click at OK).
b) set force bulb to OFF
c) use widget shutterspeed:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to OFF
b) use widget shutterspeed:

In case it is >1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) check whether autoexposuremode is set to "B". If yes, continue. If no, display a requester asking the user to set the cam to "B" mode and wait for confirmation (click at OK).
b) set force bulb to ON
c) use bulb widget eosremoterelease:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to ON
b) use bulb widget eosremoterelease:

---

Taking flats should be done in "M" mode 100% of the time, regardless of exposure time selected. A requester asking the user to set the camera to "M" mode should pop up if the camera is set to "B".
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Alfred.
4 years 5 months ago #44779

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I just realized I should have mentioned that the former procedure is for lights.
4 years 5 months ago #44780

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Ok so I will try to take a more conservative approach. I'm attaching gphoto_driver.cpp file, please copy it to indi-gphoto directory and compile and test.

So the way it works now is this:

+ Check if we have an <strong>exact</strong> predefined exposure (within 0.001 second).
+ For B/M cameras.
++ If no exact exposure is found and camera mode is MANUAL, it fails and asks user to change dial to Bulb if exposure is > 1s, for < 1s, it asks the user the select an exact exposure from the list.
++ If predefined exact exposure is found and camera mode is BULB, it discards the exact exposure index and uses bulb. If exposure time < 1s, it warns the user that the results would not be accurate and advise them to change to MANUAL.

+ For all other cameras
++ Make sure auto exposure is either bulb or manual
++ If exact predefined exposure is found, it will use that (regardless of the time).
++ If no exact predefined exposure found, use bulb but warn user that exposure is not suitable if the exposure time is less than a second.

I pushed the code to indi-3rdparty branch gphoto_autoexposure so try to compile from that.
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Jasem Mutlaq.
4 years 5 months ago #44842
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Ok, is there any way for me to find out whether my camera is being recognized and treated as a B/M camera? I can't find anything in the logfile.

The warnings are in the logfile only, there are no warnings in the UI so far. Is this intended?

I am afraid I don't fully understand how git branches affect my local directories. In indi-3rdparty I entered "git checkout gphoto_autoexposure" and "git branch -l" then lists gphoto_autoexposure as active. What confuses me is when I do a git pull the system tells me everything was up to date. I would expect to see gphoto_driver.cpp being updated when switching back to master again. This does not happen though. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal behaviour?

In any event, your latest code including B/M camera treatment is present here and I think it has been compiled correctly.

the logfile documents my attempt to take 4 pictures. The first two (1/10 and 1/100) had the dial set to "B". As expected, Ekos fell back to eosremoterelease. No warning in the UI.

I then set the dial to "M" and took another two photos (again 1/10 and 1/100). It appears Ekos didn't notice the dial setting had changed to "M" and treated these two attempts like it was still set to "B".
4 years 5 months ago #44851
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You compiled it correct, it's v2.9 of the driver.

It appears that if you connect to the driver in Bulb mode, then shutterspeed only has one item (bulb). So when you switched to Manual, that remained as is. Now I'm not sure if it would be possible to query shutterspeed again or not while the driver is running. This needs further investigation and trial & error to see what can be done.
4 years 5 months ago #44853

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I see. Available shutterspeeds have to be updated before every single exposure. Should that be impossible to do, the B/M camera user would have to disconnect and reconnect which is not an acceptable way of handling it.

I'll be available for testing all day.
4 years 5 months ago #44854

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This time I connected to the cam with the dial set to "M". I did 6 exposures, the first two in "M" (1/10, 1/100), switched to "B" and did the same two again, then switched back to "M" and tried these two again.

The first two went OK with the execption that Ekos did not complain about the fact that the requested 1/100s did not match what is available in the cam (1/90s). Instead, it used 1/90s which is OK IMO but it's not what you said it would do.

Exposures 3 and 4 in "B" mode were taken but I have no idea what exposure times were actually used. Exposures 5 and 6 went as expected (same as 1 and 2).

Switching from "M" to "B" does not make Ekos take bulb exposures.
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Alfred.
4 years 5 months ago #44856
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