×

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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Why is the UTC time in KStars/Ekos different from my mount?

  • Posts: 527
  • Thank you received: 139

Interesting, I would have never figured that out. When I put all the correct information into my mount, UTC offset -6 for Central Time (Houston Texas). Currently observing DST (DST On). KStars somehow is off by 1 hour. So I have to turn DST off on the mount, then Kstars displays the correct time. So maybe Kstars is adjusting for DST itself?
3 years 5 months ago #61171

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

  • Posts: 527
  • Thank you received: 139
I should have mentioned too, that I don't auto connect. So the log should show the time. Just search for UTC, and you'll find where it gets the time from the mount. I thought I quoted the relevant line in that post with the log unless that was something else.
3 years 5 months ago #61172

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

If DST is observed, the offset from the mount should be -5. It should say -5 in INDI Control Panel.
3 years 5 months ago #61173

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

  • Posts: 527
  • Thank you received: 139

Yes, this seemed obvious to me. But that's not what it's doing. The mount Offset is -6. That's one setting. Then there's a separate DST setting to Yes or No.

When DST is set to Yes, he mount's clock represents this correctly. But the offset in the mount is still -6.

So the internal mount clock is only for display purposes in the hand controller. And the mount information is not determined by that, but by the actual UTC time (it says this in the manual). So I have to operate the mount with incorrect settings (no DST), and the hand controller shows the wrong time, but EKOS now has the right time.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by Andrew Burwell.
3 years 5 months ago #61174

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

So the mount would send -6 regardless on whether or not the DST is ON/OFF in the hand controller?
3 years 5 months ago #61195

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

  • Posts: 527
  • Thank you received: 139
Yeah, this is correct. I just brought in all my equipment as we're about to have another hurricane in our area. But I'm going to test every parameter around time, and see what comes into EKOS from the mount with each option just to confirm everything before any changes are made.

Despite using the settings I prescribed above, and having the correct time in EKOS as pulled from the mount, my meridian flip went early about 1 hour, so something is still not correct.

Of course, if I make EKOS the master time keeper, everything works as planned. It's only when I make the mount the time and location master that things go wrong. Pointing accuracy is hurt when I sync time and location to the mount, so do need to get the issue sorted out.
3 years 5 months ago #61199

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

  • Posts: 2247
  • Thank you received: 223
same issue here, I've tried DST off / on at the hand controller, it makes no difference.

Mount time: set to what the current GMT+1 is (as current location is London)
Mount DST: off
MOUNT UTC: +060

Ekos:
Mount Updates Kstars
Time sync ticked

and I get in the bottom left corner the time in UTC and not UTC+1
3 years 5 months ago #61201

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

  • Posts: 85
  • Thank you received: 40
Hi all,
I'm not sure if this issue still exists. I've not had it myself. I have no MGPBOX or GPS and use the 'kstars updates time' setting.
If ppl still have this issue then next to Jasem's enable debug log before you connect post earlier in this thread is a good place to start, and maybe this helps for those that are not afraid to telnet to an API :
The 10micron API can be reached on port 3490 as follows :
telnet <your mount IP address or DNS name> 3490
here you can give commands to the mount, like 'what is todays date' and I've added my mounts' responses so you have an idea what format expect
#:GC#
2020-12-24#
or what is your timezone offset ?
#:GG#
-01:00:00.0#
or what time do you think it is now ?
#:GL#
00:21:22.48#
Maybe this helps anyone in finding any discrepancies.
-- Hans
3 years 3 months ago #64913

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

  • Posts: 200
  • Thank you received: 18
I know this is an old thread but wondering if this was ever resolved. Previously I had my 10micron updating kstars and it all seemed to work. After updating kstars to 3.5.9 on ubuntu linux I now seem to have kstars time offset by 1 hour from correct local time and meridian flip is messing up. It seems OK if I set kstars update mount. I have also seen it suggested to not have mount and kstars trying to sync time and let GPS set mount independently of kstars. What is the currently understood best way to do this?
1 year 9 months ago #83360

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

  • Posts: 319
  • Thank you received: 25
The way I manage this is by setting the Linux box time upfront (I'm using RTC) and making sure it is updated, then I run KStars and it is set up to allow KStars to control the time and location of everything else (e.g. the mount)
1 year 9 months ago #83362

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

  • Posts: 6
  • Thank you received: 1
Hi all,

new to this forum :-)

I can find several posts with 'one-hour-off' issues, and I have the same issue with my Meade ETX90.

I get around this by changing the INDI settings in KStars (to not touch date/time in the mount), but I have spent way too many hours finding this issue.

Think I have narrowed it down a bit below, by testing the UTC calculation when DST is active, and when it is inactive.

The test show that DST active, gives a one hour off calculation, whereas DST inactive, gives a correct calculation.

The calculation is performed in lx200telescope.cpp

I'm not a c++ programmer, so I'm not able to create a patch.


The test is:


Location: Denmark
Timezone: GMT+1
Timeformat: 24
Local time - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-04-06T10:01:38
DST is active
UTC is - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-04-06T08:01:38
INDI settings in KStars: Mount Updates KStars. Time and Location checkboxes are checked.


:GG# is: Get UTC offset time
:GL# is: Get Local Time in 24 hour format
:GC# is: Get current date

KStars log show:
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.502 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GG#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.502 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <-02> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [-2] "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GL#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <10:01:38> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [10.0272] "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] <getCalendarDate> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GC#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <04/06/23> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.504 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Time: 2023-04-06T09:01:38 "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.504 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Offset: 2.00 "


i.e. the calculation of UTC from local time, is one hour off, it should read: 2023-04-06T08:01:38

Right after this has been calculated, KStars updates the local time to 11:01:38, where local time is actually 10:01:38.


Doing the same test when DST is not active, correctly gives:
Location: Denmark
Timezone: GMT+1
Timeformat: 24
Local time - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-02-06T10:01:17
DST is inactive
UTC is - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-02-06T09:01:17
INDI settings in KStars: Mount Updates KStars. Time and Location checkboxes are checked.

KStars log show:
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GG#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <-01> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [-1] "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GL#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <10:01:17> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [10.0214] "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] <getCalendarDate> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GC#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <02/06/23> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Time: 2023-02-06T09:01:17 "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Offset: 1.00 "



The calculation takes place in:
github.com/indilib/indi/blob/602be288b3a...e/lx200telescope.cpp

in the function: bool LX200Telescope::sendScopeTime()

and I assume it is the snippet:

ltm.tm_isdst = 0;
// Get local time epoch in UNIX seconds
time_epoch = mktime(&ltm);

that always sets DST to inactive (ltm.tm_isdst = 0).

Regards,
MBantz
11 months 3 weeks ago #91722

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

  • Posts: 6
  • Thank you received: 1
Hi all,

new to this forum!

I can find several posts with 'one-hour-off' issues, and I have the same issue with my Meade ETX90.

I get around this by changing the INDI settings in KStars (to not touch date/time in the mount), but I have spent way too many hours finding this issue.

Think I have narrowed it down a bit below, by testing the UTC calculation when DST is active, and when it is inactive.

The test show that DST active, gives a one hour off calculation, whereas DST inactive, gives a correct calculation.

The calculation is performed in lx200telescope.cpp

I'm not a c++ programmer, so I'm not able to create a patch.


The test is:


Location: Denmark
Timezone: GMT+1
Timeformat: 24
Local time - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-04-06T10:01:38
DST is active
UTC is - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-04-06T08:01:38
INDI settings in KStars: Mount Updates KStars. Time and Location checkboxes are checked.


:GG# is: Get UTC offset time
:GL# is: Get Local Time in 24 hour format
:GC# is: Get current date

KStars log show:
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.502 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GG#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.502 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <-02> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [-2] "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GL#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <10:01:38> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [10.0272] "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] <getCalendarDate> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GC#> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.503 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <04/06/23> "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.504 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Time: 2023-04-06T09:01:38 "
[2023-04-06T10:01:40.504 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Offset: 2.00 "


i.e. the calculation of UTC from local time, is one hour off, it should read: 2023-04-06T08:01:38

Right after this has been calculated, KStars updates the local time to 11:01:38, where local time is actually 10:01:38.


Doing the same test when DST is not active, correctly gives:
Location: Denmark
Timezone: GMT+1
Timeformat: 24
Local time - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-02-06T10:01:17
DST is inactive
UTC is - yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss: 2023-02-06T09:01:17
INDI settings in KStars: Mount Updates KStars. Time and Location checkboxes are checked.

KStars log show:
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GG#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <-01> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.677 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [-1] "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GL#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <10:01:17> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] VAL [10.0214] "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] <getCalendarDate> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] CMD <:GC#> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[SCOPE] RES <02/06/23> "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Time: 2023-02-06T09:01:17 "
[2023-02-06T10:01:18.678 CET DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - ETX90 : "[DEBUG] Mount controller UTC Offset: 1.00 "



The calculation takes place in:
github.com/indilib/indi/blob/602be288b3a...e/lx200telescope.cpp

in the function: bool LX200Telescope::sendScopeTime()

and I assume it is the snippet:

ltm.tm_isdst = 0;
// Get local time epoch in UNIX seconds
time_epoch = mktime(&ltm);

that always sets DST to inactive (ltm.tm_isdst = 0).

Regards,
MBantz
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq
11 months 3 weeks ago #91724

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

Time to create page: 0.934 seconds