After searching a couple of hours in logs and on this forum I came on a message of Copello :

Copello wrote: The ASI120MM (USB2) and also the ASI130MM (USB2) is well known for making trouble under Linux. I own the 130MM and can only use the camera in 8 bit mode. In 16 bit it is very unreliable and just makes trouble.
If you search here in forum for "120mm" you will find all the trouble reports. Also the reports are reported in ZWO forum.

What works though is the 120MM-S USB3 version.

Did some tests today. It seems that the ZWO ASI driver is conflicting with the EQMOD driver. When I only launch the ZWO ASI driver it works. It also works with the Canon driver. When adding the eqmod, the ZWO ASI stops working.

Gunther

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Last weeks I upgraded my rig with a Raspberry PI 4 and a Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox V2. On the raspberry PI 4 I have installed the latest version Astroberry.

My rig uses a ZWO ASI 120MM mini guiding camera which worked excellent with my pervious Raspberry PI 3 with Stellarmate. Now it is acting strange. When using Ekos the ZWO ASI 120MM won't work always. Sometimes it stops and I get the message "getExposureStatus failed".

I read in previous threads that this could be a firmware issue and USB3. But the camera works well with PHD2 and it is connected through USB2 ports.

What do I miss or can I fix ?

Here is the part of the log when it goes wrong :

[2019-12-16T08:56:09.243 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] CCD Frame ROI x:0 y:0 w:1280 h:960 "
[2019-12-16T08:56:09.258 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] Setting frame buffer size to 2457600 bytes. "
[2019-12-16T08:56:09.259 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] Requested CCD Frame is (0,0) (1280 x 960) "
[2019-12-16T08:56:09.259 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] CCD Frame ROI x:0 y:0 w:1280 h:960 "
[2019-12-16T08:56:09.309 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] Setting frame buffer size to 2457600 bytes. "
[2019-12-16T08:56:09.316 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] StartExposure->setexp : 1.000s "
[2019-12-16T08:56:11.602 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] ASIGetExpStatus failed. Restarting exposure... "
[2019-12-16T08:56:11.679 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] StartExposure->setexp : 1.000s "
[2019-12-16T08:56:13.992 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] ASIGetExpStatus failed. Restarting exposure... "
[2019-12-16T08:56:14.194 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - ZWO CCD ASI120MM Mini : "[DEBUG] StartExposure->setexp : 1.000s "

This week my new rapsberry PI 4 arrived. I installed Astroberry without any problems.

I have noticed that in Kstars the reference to ASTAP is /usr/local/share/bin/ASTAP, but ASTAP is installed in /opt/astap/ASTAP. So I made a symbolic link in /usr/local/share/bin to the binary. Then ASTAP works fine in KStars.

When I performed plate solving with Astromery.net (online) it took 101 s. Performing plate solving with Astrometry.net (offline) took 29s. ASTAP managed the job in 8s.

Now I'm waiting for some clear skies to perform the ultimate test

Kind regards,
Gunther

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Jasem,

I got the same message "Cap device is missing but the job requires flat or dark cap device". When I change it as you mentioned : Change Frame to Dark/Bias and then click the "Calibration" button. Set the source to manual. It works for one preview. When I create a sequence I get the message again. It is probably stored in a configuration file. But where?

Kind regards,
Gunther

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Thanks for the info.

I just checked how it works. Each time I connect my Canon 700D DSLR to my mac the PTP program pops up in my activity monitor. So basically always shut down the PTP program before starting Ekos.

kind regards,
Gunther

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Last night I got my gear connected through a USB hub to my Mac. I got the message included in the attachment. As a result my canon DSLR is having problems getting connected also when I connect it directly to my Mac. I have a Canon 700D DSLR and a ZWO ASI120mini.

It seems I found reason why the HEQ5 randomly stops tracking. It seems that the EQMOD driver is loaded with the option to stop tracking when the horizon is on its limits. When I unmark this option the HEQ5 tracks without a problem. I was logging the mount and I found following records at the moment the tracking stopped :

2019-02-16T09:37:47: [INFO] Setting Backlash compensation - RA=10 microsteps DE=10 microsteps
2019-02-16T09:37:47: [INFO] updateLocation: long = 4.72417 lat = 50.8297
2019-02-16T09:37:47: [INFO] Loading device configuration...
2019-02-16T09:37:47: [WARNING] Can not load HorizonLimits Data File ~/.indi/HorizonData.txt: No such file or directory
2019-02-16T09:37:47: [INFO] updateLocation: long = 0 lat = 0
2019-02-16T09:37:47: [INFO] Mount is parked.

kind regards,
Gunther

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I had copied the files manually and it works Thank you for make it so easy.

Gunther

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Hi Kaczorek,

I have downloaded the suggested driver bu I have trouble with the last step for building the driver. It is the make install command.

Can you make something out of this message?

[ 10%] Performing update step for 'libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT'
Current branch master is up to date.
No stash found.
No stash found.
No stash found.
CMake Error at /home/stellarmate/astroberry-amh/build/libs/AdafruitStepperMotorHAT_CPP/tmp/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT-gitupdate.cmake:136 (message):


Failed to unstash changes in:
'/home/stellarmate/astroberry-amh/libs/AdafruitStepperMotorHAT_CPP/'.

You will have to resolve the conflicts manually

CMakeFiles/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT.dir/build.make:94: recipe for target 'libs/AdafruitStepperMotorHAT_CPP/src/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT-stamp/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT-update' failed
make[2]: *** [libs/AdafruitStepperMotorHAT_CPP/src/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT-stamp/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT-update] Error 1
CMakeFiles/Makefile2:67: recipe for target 'CMakeFiles/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT.dir/all' failed
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/libAdafruitStepperMotorHAT.dir/all] Error 2
Makefile:127: recipe for target 'all' failed
make: *** [all] Error 2

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Yesterday I received my Adafruit Motor HAT earlier then expect. So I started working on my focusser. In the image you can see the Adafruit Motor HAT attached to the Raspberry Pi and to a hybdrid stepper motor. I connected the stepper motor as a bipolar motor.

Thanks for the input.

By the end of the week the Adafruit Motor HAT will be in my local store. I'll ask for a 12V stepper motor and try to get that to work. Then I will begin with step two: putting it on my telescope. I have a Starway Crayford Focusser with a 10:1 micro focussing. A canon 700D will be attached to it.

Hi all,

I have ordered te ADAFruit DC and stepper motor HAT for raspberry PI 3b+ to build my focusser. Any suggestions on the type of stepper motor I should buy with it?

Kind regards,
Gunther

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Hi all,

After weeks of cloudy weather, yesterday it was finally clear. So I could test my setup for the first time. I have a mobile set-up :

• HEQ5
• Skywatcher refractor 120/600
• Canon 700D
• Guiding : ZWO 120mini on a guiderscope 50/160
• Raspberry Pi 3B+