Hi Pontius

The sensor questions in their spam blocker, can be a bit tricky, especially if you get one of them wrong... then the site won't let you complete even after you've corrected the error... unless you reload the page... It must be an error in the webserver...

Thanks, Anders. Yeah I was trying to register using my phone browser and it kept kicking me out, so I went back in later on my PC and got registered. Then I found the posting that Qui had done back in December offering USB protocol details to developers who are willing to sign the NDA. So I requested the info. Like I said, I think it's a really smart mechanical solution and I'd love to see it supported under INDI / Ekos.

A silly idea.
I wonder if it could be possible to have a blind polar alignment using sound.
Let me explain. If I have no screen near the mount, situation that could happen when in remote.
After running the AP till the end at home,
I move to the mount,
To perform the correction, without screen, I listen to the sound given by a speaker plugged in the Pi, if I I walk away the target the speaker gives beeps which frequency decrease with increasing distance to the target, on the other hand beeps frequency increase when approaching the target and the sound get uninterrupted when the target is within an acceptable distance.

Sounds like a good idea but difficult to implement. This would require not only loop-capturing images but also loop-resolving them. Both take significant time so sound feedback might include material lagtime. Anyway I would use it if it's feasible to implement it.

Dear Jasem,

I've been away from the forum for a while and just returned to see that you already made an Ekos Polar Alignment Assistant. This is really impressive and I'd like to thank you for all your effort! This will make a big difference for me!! I will report back as soon as I can test the tool under the stars.

Best wishes
Stephan

Hi,

Just a little feedback about this tool. I made my polar alignment using this assistant. Everything works fine and it seems to be accurate. I've done 900s exposure frame without problem.
However, I didn't check the accuracy with another tool but to me it seems to be good .

The tool is very simple to use, it's like using the PoleMaster software.

Great job !!

Davy

Just wanted to say I finally had some clear skies to test this one and I'm OVER THE MOON about how nice it is! 16 arc-seconds off in under 5 minutes. My hat is off to you Jasem, you're awesome.

Just to report on tonight alignment. I have put the mount very close to the NCP and tested the wizard and it worked very well indeed!
BUT if the mount is not close enough to the pole and it asks to move the mount, it always detects the NCP on the wrong side of URSA MINOR. It does capture and solve the images correctly but moves to the wrong direction (inverted). Anyone having this issue????

Not sure if I had the same, but I indeed did get a message that the NCP wasn't in view (while I must have been very close) and when I gave permission to move the mount it went too far and I cancelled it. I redid it, ignored the message and all went fine anyway.

Part of the message is hidden for the guests. Please log in or register to see it.
I will check this out on my mount and see if I can reproduce it. Thanks for the report.

Can someone also try to verify the results by using another method to double check? It doesn't appear that anyone check their results with another method thus far.

I encountered this. It appears to trace wide arcs and then the pointer jumped 180°. I thought it was cone error preventing me from pointing at NPC, but I recalibrated that and I wasn't that far off.
Using EQMod Driver with Skywatcher HEQ5

Supernov that's exactly what happened to me but I did let it finish the movement and noticed the wrong place on kstars. Then I made a second alignment and like you, it worked.

Ihoujin I noticed that jump too. When it reaches very close to polaris it jumps 180°.