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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Items from last night's INDI/Ekos/Kstars session

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Looks like #3 might be addressed with changes here: indilib.org/forum/ekos/2259-aborting-aut...internal-guider.html

Will test and report back.

A comment on #1, the gpsd problem is fixed, and I was hoping it was the cause for an issue that I was having, but the issue persists. I have a Sirius EQ-G, and the scope pointer in kstars does not match the location in the sky. That is, when I slew to an object, it is usually off by an amount that seems to be constant, and I am then correcting to where I want with plate solving. I have not been able to find a way to sync the red reticle to the actual sky view, and have just been using it with plate solving and ignoring it. It would be nice to have it in sync. Said a different way, once I am done with centering/solving, the white rectangle that shows my sensor view of the sky is accurate, but the red eqmod reticle will be off. I can take some screen captures later to show what I am talking about.
6 years 10 months ago #16966
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yeah, screenshots would help, make sure time is valid in KStars. Make sure KStars is NOT paused.
6 years 10 months ago #16967
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Let's see if this works. .mkv attached of my screen running the eqmod mount with the latest bleeding kstars. I was viewing another item in the sky, and then told it to slew to Dubhe.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq
Last edit: 6 years 10 months ago by Jim. Reason: attachment did not work
6 years 10 months ago #16980
Attachments:

    eqmod-mount.mkv

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I suspect EQMOD is jumping around due to the model probably operating at some fringe case. Don't quote me here, this is just a guess. What you could do is to delete ~/.indi/AlignData.xml file and make sure to clear the model (in mount tab there is a button for that). See if that helps. Also turn on logging for EQMod driver (check all boxes) itself from INDI Control Panel as it can help diagnose the issue if this doesn't work.
6 years 10 months ago #16985
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I should have said more, but was tired last night when I finally got everything going to make the video, and sky conditions went downhill fast with fog rolling in.

I suspected it might be an edge case, so I tried a lot of things. Hopefully this will be helpful, and I will get a debug log the next time I am allowed.

* It happens on every slew, like the video depicts
* At the end, the frame is where it should be, only the pointer is off
* I have tried completely clearing the data as you suggested, it does not make a difference
* the polar alignment was under 1 arc minute (nice work on that, very easy to use)
* the time and location were correct

Some subjective observations:

* something is off between the mount and the view. Even with 5 or more synced points in the sky, the initial go-to is off. It feels (subjective) like it is off by the distance between the eqmod pointer in kstars and the actual sky view like it is at the end of the video. You can see this in the video as well. Because of this seeming consistency in sky distance, I suspected something with time, and have been focusing on the bugs like gpsd, but those seem to be mostly fixed now, and everything I can think to check with time/location appears to be okay. The oddity of it being synced after plate solving, the image being accurate, and then the pointer jumping still makes me think something is going on with time, somewhere.

Anything else I can provide along with a set of logs, I would be happy to.
6 years 10 months ago #16991
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I bet it's a sync/align issue. Clear the model in Ekos panel AND go to Align tab in your EQMod INDI panel and click Clear List. Then do an initial sync with Ekos plate solving and you should be fine.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jim
6 years 10 months ago #17004
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I like easy solutions. Will give that a try and report back.
6 years 10 months ago #17006
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last night, I took your advice on resetting everything. I also removed the .indi/eqmod file just to be sure. I went through the align and sync, and can report that it is now closer than it was before, but still jumps away from the solved area where the scope is actually pointing. It did change though, and the reticle for the eqmod mount is now at least touching the white rectangle from the solver. Because it changed, it seems like we are in the right area of where the problem is, but the initial go-to is still based on the location of the eqmod reticle, and so it has to solve and slew multiple times to center the view. Unfortunately, I started playing around, and did not capture a debug log, so hopefully tonight I can get that done.
Last edit: 6 years 9 months ago by Jim. Reason: logs attached
6 years 9 months ago #17035
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*bump* @knro were the logs helpful?
6 years 9 months ago #17084
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I would like to report that the issues in the opening post have been addressed in one way or another. On the 6th of June, I set up with the latest code and ran all night without any of the issues mentioned in the opening post. I am closing this thread, and will open another one for the eqmod pointer problem only.

A big thank you to all that helped me with these and answered questions. This is a first-class project.
6 years 9 months ago #17212
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Just wanted to share the following experience gathered this evening. As reported before, I started using an outdoor router to run "outside" Ekos-client on the laptop, with the raspberry pi to host the indisevers (eqmod, asi zwo ccd and asi zwo guide cam, moonlite / arduino focuser). In principle, it seems to work well, a SIM card is not required to operate within the network (consisting of laptop and raspberry).

I experienced the issue with "looping exposure", when attempting to take a picture with the ASI071 first time, i.e. the camera fails to take an exposure / download the picture and continously repeats. It turned out that the issue occured for the following reason: In the profile editor I was selecting both for the "CCD" and the "Guider" the ASI ZWO driver (as I am running the ASI071 and the ASI120 that seems logical to me). When selecting only once the ASI ZWO driver, for example for the CCD, everything works fine!

What has been working really well is running the solver option "remote" (instead of via the internet), by chosing "Astrometry" as auxillary device in the profile editor, which I find amazing.

One thing where I did not manage to produce a positive result yet is the internal guider, where the calibration got aborted after 30 attempts, see screenshot. As per the autogenerate comments, something might be wrong with the eqmod-settings, but I have no idea where the error could be (see screenshot).

I would be grateful if someone could help .
6 years 6 months ago #18910
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Same issue here last time I (quickly) tried with a V4L2 guiding camera: Ekos guider says it cannot move the mount back to the original location.

-Eric
6 years 6 months ago #18916
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