Hi Everyone,

I want to control a Celestron NexStart mount using Raspberry Pi 3 through WiFi connection.
Raspberry Pi comes with Python as the default programming tool.

I am new to INDI and I like to learn it to some extend. Please let me know where to begin and what to read.

Cheers.

How do you connect to Celestron now? RS232->USB, WiFi, Bluetooth adapter?

At the moment I am using "Celestron SkyPortal" mobile app and WiFi connection to control the mount.

Then try to use the INDI Celestron driver but under connections select "Ethernet" instead of "Serial" and put the IP address and port of the mount (assuming it's on WiFi)

Thank you for replying.

But your answer didn't help me at all. Like I said I am new to INDI. I've never used it. The website doesn't provide a useful document on how to use it.

I also tried to install "PyIndi-Client" module in my Raspberry Pi 3. But it exits with an error.

So basically I have no idea what to do and where to look for information.

You need to use a client like KStars to connect to Raspberry pi. INDI server must be running on Raspberry PI with the celestron driver. From KStars, you connect to INDI and from INDI Control Panel, you make these changes.

To make it clear what I want to do, let me put it in this way.

I need to write a simple client program. The client program simply tells the mount to rotate a specific angle.

The project is not related to astronomy so I don't want to use other clients softwares.

I can use both Python and C languages.

However for Raspberry Pi 3, I prefer to use Python.

Follow PyINDI tutorial and then issue commands to the mount, there are Standard Properties to send motion/slew commands to mounts.

So it's Mount

---

> WiFi ----> INDI server running mount driver ----> PyINDI client code

Once you run INDI server with the mount driver, eg.
You can use Python to query properties and send commands. Before you connect to the mount, you need to set the conection switch to Ethernet and then fill in the required IP address and port of the WiFi mount and connect. More properties will be defined once the mount is connected, then you can use python to control it.

Thanks a lot.
Your previous reply was really helpful. I can use Python code for the simulation drivers.

Now I have some other issues.
How can I find the IP address and port of the mount? I checked the specifications and datasheet. It gives no clue about it.

The mount I am using came as a part of the following setup:

www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/.../nexstar-evolution-8

The manual says it can be in Access Mode (aka hotspot) or you can join it to your WiFi network. So the IP depends on how you connect it. There is no information on the port used, you have to ask Celestron or find it from another source.

Thanks for the tips.
I realized the WiFi module has an IP address of 1.2.3.4
Using "nmap" tool in linux, I'm trying to find the available ports. I also asked the customer serive of Celestron.

Now in your previous reply, you talked about changing the connection to "Ethernet", It would be your kind if you can suggest an example of help page so that I can go though and learn about it.

Cheers.

Hopefully, the people from Celestron were kind enough to give me detailed information on WiFi module.
If Direct connection method is used, the default IP address is "1.2.3.4" and port no is "2000".
So having this information, how can I change the connection method in INDI Python program.

I followed the second example in PyIndi , while setting the variable monitored to "Celestron GPS".
The code runs and shows some properties which I assume are the default properties.

Then, there is this part:
Forgive my ignorance. But this code doesn't make sense to me.
the variable cmonitor is refering to a property named "CONNECTION".
why are we setting the member variable s to "CONNECT" and "DISCONNECT" at the same time?!?!?

Let's say I need to set the device IP and port, therefore I need to set the "DEVICE_PORT" property. This property has only one member. Then, how can I set both IP and port of the mount?

Cheers.