INDI Library - Recently Added Listings - Auxiliary https://indilib.org/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 03:21:33 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 DragonLIGHT Flat Panel Controller https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/dragonlight-flat-panel-controller.html Installation

DragonLIGHT is included with libindi. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indi-bin

Features

The DragonLIGHT is a DC powered flat panel controller to illuminate any 12V light source.

Configuration

As a network device, you will need to connect the DragonLIGHT to your network. Just connect the ethernet port to your router or switch and it will automatically get an IP address. Now you can use the "Discover" button in the INDI Control Panel to find the DragonLIGHT.

If you wish to add WiFi connectivity, just type the IP address of the device into your web browser and use the built in web page to configure WiFi.

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rickbassham Fri, 15 Mar 2024 18:05:39 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/dragonlight-flat-panel-controller.html
CheapoDC Dew Controller https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/cheapodc-dew-controller.html ]]> Tunafish Sat, 09 Mar 2024 07:19:39 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/cheapodc-dew-controller.html Arduino MeteoStation SQM https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-meteostation-sqm.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:38:07 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-meteostation-sqm.html Arduino Roof https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-roof.html naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:35:53 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-roof.html Arduino Servo https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-servo.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:33:44 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-servo.html Arduino Cosmos https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-cosmos.html naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:32:44 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-cosmos.html Arduino Stepper https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-stepper.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:26:32 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-stepper.html Arduino Demo https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-demo.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 10:25:43 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-demo.html Arduino Digital Inputs https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-digital-inputs.html naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 09:58:51 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-digital-inputs.html Arduino Switcher https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-switcher.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 09:56:32 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-switcher.html Arduino Simple Switcher https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-simple-switcher.html naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 09:55:29 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-simple-switcher.html ASI ST4 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/asi-st4.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 08:43:33 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/asi-st4.html RTKLIB Precise Positioning https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/rtklib-precise-positioning.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 07:52:08 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/rtklib-precise-positioning.html Arduino Power Box https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-power-box.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 06:01:43 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/arduino-power-box.html LIME-SDR Receiver https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/lime-sdr-receiver.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 05:47:38 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/lime-sdr-receiver.html SpectraCyber https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/spectracyber.html ]]> naheedsa Sun, 19 Nov 2023 05:44:51 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/spectracyber.html PlaneWave Delta-T https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/planewave-delta-t.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 15:03:12 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/planewave-delta-t.html Pegasus PPBM https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ppbm.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:45:15 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ppbm.html Pegasus PPB https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ppb.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:32:49 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ppb.html Pegasus FlatMaster https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-flatmaster.html ]]> naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 13:00:17 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-flatmaster.html Imager Agent https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/imager-agent.html naheedsa Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:34:17 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/imager-agent.html MyDCP4ESP32 Dew Controller https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/mydcp4esp32-dew-controller.html

Installation

INDI myDCP4ESP32 driver is included with libindi >= 2.0.1. To Install the driver under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

myDCP4ESP32 is an enhanced 4-Channel automated Dew Controller designed by Robert Brown, based on an ESP32 WiFi chip. The project is open sourced with details found on the project site.

Current features include:

  • Fully automated standalone operation or monitoring/control from any device
  • 4 channel temperature probes and dew channel outputs
  • Tracking modes - Ambient, Midpoint, Dew point
  • Tracking offset can be set to adjust response
  • Offsets can be applied to each channel for compensate for probe variations
  • Channel override support for temporary 100% power boost
  • 3rd channel standard, manual and mirroring modes to mirror channels 1 and 2

Before starting the driver, make sure all temperature probes are connected and then power on the controller. All temperature values reported in the driver interface are in degrees celsius.

When running the driver for the first time, go to the Connection tab and select Network and the port to connect to. After making changes in the Connection tab, go to Options tab and save the settings.

Connection

Connection support is based on the configuration of the firmware when built and installed on the controller. TCP/IP network connections are recommended but serial connections via USB is also supported.

Connection

  • Network: WiFi connectivity in either Access Point Mode or Station Mode. Use TCP with the default port number of 3131. mDNS support is available with a default name of mydcp4esp32.local otherwise and IP address will need to be used. LAN Search if enable also works if you don't know the IP address.
  • Serial: Serial connectivity via USB is supported with a default speed of 57,600 baud.
  • Reboot: The Reboot button will cause the dew controller to reboot. The MyDCP3ESP32 driver will attempt to reconnect every 10 seconds for up to 60 seconds.

Operation

Options

Under the options tab, you can configure parameters to optimize the operation of the dew controller.

Options

  • Debug: Not currently supported.
  • Configuration: Load/Save/set to Default/Purge the configuration. Only the Connection and Polling settings are affected by this control. All other configuration information is automatically saved and recovered from the myDCP4ESP32 dew controller.
  • Polling: Polling defines the period in milliseconds that the driver uses to retrieve data from the dew controller. The default is 10,000 milliseconds or 10 seconds. This is also the shortest recommended polling period.
  • T Offset: Temperature Offset for the different temperatures reported and used by the controller.
    • Tracking: Temperature Offset used to adjust the three tracking algorithms. The tracking algorithm may be selected on the Main Control tab.
    • Ambient: Temperature Offset used to adjust the reported ambient temperature. This will also affect the calculation of the dew point.
    • Channel 1: Temperature Offset used to adjust the reported temperature for Channel 1.
    • Channel 2: Temperature Offset used to adjust the reported temperature for Channel 2.
    • Channel 3: Temperature Offset used to adjust the reported temperature for Channel 3.
    • Channel 4: Temperature Offset used to adjust the reported temperature for Channel 4.
  • 100% Boost: Set one or multiple channels to 100% override power for the dew strap. 100% Boost will automatically cancel for each channel after 1 minute. A channel must be active for the 100% override to activate.
  • Ch3 Mode: Select the operating mode for Channel 3:
    • Disabled: Disable the operation of Channel 3. No power will be output to the Channel 3 dew strap port.
    • Channel 1: Channel 3 will mirror Channel 1. The power output to the Channel 3 dew strap will be the same as for Channel 1.
    • Channel 2: Channel 3 will mirror Channel 2. The power output to the Channel 3 dew strap will be the same as for Channel 2.
    • Manual: The Channel 3 dew strap power output is manually controlled using the Ch3 Manual Power control.
    • Channel 3: If Channel 3 is active the dew strap power will be controlled based on the Channel 3 temperature probe.
  • Ch3 Manual Power: Manually set the power level for the Channel 3 dew strap port. This control is only available when Ch3 Mode is set to Manual.

Main Control

The main control tab is where the tracking mode used for setting the outputs of the dew controller is set and the primary information used by the controller is reported.

Main Control

  • Connection: Shows current connection state as well as the ability to Connect or Disconnect.
  • Tracking: Shows the current tracking mode as well as the ability to change the tracking mode. Details on the tracking modes and how they affect power output to the dew strap ports follows. The information is taken from the myDCP4ESP32 documentation, &copy Robert Brown.

    Determining how much power to apply to the Dew Straps

    There needs to be a way to calculate how much power to apply to the dew straps based on some value (tracking mode) as well as a range of temperature bands (range) over which the dew strap power is altered.

    In general, most dew controllers operate relative to the dew point temperature, and try to maintain the telescope optics temperature at some delta point above the dew point. The myDCP4ESP32 controller has three different methods of maintaining optics temperature which are

    • Ambient
    • Dew point
    • Midpoint

    Users are advised to spend an evening session monitoring the values, trying various tracking modes and offset values to determine what they feel is best for their equipment setup. Having the flexibility of adjustment provided by the myDCP4ESP32 unit should meet even the most demanding of situations.

    Temperature Tracking Algorithms

    Power output to a dew controller channel is determined by the tracking mode and the adjusted temperature of channels temperature probe. The output is determined as indicated in the following table.

    Tracking Algorithms

    Tracking Examples

    Ambient

    Power output for a channel is determined by the number of degrees celsius the probe temperature is below ambient temperature. If the probe temperature is 5 degrees below ambient then the power output is set to 50% for the dew strap port.

    Dew point

    Power output for a channel is determined by the number of degrees celsius the probe temperature is away from the calculated dew point temperature. As the probe temperature drops towards the dew point power to the dew strap port is increased until it reaches 100% at 1 degree above the dew point.

    Midpoint

    Power output for a channel is determined by the number of degrees celsius the probe temperature is relative to the midpoint between the ambient temperature and the dew point. If the ambient temperature is 20℃ and the dew point is 2℃ then the midpoint is 11℃, AT-(AT-DP)/2. If the probe temperature is at or above 20℃ then output is 0% but as the probe temperature drops below 17℃ ,AT<3, power is set to 10%. When the probe temperature drops to the midpoint, 11℃, then power is set to 20% until probe temperature drops to 9℃, AT-(((AT-DP)/2)+2) where power is set to 50%. At the dew point, 2℃, and below power is 100%.

    Tracking Offset

    Tracking offset is set in the Options tab and affects the algorithms by adjusting them by the offset. For example with Ambient tracking a tracking offset of 3 would adjust the ambient algorithm up 3℃. This would cause output to be 10% at 2℃ above ambient temperature instead of 1℃ below ambient temperature.

  • Temperature Ambient: The adjusted ambient temperature. The raw ambient temperature detected by the controller's sensor plus the Ambient T Offset.
  • Humidity: The relative humidity detected by the controller's sensor.
  • Dew Point: The dew point calculated by the dew controller based on the ambient temperature and relative humidity.
  • Sensors: Indicates which dew channels are active based on detecting the presence of a temperature probe. This is a readonly control, clicking on the radio buttons will not cause an action to be executed.
  • Temperature: The temperature for each channel. If a channel has no probe then it is not active and will show 0.00℃.
      • Channel 1: Adjusted temperature reported for channel 1. The raw temperature detected by temperature probe 1 plus the Channel 1 T Offset.
      • Channel 2: Adjusted temperature reported for channel 2. The raw temperature detected by temperature probe 2 plus the Channel 2 T Offset.
      • Channel 3: Adjusted temperature reported for channel 3. The raw temperature detected by temperature probe 3 plus the Channel 3 T Offset.

    Note: A temperature may only be reported for Channel 3 if the Ch3 Mode is set to Channel 3.

    • Channel 4: Adjusted temperature reported for channel 4. The raw temperature detected by temperature probe 4 plus the Channel 4 T Offset.
  • Power: The power output for each channel reported as a percentage from 0 to 100.
    • Channel 1: Power output currently available at dew channel 1.
    • Channel 2: Power output currently available at dew channel 2.
    • Channel 3: Power output currently available at dew channel 3.
    • Channel 4: Power output currently available at dew channel 4.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you find a bug, please report it at INDI's Github issues page

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Tunafish Fri, 10 Mar 2023 03:56:12 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/mydcp4esp32-dew-controller.html
myDewControllerPro https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/mydewcontrollerpro.html ]]> Chemistorge Sun, 19 Feb 2023 15:53:47 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/mydewcontrollerpro.html AstroLink 4 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/astrolink-4.html

Installation

INDI AstroLink 4 driver is included with libindi >= 1.8.5 Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-astrolink4

Features

Astrolink4 INDI driver supports AstroLink 4 mini device. AstroLink 4.0 mini device was designed to make astroimaging easier. Contains two focuser controllers, regulated outputs for heaters, peltiers or fans, switchable power outputs, different sensors inputs, hand controller connector and many other options. Following funcitons are supported in INDI driver:

  • 1x stepper focuser motor output
  • 1x DC focuser motor output
  • 3x switchable 12V power outputs
  • 2x regulated PWM outputs
  • temperature / humidity / dew point readings
  • voltage, current, consumed energy monitoring

connection

Before establishing connection, go to Connection tab and select the port. Once connected, you can:

  • Move the focuser to a position relative to the current one - select "focus in" or "focus out" and specify the number of steps in the "relative position"
  • Move to an absolute position - just specify the step number.
  • Sync, that is, set a specific number as the current position of the motor.
  • Abort the focuser motion at any time.
  • Power
  • Environment (weather readings)
  • DC Focuser

Focuser

focuser

Set the absolute or relative position of the focuser, control backlash and temperature compensation.

Environment

environment

The environment group provides readings for the temperature, humidity, and dew point. Below them are the limit settings for each parameter that includes the minimum and maximum OK range for each reading along with the percentage when the reading is marked as warning. If the reading exceed the OK limit, it shall be marked as ALERT. If a Critical property is marked as ALERT, then it marks the complete observatory as unsafe and the client software might take precuations to protect the observatory such as automatic parking of mount and/or dome.

Power

power

Control the DC output ports and PWM output. Consolidated power data is displayed below the control.

Settings

settings

Set the controller parameters.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

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knro Sun, 05 Apr 2020 12:39:45 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/astrolink-4.html
Astromechanics Light Pollution Meter PRO https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/astromechanics-light-pollution-meter-pro.html

Installation

INDI SQM driver is included with libindi v1.7.9+

Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

The Astromechanics Light Pollution Meter is a handheld / PC based monitoring tool to measure sky brightness in mag/arcsec2. Measurements are compatible with Unihedrons Sky Quality Meter (SQM). It features :

  • Measure sky brightness in mag/arcsec2
  • Store measurements in FITS-Header of your astro images
  • Store measurement logs for later analysis

Main Control Tab

  • Connection: Connect or Disconnect device
  • Readings: last measured sky brightness, its average, minimum, and maximum values. All measurements in mag/argsec2. NELM (naked eye limit measurement) based on the conversion formula found at http://unihedron.com/projects/darksky/NELM2BCalc.html.
  • Reset: Reset statistics of readings.
  • Record file: directory and filename to store measurement log of LPM.
  • Save and Discard readings.

Main Control Panel

Connection

The USB connection is made on the default port, or by autosearch. The device is recognized as a USB Serial converter. Baudrate at 9600 is mandatory.

Connection

Options

Polling period in ms.

No additional option as been implemented. Debug mode and configuration files are available.

Options

Unit

Unit factory calibration data.

Unit

Issues

There can be connection issues via a USB Hub. If such a case happen :

  • Make sure that the executable is stopped
  • Check on which port the device is connected
  • Adapt if necessary the default port value DEVICE_PORT in the configuration file .indi/Astromechanics_config.xml
  • Start the driver again

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

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knro Sun, 02 Jun 2019 12:53:40 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/astromechanics-light-pollution-meter-pro.html
Watchdog https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/watchdog.html

Installation

INDI Watchdog driver is included with libindi v1.0.0+

Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

When operating a remote observatory, complete control of the devices rest with the remote INDI servers and drivers. In case of a communication loss, the observatory should be capable of performing a graceful shutdown until communication is established again by the client.

Since the actual shutdown procedure can be unique to each observatory, the user should be able to configure the exact required shutdown procedure. But for most users, the usual shutdown procedure involves parking the mount followed by parking the dome, if one exists. Using INDI WatchDog driver, the user can secure their remote observatory by setting a heart beat timeout threshold. A heart beat is a signal from the client to the watchdog driver to inform it that communication is OK. The user can configure the heart beat timeout in minutes in the WatchDog driver. If the driver does not receive the signal after the heart beat timeout threshold, it initiates the shutdown procedure. To disable the heart beat check, set it to zero.

Equipment Profile

The Watchdog driver is categorized as an Auxiliary driver. It can be found in the auxiliary category group in your favorite client.

Options

Options

Before establishing connection, set the Mount & Dome driver names in Options tab. Some clients (e.g. KStars) would do this step automatically. If your observatory does not have a dome, simply leave it as the Dome Simulator.

Main Control

Main Control

If the driver does not receive the Heartbeat signal from the client after the timeout threshold expired, it starts the shutdown procedure. The shutdown procedure is currently composed of the following steps in order:
  1. Park Mount: The mount driver specified under Options tab will be commanded to park. After parking is successful, the driver proceeds to the next step, otherwise it aborts the shutdown procedure.
  2. Park Dome:The dome driver specified under Options tab will be commanded to park.
  3. Execute Script:Execute a custom shutdown script as specified in the settings property. The script must be executable and exits successfully for this operation to be considered successful.

To park the mount and dome, the driver needs to act as a client as well in order to issue such commands. You need to specify the indiserver host and port where the dome and mount drivers are running. This is usually localhost at port 7624 which is the default value. The shutdown script can be used to perform any additional shutdown functions (e.g. turn off power, send email...etc). You can use Python INDI Client library to command devices, or INDI's built in scripting tools. All values can be saved in the config file by going to Options and clicking Save under the Configuration property. On subsequent runs, all values shall be loaded automatically on start up.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's Issue Tracking System at Github.

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knro Thu, 09 May 2019 07:40:25 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/watchdog.html
Pegasus Ultimate Power Box https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ultimate-power-box.html

Installation

Pegasus Ultimate Power Box (UPB) driver is included with libindi >= 1.7.7. Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-bin

Features

INDI Pegasus UPB driver provides complete control over the Pegasus power box including:

  • Power Port Control
  • Power Monitoring
  • USB Hub Control
  • Focus Control
  • Dew Control
  • Environment Monitoring

Please make sure the power box is updated to the latest firmware before using it with the INDI driver.

Connect

connection

Connect UPB to the PC/StellarMate via the USB cable. The operating system assigns a serial port to the device (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0). If the device cannot establish connection to the default port, it starts a process to scan the entire systems for additional serial ports to connect to.

Operation

Main Control

main control

To establish connection to Pegasus UPB, press the Connect button.

Once connection is established, addiotnal tabs for the different control categories are created accordingly.

The main control provides displays for the voltage, current, and power sensors. The average consumption of current and power is also displayed. You can turn on or off all the ports at once if desired. Finally, you can reboot the device.

Options

Options

The INDI generic Options tab provides controls for debugging and logging in addition to polling period. It is best not to change any setting here

Power

power

The power tab provides all controls to manage the four 12v power ports on the UPB. The first property controls which ports are on or off. To change the name of the ports from the generic Port 1, Port 2..etc to more meaningful names of the actual devices (e.g. camera), edit the Power Labels to set the label of each port. Once set, you need to restart the driver to see the changes.

The Power On Boot property sets which ports are powered when the device boots up. By default, all the ports are powered.

In case of an over-current, the LEDs for each port in the Over Current property will turn from green to red to indicate a problem

To turn on or off the small LED on the UPB box, click on the LED property settings.

Dew

Dew Control

UPB can control up to two Dew heaters using Pulse-Width-Modulation (0 to 100%). Once PWM is set, the current drew should also reflect how much current each dew is consuming.

To activate the Dew heating automatically based on the measured Dew point, turn it on from the Auto Dew property.

USB

Enable or disable the USB hub. This can only control ports 1-5 since port 6 is always on.

Focuser

Focuser Control

If a focuser is connected, it can be controlled directly from the focuser tab.

To move the focuser specific number of steps inward or outward, select the Direction and then set the Relative Position property.

For absolute position, enter the desired position in the Absolute Position property. The postition must be within the maximum position as can be configured by the Max. Position property.

Sync is used to set the current focuser position to any arbitrary value.

The focuser settings include the following:

  • Direction Reverse
  • Backlash (in steps)
  • Backlash Enable and Disable
  • Max Focuser Speed (in %)

Environment

Environment Monitoring

The weather information, measured and calculated, is displayed in this tab. Three parameters are listed:

  • Temperature (C)
  • Humidity (%)
  • Dew Point (C)

The temperature parameter is considered the Critical parameter and if the range is out of normal range, the overall weather status indicator shall reflect that.

Each environment variable range is controlled by the following:

  1. OK range Min: This is the Minimum range at which the status of the property is considered OK (Green LED). Anything below this would be Alert (Red LED)
  2. OK range Max: This is the Maximum range at which the status of the property is considered OK (Green LED). Anything above this would be Alert (Red LED)
  3. % for warning: At what percentage of the OK range should a warning indicator activates?

For example, if the range as illustrated above is Min: -15 and Max: 40, then the warning range is from Min: -15 + -15*0.15 = -12.75C

Similary, the warning zone max: 40 - 40*.15 = 34C. If the temperature is 27.80 then it is within the OK range and not within the Warning zone. Once the temperature reaches 34C, the temperature indicates turns yellow to Warning. If it continues climbing, the state remains Warning unitl it hits and exceeds 40C in which case the state become Alert.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

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knro Tue, 11 Dec 2018 14:57:48 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/pegasus-ultimate-power-box.html
GPS NMEA https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gps-nmea.html

Installation

GPS NMEA driver is included with libindi >= 1.5.0. Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-gpsnmea

Features

INDI GPS NMEA driver is designed to parse GPS NMEA streams to provide location and time updates. Usually, the driver is running on a device like Raspberry PI while the GPS NMEA server is running on a remote device like a phone that resides on the same network on the Rasbperry PI. The driver can be configured to monitor GPS data streams from the phone and then synchronize INDI drivers and clients accordingly. This is especially handy when you the RPi3 is used for mobile observatories on the go.

Any App that provides NMEA streams as a server are supported. For Android, ShareGPS has been successfully tested with the driver. For iOS, GPS 2 IP provides the same functionality.

The driver can also change the system time. But since operation requires administrative privileges, you need to set CAP_SYS_TIME capabilities first by running this command:

sudo setcap cap_sys_time=ep /bin/date

There is no need to run the above command on StellarMate.

Operation

Connection

gps connection

Before you connect, you must set the IP address of the GPS NMEA server. If you're using a phone to stream GPS data, find out the IP address of the phone and enter it in the Address field. Furthermore, enter the port used by your App to stream the data. The device where the driver is is running (StellarMate, RPI3..etc) must be on the same network as the phone you are trying to stream from. After you set the TCP information, go to Options and click Save under Configuration. Please note that phone IP addresses are usually subject to change so on your next connection you must reset the address field to whatever IP address currently used by your phone. After all data is set, and assuming your App is already running on your phone, click Connect to establish connection.

Main Control

GPS NMEA Fix

When you first connect, a GPS fix is taken and it might take a while before the driver is synchronized to the GPS stream. If the driver remains in NO FIX busy mode for more than 30 seconds, click the GPS Refresh button to force a refresh.

gps main control

After a GPS fix is captured, the driver shall update the Location & Time properties. Depending on your client, you may need to configure your drivers and clients to synchronize with the GPS data. For KStars/Ekos, no additional action is necessary. After the fix is taken and Location/Time updated, the driver is no longer deemed necessary and can be disconnected for the current session.

Optionally, you can set the driver to periodically update the GPS data to the clients. This is usually not necessary, but it can be enabled by changing the Refresh Period property to the desired period in seconds. To disable the periodic refresh, set the period to zero.

What's difference between INDI GPSD and INDI GPS NMEA drivers?

INDI GPS NMEA driver fills the gap for people who use mobile phone's gps for setting location and time in KStars/Ekos. indi-gpsd does pretty much the same, however it is based on different approach. Both of the drivers set time and location (over INDI server) to other INDI drivers (e.g. mount) and clients (e.g. KStars), but:

indi-gpsnmea:

  • reads gps data stream from mobile phone's gps
  • requires network connection of the source of gps data stream i.e. phone running app, which enables gps sharing
  • it is operating system independent

indi-gpsd:

  • reads gps data stream from gpsd service
  • requires gpsd service is running and properly configured as a systemwide service
  • ntpd service can read from gpsd service to synchronize operating system time/date to gps source
  • it is operating system dependent and can be used only on linux

There's no conflict between the two - NTP gets time from GPSD to set operating system time/date, not INDI drivers' and clients' time/date.
We can consider merging these drivers at some point in time, but for now you should run either indi-gpsnmea or indi-gpsd. Using both drivers at the same time makes no sense.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

 

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knro Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:28:26 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gps-nmea.html
GPS https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gps.html

Installation

INDI GPS driver is included available as 3rd party driver. Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-gpsd

Features

INDI GPS driver requires Linux GPSD service to be running. To install it under Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install gpsd
sudo systemctl enable gpsd
sudo systemctl restart gpsd

Tip: StellarMate users can simply follow the GPS video tutorial.

A GPS device is also required. Many devices are support, please check the hardware compatiblity page before purchasing a GPS device and make sure the GPS device is supported under Linux. The U-Plox AG GPS available from Odroid is one example of a comptabile device. Depending on the device, you might need to edit /etc/default/gpsd file and edit the DEVICES= section to add the serial port for your GPS device there (e.g. /dev/ttyACM0).

Make sure GPS is receiving data by running gpsmon

Operation

gpsd main controlUpon connection, it should take a few seconds before the GPS fixed is usually obtained. Depending on your client, you might need to configure it to synchronize it with GPS data with the mount and other devices. KStars performs this synchronization automatically without requiring any further action from the user.

What's difference between INDI GPSD (this driver) and INDI GPS NMEA drivers?

INDI GPS NMEA driver fills the gap for people who use mobile phone's gps for setting location and time in KStars/Ekos. indi-gpsd does pretty much the same, however it is based on different approach. Both of the drivers set time and location (over INDI server) to other INDI drivers (e.g. mount) and clients (e.g. KStars), but:

indi-gpsnmea:

  • reads gps data stream from mobile phone's gps
  • requires network connection of the source of gps data stream i.e. phone running app, which enables gps sharing
  • does not set operating system time/date based on gps source
  • it is operating system independent

indi-gpsd:

  • reads gps data stream from gpsd service
  • requires gpsd service is running and properly configured as a systemwide service
  • ntpd service can read from gpsd service to synchronize operating system time/date to gps source
  • it is operating system dependent and can be used on Linux and OS X, but not Windows

There's no conflict between the two - NTP gets time from GPSD to set operating system time/date, not INDI drivers' and clients' time/date.
We can consider merging these drivers at some point in time, but for now you should run either indi-gpsnmea or indi-gpsd. Using both drivers at the same time makes no sense.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

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knro Sat, 21 Oct 2017 12:23:16 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gps.html
USB Dew Point https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/usb-dew-point.html

Installation

USB Dew Point driver is included with libindi >= 1.5.0. Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

USB_Dewpoint calculates in real time the Dewpoint, thanks to ambiant humidity probe close to your instrument. It also connects to 2 external temperature probes (attached to tube or mirrors) and compares these temperatures to the Dewpoint. If temperatures too close to dewpoint it heats in a smooth or aggressive maner. We can also call it a heating regulator.

Second, if no heat required, USB_Dewpoint only uses 0.05W to run. It connects to computer USB (or HUB 2.0 / 1.1) to operate remotely and can be operated  manually or in autonomy.

Main controls

Main controls show information about current device state and allow for manual control of the power to the three output channels (0-100%). In automatic operating mode the values are essentially read-only as the device controls them itself based on temperature readings. Temperatures and humidity are read from the device every 10 seconds.

Options

Values shown here are the device defaults which are restored if "Reset" button is pressed. All settings are automatically written to the device EEPROM so they are retained even if the device is used completely autonomously without computer.

Individual options do:

  • Calibrations (range 0-9) are added to the temperature values in the device and can be used to equalize readings from all the temperature sensors
  • Thresholds (range 0-9) determine when the device starts applying power to the channels
  • Aggressivity (range 1-4) determines how quickly the device starts applying more power
  • Channel 3 is normally manual control only (as there are only two temperature sensors), but can be linked to channel 2 for more power or using two dew heaters
  • Reset button resets all values to device defaults shown here

In automatic mode the device tries to keep channel temperature above dew point plus threshold like shown in this picture from the Windows driver manual (I think the equations are wrong way around, they should be Temp1-Dewpoint, but the idea is clear):

Operation

Before connection, you need to select the port. Usually, the port is like /dev/ttyACM0. USB_Dewpoint communicates via serial port at 9600 bauds, nothing special there. you can use udev-rule to create a pemement symlink:

$ sudoedit /etc/udev/rules.d/99-usbfocus.rules

Then write the following inside the file:

SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{product}=="USB_Dewpoint", SYMLINK+="usb_dewpoint", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"

Similar rule for USB_Focus would be:
SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{product}=="USB_Focus", SYMLINK+="focuser", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"

Then save the file, and restart your RPI3 or Computer and you should have symbolic links to your devices. For if USB_Dewpoint device is attached via USB, then you can use /dev/usb_dewpoint in your INDI driver.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at Github.

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knro Sat, 21 Oct 2017 08:03:16 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/usb-dew-point.html
Sky Quality Meter https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/sky-quality-meter.html

Installation

INDI SQM driver is included with libindi v1.3.2+

Under Ubuntu, you can install the driver via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libindi1

Features

INDI SQM driver support Ethernet-enabled SQM-LE. The driver provides basic averaged readings from the unit including sky brightness and temperature.

Operation

Before establishing connection, set the IP address of the SQM-LE unit in the main control panel. By default, the port is 10001 so only change it if necessary.

Main Control Panel

Once connected, the driver will query the unit every second for the readings. The most important reading is the sky brightness measured as Magnitudes per Squared Arcsecond (MPSAS). The INDI CCD driver is configured by default to listen to SQM and will append the MPSAS value to the FITS header once an image is captured.

To configure the unit and set calibration options, please refer to Uniherdon provided cross-platform software.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]> knro Wed, 16 Nov 2016 10:43:12 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/sky-quality-meter.html Java Raspberry Pi GPIO https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/raspberry-pi-gpio.html

Raspberry Pi is an ARM based, credit card sized computer. In addition to the usual computer features, it has two GPIO ports with a total number of 21 pins that can be set (on / off) or read. Moreover, one of those pins can be used as a PWM output. Thus, it can be easily connected to sensors, actuators, relays and so on to operate them.

A driver for INDI-for-Java is available to allow easy contorl control of these pins within any INDI enabled software.

This driver is not include with official INDI Library. It requires INDI4Java server.

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Zerjillo Mon, 25 Nov 2013 18:25:42 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/raspberry-pi-gpio.html
Seletek https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/seletek.html

The Seletek is a peripheral controller developed by Lunático. This version of the driver allows to control its basic sensors and one or two focuser (three in the Platypus version) connected to the Seletek. You can check all the details about the driver and a small tutorial here.

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Zerjillo Sun, 10 Nov 2013 23:59:31 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/seletek.html
GPUSB https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gpusb.html

Installation

INDI GPUSB driver is included with libindi v0.9.6+

Features

Provides basic auto guiding interface.

Operation

Usually the user doesn't control this device directly, but instead uses a client software (such as Ekos) to perform autoguiding and sends pulse commands to the mount using GPUSB.

Issues

There are no known bugs for this driver. If you found a bug, please report it at INDI's bug tracking system at SourceForge. (You can log in with a variety of existing accounts, including Google, Yahoo and OpenID.)

]]> knro Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:48:05 +0100 https://indilib.org/individuals/devices/auxiliary/gpusb.html