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Atstroberry control of NexStar 8SE

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Greetings, New to telescope control and have some questions.
I have Astroberry (2.0.3) installed on a Raspberry Pi4. I have selected drivers for Adafruit Motor Hat, the Pi Camera, and Celestron NexStar.

When the Pi is attached to the motor, camera and NexStar (and everything powered on), I can see the drivers for the motor hat and the Pi camera load in INDI, but not the NexStar. I can control the camera and the motor connected to the motor hat via Ekos, but I do not see how to control the NexStar.

I have a Celestron NexStar 8SE, with the + controller and all firmware is updated.

I'm sure I am missing something basic, and would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.
Thanks! Bill
3 years 5 months ago #61730

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Hello,

Welcome and congratulations on entering into astronomy by AstroBerry and RPI4B. I counted 3 devices. Three or more are usually not a problem if and only if all are casual USB devices. Dedicated USB need IRQ use because of timing needs.

IRQ in RPI4B is managed by ttyACM. RPI4B has 1 free ttyACM, ttyACM0. The motor and the NexStar would appear to require IRQ.

When selecting NexStar, Adafruit motor hat, and PI camera in a EKOS profile, INDI will throw and error, if any device fails to load. What is this error and for which device?


Another method within KSTARS is to isolate each device in Device Manager. Run each device under Device Manager. Look at the connection tab. Mark down any ttyACM or ttyUSB port used by any device. If it doesn’t require an IRQ, fantastic, the device will not conflict.

If this discovery you find a conflict between the NexStar and Adafruit, udevadm is your friend. Rules are the way of assigning IRQ to specific devices. RPI4B is a tinkerer’s device. Additional ttyACM are incrementally added through rules. I use several to setup CCD, GPSD, and my AstroEQ motor driver. At the present, I need ttyACM0 GPSD and ttyACM1 AstroEQ. This works consistently.
3 years 5 months ago #61740

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AradoSKYindi - thank you for the very prompt response. I am NOT getting errors. I will follow up with the tty codes you referenced.
Also, what do you mean that the Pi4B is a tinkerers device?
Thanks again, I come back here once I get the tty info.
Bill
3 years 5 months ago #61755

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Hello,

Tinkerers are people who like to get their hands dirty. A RPI device can be operated at the command line. No GUI is required. Terminal is my friend. Updates under Raspbian are via command line. Sudo Su is root. Sudo is the preferred mode to install updates and applications.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Bill McDaniel
3 years 5 months ago #61775

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OK, understood on the Pi4.

Does the fact that I am not getting errors suggest something I have not done properly?
Thanks.
3 years 5 months ago #61776

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Hello,

Profile errors usually are hidden when starting a profile. I minimize EKOS and KSTARS to see the error. The customary message is “Selected Device is not found”. Under Device Manager, the errors will be right there.

Device Manager is under the Tools menu. You can run several devices simultaneously within Device Manager. I also make custom profiles using simulators to fill in missing gear. For custom profiles, I use EKOS.
3 years 5 months ago #61783

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The motor hat is using /dev/tty/usb0. And in Ekos the only devices that load are the Pi cam and the motor hat. I can see that in the message field in the lower section of Ekos. There is no sign of the Celestron NexStar attempting to load. I will look for what you mean with the device manager in Ekos. Not sure where that is.

When you say Device Manager is under Tool, do you mean in Ekos or elsewhere?
Thanks
3 years 5 months ago #61809

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Hello,

How are you connecting the NexStar? I did not see from pictures a USB connector. I did see RJ11/12 connector types. RJ45 have 8 pins. RJ11 has 4. RJ12 has 6. RJXX does not connect to the PI without some adaptor. After reviewing the specifications, no USB connectors are listed.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by John Robison.
3 years 5 months ago #61814

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The NexStar+ hand controller has a usb connection in it's base. This is where you connect to a computer to upgrade firmware, etc.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by Bill McDaniel.
3 years 5 months ago #61820
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Hello,

The hand controller is connected to the OTA via that old style USB male port. You can connect the controller only. To connect the NexStar+ to the Pi for management, the Auxiliary port will have to be investigated.

The NexStar is a self contained unit. Controllers do go bad. Cables fail. I would investigate the Auxiliary port as the possible way to manage the OTA by INDI and KSTARS. INDI and KSTARS are dependent on USB.
3 years 5 months ago #61849

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The entire SE base and the NexStar+ hand controller are new, bought within the last couple of months. So it seems unlikely that they would be bad, and I have no problems doing FW updates, or even test connections. All cables are new. So I have a hard time believing it would be a hardware issue. Plus you suggest using Aux, but then say that Kstars and INDI are dependant on USB. I am confident there is no issue with the USB connection.

I suspect it has more to do with my settings since I am not familiar (other than some online docs and videos) with Kstars, Ekos, Astroberry.

Surely there must be someone in this forum who is connecting Astroberry to a Celestron SE setup.
Thanks, Bill
3 years 5 months ago #61862

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Hello,

I do apologize if I implied your OTA failed. That is not what I meant.

The connector shown is an input for the controller only. The controller cable connects to the ST4 port. An ST4 is 4 or 6 pin.

The specifications do not show any USB input on the OTA with limited Auxiliary and ST4 ports. The controller controls the OTA. This limits the options as this Celestron product is supposed to be standalone.
Last edit: 3 years 5 months ago by John Robison.
3 years 5 months ago #61879

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