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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Questions on Configuring Serial Shutter with GPhoto (DSLR Cameras) in Ekos

  • Posts: 19
  • Thank you received: 1
Hello,

I am trying to setup a serial shutter release in Ekos using GPhoto (DSLR Cameras). When I try to connect to the serial cable I get the following error (attached picture):
Cannot Open Camera: Power OK?

In the info for GPhoto (DSLR Cameras) it show the following:

If your camera uses an external shutter release cable, make sure to indicate the port of the shutter release USB cable (usually /dev/ttyUSB0) in the Main Control tab of the GPhoto driver before connecting to the camera.

Additionaly, users may employ DSUSB/DSUSB2 from Shoestring Astronomy in order to control the shutter. Before you connect, the port field must be set to DSUSB.


I verified my Pi is seeing my USB Comm port and it is listed as /dev/ttyUSB0 when I have the terminal list devices.

Does anyone know what I could be doing wrong? I have not added the circuitry for the shutter release yet to the Comm port as I would like to verify GPHOTO sees the Comm port first.
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
5 years 1 week ago #36531
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  • Posts: 19
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I plan on making the opto-isolated circuit on this website when I get this working: www.beskeen.com/projects/dslr_serial/dslr_serial.shtml

Does Ekos need to see the circuit in order to detect the Comm port?
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
5 years 1 week ago #36532

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The error message is that the camera is not getting detected to begin with. Try to install GPhoto2 and test the capture.
sudo apt-get -y install gphoto2

then
gphoto2 --debug --debug-logfile=gphoto.txt --summary

Does it detect it?
5 years 1 week ago #36552

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It comes up :

*** Error: No Camera found. ***

I do not have a camera connected, only a USB serial port with the opto-isolated serial to shutter release. I have attached the diagram of what I built. My Stellarmate Pi is detecting the USB port from what I can see. I ran ls /dev and I see the follwing:

Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

My USB comm port has 2 separate ports and they both populate the list. Is there something in Gphoto2 I need to enable so it looks for the USB serial as a camera?
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
5 years 1 week ago #36806
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  • Posts: 19
  • Thank you received: 1
Hello Jasem,

Does Ekos support the serial shutter if a camera in not connected via USB? I just want to simplify things by using Ekos to Guide, Dither, and Trigger the shutter release with a USB serial cable. I thought from the description for Gphoto2 it would do this, but after some tinkering I see it does not which is why it is not detecting my serial release. My Olympus only has 1 USB port which can either be used for a computer connection or a remote shutter release, so I cannot do both at the same time.

Is there a way to add a stand alone serial shutter control to Ekos without having a camera connected?
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
5 years 2 days ago #36985

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Hello Derek,

This is what the "Shutter Release Port" is for in the GPhoto driver. Just find out what port the serial shutter release port is using and put that in. Is it /dev/ttyUSB0 or 1 or something else? what does dmesg say when you insert the cable?
5 years 2 days ago #36995

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  • Posts: 19
  • Thank you received: 1

Hello Jasem,

I think I am mis-understanding the serial part function after researching the issue in other astro software platforms. It seems the serial port release also requires a camera to be connected and detected. I am trying to use very basic functionality for EKOS. I do not want Ekos to control my camera or even connect to my camera. I just want Ekos to act as an intevalometer for my camera.

I want to use Ekos in the following manner:
1. Connect to guide camera for auto-guiding
2. Connect to a serial port which will control the camera like an intervalometer. The camera is only connected by the remote shutter input port. I do not want a USB connection from the camera to the Stellarmate. I want Ekos to control the serial
shutter so I can dither automatically between shots.
3. Telescope Connection.
4. SkySafari relay

I'm not sure if it is possible after my experimenting. I really just want my StelarMate to run like an MGEN2 would. The MGEN2 will guide and dither because it has a remote shutter release port built in. It is very simple.

When I run the dmesg command I get a message indicating the serial port is connected to ttyUSB0. I've attached a screen capture.

I also tried connecting a Nikon point and shoot to see if it would work with serial port. The camera connects and Ekos fires the camera, but does not trigger the serial port even though I configured it. I have a feeling the serial port option may only work with certain Canon or Nikon DSLRs.

I'm not sure if there is a way to make a serial shutter and DSUSB as a stand alone device in the camera app for Ekos. Do you know if this is possible?

Clear Skies!
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
Last edit: 4 years 11 months ago by Derek S Dailey. Reason: Added more details to my comment.
4 years 11 months ago #37086
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Can you please include the INDI GPhoto driver logs to see what's going on?

But to achieve what you want (i.e. no camera connected). Then you need to develop a simple fake CCD driver. The fake drivers acts like the real driver, expect that when it receives a "capture" command, it trigger the serial shutter. Since the driver does not capture or send anything, you need to always operate it in local upload mode so that the driver saves the result locally. It can save any junk data that is 1-byte only since the INDI::CCD expects there to be data to be uploaded from the camera driver.
4 years 11 months ago #37100

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I just had another thought that is simpler.. you can use the INDI CCD Simulator as is, but then in Ekos Capture module, add a Post-Capture script. The script can be written in Python for example and all it does is to trigger the serial shutter port. This way you do not need to develop the fake driver. You'll end up with CCD simulator data, but you can simply delete those later.
Last edit: 4 years 11 months ago by Jasem Mutlaq.
4 years 11 months ago #37101

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