The command line parameters will have preference. So they will overwrite the setting set in the GUI.

Easiest way to test the solver is to load a FITS image in the viewer. The important data will be extracted from the header like mount position and focal ratio and so on. The Solver specific settings can be set in tab alignment of the stack menu. Loading and solving RAW files like CR2 file is also possible but DCRAW should be installed and you have to set the initial RA, DEC position in the viewer and image height in tab alignment. So for RAW you better test with EKOS.

Settings will be save automatically so if you change some important parameters, reset them later to default from the viewer, File, SETTING, RETURN TO DEFAULT SETTINGS AND EXIT.

Han

Thanks for your reply Han. You can disregard my recent 'edit'.

What is great with ASTAP as an astrometry solver is that not only it is very fast, its catalog, compared with the astrometry.net catalog, is manageable sizewise for systems that do not have much storage capacity (RPI, ODroid,...) and do not have access to the Internet for online solving. (y)

I do not have ASTAP installed, I only have whatever comes with Kstars, I have NO stand alone ASTAP programme Installled, the only thing installed from the ASTAP website is the G17 catologue

If you are able to click on the Kstars Astrometry option and tick ASTAP you will see where ASTAP is to be found as used by KSTARS. This can be manually loaded from a std terminal windows by type the full pathname. This will loaded the GUI version of ASTAP and you can try and solve an image by loading a FITS image AND by double clicking on the RA or DEC box's (top left) it will ask you for the target cordinates - so for example enter M13 and the Ra/Dec will be shown in the same 2 box's described above. You can then click on the STACK tab and another Window will be shown where you can click on the ALIGNMENT tab. Make sure that the "Star Alignment" box is choosen (this is he ASTAP internal solver). You can then set various options such as Downsample ,Max number of stars. Then just click "Solve Current Image" and watch the bottom status area which will show you what is happening.

For HELP click "HELP" and choose "online help and web page" but a lot of hints appear when you roll your cursor over various options.

See attachments for example using M81 using Kstars and ASTAP command line.

So whenever I want to use the ASTAP solver, I have to have all those windows open to use it, I was just using the same way as Astrometry.net in ekos....slew to target take image and solve, and move if needed....but guess I was wrong...

Don't think it's compulosory to use it.

ASTAP can be used as command line solver only. But for the other functions and analysing you can just start the GUI from menu topic Education. ASTAP is not only a solver but also a fits viewer, stack program, CCD inspector, deep sky annotation program and photometry program.

Two examples:

Hyperleda annotation near M5:


Photometry, automatic measured star magnitudes near M31 in comparison with AASVO chart:

I'm using Kstars 3.3.7 on RPi4 running Stellarmate and tried to use the ASTAP solver but it's not working. I click on the solve button and literally nothing happens. I went to the directory listed in the options to try to start ASTAP and it seems there is nothing there? Do I need to install it separately? I would have thought that if it's part of the Kstars package then it would already be installed with the Kstars install? Having said that I am a Linux newbie so may be missing something obvious.

ASTAP is in fact a separate install. You can get itas a DEB package for the RPI at www.hnsky.org/astap.htm. You will also need to install the star database (G17 or G16, same website) in order to use it as a astrometry solver.

It is a separate program. You have to install two Debian packages. One for the program and one for the G17 star database. You can find them on this webpage:

www.hnsky.org/astap.htm

You can download for the Pi4 the 64 bit version and 32 bit version. At the moment I'm not sure if Stellarmate is 32 bit or 64 bit.
The G17 star database is the same for 32 bit and 64 bit.

Han

I also found that trying to use ASTAP to solve without installing it did nothing, not even the image acquisition. Ideally I'd have expected a message in the status window saying why nothing happened but I'm not that bothered. Obviously not a refelection on Han's program it can hardly be expected to work when it's not been installed.

I'll download and try it when I've sorted out my broadband download limits, I'm currently paying a fortune for 50Gb a month, and a bigger fortune per Gb over that.

Chris

Wondering if the 64bits RPI build for ASTAP can be used with the ODroid N2 (ARM architecture) or if a separate build is required.

Thanks!