Hi Ronald,
Thanks very much for the log.
When you run Autofocus you say that it appears that the focuser does not "step out" before sweeping inward. This is backed up by the log.
The second circled number is the position the focuser should have moved to after stepping out - 49986 + 5 * 1000 = 54986 but it is the current focuser position (49986).
So the question is why?
I can't see anything in the log to give a clue unfortunately.
So I suggest the following the try and get more clues:
1. Don't connect the EAF hand-controller. Ekos assumes it is in sole control of the focuser and if you have other software connected there could be conflicts. I'm not saying there are, but its worth eliminating this as a cause.
2. You are on Kstars 3.6.3 which is a few versions back now. It would be better if you upgraded to the current version, but I don't expect this to fix the issue. It just means that when I compare the logs to code, I'm looking at the current code base, rather than version 3.6.3 so there's always room for error.
3. You have both backlash (40) and AF Overscan (100) set. Whilst this is probably OK (and I know folks run this setup successfully), for the ASI EAF I would suggest you just use AF Overscan and set Backlash to 0. Again, I wouldn't expect this to fix this issue but having 2 backlash methods working at the same time just adds (unnecessary) complexity. Given you have a step size of 1000 (sometimes 600) the backlash / overscan values seem on the low side but if you're happy with them then fine.
4. Can you check in the Indi Control Panel for the ASI EAF that you are using the focuser as an Absolute Focuser (not relative or time based). I have logging for this in current Kstars but its not present in 3.6.3. The reason I'm asking this is that relative / time based focusers use 50000 at their starting point so the fact you're operating around this point could be the issue (or just coincidence).
5. Can you try simulating the initial outward step. So if the current position is 49986 can you do a manual goto to 54986. What happens?
The automated focus mechanisms in Kstars are not designed to focus on planets or moons so I doubt they would be of much use in this case. So the HFR number you see for a Jovian moon won't mean anything. Obviously you can manually focus with the in / out buttons.
As far as In / Out versus CW / CCW this is a bit problematic for a couple of reasons:
1. Ekos is designed to work with a number of different types of telescope. CW / CCW terminology is only relevant for some of these telescope types. We don't generally do customisable buttons.
2. The focus module doesn't know if its turning the focuser CW or CCW as it depends on things Ekos doesn't know about like how the focuser is coupled to the SCT focus knob. It could quite easily say CW when the focus knob is turning CCW and vide-versa. What Ekos knows about is focusing 'in" = smaller number, or "out" = larger number.
The "busy" indicator would be for manual movement I assume - as there are other indications for Autofocus.
I'll have a think about what I can do here to improve the UI though.
The way to "setup" the focuser initially is what you descibe as the "brute force" mechanism. I don't know any "short-cuts" to doing this which is what I think you're asking for.
Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this problem - I've not seen this one before. What you describe as what you want to see is how "it should work".