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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

One Server Two Clients

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Replied by Ken Self on topic One Server Two Clients

I'd be interested to hear what specifically the OP needs to do outside.
I run INDI on a SBC (not RPi) at the scope. I manage the indiserver via indiwebmanager which starts indiserver automatically at startup. I run EKOS on a desktop in the observatory and when running wireless I save the images to local i.e the SBC which is essentially instantaneous as the SBC has USB3. For platesolving and focussing I usually use ROI or bin the images to reduce latency when transferring to the client. I run PHD2 directly on the SBC. Since the obsy can get cold I monitor EKOS and PHD2 from my laptop via VNC. So I am running two clients on INDI (EKOS and PHD2) and don't need to restart indiserver. My main issue is a dodgy wifi dongle which loses connection from time to time. When that happens INDI and PHD2 keep running but EKOS loses control. I then have to run to the obsy, unpug/replug the dongle and restart EKOS.
So my take on this is that the cleint-server architecture of INDI works exactly as it should. The EKOS client has an understandable limitation in not being able to coordinate between multiple EKOS clients. And it has a minor (and known) issue when it loses connection with INDI.
5 years 1 month ago #34336

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Replied by james_lan on topic One Server Two Clients

"It *IS* possible to connect multiple clients to a running INDI server, e.g. Ekos, Cartes du Ciel, etc etc but the design is such that only one instance of Ekos can connect at a given time."

That last part is simply not true.

I have the following setup: ECS Liva (mini linux box) to mount/camera/etc, gigabit ethernet to laptop (inside, that stupid polar vortex can go as low as it likes as long as it's clear. ;) )

I usually use VNC/RDP to talk to the mini, where I start INDI, also generally with Kstars/Ekos. I connect to INDI via the laptop. Usually I shut down Kstars/Ekos on the mini, but not always. I also connect to INDI on the mini via phd2 running on the mini for guiding. (That's sometimes a huge pain in the ass. Other times perfect.)

Sometimes I've experimented with guiding from the laptop as well.
5 years 1 month ago #34337

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Replied by kamisan on topic One Server Two Clients

Can't talk right now: outdoors at -19C (p-p-p-olar vortex) but I can quickly say that I still have manual focus so I have tweak the focus on filter change and I need feedback frames every 2s @ gain 2000.
5 years 1 month ago #34338

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Replied by kamisan on topic One Server Two Clients

If I don't restart INDI server, the Altair camera rattles off a high rate of exposures even though the ESQ tells it 2-second exposures. The only way for it to do what I tell it is to restart INDI server beforehand.
5 years 1 month ago #34343

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Replied by kamisan on topic One Server Two Clients

I took this screenshot a minute before my Linux laptop decided to have a stroke from the cold at -15C. Two Arduinos and one Pi continued to merrily work.

Tomorrow night will be clear and cold again. I am thinking of putting the laptop in a box with a heater.
5 years 1 month ago #34356
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Just to add to this old thread - I would like to run two clients - one in the obsy and one in the house. 2 reasons - no autofocusser so I need a large-ish screen outside to focus on (same as OP). I also have a dome with a shutter aperture which is not motorised so I have to rotate it when first setting up or changing targets. My wifi is not quite good enough to vnc from the obsy to the router and back again and running the client (Mac) inside the house is great although sometimes the image downloads take 10's of seconds - I'm fine with that and plan is to run ethernet to house eventually. I also like not having to run kstars etc on the pi which keeps the load down. I've done a comparison running htop on the pi with kstars running there and vnc'ing in to control and using the remote client on the mac the difference in cpu load is huge.

So if I connect the laptop outside as a remote client to the pi (ethernet), slew, set up and focus then go inside and try to connect I have to basically kill indi server and restart the whole shebang from indoors, during which the mount will stop tracking etc.. It would be really nice to set up on the laptop outside (which is ethernet wired to the pi) focus, slew to a target, set up guiding maybe and then come in and connect to the same INDI server from inside as a second remote client which would then also receive images.

I have tried this multple times including last night when I found I had problems receiving images while plate solving from inside. What I found when I vnc'd to the pi this morning was a load of FITS viewer screens open on the pi, so what in fact happened was - I think - the pi was running kstars (I must have left it running) and INDI server was started for this kstars instance. The laptop connected to this INDI in client mode, while I slewed and moved the dome etc. then I connected the mac in client mode and although I could control - in the sense of issuing commands to the indi server - from my remote client on the mac, the images were being sent to the original (first) connection. I suppose INDI maintained the original pi client connection as the target for the images, which kind of makes sense if only one client connection is supported. Otherwise the server would have to multicast images to all clients.

Obviously I am not using as intended but you can see my use case requirement? I need a screen (client) outside connecting to the pi (or an autofocusser!) and a client running inside the house.

I think I might be able to achieve a half-way house solution by disconnecting the laptop ekos client outside (but leaving the indi server running) once done with focussing then re-connecting from the house thereby maintaining just one client connection and not interrupting tracking. Otherwise I just kill the server remotely and start a new instance and plate solve again (which all happens on the pi) from inside the house but that takes a few minutes.

I would just be interested to hear from others who maybe do not have autofocussers and need a screen in the obsy to work from and then control remotely from elsewhere.

Cheers
Iain
3 years 11 months ago #51767

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Replied by kamisan on topic One Server Two Clients

Hi Iain,

I too do not have an auto-focuser. I solved the problem by running Astroberry on a Pi Model 3B+. The "g" hotspot it creates is strong enough for me to connect indoors in my office ("n" is faster but requires line-of-sight.) My client is a Linux laptop. When I need to focus I carry the laptop outside, use one arm to cradle it, and the other arm and hand to tweak the focus knob. Ekos' focus module works perfectly. The only downside is that I need to burn a new SD card for the Pi every 2-3 months. I've been buying 16GB cards so I've had to delete the image files from an old session before starting anew. I suppose I could purchase a much larger capacity card and then delete less frequently.

Cheers
3 years 11 months ago #51774

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Hi Kamisan

Cool that you are still monitoring the group and thanks for your update. I am connecting to my router on the 2G network but I think that’s still n right? With 2G I can just about get enough reach to run the indi server from my Mac client in the house and pull images but my old windoze lappy just doesn’t have the punch to round trip to the router and back again. I haven’t tried lugging the Mac outside for focussing - guess I am just too lazy! I’m quite happy to wire the old obsy laptop to the pi and run a VNC session in the obsy to focus then disconnect and go back inside and reconnect with my Mac client but it looks like it’s pretty much confirmed that Ekos / indi was not designed with multicasting to multiple clients which is I suppose what I was after.

Once I have Ethernet to the obsy all these problems will go away. I’ve also got an autofocusser on my birthday list (next month)! Still using my old bhartinov mask for now.

All the best and Clear Skies
Iain
3 years 11 months ago #51780

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Replied by kamisan on topic One Server Two Clients

Hi Iain,

You wrote:
I think that is your best option.

What is different for me is that I have no need to download the images as they are captured. I let them accumulate on the Pi until the end of the session and then pull them off through other means.

Cheers
3 years 11 months ago #51792

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