Thanks Jasem,
Could you also clarify for me too. In Calibration it is only possible to select 'Dust Cover with External Flat Light' OR 'Wall' location. When using the Wall option it only moves the mount but doesn't control the Flap or Light as the External Flap Light option does. Could it be possible to select BOTH these option not just one? I can work around it by taking a dummy flat frame with Wall option selected to move the mount then follow with the real Flats with the External Flap Light selected but it would be nice to do it in one step.

I'm relatively new to ekos/indi but loving it.

Hi Jasem,

An update on this.

I have been able to get my DSLR working with FlipFlat by adding 'CCD_HAS_SHUTTER' to the 'SetCCDCapability' function of gphoto.cpp.

I have also detected another issue that affects both the CCD Simulator as well as other CCD's.

When taking a Light frame from a starting position of Shutter closed all works as expected.
When taking a Flat frame (external light source) from a starting position of Shutter closed
Kstars/ekos commands the shutter to open correctly but doesn't wait for the Shutter to open, it
immediately takes the frame while the shutter is still opening. I was able to get this working
correctly by making the follow change to capture.cpp in Kstars. Hope this is useful to you.

Change from...
// Wait until cap is parked
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isParked() == true)
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}


..to...

// Wait until cap is unparked <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isUnParked() == false) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}

No need to change gphoto_ccd.cpp, I just submitted a fix to KStars which should hopefully be available later in the nightly build that should fix this issue.

Hi Jasem,

This is a paste from a previous comment I posted a while ago . Just wondering if this bug will be corrected at some point? I can correct the issue under Linux by making the changes to the source mentioned but I prefer to use Kstars under Windows and I don't have the build environment to recompile under windows.


When taking a Light frame from a starting position of Shutter closed all works as expected.
When taking a Flat frame (external light source) from a starting position of Shutter closed
Kstars/ekos commands the shutter to open correctly but doesn't wait for the Shutter to open, it
immediately takes the frame while the shutter is still opening. I was able to get this working
correctly by making the follow change to capture.cpp in Kstars. Hope this is useful to you.

Change from...
// Wait until cap is parked
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isParked() == true)
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}


..to...

// Wait until cap is unparked <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isUnParked() == false) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}


Tanks.

Hi Ray, This is already fixed in KStars.

github.com/KDE/kstars/blob/c9afb11cd5994...re/capture.cpp#L4962

Thanks Jasem,
I'm running the latest viersion 3.3.2 on edu.kde.org/kstars/#download. Guess I just need to wait until v3.3.3 is available.

Much appreciated.

Ray.

Hi Jasem,

I've tested the nightly build of Kstars 3.3.3 dated 23rd July but the issue is still there. I suspect you may have changed the wrong occurrence of code as the lines I changed are still there unchanged in capture.cpp at lines 5194 and 5197

// Wait until cap is unparked <<<<<<<< line 5194 changed by me from // Wait until cap is parked
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isUnParked() == false) <<<<<<<< line 5197 changed by me from if (dustCap->isParked() == true)
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}

This is the output from Kstars. See the times from uparking Dust Cap to Dust Cap unparked - one second.

2019-07-23T23:24:20 Received image 1 out of 1.
2019-07-23T23:24:20 Remote image saved to /share/trash/Flat/Flat_017.fits
2019-07-23T23:24:15 Capturing 1.000-second image...
2019-07-23T23:24:15 Dust cap unparked.
2019-07-23T23:24:14 UnParking dust cap...

It actually takes 20 second as you can see from The FlipFlat output.

2019-07-23T23:24:34: [INFO] Cover open.
2019-07-23T23:22:47: [INFO] Device configuration applied.
2019-07-23T23:22:47: [INFO] Loading device configuration...

Ray

Hi Jasem,

Just checked latest release of Kstars to check if the error I reported some time ago has been fixed but I see it has not. Any chance this might be resolved at some point?


This is a paste from a previous comment I posted a while ago .

I can correct the issue under Linux by making the changes to the source mentioned but I prefer to use Kstars under Windows and I don't have the build environment to recompile under windows.


When taking a Light frame from a starting position of Shutter closed all works as expected.
When taking a Flat frame (external light source) from a starting position of Shutter closed
Kstars/ekos commands the shutter to open correctly but doesn't wait for the Shutter to open, it
immediately takes the frame while the shutter is still opening. I was able to get this working
by making the following change to capture.cpp in Kstars.

Change from...
// Wait until cap is parked
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isParked() == true)
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}


..to...

// Wait until cap is unparked <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
if (calibrationStage == CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKING)
{
if (dustCap->isUnParked() == false) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
return IPS_BUSY;
else
{
calibrationStage = CAL_DUSTCAP_UNPARKED;
appendLogText(i18n("Dust cap unparked."));
}
}

Thanks.

This was already changed. Are you sure you are looking at latest GIT source?

Hi Jasem,

Iv'e tried each new version of Kstars since reporting the issue and currently running 3.3.6 and the issue is still there. you can see from the time entries in the attached log extract that the Flat image is taken and not waiting for the dust cap to complete opening.

[2019-09-19T15:42:54.301 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Flip Flat : "[INFO] Cover closed. "
[2019-09-19T15:43:13.038 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "UnParking dust cap..."
[2019-09-19T15:43:14.039 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Dust cap unparked."
[2019-09-19T15:43:14.041 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Capturing 1.000-second image..."
[2019-09-19T15:43:14.160 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Canon DSLR EOS 450D (PTP mode) : "[INFO] Starting 1 seconds exposure. "
[2019-09-19T15:43:33.021 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Flip Flat : "[INFO] Cover open. "

Regards.

This is an issue then with the driver. If you unpark from INDI control panel, does the Park property become GREEN before the cover is fully opened?

Hi Jasem,

Unparking the dustcap from INDI CP remains 'yellow' while opening and turns 'green' only once open. This is the log when taking a Light frame from a starting point of cover closed, This works as expected. I should add that I'm using the Flit-Flat driver with an emulated Flit-Flat based on Arduino design I downloaded. Could this be the cause? I would have thought cover open/closed signals would work the same for Light or Flat frames.

[2019-09-19T16:38:01.710 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Flip Flat : "[INFO] Cover closed. "
[2019-09-19T16:38:32.274 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Unparking dust cap..."
[2019-09-19T16:38:51.057 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Flip Flat : "[INFO] Cover open. "
[2019-09-19T16:38:51.277 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Dust cap unparked."
[2019-09-19T16:38:51.279 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "Capturing 1.000-second Red image..."
[2019-09-19T16:39:20.477 GMT Daylight Time INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.fits] - Loading FITS file "C:/Users/User1/AppData/Local/Temp/fitserSdgz.fits"