Hi everyone,

This is my first post!
Please excuse in advance my newbiness, as I'm new to the astronomy field.

I would like to ask the community if someone has by any chance already experimented tracking the ISS using a GOTO mount (I am considering an EQ6) and if yes, what kind of setup is expected using INDI.

Do I need to write a custom client to send instructions to the server or can I use already made tools? I will probably use a TLE from which I can derived Az-El profiles.

Thanks a lot for your ideas!

Lucas

Hi Lucas,

Well, KStars supports satellites including ISS, however, if you try to "track" it, it would just slew there and track it like a star. Perhaps you can add mount tracking feature to KStars?

Cool idea! One big problem is that some mounts can do this and others cannot. There was software being developed a long time ago called Satellite Tracker, which I believe was freeware and open source, but it was Windows only. It was supposed to work great with LX200 mounts, but my mount is a Losmandy Gemini. I had tried the program at one point and found that my mount could only use the "leap frog" method of satellite tracking rather than differential tracking rates which the LX200 can do. The frustrating part was that the mount itself is supposed to be capable of custom tracking rates, but the software in the hand paddle only allows goto commands and just a couple of predefined tracking rates. But if you have an LX200 and a PC, you are in luck. I just did a quick google search and this looks like the software I remember: www.heavenscape.com

Jasem, Rob: Just found this thread on a web-search. A friend asked if Ekos supports tracking/shooting ISS images. It seems it does. How would you go about doing that?

There is no such functionality now. This can be supported for a few mounts that can perhaps support custom tracking rates.

Hello
Do you have an idea if this (ISS tracking) can be done with AZEQ6?
Is there some tutorial to start building a custom tracking system with Ekos or Kstars?

Thanks!

As a new user I inquired about this as well. I believe that thread is possibly what come up in searches for INDI in regards to satellite tracking.
At the time there was a script that could issue leepfrog commands, but there was not way to make corrections, and the timing, location and fine adjustments are critical.

For satellite tracking the old Alt-Az, LX200 compatible mounts is the way to go. They permit continuously variable tracking rate changes.
The Satellite Tracker on Heavenscape has been around for a long time. The original developer recently ended support, and we lost the forums. But it has since been picked up by new developers.

There is one other independent developer who has created some interesting tools called TeleTrak for satellite tracking that is capable of image feature tracking. Enabling it to follow launching rockets. But again the software was developed for LX200.

Best of luck in your search.
His YouTube channel is called Astronomy Live. User ngchunter on Cloudy Nights.