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Driver issues with AP1600 mount

  • Posts: 64
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Hello,

I am trying to connect the AP1600 mount to kstars through INDI server running on Raspberry Pi.

In Ekos, in the driver list, I can see:
- "AstroPhysics indi_lx200ap"
- "AstroPhysics Experimental indi_lx200ap_experimental".

If I select the first one, it will fail to connect to the server.
Indeed, on the raspberry, I do not see any "indi_lx200ap". But instead, I see "indi_lx200ap_legacy".
I installed the drivers from the 1.6.0 package distributed here: indilib.org/download/raspberry-pi/downlo...or-raspberry-pi.html

If I use the experimental one, everything seems to be fine.
When I tried to park/unpark the mount, I reached the situation that slews from both kstars and the remote were leading to nonsense moves of the mount.
At that point, even the parking to position 3 (CW down, from the remote, ekos disconnected from the mount) was leading to nonsense moves.
In order to fix that, I had to synchronize the mount on a star with the remote.
I am quite surprised: I thought that this position was not dependant on any mount calibration (azimut and altitude shoud be independant from any time/position)?
Note: before doing my tests, I had not noticed the special instructions about the parking positions.

- How to fix the setup for the legacy driver?
- Or, if you advise to still use the experimental driver, how to avoid these parking/slewing problems?

Thank you.
Regards,
Florian
Last edit: 5 years 11 months ago by Florian Signoret.
5 years 11 months ago #24892

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Use Ubuntu Mate for Raspberry PI, I don't think I will make Raspian packages any more.
5 years 11 months ago #24908

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Hello,
Thanks for the reply.
I installed Ubuntu Mate on my Raspberry Pi.
Now, I cannot connect my USB Focus any more :

2018-04-14T20:49:35: [INFO] Error retreiving data from USB Focus V3, please ensure USB Focus V3 controller is powered and the port is correct.
2018-04-14T20:49:35: [ERROR] Error reading focuser ID: Timeout error.

In attached file are the logs.
Version is 1.0 and interface is 8.

Thanks!
Regards,
Florian
5 years 11 months ago #25163
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Last edit: 5 years 11 months ago by Florian Signoret.
5 years 11 months ago #25164

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Hi fsignoret,

I experimented with an AP mount using both drivers recently with a friend. For the old driver, I think the biggest mistake in using it (at least it was my mistake, I don't know if others have this problem too) was that you have to click the "Cold" or "Warm" button in the INDI Control Panel to "initialize" the mount/driver. You choose cold or warm based upon whether the scope has already been set up and aligned or not. For the new driver, we found we liked that one a lot more because it implements a lot more of the Astrophysics features, connected to the mount and was up and running right away, and we had the most luck with using it. The one big thing to note is that we found there was/is a bug in the date/time syncing. We found the best option was to go into the KStars options and to disable the time and location syncing options. As long as your mount has the correct date/time already set, then this shouldn't be too big of a problem. After we disabled those options, the mount seemed to work very well, connected up right away, and we imaged the rest of the evening without issues.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Florian Signoret
5 years 11 months ago #25178

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Also, I will agree with Jasem's post above about using Ubuntu-MATE. You might need to install or set up a number of things on the system though. If it helps you out, you can take a look at my setup script to see what I did, or run the script on your system if you like:

github.com/rlancaste/AstroPi3

Thanks,

Rob
5 years 11 months ago #25180

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Hello,

An update on this one: fixed by disabling MessageManager, so now I am operational with Ubuntu-Mate.
I will let you know when I get a chance to test with the AP1600.

Thanks for letting me know about the date/time bug, it now explains why my mount had a wrong time at some point!
Is there a tracker for this bug?

Thanks
Regards,
Florian
5 years 11 months ago #25230

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I'm not clear yet about this "bug". It seems everything is sent correctly. Can you perform the following test?

Change the handset location & time to some random values. Then connect to it from KStars using AP Experimental Driver. Make sure KStars Settings --> INDI --> KStars Update Drivers is selected. Enable mount & INDI logging. Now connect to the mount. After connection is established, report the handset current time & location values and also attach the Ekos log.

This way we can narrow down any problems.
5 years 11 months ago #25231

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In the last session (may be with kstars 2.9.2 or 2.9.3), I encountered a similar problem with my Mach-1 and GTOCP4. The first slew missed the target and went to somewhere only the RA is different.
It seemed as if the time in the mount was delayed 3-4 hours compared to kstars on the PC.

Today I performed the test suggested by Jasem with the latest INDI built from the GIT today on the RPi3 and kstars 2.9.5 on my MacBook Air. The test was done in doors since we had bad weather in these days.
After connecting the hand controller (HC) and the USB cable from the RPi to the GTOCP4, the power was up, then star the Ekos with a test profile containing the AP experimental and the CCD simulator. Of course, "KStars Updates All Devices" was selected in the INDI setting in the Ekos panel.

1) The Location and Time setting reached from the Setting menu on the HC appears as follow:


2) After turning on the mount (while Ekos has not started), I changed the time on the HC (forwading about 2 hours):


3) Started the kstars and INDI, then went to the INDI control panel to send the time and location data from kstars to the mount:


4) But still the "4=Time/LST" in the Main menu indicates the time has not been updated:


5) Going to the Set up menu and selecting "3=Get Time/Loc FrMnt" (see the first image), the time has been synchronized with that of kstars. This seems to confirm the time was updated successfully:


The log of the test session is also attached.
Simply starting up the Ekos did not update the time (and might be location, but I've not tested whether the location is updated or not) on the HC, but seems to update it on the mount. I hope the time setting issue is really solved, and will check in the next session.
5 years 10 months ago #25648

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FWIW I just ran this test on my AP CP3GTO mount with V firmware and do not see this problem. I use a GPS and have kstars set to use the GPS for kstars and the mount. Can confirm that my hand controller see's the updated time/location info automatically upon starting indi. Using a stellarmate with software from last week.

Sorry, I know this isn't of any help.
5 years 10 months ago #25654

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From the logs, the time IS getting updating in the HC:
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.500 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[DEBUG] New JD is 2458237.97 "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.500 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <:SL 20:18:50#> "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <:SL 20:18:50#> successful. "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[DEBUG] Set Local Time 20:18:50 is successful. "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] <setCalenderDate> "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <:SC 04/29/18#> "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] RES < > "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[DEBUG] Set Local Date 29/04/2018 is successful. "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.501 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <#:SG +09:00:00#> "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.502 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <#:SG +09:00:00#> "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.596 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[SCOPE] CMD <#:SG +09:00:00#> successful. "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.597 JST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental : "[DEBUG] Set UTC Offset 9 (always positive for AP) is successful. "
[2018-04-29T20:18:51.600 JST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - AstroPhysics Experimental :  "[INFO] Time updated. "

So the command is sent as soon the connection is done as you can see (all in 51 seconds mark).
5 years 10 months ago #25663

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