OK, 8 months later, I solved the problem.
I was preparing our Celestron mounts for solar system / eyepiece observations, and I noticed that none of the mounts were properly storing time and location. After I checked the onboard batteries and performed other failed efforts, I discovered the option to factory reset the mounts. That worked! The mounts now properly store time and location.
On a whim, I tested the "Slew to Target" method under Capture and Solve, and it worked perfectly. I mean, one-iteration perfectly. Of course, KStars has been quietly updating over the past 8 months, and so that may have contributed to the solution, but I suspect issues with the mount firmware were the real problem.
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OK, 8 months later, I solved the problem.
I was preparing our Celestron mounts for solar system / eyepiece observations, and I noticed that none of the mounts were properly storing time and location. After I checked the onboard batteries and performed other failed efforts, I discovered the option to factory reset the mounts. That worked! The mounts now properly store time and location.
On a whim, I tested the "Slew to Target" method under Capture and Solve, and it worked perfectly. I mean, one-iteration perfectly. Of course, KStars has been quietly updating over the past 8 months, and so that may have contributed to the solution, but I suspect issues with the mount firmware were the real problem.
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Just as an experiment, I checked the Celestron Firmware Manager, and there was an update (not currently listed in the Celestron firmware history).
Ver. 1.20.20265
Bld. Sep 22 2020
I applied the update, and did a quick check this evening. Autofocus has improved, which was nice, but I still got a crazy slew. I've attached a log file, clipped to the start of the "Slew to Target."
Based on my experience so far, using Starsense with "Sync" and not "Slew to Target" works best. The NexStar+ HC works, of course, but, owing to a disability, manual alignment is very challenging for me. As I wrote earlier, using "Sync" and then slewing again with KStars works well. I just have to be careful to avoid the "Slew to Target" option.
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We finally had a clear night, and I was able to capture a crazy slew in the log. Some information:
I picked some random star on KStars to align on. I did a quick focus, and somewhere between 18:05 and 18:06 I initiated an alignment with the "Slew to Target" option. I set the accuracy to 60 arcseconds. The reported offset was something like 9 arcminutes; I could see the star near the corner of the field-of-view. The telescope began to slew rapidly on the dec axis, and just after one rotation I had to start pulling cables because they were starting to wind up. I eventually turned off power to the telescope (it was still spinning) and tried to shutdown Ekos as gracefully as possible. As a result, the alignment procedure never got a second image.
I removed all of the setup lines from the log to just before the start of the alignment. I hope this is easier to read!
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I activated logging on all devices because my concern was that a dev would respond that "there isn't enough information," and I don't get many clear nights. Better too much information than too little.
I usually set the tolerance to 60 arcseconds, but sometimes I forget, and the default is 30 arcseconds. If there is a way to change the default, I would love to know it.
OK, so what I'm hearing is that there is no information in the log file that can be used to debug the crazy slews with Capture and Solve. As I wrote above, if I let the crazy slew finish (that is, if it looks like there is no risk of running the camera into the pier), the telescope will return to the target, usually with improved pointing.
If there is no way to see the behavior in the log file, then the best I can do is perhaps try to capture the behavior on video. I'm open to other ideas!
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Just a quick question - I attached logs to my first post, are you asking for information that is not in the logs?
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A workaround: It seems using "Sync" on the Align tab works well with Celestron Starsense. I was able to use "Sync" on a field and then slew using KStars. For most targets that I tried, this procedure got the pointing to within a few arcseconds, which is extraordinary for a Celestron CGEM mount. One target, NGC 40, failed, and the resulting slew ran the camera into the pier. I suspect the Starsense pointing model may have been poor at high declination; another Starsense field nearer the pole might have helped.
It's a mystery to me why Sync + Kstars slew works but Slew to Target is problematic. Nevertheless, the workaround should be fine for my needs!
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Just to emphasize the point: Starsense on the Skywatcher mount works flawlessly with Slew to Target. I guess the communication between (Celestron) Starsense and Skywatcher somehow differs from the communication between (Celestron) Starsense and Celestron CGEM.
FWIW - I tested Slew to Target with other Celestron CGEM mounts (it is a small college observatory), and so the issue seems to be systemic. I'd like to stay with Starsense if possible. I'll see if I can find a workaround.
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Hi, I hope you can help me solve this problem!
I have a Celestron CGEM mount with StarSense. I connect to the mount using Kstars/Ekos with the Celestron GPS driver, and essentially all of the functions work correctly, including GOTOs from Kstars, focus commands within Ekos, etc. However, the one feature that is not working for me is Capture and Solve under the alignment tab.
Here is the problem. I perform a Capture and Solve using an Atik One camera. The Star Solver reports a valid solution and some modest offset to point the telescope, usually between two and five arcminutes. Then, the telescope slews like crazy, winding in RA and Dec, sometimes orienting the telescope dangerously close to the mount and straining the camera cables.
After some frustrating experimentation, I found that these crazy slews occur for about 7 out of 10 Capture and Solve attempts. Sometimes they work, and the telescope performs an appropriate small slew, but mostly Capture and Solve with Slew to Target sends the telescope spinning.
In one experiment, the telescope finally did manage to recover pointing after a crazy slew. However, I usually have to power down the telescope to avoid collision with the pier.
For comparison, I also have StarSense on a SkyWatcher mount (EQ8-Rh), but Capture and Solve works correctly (perfectly, really) there. I have also reverted back to the NexStar+ HC on the Celestron CGEM, and Capture and Solve worked fine with NexStar+. The problem seems to be StarSense on the Celestron CGEM DX mount.
On the Celestron CGEM mount, both StarSense and the motor controllers have been updated to the latest versions (1.20 for StarSense, 6.51 for the motor controllers). I am running Kstars 3.5.0 Stable on Ubuntu 20.04.
I did some experiments last night, and I've attached the log files that were generated.
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