I've only used INDI with KStars/EKOS since I started digital astrophotography several years ago. I first want to thank Jasem and others who have put so much work into KStars/Ekos and INDI drivers, and helped me save many problems. But now that I am running a remote observatory, I have found that I need to see what else is out there. I have a Nexdome observatory and they upgraded their firmware and solved a major issue with the slaving going out of sync after an hour or so. But there is no INDI driver for the new firmware and so I have not been able to use the observatory since. So this is a good time to try other software, Windows ASCOM software that I have never used before.

I bought my very first ever Windows PC for this endeavor (I have only used Macs and Linux since 1996). This first foray into Windows has not been fun. But I am making headway. I did waste three hours today before I learned that you need Windows drivers for my cameras and other gear. My Macs never needed such things. The second thing that I learned is that ASCOM is messy. So many tools and apps just to connect one dome. I ended up trying NINA to see if it works with all my gear and the dome.

Today I have finally got everything connected, and will test it out on the next clear night. But I have been reading about NINA and its polar alignment routine is not nearly as nice as EKOS's. And I am forced to use an external guider like PHD2 and that will be a real test. I tried PHD2 last year and it would not play well with my CEM120 EC2 mount. I never could get it to work, as it fights with the encoders. But EKOS's multistar worked like a charm. If I can't get PHD2 to work, then my experiment with NINA and ASCOM will be over.

And then there's the lack of a planetarium. I will have to find an external one that works. But I will miss the seamless connection between KStars and EKOS.

But the biggest thing I learned today is that I can't run all my gear at home while controlling all that equipment remotely out in the observatory via INDI. VNC is sluggish.

If anyone ever gets time to write the new INDI driver for Nexdome 4.0, please let me know! I can't wait to come back.

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