Hi Gina,
Its quite useable with the current indi driver if ones takes care to set the parameters in the right order. I'm able to get exposures up to 200 sec, both through indi, and direct RPi command line.

However, I've been running it alongside a ZWOASI 120MM-S in a plate-solving project to compare performances. The small pixels do seem to be an issue. To get anywhere near the same sensitivity as the ZWO camera I have to bin it 4x4.

Read More...

Many thanks,
If there is anything I can do to help - tests, characterisation etc? Just ask.
Being retired I have no time excuses!

Read More...

ps:

A load of messages I tried to post a month ago, suddenly appeared overnight.

Read More...

Yes - that can be a distraction!

I'm finding that if I start EKOS and go straight to the camera exposure tab, change gain first to anything 1 or higher, then change exposure to something long. It will give me a true long exposure straight away, and carry on doing so for the session.

Ive found you must not touch the exposure before the gain, as the moment exposure has been entered, a test image is captured automatically, which prevents future long exposures.

The command line I gave before still continues to be 'foolproof'.

Read More...

I have the same issue. Seems like the Indi RPI camera driver is currently limited to 1 sec exposures.

Would be nice to know if its being worked on and an ETA?

Read More...

Hi,
Just joined the forum. I'm an experienced visual astronomer and now retired I'm exploring using CCD's to help.

I like raspberry Pi's and have used them quite a bit, but wouldnt consider myself a capable user/programmer.
first project was an all sky camera. A QHY CCD connected to the a remote RPi4 running IndigoSky. Worked out nicely in the end although the QHY 5L is a temperamental beast.

Now I'm trying to make an electronic finder for my Dobsonian.

The RPi HQ Camera looked interesting and I believe others have managed to get sufficient sensitivity to capture stars and plate solve the image.

First step I thought would be to use Astroberry/Kstars/Indi to test the setup and prove the concept. The I would attempt to write a more dedicated programme to do the capture/plate solving/scope drive.

Steep learning curve but I'm getting there.

problem I've hit is exposure & gain control. it seems not to change. I've read this thread and tried various things but to no avail.

When I start Ekos from Kstars, I get an Indi control panel pop up. On the tabs I can set exposure time and gain. I then go to the 'capture' tab in Ekos. Again I am presented with options to change exposure and gain. But they dont reflect what I may have set on the Indi control panel.
I've tried various combos of changing gain and exposure in various orders, but the resulting image always appears the same. The activity monitor script at the bottom of the window suggest the right length exposures are being taken, but the displayed images never change.

Any help greatly appreciated. (please remember I'm not a programmer!)

Read More...

Hi,
Just joined the forum after looking for solutions to problems I am having with my RPI HQ Camera and Kstars/Ekos/Indi.

Grateful for all the good work in this thread. It has helped quite a lot, but i am still not sure I am in control of exposure time - it seems most of the time I am trying things in the dark, (sorry no pun intended).

I'll keep following the thread, but if there is any thing I can do by way of testing etc? ps: i'm not a programmer!!

Read More...

sorry, I pasted a random line. I can adjust the --shutter right up to 10's of seconds.

Read More...

Did you try the raspistill line I posted earlier?

For me, as written, the image is saved after about 1 second longer than the set exposure length. ie for a 5 second it takes 6.
If I remove the -bm, it gets a little longer.
if I remove -ex off, it does indeed get very much longer.

Read More...

OOps typo & autocorrect - meant to be "Burst Mode"!

Read More...

I've found the following command line always works ok, first time, any time. Somethingabout First Mode seems rekey perhaps?
raspistill -t 1 -md 3 -bm -ex off -ag 1 --shutter 200000 -ISO 800 -st -o /home/astroberry/Desktop/long.jpg

Read More...

Hi,
I've been stuck on this issue for a couple of weeks now. Just once I managed to get long exposures, but I've not managed to re-create the sequence.
I have an RPi HQ camera on a RPi4 4GB, running astroberry 2.0.3. I did a fresh install a couple of days ago, to no avail.
Camera works OK with long exposures from the command line.

I'm hopeful for a solution, and in the meantime if I can help with any testing (I'm retired!) to try and pin down any issues I'd be more than happy.

Best regards
Keith

Read More...