Hello Jasem,
I'm using a Ximea CMOSIS camera (at the moment, and won't be using anything else for a month or so). This is a link to a user's manual: www.ximea.com/downloads/usb3/manuals/xiq_technical_manual.pdf. I wish I knew more about drivers in general, and the one's needed for this camera in particular. Let me know how I can help you help me.

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Hello Jasem,

Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it. I'll put the observation planner aside now and focus on the features in the Ekos Scheduler. I am slewing using NSEW motion, but it is easy to adjust what I would like to do while performing a GOTO (as long as I can somewhat control the GOTO's slew rate).

When I create a profile of my equipment (mount + CCD), my camera isn't recognized and prevents the connection that would be made if I was just using a simulator camera with the mount. Despite the ~15 manufacturers and numerous models within each, I do not think that my CMOS camera is listed within them. Should I use the INDI Webcam, or RPI camera in the Other panel? Or will this cause problems in connection like the one's I'm currently experiencing? (This is probably unnecessary, but I tested the camera on a windows computer and with a python script on this Linux machine, it has been working just fine there recently)

Is there an easier way to change the status of a job in the Scheduler (namely from completed to scheduled so I can redo my last test) than deleting all of the jobs and then recreating them? Deleting the batch one-by-one and then reopening the Ekos scheduler list file doesn't even revert them back to "scheduled."

Are there resources or places to learn more about the scripts for "Observatory Startup Procedure" and "Observatory Shutdown Procedure"? Or should I look up some information on how iOptron's mounts or how something like Python can be commanded to perform these kinds of particular actions?

Thanks for your help,
Dave

iOptron GEM28 mount
CMOS Monochrome Camera
Proprietary Camera
Linux Ubuntu

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Good morning,

I would like to assemble or write scripts that will allow me to have pre-automated control over slew rates and orientations of my mount. Ideally, something that allows me to set time-tagged commands. For example, 

  • turn on mount
  • unpark
  • track & observe target at coordinates X for 5 minutes (or 00:00 to 00:05)
  • slew at a rate of Y degrees per seconds to coordinates Z
  • track & observe for 10 minutes
  • etc.
  • park mount
  • power down
Less important, I would like to get the data to be automatically uploaded and saved on a server.

I have been having a look at the object & sequence selection in ekos and observation planner in kstars, and am not sure how to use the advanced features of these things (when I set a time in the observation planner, then wait for that time to arrive, nothing happens; sometimes my ekos mount control will only slew at 1x the sidreal rate despite changing it in multiple places). There seem to be lots of posts that mention or refer to some of these automation techniques; does anyone know where I could find a comprehensive instruction manual or detailed tutorial video on these topics? Ideally, I would be able to do it from command line in a terminal (thus the scripts), but I would like to learn first how to set this up using one or both of the user interfaces that seem dedicated to this goal in kstars. 

I imagine this post will turn into a longer thread. I'll be very grateful to anyone who has the expertise and time to help me out. 

Thank you in advance,
Dave

iOptron GEM28 mount
CMOS Monochrome Camera
Proprietary Camera
Linux Ubuntu

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