Also have same issue with guiding and AVX.
I polar align using QHY PoleMaster. Can't say enough positive things about this.
I then plate solve so scope knows where it is pointed. It has little issue slewing to a target although to get within 11 arc seconds it has to do a few plate solve / adjust cycles.
Once on target it tracks well enough that I can take 60 second exposure on 610mm scope without guiding.
But when I try to use the guiding software it either fails during calibration saying "failed to reach starting point after 21 iterations.... possible mount backlash problem"
or
it starts guiding and the performance seems pretty good for 5-10 minutes but then it drifts outside of the +/- 2 arc second window and even though correction pulses are being sent
it keeps drifting away. When the guiding seems to be working I can see it issuing correcting pulses and scope location in the drift plot does move back and forth like one would expect.
The star field image from the guide scope / camera seem fine. There doesn't seem to be any issues with that as far as I can tell. Certainly no complaints from software.
I've tried playing around with the guide settings but nothing seems to make it work.
Honestly wondering if the older ST4 cable might work better but have not tried this.
Sending pulses through the RS-232 interface seems suspect to me. Not sure how the software in the hand controller handles that.
Anyway would really like to get guiding working so I could take longer than 60 second exposures.
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I am at 38 degrees.
My problem went away. Sadly I don't know why. I deleted the profile and recreated it and then it started working. I had tried that before and it did not help. One thing I did differently this time was to NOT include SkySafari in the profile. I can't see how that would make a difference but when I get a chance I am going to delete the profile again and make a new one that includes SkySafari and see if the problem comes back. For reference SkySafari is an external planetarium program that has scope control. When you include it in your EKOS profile EKOS exposes a server that SkySafari uses to control the scope. One other thing I discovered, but I don't think it has any bearing, is that on the CGX-L if your slew speed is 5 or less then the DEC axis runs in reverse. This is by design according to Celestron. When I found that in the manual for the CGX-L I thought for sure I had solved it because the default setting for slew speed is 5. I changed it to 9 thinking that would fix it but it had no effect on the problem.
One thing you might try is making a brand new profile and don't include anything other than the mount and the imaging camera.
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So through a lot of experiments and trying things here is what I know.
Motion in RA axis is correct. Meaning where it shows the scope moved in KStars is where it actually is after plate solving.
Motion in DEC axis is opposite. Meaning where it shows the scope moved in KStars initially looks correct but after plate solving it has moved in the opposite direction.
I can manually move the scope onto a target keeping in mind that DEC axis is doing opposite of what KStars shows and then once on target scope tracks correctly.
I have tried doing a factory reset on the scope. Deleting the profile from KStars and building a new one. Messing with the check boxes that reverse North/South West/East.
Nothing seems to make any difference.
I am fairly confident that the bug is in KStars / Indi. My other mount (Celestron AVX) works fine with the same computer.
I haven't tried this but after using plate solving to let the scope know where it is pointing I am fairly confident that doing a GoTo with the hand controller will work correctly.
The scope used to work just fine so I don't think it could be something like wires got reversed. There have also not been any firmware updates since the last time the scope worked correctly.
Really need some help on this one.
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Polar align using QHY PoleMaster
Plate solve with EKOS and scope shows correct location in KStars
Tell scope to go to another target and scope crosshairs in KStars look correct but after plate solving
the scope has actually moved more or less in the opposite position.
If I let EKOS iterate the scope crosshairs in KStars always seem to do the correct thing
but after plate solving the actual position keeps moving further and further away from intended target.
The mount is CGX-L with most recent firmware.
OTA is SkyWatcher Quattro 300p
Camera is QHY 5III-178m
When I look in the INDI control panel there are a few things that seem odd to me.
Under the Motion Control tab the green light is on next to Reverse. Can't seem to change this.
Don't know what it does. Neither the North/South West/East check boxes are checked.
Under Site Management tab is show longitude as 275:30:15.0. I thought longitude was 0 to 180 and 0 to -180.
Can't change this either. When I try I get a message that... "Updating location is not necessary since mount is already aligned."
With my other mount and same software everything works fine. My other mount is Celestron AVX.
One experiment I have not tried is plate solve with EKOS and then use hand controller to slew to a target.
I feel pretty confident that HC will work correctly.
The location and time are correct in the HC.
Computer running KStars / EKOS gets location and time from network.
This problem is super frustrating. Basically can't use scopes GoTo capability.
Have to manually find targets. After manually finding a target the tracking works as expected.
Thanks for the help. Hope we can resolve this soon.
Jim
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The camera has a 14 bit A/D converter and QHY website says it should produce 14 bit encoded video files.
However, in EKOS / INDI I always get only 8 bit encoded SER files.
In the INDI control panel it shows 16 bits per pixel and it cannot be changed.
Am I missing something or is this a bug with EKOS / Indi
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Is there a roadmap to support KStars/EKOS natively on Apple Silicon?
The Intel versions runs but..... lots of subtle bugs. Mostly related to driving cameras. Mount control seems ok.
Other devices might also have issues but no experience with those.
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Using the most recent version of KStars.
Scope : SkyWatcher Quattro 300p
Mount : Celestron CGX-L
Camera : Sony A7R4
Polar Alignment : QHY PoleMaster (this works flawlessly)
The solver works reliably but the mount does not seem to make the correct movements to sync onto the target.
Last night I tried to have it sync to Polaris and it never even got close and the movement choices were not logical in my opinion.
Needless to say being able to plate solve and slew to target is essential.
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Sorry if this is not correct category for this question.
I have a QHY5III-178M. According to their web site (www.qhyccd.com/qhy5iii-178m-c/) this camera the A/D is 14 bits per pixel.
When I record a SER video it only uses 8 bits per pixel.
Is this normal? It the camera unable to stream video at 14 bits per pixel or is it an EKOS / Indi limitation?
Do I need to change a setting someplace?
In the INDI properties for this camera it shows 16 bits per pixel and does not seem like it can be changed.
Does gain / offset have any effect when recording video?
What default values of gain and offset should I use as a starting point for both solar imaging and DSO imaging?
Thanks in advance for the help?
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One more piece of data....
Inside my house, with ambient light provided by windows, the video does show an image.
However.... changing gain / offset does not seem to change anything and cannot get FPS above 5.8
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I actually got this camera to use for guiding but not ready for that yet.
Wanted to try using it for some deep sky imaging.
Quattro 300p
CGX-L
KStars
MacBook Pro M1
KStars connects to camera without any issue.
But....
During the day doesn't seem to matter what Gain / Offset I try video remains full white screen.
At night video, even though I can see lots of stars, is completely black. Also does not seem to matter what Gain / Offset I try.
At night I can point camera into my lighted garage or at a street lamps and video looks good. Changing Gain / Offset does not seem to change anything.
I am on the CCD tab in Ekos doing these tests.
The other thing is no matter what I do the frame rate is around 5 fps even though this camera is supposed to easily do 50 fps at full resolution and even higher at reduced resolutions.
My normal camera is a Sony A7R-IV and when it is in the scope I can see hundreds of stars with live view.
I was really expecting the mono camera to be more sensitive or at least as good.
I also have a QHY PoleMaster and it can see lots of stars.
In my neighborhood, in PoleMaster, I use exposure of 300ms and gain of 100.
In KStars I cannot increase the gain above 51.
Anyway hoping there is a simple answer and thanks in advance for the help.
Jim
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SkySafari:
Mount Type: Meade LX-200 GPS
Why this mount type and not what you actually have? Does EKOS translate commands from SkySafari into correct commands for your actual mount?
Thanks
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Why chose mount = Meade LX200 as opposed to the mount you actually have?
Does EKOS translate the commands from SkySafari into the correct commands for your actual mount?
Is there any way to start EKOS without KStars or use it by itself?
Thanks,
Jim
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Is there a way to confirm the solver in Ekos is working by using an image captured previously? In other words test with a real image and not using... Show more