Running Stellarmate / KStars 3.6.8 and PHD 2.6.1 on a home built Rasp Pi4

I'd appreciate any ideas on an annoying problem.

I set up to image, PA, focusing, tracking, guiding is working fine.
At the appropriate time the meridian flip occurs.
Scope is re-aligned correctly onto the target.
Tracking and guiding start (PHD2 is recalibrating after every meridian flip(?)
Refocusing starts which pauses guiding
Then before focus finishes, guiding is aborted which stops the imaging sequence.
I can manually get everything reset and off it goes again until the end of the night but it means I can't leave it unattended.

Help!

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Thanks for responding, but I think it is more than weak signal.

As I mentioned, I can take my PC to within 1 meter and get no response. I even tried to connect by Direct Ethernet (I have it set up to allow), but there was no response from the Pi. If I had to guess, I'd say it was some software issue that is causing a lockup or crash, but as I can't connect into the Pi as it is happening, I am unable to diagnose.

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Background
Running Stellarmate OS 1.7.9 on my own Rasp Pi 4B 8GB, OS is on a USB 3.0 connected SSD (blazingly fast!!).
All astronomy functions are working well.
Running my rig in the garden with the Rasp Pi attached to the side of the mount and set up as a hotspot.
Kstars / EKOS and PHD2 software is all running locally on the Pi and I am connecting via RealVNC with a PC that is less than 10 meters from the rig, through one pane of glass.
The Rasp Pi is facing the window with direct line of sight, it is never being blocked by the mount as it moves.
Stellarmate is running as a hotspot. I had read that USB 3.0 and the 2.4GHz band can sometimes have issues when in close proximity, so I set the hotspot to transmit on 5GHz.
Ambient temperatures are between 0 and 5 degC.

Problem
Sessions start out okay, but after about 2 hours, the connection gets "flakey" over a period of 5 to 10 minutes then dies completely.

Symptoms
After loss of connection, if I check the hotspot signal from my PC, it looks strong, but RealVNC cannot re-connect.
On a couple of occasions my PC loses the hotspot wifi signal and gets kicked off, but the hotspot is still showing as transmitting with normal power.
While not connected to the hotspot, the PC is reporting a strong signal, but as soon as it connects, the signal strength apparently dies completely. Once the PC is disconnected, the signal is showing as strong again.
Tested with a second PC and even a Smart Phone and get the same display of signal strength as explained above.
Took my notebook outside just 1 meter from the Rasp Pi, and still no connection.
Final solution has been to go out to the mount, physically reboot the Rasp Pi and restart the session, which then continues normally for another 1-2 hours before repeating the same issue.
Happened 3 times last night before I called it quits for the evening.

If there are any logs I need to record and post here, or if there are any ideas, I'd appreciate some feedback

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Paul replied to the topic 'Upcoming Meridian Flip Alert Possible?' in the forum. 4 months ago


Very true, and I do use it....and I could set an alarm on my phone, just thought an optional built-in alarm might be useful to us sleep deprived types......zzzzzzz :woohoo:

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Paul created a new topic ' Meridian Flip Alert Possible?' in the forum. 4 months ago

I am shooting mainly from my back garden so I control via my home network while sitting in the warm...or sleeping.

I've had one or two issues with meridian flips that might be user error....or not. Multiple things like cables, re-centering, re-starting guiding, re-focusing and re-starting shooting etc.

In the colder months coming up, I'd love to receive a reminder from EKOS that a meridian flip is coming up in say 5 minutes or so - get an email, or even a bleeping alarm or screen flash on the monitoring PC. Just enough for me to get the big hat and coat on and oversee the flip in person.

Is this something that is already available, or has someone ever made a script to do this?

Thanks in advance

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Paul replied to the topic 'Player One Drivers' in the forum. 5 months ago

Just to let everyone know, I received the camera (4 days from Player One direct).

Set up was an absolute breeze, everything working perfectly.

Thanks to all concerned.

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Paul replied to the topic 'Some Guidance on PHD2 via EKOS Please' in the forum. 5 months ago

Thank you Euripides & Wolfgang.

I tried your advice last night with PHD2. Works as expected now.

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Paul replied to the topic 'Player One Drivers' in the forum. 5 months ago

Thank you so much for the prompt responses!!

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Paul created a new topic ' Player One Drivers' in the forum. 5 months ago

Running Stellarmate / KStars on Raspberry Pi

Sorry if this is answered somewhere, I'm seriously looking at purchasing one of the Player One OSC cooled cameras, either Poseidon, Ares, or Uranus.

Are the necessary INDI drivers for all their models available, pre-installed, or necessary to install. If installation is required, I'd appreciate an assist as I am not strong on linux.

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Paul replied to the topic 'New Feature - The Aberration Inspector' in the forum. 5 months ago

Can't wait to see this implemented, it is a fantastic tool to add to image quality.

Not only that, your video and the 3D representation of back focus and tilt is excellent in it's own right. Newcomers to the hobby will intuitively be able to understand the effects of sensor positioning.

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Paul replied to the topic 'Some Advice on Polar Alignment Please' in the forum. 5 months ago

Just an update.

I am using MoveStar & Calc Error method.

Things seem to be working logically now. Arrows are pointing where they are expected.

At my latitude, the yellow line for alt adjustments is orientated at 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock. Green line for azimuth adjustments is orientated at 1o'clock to 7 o'clock.

I can now get a PA error of less than 10 arc seconds dialed in within 1-2 minutes.

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Paul replied to the topic 'Some Advice on Polar Alignment Please' in the forum. 5 months ago

Thanks so much, sorry for not replying earlier, the weather has been awful so I have been indoors sulking!!

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