david_taurus83

Still testing with the RPi3 and Stellarmate. I've got it pretty close now to consistency. Still having the odd connection problem with serial ports. The mount and focuser keep fighting over the same port. 8/10 they connect without issue though. I've been connecting indoors every day to try and  make sure it works on demand. I've been using VNC viewer on android, windows and linux without issue. Offline platesolving works within 60s.

I've been trying to get it to communicate with the home wifi though so I dobt have to keep updating the time on the RPi. Initially this works fine. I can connect via VNC viewer through the new IP address generated. I've updated the RPi os and installed more Astrometry index files onto the SM system. The weird thing is if I connect next day I cant connect again via VNC. I've switched the home wifi off to connect to the SM hotspot again and under the wifi connections there are multiple versions of my home wifi network. One will say connected 3 days ago, one will say connected 1 day ago, one will say connected 2 minutes ago. So the SM is auto connecting to my home wifi each time but its creating a new connection each time. Any ideas?

Excellent! Have you got any still frames?

Have you followed this procedure:

http://www.astro-baby.com/EQ6 rebuild guide/EQ6 worm alignment.htm

Its pretty much the go to procedure and works well. Are you sure it's not a lack of voltage? I've adjusted my RA axis before and you have to rotate the axis fully in each direction after each adjustment. If your satisfied you think you've nailed it then rotate both axis fully at full speed at the same time to make sure your PSU is providing enough volts. I found this out myself. If power is too low then one or both motors will let you know their upset!

What I do, is throw everything into DSS and stack and then just the good and stack. Then compare. I also hate to throw away subs.

5 hours ago, Kryff said:

Hi David, is this the kit you mention? Do both units need power as they only seem to supply 1 psu?

Yes that the one but with 4 USB ports. Yes, you only need a 5v supply on the remote end.

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Seems the whole network is down, but I suspect it's unlikely that your Meade relies on it. Must use the US GPS as its primary source surely?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-48985399

Yep, still down.

You could try a USB to CAT5 extender. Works up to 50m. I have a Startech one. Its 4 USB2 ports on a hub one end and you run your ethernet cable to a receiver hub the other and connect to your PC via USB. Works very well. When I first got my 1600mm I had download issues and I thought it was using a USB3 camera in a USB2 hub. It turns out it was my old USB2 laptop. Since upgrading to a new USB3 laptop it's been great. Images take a second to download from the 1600mm. I use an ASI1600MM, ASI EFW connected to the 1600, AZEQ6 with Eqmod cable, ASI178MC for guiding, also USB3, and a DSD autofocuser.  Absolutely no issues via the Startech hub, as long as it's to my USB3 laptop.

3 hours ago, StarDodger said:

What do you mean by “the web manager route seems most stable”..? As I just posted above, I never see the web manager on my system it just starts and runs in the background automatically when I start my ekos profile, I assume you have the “start INdI web manager” box ticked in your ekos profile..?

When I run everything through Ekos on either Windows or Linux laptops, its fraught with errors. Crashes, hangs, serial port errors etc. So I've given up on using the client (laptop) and server (RPi) approach. If the client fails, it ruins the image plan. So I have switched to running it via the VNC viewer. Everything is controlled from Ekos on the RPi and it's much more stable. In fact, tonight I'm not even using a laptop! I've put VNC viewer on both my tablet and phone and I can access the stellarmate from either. Everything is working like a dream! Struggled with the offline platesolver for a while but the answer was to change binning to 4x4 and down sample by 4. Happy days! Just need to figure out now how to transfer images back to my laptop for processing.

14 hours ago, StarDodger said:

Great, glad you have it running...well done, its worth it i love the software and will never go back to a windows system for astro..

Well I may have spoke too soon! After I posted my "victory" comment last night, Sods Law kicked in and things went pear shaped! Ekos hanging, crashing etc. More testing again today and tried both Windows and Linux OS. Both the same. It just seems if theres a communication issue it crashes everything. I've not given up yet though. The Web Manager route seems to be the most stable. I've logged on through VNC viewer and using Ekos on the RPi. I've set it to capture 12 subs and I've switched the laptop off. Switched back on and it's still going. Swapped laptops and it's still going. Obviously not able to test guiding, solving and focusing indoors but it worked well last night from the laptop Ekos. Tbh, it's the main reason I went for Stellarmate. I want the RPi to control everything from the mount and I can just remote desktop from indoors without fear of comms issues ruining image plans. Hopefully can get another few nights of testing in before i start imaging in anger again in August.

1 hour ago, StarDodger said:

If you are using the laptop and the rpi as the server, then the index files need to be on the laptop really, in ekos under the align tab, on left bottom side you will see astrometry, click the little box next to it, and then click index files, and select the ones you want downloaded, the ones you already have will be ticked already..

Hi yes I've done that. Its solved once tonight and then when I got on target it didn't solve. Need to play with the settings a bit. Just capturing a few test subs now. Got internal guiding running ok. I haven't even bothered to polar align but it seems to be holding it's own. I like the autofocus routine. Seems very quick compared to APT. It's great not having any cables in the window and I can walk around the house with the laptop!

3 hours ago, StarDodger said:

Ok, getting somewhere now, I assume you have found the serial port manager from the link I posted above..

Kubuntu is really the same as Ubuntu, just with the better KDE desktop environment..but glad it’s working now..

Well fingers crossed, I think that's done it! I used the serial port manager from the web version and assigned the mount and focuser to their own USB port. Hopefully when I boot it up again it's still working.

Platesolving still not working. What files do i need to download? Do i store them on the laptop and set the directory path there and pick Remote in Ekos?

I was capturing some test images today. They were saving to the laptop and taking a long time to download for each one. Is there a way to save to the SD card on the RPi but also see a preview on the laptop?

I've reflashed the laptop with Kubuntu now instead of Ubuntu. I can connect to the SM via EKOS on the laptop now. Happy days! No not really! I've hit the same brick wall I had with windows. It seems the focuser and mount are fighting over the same ports even after running port manager. Jasem has posted a page on this so trying to get it fixed.

2 minutes ago, StarDodger said:

Run the serial port manager it will sort that out, and assign separate ports for all items...it’s in the INdI web manager...

That wont run either! Might be going back to windows after all!

IP address doesn't work either. When I click INDI web manager nothing happens.

24 minutes ago, StarDodger said:

It’s usually under the “options” tab in the INdI driver panel, there you should be able to save set up..

Not sure why you can’t connect with laptop, but one thing to try and very often works, is instead of putting Stellarmate.local in the profile, put the actual up address of the rpi...that may work..

Thanks, I found them under the optional tab. But now the focuser and mount are fighting over ports! 😂 Give me strength!

^^^Dont know why my text is posted as a screenshot?!🤔😅

What I had tried to say was : But i can connect through the VNC viewer and connect all the devices. In the INDI panel the only tabs are clear and close. Cant see load or save anywhere so I must be lookng in the wrong place?

1 hour ago, StarDodger said:

Could you post a picture of your ekos profile, when it won’t connect from the Linux laptop, as just want to look at the settings, as a picture paints a thousand words..

Yes, if you connect to SM via a web browser, then you can run Kstars direct from the SM, and it’s all done on there, astrometry maybe a little slow, best to use that online if possible, as you won’t have all the index files on the rpi.

Any device on your local network can access the SM, but not on other networks, so just from your home.

In the INdI driver settings there is a tab under each driver which has the Save and Load buttons, so when all settings are as you need, then save, and when you restart ekos you can then load them back..

 

Thats as far as i get with Ekos on the laptop.

But i can connect through the VNC viewer and connect all the devices. In the INDI panel the only tabs are clear and close. Cant see load or save anywhere so I must be lookng in the wrong place?

I had another go last night with the Linux laptop. Installed Kstars but no matter how I tried, the INDI Web Manager wouldnt launch when connected to the SM wifi. Port settings are correct as if I try with the Win laptop it connects? Windows crashes Kstars sometimes some I'm keen to not use that. However, if i use the web browser and direct to the SM (stellarmate.local:8624) I can connect that way? Am I right in saying that I'm working directly off the RPi that way? Any disadvantages to working this way apart from a little bit of latency when moving windows around? The advantages I can see this way are if the connection is lost between laptop and SM any image plans running on the SM Kstars will continue? Am i also right in thinking any device with a web browser can access the SM without the need for Kstars? Seems a no brainer? I connected all devices without issue. Camera, mount, focuser, ffilterwheel. Still need a clear night to test guiding and fingers crossed, platesolving. One thing I cant seem to find is a save button after i configure my profile. Eg. Camera gain and offset need to be 139 and 60 respectively, 16 bit enabled,  focuser needs direction reversed etc, but if I shut down and start up again everything appears to revert to a default setting? Potential for mistake here unless theres a way of saving once and for all.

4 hours ago, stash_old said:

One piece of advice which I hope you will take in the vein it is given - helpfully.

Please stick to one approach until you learn Indi/Indigo or whatever. Jumping from set up to set can cause problems.

The all in one approach of Indi working on the RPI3b+ will work - not saying that the any cmos camera will be great but it will work so long as its already supported.

Best approach IMO is to add and try each function in a step by step approach so for example

1. Get mount working - use ccd simulator.

2. Then add CCD and be able to happily take images and be happy you know how all the options work on Indi

3. Then add the Focuser - and test until happy

4. Then try Platesolving you will need to load Index's on a normal Indi install - check the folder for Stellarmate in case it comes with all index's installed.

    The Sensor info is very important for Platesolving if this is wrong the Platesolve will fail.

    Make the Platesolve logging verbose and see what the output is - too many stars will slow the mechanism up and you will need to alter one of the paramters - Check the Indi forum its been done before 🙂

5. Add and furher options you need.

If you have problems you should always have the logs handy - word of mouth isn't really much help sometimes. 🙂

Then get used to the Indi work flow.

Then if required change your way of working to true Server Client if required but I suggest you use the same approach. NOTE The Windows way of Indi is totally alien to Linux Client Server approach as drivers DO NOT run on Windows just Kstars/Ekos and local Platesolving - if I remember it correctly

Good Luck.

Thanks. I'm going to leave my Windows laptop for processing. I'll install Kstars on the Linux laptop as its smaller with better battery life. Make sense to stick to a similar OS. I've paid for the RPi and SM so I want to stick at it and get it working. I'm trying to make my kit more modular and mobile. Shorter cables and less of them etc. I'll have another play tonight indoors.

4 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

Have you updated the Af1/2 firmware david ?

I'm sure I done it a little while back. The RPi could see the focuser at one stage as it was reporting the last position (10054 steps) I left it at from last weekends session. The Serial Port manager kept asking me to pull out USBs and reinsert a few times and I think I messed things up from there 🤔

4 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

If you use indigosky  yes you can use tablet phone , if you want to use APT ,you need a  laptop/pc ,indosky haven’t released the dslr drivers yet though  , have a look on Apt forum for more info .indigosky is all you need David, flash indigo img file to SD card using Etcher and that’s it ,takes 2minutes .

Interesting. I really like using APT but was willing to give SM a go. But if I need to still use a laptop then it might make sense to carry on? Only thing is, my windows laptop is an i7 beast so power hungry. Not really a remote option. I have another small laptop which never got used as it came on W8 and was rubbish. I flashed it with Ubuntu last weekend and it seems much better now and the battery lasts ages! But no APT on Linux!

9 hours ago, StarDodger said:

When using the windows version, you still Jane to connect to the rpi for the drivers, so that is called remote mode, as you can’t run it all on windows...INdI does not work...

As for platesolving, have you installed the index files you need, as SM only had a few installed with it, you can install them from within Ekos.

You can try and run the whole lot from the rpi, but it will be sluggish, as it’s not got the power for that really, the client and server approach is the best...

Hi. I installed Kstars on my windows laptop and connected to the RPi via the Stellarmate function.

I had assumed the SM OS had enough catalogues installed? I was trying to solve a previous image from my last session. I input the correct FOV as it starts off at 0' x 0'. I have astrometry installed locally for the ASPS via APT so perhaps I need to point it to there?

I did initially want the whole lot to work as remote so i could do away with a laptop (dark site trips) but looking at the SM app it looks very limited. I couldn't find any control for camera gain etc

I got myself a Pi3 B+ and a case off Amazon and last night I installed Stellarmate OS. I tried with the mobile app first. Pants. Could move the mount but cameras wouldnt work.

Installed Kstars on my Windows laptop and had some better luck. Connects to mount, cameras and filterwheel no probs. Hit a brick wall with the Deep Sky Dad focuser and couldn't get platesolving to work. Trying in Remote mode which I assume is off the Pi  itself?

Hi. I'm glad this thread is helping people!😀

I've had a similar issue myself one night with the same message though it's not returned since. Just "one of those nights". Glad you've got it sorted now.

In the gain settings menu, theres a drop down tab for Unity gain, highest dynamic range and custom (I think).  When you move the slider does it change the drop down menu to custom? Have you checked the fits header to make sure it isn't 200 gain?