JonCarleton

We =finally= got a decent night that wasn't below freezing or raining or socked-in with clouds.  Of course, it was a full moon (nearly), so that limited things a bit, but I was able to try the SV305.  Overall, I am very pleased with the camera.  It is, as advertised, a major upgrade to the SV105 I originally purchased.  I'll post some images once I get up to speed on the software.

UNFORTUNATELY, one is limited to AstroDMx_Capture for imaging as the only software currently supporting the SV305.  The SV105 was a V4L-compatible camera and worked with just about any software.  More unfortunate than that, there is no version of AstroDMx_Capture able to run on a Pi that supports the SV305.  There -is- a Pi version (32 bit) of AstroDMx_Capture that supports all sorts of cameras EXCEPT the SV305.  Apparently, the support for the SV305 is only available in the 64 bit versions of AstroDMx_Capture, and there is yet to be a Pi 64 bit version of the software.  Since I use a Pi4 as a telescope focus and pointing controller via INDI, this is fairly tedious and annoying.  It means running one USB cable I was hoping to avoid.

23 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

No need to use emulators. Siril is native Linux and works perfectly for stacking with many options found only on commercial software.

HTH

Hmm...missed that one.  I'll try it!

I am a GIMP fan, but I have to say that the words "Pain and Suffering" come into play with the stacking process in GIMP.  Oh yes, GIMP supports it, but stacking is a VERY manual process with many complex steps in GIMP.  Currently, I am using RegiStax6 under wine (Windoze emulator) and final touch-up with GIMP native Linux.  Much less effort.

Good!  I've been playing with the motor controls on focus and pointing.  Once I get comfortable with that, I suppose video is next.  Although, there seems to be more of a need for someone to clean up post-processing in Linux than image capture presently...SV305 excepted.  And I say this, having only done a cursory skimming of the software out there currently available.  There seem to be a lot of individual, single-job post-processing utilities that people may script together, but nobody seems to have combined them into a package as has been done in the Windows arena.  

3 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Just to correct you on a technical point. Neither camera ]has a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) sensor. Both use a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor.

Ah, absolutely right!  I should have remembered this, as I had to clean a bug off the sensor on the 105 when I received it.  I saw then that it was a CMOS sensor.  Perhaps I've been watching too many videos about USB cameras with CCD's and my mind got stuck.  I claim newbie-ism as a defense!

I would have to agree that what is currently working and available is a hard patch to a specific application (AstroDMx_Capture).  It has that sort of "let's change these parameters, add this bit and recompile to get it out there" feel.  I'd love to get my hands on a SDK for that camera. 

I spent 30 years as a utility programmer, writing all sorts of equipment automation and automated network "stuff."  Now I am retired, and feel that I might enjoy writing some things from time to time once I get my level of understanding of all the fiddly bits relating to telescopes up to an appropriate level.  The Arduino and Pi motor controller bit is straight-forward enough, and I've done a lot with audio, but not so much video other than some streaming web setups.

I made a removable double tray that hooks to the front of my SkyWatcher dobsonian mount.  It is a good catch-all for all sorts of things, such as the Raspberry Pi, Arduino focus controller, a power strip for all the little "wall wart" transformers, and general cables and stuff.  I fully expect the supplied plastic hand unit mount to break in time, making the tray the eventual home for the hand unit.

The tray is made from a typical wire rack from Home Depot and is intended to be used on the back of kitchen cabinet  doors.  I mounted it to an aluminum back plate and added two upside-down coat hooks to the top so it would hook on the front of the mount.  It just lifts off the mount, but stays put during operations and does not impede the telescope movement.

I have a SVBony 105 and found it to be a reasonable CCD, especially for the price.  A bit hard to focus initially, but not horrible results overall.  So, I bought the 305.....

I run under Linux on my desktops, laptops and Raspberry Pi4, which runs the telescope.  USUALLY, Linux is pretty good about finding USB devices and setting them up without additional drivers.  The 105 was immediately recognized and automatically setup as a V4L device (Video for Linux). This makes a device more or less universally usable with almost any Linux image capture software.

This was NOT the case with the 305.  While Linux saw the USB connection, it could not recognize the device.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that the manufacturer is ahead of this and has a special Linux version of AstroDMx_Capture available for download that seems to be a fairly feature-rich piece of capture software.  Once installed (laptop, desktop and Pi), it works well with the 305 CCD and the image quality is far superior to the 105...as it should be.

This may mean, I suspect, that it will be a while before there is an INDI driver for the 305 CCD.  Also, any limitations found in the AstroDMx_Capture software will be limitations one will have to live with for lack of options.  Both the 105 and 305 come with a little disk full of Windows drivers and software for the two CCDs.  I do not run Windows and their application is beyond the scope of this discussion.

I will try to post some images from the 305...IF EVER IT STOPS RAINING IN NW GEORGIA!  I do take full responsibility for the terrible viewing conditions in my area.  It was never like this before I bought a decent telescope.

There are a lot of good software programs for Linux for image pre-processing, but few seem to have as smooth and intuitive a workflow as RegiStax 6, a Windows program.  Fortunately...nearly...it will install and run under Linux using the Wine windows emulator.  Unfortunately, there are a few issues to deal with.  There are many tutorials on how to install Windows programs using the Wine emulator for Linux, so I will not go there except to say that it is a very quick and easy typical install.  I run Linux Ubuntu and the issues below are for that platform, but should be rather generic.  These are a few I have slammed into:

1.  You will be running in 32 bit mode.  Sad, but unavoidable presently.

2.  Trying to open or select files in the file manager does not work initially.  What you must do to shake it into submission is open the file manager, TAB until the folder selection is highlighted, then press up or down arrow.  In other words, the file manager doesn't respect the mouse initially.  Once you have done this, the file manager works with the mouse as expected.  Odd, but manageable.

3.  You must take your time and be patient.  As it is in 32 bit mode, things don't move as fast, even if you have a really quick 64 bit quad processor.  If you click too many operations in a row, it will get "behind the power curve" and seem locked up.  It isn't locked up, merely "overwhelmed" by the load.  In time, it will return to normal.  Avoid letting this happen, as it really slows things down in the long run.  Let it finish one process before you click the next.  If it starts to become sluggish, give it a moment or three.

The good news is that it DOES work and the results are identical to the result on a Windows platform.  I'd prefer a native Linux alternative, but so far, what I have found in native Linux requires several programs to do the same job.  I am a hobbyist imager.  I am sure that if I became more serious and processing speed became an issue I would learn to manage or perhaps script the native fiddly bits together for better performance, but for now, this works for the little bit I do.

I am blessed/cursed with too many "spare rooms" in this house.  One such room has a variety of seldom-used bits and seemed appropriate as a place under A/C for the scope.  I have the Dob on a rolling moving dolly and the trip to my back deck is just around the corner and through the kitchen.  Setup in about 5 minutes.

I like the marine battery approach, but I run everything off 110V AC at home, so I just add a 1000W inverter to the mix.  This lets me run off a marine battery for long-term and my truck battery for shorter term.  There is very little loss running this way over running straight 12V from a battery and you get the added advantage of running 5V or other "wall wart transformer" voltages and making use of the voltage control and surge protection in those devices which protect your motors and GOTO computers.

In general, the WiFi signal is good for about 100 feet (30 meters) (+/-).  Steel structures, concrete walls and motors (such as in air conditioning units) can significantly reduce the range and reliability if between the WiFi hot-spot (telescope mount) and the client (computer/phone/tablet).

I have the SkyWatcher 10" with Synscan.  You initialize, and align, then you are ready to go.  As has been said, it is important to start with the scope level and pointed to True North (not magnetic). My SynScan hand unit sometimes defaults to East longitude instead of West (I live in the US, so West is correct).  It is really easy to miss the little E instead of W on that line and it will result in some really wacky results from Stellarium if you align things with that bit wrong.....er...so I hear (whistling).

I have a 34mm 2" SVBONY coming from eBay.  I'll report on it when (if ever) it arrives.  Stuff from China presently has untold delays.

My SVBONY SV105 came complete with a small dead bug stuck to the chip.  I may still have an image of that somewhere.  Fortunately, a blast from an air can eliminated the problem, but I had to void the waranty and take the thing apart to do the deed.

Your problem looks to be on the glass/plastic above the sensor.  But it could be the sensor as well.

The SynScan app has an annoying and not-at-all apparent lockout on the alignment process that typically flashes the right and up buttons.  When it does this, it dims the acceptance button ever-so-slightly.  The first time it did this to me, I didn't find it obvious that the acceptance button was dimmed.  The star was perfectly aligned and I wanted to go on.  I thought the application was hung because it wouldn't go to the next step.  After a reboot and retry of the whole process, I decided to tap the two flashing arrow buttons and presto!  The acceptance button became ever-so-slightly brighter and worked when pressed.  It may be this is seemingly pointless procedure is in place to force the backlash adjustment mentioned in the manual.  The SynScan hand device does not operate in this manner.

I provide this bit of information in the hope I will prevent someone throwing their tablet into the creek as I nearly did.  That said, the SynScan tablet/phone app actually works very well once you get used to it.

I have the new built-in WiFi on my SkyWatcher 10" Dobsonian.  It acts much the same as a cell phone hotspot and creates a class D network starting at 192.168.4.1 (ending at 192.168.4.255), though that can be changed.  The =reliable= range is about 100', however metal surroundings and motors (such as A/C compressors) can reduce the range if inline between the scope and connected device.  You will see it appear on a WiFi listing when it is powered-up as SynScan, but that too may be changed.

It is important to know that the SynScan built-in WiFi server turns itself OFF after 15 minutes if there is no traffic on the connection.  The SynScan Android app sends a periodic "keep-alive" blip every minute or so.  If you want to connect to it with an INDI driver, you will need to either keep a tablet/cell phone connected via the app or create some sort of keep-alive signal to keep the network from doing a disappearing act during extended periods of inactivity.

Woah!  Wait a bit!  The SkyWatcher 10" now comes with built-in WiFi.  They actually sold me a dongle because the vendor didn't know.  When I opened things up, there was a a little note from SkyWatcher saying it was built-in, so I sent the dongle back.  I can say that the built-in WiFi works very well.

Thanks a heap!  That'll get me started.  As to what the question was, I'm not sure myself.  The GOAL is not to have to run in and out of the house tweaking the focus knob and running back to look at the computer screen.  I have some hardware and am already pointing and driving the CCD with a Pi4, so adding another computer (such as the Arduino) seems redundant. Though, I already know where to get the hardware and software for that solution and it isn't expensive.  If I say the rules are KStars->WiFi->Pi->INDI_Driver->HAT->StepperDriverMotor, I suppose that is the project.

From what I can tell from your kind replies, there's stuff out there I can scavenge.  I just need to look around more.

I bought a SkyWatcher 10" Dob with SynScan GOTO about a month ago.  It is heavy, but manageable if you take the tube off the mount.  I collimate every time I setup.  I have a laser collimater and it takes just a moment.  I keep it fully assembled on a furniture dolly and lift if off on my back deck.  The rolling and lifting, along with the extreme temperature shifts we have had lately probably account for the minimal tweek it needs each time.

Otherwise, I am fine with the scope.  It does a nice job.  I did have some issues getting all the automation going, but I think I may be pushing the envelope a bit.  It is setup now as a fully automated unit that I control and view from inside the house.  That took a bit of doing, but has nothing really to do with the scope itself.

This is a picture of the Orion Nebula I took last evening (In honor of my  being considered "Nebula" level in the forum as of this writing).  You will note I have been having a bit of trouble with crispy focus with the camera.  This is a logistics problem more than anything else.  I have to run back and forth from the kitchen back outside to the scope to make small corrections in focus.  This, because I haven't automated focus...YET.

From my other post, you all should realize 2 things about me.  1: I can't leave well-enough alone.  and 2: I like to fiddle around with things. In my last thread, I got setup with my goto telescope and managed to control it remotepy with KStars or Stellarium and even got my CCD working so I can sit inside in comfort while stargazing.....ALMOST.  I still have to run in and out to turn the focus knob.  So....

There is a raspberry pi running the INDI server pointing the scope and managing th CCD.  I have a nice little geared motor and a HAT board that I know how to connect and control with the pi to make the motor go fast or slow, or forward and backward.  I can manage the machine work to create a connection to the focus mechanism for the motor.  What I need to know is if there is already a DIY-ish or configurable driver for INDI.  And yes, this probably is a post for INDI forum, but for some reason I can't get a login there.  So, if anyone knows or has done this, thank you in advance for any information you are able to provide.

I have an ACER Spin 1.  It is light and runs almost 9 hours, this primarily because it uses SD card memory instead of mechanical drives.  It has good USB and HDMI connectivity and a reasonable WiFi signal capability.  I am running it with Ubuntu Linux, and that is NOT EASY.  This model will fight Linux users all the way.  I'm told you can still get about 8 hours out of it with Windoze 10.  It is not an expensive laptop.

********** SUCCESS II ********** (the Saga continues)

I got the SVBONY SV105 working.  It is truly a pain to focus and you really have to mess with gain, brightness, hue and saturation to get an image, but I suppose it works OK for the price.  I cheated a bit.  I was able to get it to focus on near objects in full daylight, and the moon was up during the day today, so I took advantage.  Once I got the focus right and the image mostly right, I noticed that it was almost a 1/4" off from where my eyepieces normally focus.  Here is a moonshot taken with the SV105 and VLC under linux ubuntu on the raspberry pi.  It is an unmodified raw single-shot image.  I stilll have to work on getting it to play well with INDI, but I don't think that will be difficult now I know it can be done.

This image was taken from my kitchen table with a laptop talking to the pi on the scope outside over WiFi.  So, I suppose my goal has been managed.

********** SUCCESS!! **********

I started from scratch.  I deleted all the config files in the raspberry pi  (remote telescope controller) in  my  /home/jon/.indi folder.  I did not start indiserver.   I did not use the Synscan Android app at all for this process.

First, I turned on the Synscan with the telescope in park position (level and North-facing).  Then, I went through the initialization process with extreme care to make sure time, date and  LatLons were correct.  My hand unit ALWAYS wants to default to an East Longitude, which is incorrect for me.  Then I did a 2 star alignment.

Next I plugged the USB cable from the pi into the  Synscan hand unit and started indiserver on the pi.  No problems.

Then, I ran Stellarium on my desktop, configured the scope in Telescope Control and connected the mount.  IT WORKED!  I disconnected the mount in Stellarium and  exited, leaving indiserver on the remote pi running.

Finally, I started KStars and told Ekos to start the connection to INDI.  Everything looked good.  I ran the INDI Control Panel and all looked good.  I tried moving around with the star map and IT ALSO WORKED!  I would describe my happy dance, but I'm pretty old and you may simply assume it would be really embarrassing if seen.

CONCLUSIONS (how I originally messed up):

The INDI log shows updates from KStars for vital data, such as LatLons, Time and Date.  I can only assume these items like to be held onto by the respective controllers.  Therefore, having 3 (Synscan Handheld, KStars/Stellarium, Synscan App) all connected simultaneously likely caused a serious  "Who's in charge?" issue.  No doubt, this could have put data in places I didn't check.  Clearing out all the data (starting over) and using the minimum hardware for the job at hand seemed to be the answer.  I am not going to test this, but I feel certain that I can screw it up again if I activate the Synscan WiFi  App while all this other stuff is in play.  To be clear, I like the Synscan WiFi app and it works well in lieu of the hand unit as long as there is no third party controller present.

NOW...to figure out the camera (SVBONY SV105).  The likelihood is that it is just a lousy CCD.  I'll look around and see if anyone came up with a method to adress the focus issues.  I know there are some YouTube videos using the SV105 that aren't completely terrible.  That said, does anyone have a CCD recommendation that falls in the "best bang for the buck" category?

Thank you all for your kind replies.  I will try to address each of them in this reply.

-----------------------------

John:
Thanks for the welcome.  I will address your steps as follows:
My general setup is on a deck, isolated from the ground and my first steps are to level the base with shims and set the home position as True North and level.  This, after aligning the mirrors.  My finderscope alignment is generally done manually with the moon.
Step 1
I am a pilot and use the current VFR Sectional Chart for magnetic variation, as the charts are current and variation changes.
Step 2
I am using a 30A filtered 12V DC power supply that I built for this purpose.
Step 3
My LatLons come from a portable navigation device and are exact for my deck location.  I am used to navigating with LatLons. I am careful to match the format of both date and time and we are presently not in DST.
Step 4
I usually use the handset 2 star.  Presently, I use Capella and Rigel
Step 5
I have had no issue locating even difficult objects with the handset or the WiFi app.  That is not my goal.
Step 6 & Step 7
Not applicable
My issue is operation using software such as KStars or Stellarium.  There is conflict.

You raise some very good points and I thank you for your post.

David:

I think you are correct. This seems an INDI issue.  I can now get the scope to operate reliably, but incorrectly through KStars or Stellarium.  Interestingly, it operates differently with each.  Stellarium shows the telescope marker going to the proper place and sends the scope in the opposite direction.  KStars shows the telescope marker going the wrong way along with the scope.  Same INDI driver.
Or it may be something incompatible about the Dobsonian mount versus a traditional Alt/Az setup.

Thank you for the suggestion of INDI forum.

JOC:

Thank you for your post.  I have no issue with using the stock SynScan hand control or the Android app or a combination of the two for scope control.  However, my goal is to operate the scope from inside the house using a USB camera as an eyepiece.  This requires interoperability with KStars, Stellarium or some software like that.

--------------------------

I appreciate all your input and look forward to contributing to this forum as I become able.