Telescope Control Software Not Sure What To Use

[stash_old]

38 minutes ago, Rusted said:

And, they won't deign to come back down to earth to explain why it doesn't always work for we "mere mortals."

Sometimes people who don't understand something should just accept that it works. The whole of  Computing, Astronomy,Physics,Quantum Physics etc is complicated thats why only some people understand it - just a fact of life! 🙂

One thing you forget to mention is that ASCOM/INDI is free and "given" to all to use. Perhaps instead of complaining you should help and write a KISS (Keep It Simple Simon) manual for all to better understand ,after all  the hard part,creating ASCOM/INDI, has been done. Writing good KISS manuals is an art in itself 🙂

 I for one admire ,congratulate  and thank those who produced,test,support ASCOM/INDI etc  with all the foibles 🙂 They are not elitist's and I have found them (ASCOM and INDI) to be very friendly and quick to help - even if I dont understand all the say 🙂

[Ouroboros]

🙂 

@Rusted Could it be that it's PHD that's not working for you rather than ASCOM?  

[don4l]

On 31/10/2019 at 18:53, Rusted said:

Does your ASCOM talk to PHD2? Mine won't.

Mine does.

I don't think that I have ever had any problem with PHD2.  I use it with both Ascom and Indi.

[Ouroboros]

17 minutes ago, stash_old said:

Sometimes people who don't understand something should just accept that it works. The whole of  Computing, Astronomy,Physics,Quantum Physics etc is complicated thats why only some people understand it - just a fact of life! 🙂

One thing you forget to mention is that ASCOM/INDI is free and "given" to all to use. Perhaps instead of complaining you should help and write a KISS (Keep It Simple Simon) manual for all to better understand ,after all  the hard part,creating ASCOM/INDI, has been done. Writing good KISS manuals is an art in itself 🙂

 I for one admire ,congratulate  and thank those who produced,test,support ASCOM/INDI etc  with all the foibles 🙂 They are not elitist's and I have found them (ASCOM and INDI) to be very friendly and quick to help - even if I dont understand all the say 🙂

Excellent points. 

On the question of getting ones head around mount control etc it seems to me that there is more information and help out there on't internet about ASCOM etc in Windows than there is for INDI etc on a Mac. 

Type telescope control ASCOM or similar into Google and it'll come back with loads of quite simple websites explaining how to do it, what to download etc. Then there's Chris Shilito's wonderfully clear YouTube videos. 

But I really struggled trying to get a handle on how to do mount control with a Mac.  It was obvious that people did, but how seemed impenetrably difficult. And then a kind soul on Cloudy Nights said just install KStars because it comes with all the EKOS/INDI software included plus a lot of links to what to download and I was away.  

[Rusted]

The assumption [for breathless respect and unbridled awe] being that, despite paying 2 x £50 for commercial, AWR-ASCOM drivers, the system still misbehaves.

Even after all this time, extensive research and endlessly repeated alignment, my mounting still can't find The Moon.
Nor The Sun. Nor any other object in a first Goto slew from the very same parking position it always forgets overnight.
Once Synced on an object it still can't find the next with a Goto slew.

This despite being a fixed observatory. Whose coordinates are known [and entered] to within one second of arc.
Coordinates which AWR/ASCOM/CduC [All for one and one for all!] arbitrarily change at intervals.
I must be easily £2k out of pocket on these drives and control software by now.
If they were commercial objects I'd have the Trading Standards Goto after them.

I can't quote from memory but the last message I had from a first download of PHD2 said "Can't connect to AWR-ASCOM."
I had read [I'm endlessly naive] that using my ZWO120 + PHD2, in auto-guiding mode, would overcome many of my present difficulties.
Yeah, right!

[Rusted]

An Update:  I have managed to connect ASCOM to PHD2 [or vice versa] and connect the camera.

Hint for The Day: ZWOs don't work without the USB3 cable as well as the ST4. 

[Stub Mandrel]

21 hours ago, stash_old said:

People are confusing ASCOM with actual "client software" that does something.

If ASCOM was 'just' a protocol or architecture like TCP or USB I'd agree but it isn't, you need the platform which is a discrete lump of software for it to work.

[Rusted]

I was bombed by ASCOM error notices last night after getting PHD2 to work earlier.
It didn't seem to like running PHD2, SharpCap, CduC and HitechAstro DC Focus all at the same time.
Though it was non-specific as to which. I'll try again in daylight when I'm not so busy.
I was trying to capture a "jelly" moon before it went behind a chimney. So just kept going and killing the error notices.
Waste of time anyway. I was a martyr to the "thermals." 

[Merlin66]

Hmmmm, That’s interesting.

I use a ATiK 314L for image (spectrograph) acquisition, a Lodestar for guiding, JMI focuser  and PHD2 guiding all under ASCOM.

with CdC and EQMod - never seen an ASCOM error message !!!!

[Rusted]

37 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

Hmmmm, That’s interesting.

I use a ATiK 314L for image (spectrograph) acquisition, a Lodestar for guiding, JMI focuser  and PHD2 guiding all under ASCOM.

with CdC and EQMod - never seen an ASCOM error message !!!!

Nor have I until last night. It may be AWR-ASCOM driver specific.

[Merlin66]

look forward to hearing about the solution.....

[Rusted]

4 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

look forward to hearing about the solution.....

They do say patience is a virtue.

[stash_old]

21 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If ASCOM was 'just' a protocol or architecture like TCP or USB I'd agree but it isn't, you need the platform which is a discrete lump of software for it to work.

We will just agree to disagree then 🙂

[bottletopburly]

Don i use  APT https://ideiki.com/astro/Default.aspx ,and use Carte du ciel (CDC)and control mount  via EQmod  using an eqdirect  cable  , i guide using  phd2 , to be honest i rareley use cdc as i have pointcraft (platesolving)configured in APT so take an image of the sky blind solve and sync mount and use the  objects catalogue  in APT  all run on windows 10  ,have used canon and nikon using APT no problem .

[Whirlwind]

A bit late to the conversation but Prism is worth looking at too because it is all in one and there is no need to use multiple software packages.  Used by professional observatories too

[stash_old]

16 hours ago, Whirlwind said:

no need to use multiple software packages

It already does it uses the same Platesolving software as all the other software - AllSky,ANSVR,etc But it installs it in one go. Updates are very rare for Platesolving anyway.

$350 for Pro - IMHO I would buy Stellarmate at $50 and use the $300 for a decent Linux mini pc that runs Ubuntu/Stellarmate . Stellarmate also does all the updates in one go and if Prism had cared to compare Pro against Stellarmate the would have been very little difference that I could see - except the price! But maybe the workflows are super smooth or I missed something from the sales pitch - cant comment as I dont use Prism software. 

But its great to have all this software options available - spoilt for choice.  

[FOTOGRAFO]

Boy...

A simple question turns into a Complain-O-Forum. 

Don

 

 

[Rusted]

40 minutes ago, FOTOGRAFO said:

Boy...

A simple question turns into a Complain-O-Forum. 

Don

Complaints have a habit of [eventually] getting back to "the perp."

I instigated automatic, display scale adjustment on a household name planetarium software by "complaining" on an astro forum.
There is still a popular imaging software which can't auto adapt to high res. screens. Despite such screens being available for years.
It will tell you it recognises such a screen in sub microscopic text but not provide visible adjustment.
Not without the help of an electron microscope.

[Rusted]

That very same software went bonkers after a restart after lunch.

It was grew-some! 

[FOTOGRAFO]

On 04/11/2019 at 10:40, Whirlwind said:

A bit late to the conversation but Prism is worth looking at too because it is all in one and there is no need to use multiple software packages.  Used by professional observatories too

Thanks for the Tip on (Prism)... I will have to take a close look at this one. 

Re,

Don

[Ouroboros]

@FOTOGRAFO It will be interesting to read which software you choose and how you get on  with it. Good luck. 

[newbie alert]

On 31/10/2019 at 18:28, spillage said:

NINA, APT for capture and target location, PHD2 for tracking and CdC for star map. I think eqmod should work on your mount but not 100%.

Agreed, APT or NINA  are free or even SGP ( 45 day trail) and all work in conjunction with CDC or stellarium..

But eqmod is for skywatcher and don't work on celestron