ZWO EAF Autofocus With StellarMate and Ekos

[dazza1639]

Is anyone using a ZWO EAF Autofocus With StellarMate and Ekos? I know it works with the ASI Air and it has an INDI driver, but I can’t seem to find any info or examples of this setup. I’m thinking of adding one of these to my setup but would like some feedback before I get one.

 

Thanks

 

Darren

[dazza1639]

I have had another good look around, and found some info on the ZWO website saying that there are INDI drivers for the ZWO equipment but it doesn't mention the EAF, so I'm a bit stuck still.

[Adam J]

On 26/10/2019 at 17:52, dazza1639 said:

Is anyone using a ZWO EAF Autofocus With StellarMate and Ekos? I know it works with the ASI Air and it has an INDI driver, but I can’t seem to find any info or examples of this setup. I’m thinking of adding one of these to my setup but would like some feedback before I get one.

 

Thanks

 

Darren

And this is why I went with the Pegasus astro focus cube. The bracket fits a wider range of scopes from what I can tell, it comes with a temperature probe included and it is proven in use. 

[david_taurus83]

On 26/10/2019 at 17:52, dazza1639 said:

Is anyone using a ZWO EAF Autofocus With StellarMate and Ekos? I know it works with the ASI Air and it has an INDI driver, but I can’t seem to find any info or examples of this setup. I’m thinking of adding one of these to my setup but would like some feedback before I get one.

 

Thanks

 

Darren

Not got an EAF but I can confirm it's in the drop down menu in EKOS.

[dazza1639]

Cheers I had seen that. I was after a bit of feedback. It doesn’t look like anyone has give this combination a go.

 

Darren

[joer13167]

Here’s what I did to get  this working.

 

Either hook up a monitor and kb to the Stellarmate or go to http://stellarmate.local:6080/vnc.html and replace stellaremate.local with the IP of your Stellarmate.

On the desktop you will see the software updater. Double click to run that.

After thats done go back to the desktop open a terminal window  and run

sudo apt-get y install indi-bin

 

Finally, open http://stellarmate.local:8624 to open the web manager. Select your profile then go to drivers. Scroll to focusers and ensure ASI EAF is checked.

 

If you reboot the driver will load. You can see this in the web manager.

Works perfectly with ekos

[dazza1639]

On 05/11/2019 at 01:21, joer13167 said:

Here’s what I did to get  this working.

 

Either hook up a monitor and kb to the Stellarmate or go to http://stellarmate.local:6080/vnc.html and replace stellaremate.local with the IP of your Stellarmate.

On the desktop you will see the software updater. Double click to run that.

After thats done go back to the desktop open a terminal window  and run

sudo apt-get y install indi-bin

 

Finally, open http://stellarmate.local:8624 to open the web manager. Select your profile then go to drivers. Scroll to focusers and ensure ASI EAF is checked.

 

If you reboot the driver will load. You can see this in the web manager.

Works perfectly with ekos

Sorry I didn't see your reply. Thanks for the tip. I am getting quite confused with this now. I have messaged Jasem through the chat window on the StellarMate website, he confirmed that it would work, however, I also emailed ZWO at info@zwoptical.com who replied that it wasn't compatible. Who do I believe? 

 

Regards

 

Darren

[dazza1639]

Just a quick update.

Just before Christmas I received a ZWO EAF, thanks FLO. I installed it on my Equinox 80 over the christmas period and all went well, apart from the flexible coupling catching the focus knob housing causing the EAF to beep and stop moving. Once I made some adjustments and changed the coupling it is now working fully controlled by Ekos through my Stellarmate. Unfortunately due to the terrible weather we had in Manchester I haven't been able to test it on the stars with the Ekos focus routine, but as I can manually control the unit through Ekos I'm sure this will not be an issue.

So for anyone wanting to use an EAF with a Stellarmate unit or as in my case a RPi4 running Stellarmate OS I can confirm that it works.

Regards

Darren

[OhNo]

I use A StellarMate with my ZWO OSC 533MC Pro and my mono 183MM Pro. I have both a EFW and a EAF. Seems with the EAF you have to deem what your backlash is for your setup. Once you have that all figured out and saved the EAF is still a crapshoot. Mine will chug away and get close to a optimum focus most times, other times it gets close then takes off with a huge set adjustment. When I last looked into the issue (probably 8-9 months ago) the common conclusion is there was a glitch in the drivers which caused this.

 

I just read that switching it over to linear works best for some. Now I have to go out and fire the system up, come back in (I run remotely only, I am old it is winter and I hate the cold) and re-visit how it all works. At this time of year I am fortunate enough that the temperature stays within a couple degrees of the focus time. On nights where it over-corrects the focus I re-run the auto focus again note the curve and manually set the set to the lowest point in the curve.

 

Sadly I suffer from poor internet search protocol. LOL Finding useful info on troubleshooting is more of a fluke than a talent. And answers from Jasem never quite satisfy issue that I encounter. Being pre-'puter in school and very isolated in a rural area doesn't help in the learnin' curve of  'puter skills. This leaves my with the trial-and-error method...... I should have chosen knitting for a retirement hobby. Not to say that I can occasionally put together a descent image. I believe I understand your desire to get the best raw data you can. Good to great data is far easier to work with in post processing that a sows ear going into to post....  

[Ricardo70]

On 14/01/2020 at 10:38, dazza1639 said:

Just a quick update.

Just before Christmas I received a ZWO EAF, thanks FLO. I installed it on my Equinox 80 over the christmas period and all went well, apart from the flexible coupling catching the focus knob housing causing the EAF to beep and stop moving. Once I made some adjustments and changed the coupling it is now working fully controlled by Ekos through my Stellarmate. Unfortunately due to the terrible weather we had in Manchester I haven't been able to test it on the stars with the Ekos focus routine, but as I can manually control the unit through Ekos I'm sure this will not be an issue.

So for anyone wanting to use an EAF with a Stellarmate unit or as in my case a RPi4 running Stellarmate OS I can confirm that it works.

Regards

Darren

Hi Darren,

I myself am thinking of getting the EAF to use on StellarMate+ with Ekos. As it’s been over a year since your last post on this, have you had several chances to test it out?

Is it still working successfully?

Does Ekos allow full functionality of the EAF?

Or is it restricted to basic/most functions?

Thanks, Richard.