KStars Guide the feature-rich planetarium: Astronomical Device Control with INDI, Configuration, Concepts.

You can run CCD and Video Capture devices from the Tools → Devices → Device Manager... menu item. Like all INDI devices, some of the device controls will be accessible from the skymap. The device can be controlled fully from the INDI Control Panel... item.

The standard format for image capture is FITS. Once an image is captured and downloaded, it will be automatically displayed in the KStars FITS Viewer.

Configure INDI

The INDI page allows you to modify Client side INDI specific options. To access it, select the INDI page from Settings → Configure KStars... menu item. The window is divided into several main categories: General, Device Updates, Display and Server Port:

INDI Concepts

The main key concept in INDI is that devices have the ability to describe themselves. This is accomplished by using XML to describe a generic hierarchy that can represent both canonical and non-canonical devices. In INDI, all devices may contain one or more properties. Any property may contain one or more elements. There are four types of INDI properties:

• Text property.

• Number property.

• Switch property (Represented in GUI by buttons and checkboxes).

• Light property (Represented in GUI by colored LEDs).

For example, all INDI devices share the CONNECTION standard switch property. The CONNECTION property has two elements: CONNECT and DISCONNECT switches. KStars parses the generic XML description of properties and builds a GUI representation suitable for direct human interaction.

The INDI control panel offers many device properties not accessible from the sky map. The properties offered differ from one device to another. Nevertheless, all properties share common features that constrains how they are displayed and used:

• Permission: All properties can either be read-only, write-only, or read and write enabled. An example of a read-write property is the telescope’s Right Ascension. You can enter a new Right Ascension and the telescope, based on current settings, will either slew or sync to the new input. Furthermore, when the telescope slews, its Right Ascension gets updated and sent back to the client.

• State: Prefixed to each property is a state indicator (round LED). Each property has a state and an associated color code:

  Table 9.1. INDI State color code

  INDI State color code

  State

  Color

  Description

  Idle

  Gray

  Device is performing no action with respect to this property

  Ok

  Green

  Last operation performed on this property was successful and active

  Busy

  Yellow

  The property is performing an action

  Alert

  Red

  The property is in critical condition and needs immediate attention

  The device driver updates the property state in real-time when necessary. For example, if the telescope is in the process of slewing to a target, then the RA/DEC properties will be signaled as Busy. When the slew process is completed successfully, the properties will be signaled as Ok.

• Context: Numerical properties can accept and process numbers in two formats: decimal and sexagesimal. The sexagesimal format is convenient when expressing time or equatorial/geographical coordinates. You can use any format at your convenience. For example, all the following numbers are equal:

  • -156.40

  • -156:24:00

  • -156:24

• Time: The standard time for all INDI-related communications is Universal Time UTC specified as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS in accord with ISO 8601. KStars communicates the correct UTC time with device drivers automatically. You can enable/disable automatic time updates from the INDI page in the settings dialog.

• General

  • INDI server: Specify the binary of installed INDI server in your system. By default, KStars uses “/usr/bin/indiserver” binary.

  • INDI drivers XML directory: Specify the XML directory where INDI drivers are located in your system. By default, KStars uses “/usr/share/indi” directory.

  • Default FITS directory: Specify the directory where all captured FITS images will be saved to. If no directory is specified, images will be stored in $HOME.

• Time & Location Updates

  • KStars updates all devices: KStars is the master source for time and location settings. All INDI devices time and locations settings are synchronized to KStars settings.

  • Mount updates KStars: Mount handset is the master source of time and location settings. KStars time and location settings are synchronized with controller settings.

  • GPS updates KStars: GPS driver is the master source of time and location settings. KStars time and location settings are synchronized with GPS settings.

  • Time: Synchronize KStars date and time automatically from the update source.

  • Location: Synchronize KStars location settings from the update source.

• Display

  • Telescope crosshair: When checked, KStars displays the telescope’s target crosshair on the sky map. The crosshair is displayed upon a successful connection to the telescope and its location is updated periodically. The telescope’s name is displayed next to the crosshair. KStars displays one crosshair per each connected telescope. To change the color of the telescope’s crosshair, open the Configure - KStars window. Select the Colors page, and then change the color of the Target Indicator item to the desired color.

  • Independent window: Make FITS Viewer window independent.

  • Message notifications: Show INDI messages as desktop notifications instead of dialogs.

• Server Port

  • Specify range of ports that INDI Server will bind to when starting new drivers.

s

ource

Do you consider this article interesting? Share it on your network of Twitter contacts, on your Facebook wall or simply press "+1" to suggest this result in searches in Google, Linkedin, Instagram or Pinterest. Spreading content that you find relevant helps this blog to grow. Thank you!

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus

About Hugo

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that offers an operating system predominantly focused on desktop computers but also provides support for servers. Based on Debian GNU / Linux, Ubuntu focuses on ease of use, freedom in usage restriction, regular releases (every 6 months) and ease of installation.