Plate Solving

[ggreybeard]

Hi,

I've got plate solving to operate - but it does not sync to the required target position. I would appreciate any assistance.

---------------------------
SharpCap 3.2.6442.0
EQ6R-Pro
EQMOD
Cartes du Ciel
ZWO ASI071
HP Windows 10 Laptop
---------------------------

I confirm that 'Settings' automatically detects Astro Tortilla and that it is set to 'Sync mount and re-centre target'.

When I hit 'Plate Solve' in 'Tools' it detects stars and goes through it's solving routine, ending with a green alert bar which says: "Plate solve succeeded, currently pointing at RA=20:03:12, Dec 16:54:21N (J2000), field of view is 0.80x0.53 degrees, up is 173.6 degrees E of N [Copy]".
(It stops at this point, the alert disappears after a delay period and the mount does not move).

The last few lines of the log file are as follows:

---------------------------
Info: 21:28:14.1920758 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : RA,Dec = (300.802,16.907), pixel scale 0.582054 arcsec/pix.
Info: 21:28:14.1920758 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Hit/miss: +-+++-+-+---+---+++-----+----+-+(best)-----------+-----------------------------+---------------------+++++
Info: 21:28:14.1920758 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field 1: solved with index index-4207-03.fits.
Info: 21:28:14.1920758 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field 1 solved: writing to file /tmp/f8a6b819-5d78-4647-9c9f-adfdbcde5bd9/frame.solved to indicate this.
Warning: 21:28:14.3024515 Thread:#1 SharpCap.ImageProcessing.AstroTortillaPlateSolver+<SolveImpl>d__13.MoveNext() :: StdErr from plate solver : 0 [main] bash 7496 find_fast_cwd: WARNING: Couldn't compute FAST_CWD pointer. Please report this problem to
the public mailing list cygwin@cygwin.com
Read file /tmp/tmp.ppm.aLVo4h: 4944 x 3284 pixels x 1 color(s); maxval 65535
Using 16-bit output

Info: 21:28:14.3024515 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field: /tmp/f8a6b819-5d78-4647-9c9f-adfdbcde5bd9/frame.png
Info: 21:28:14.3024515 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field center: (RA,Dec) = (300.8, 16.91) deg.
Info: 21:28:14.3024515 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field center: (RA H:M:S, Dec D:M:S) = (20:03:12.568, +16:54:21.229).
Info: 21:28:14.3034985 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving : Field size: 47.7968 x 31.7312 arcminutes
Info: 21:28:14.3034985 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<Solve>b__2(Object s, SolveProgressEventArgs a) :: Plate solving :
Info: 21:28:14.3154646 Thread:#1 SharpCap.ImageProcessing.ExternalPlateSolverBase.ParseOrientationFromWCSData(Dictionary`2 fields) :: Frame Orientation : Up is 173.6 degree E of N
Info: 21:28:14.3214495 Thread:#1 SharpCap.Models.PlateSolveOnly+<Solve>d__7.MoveNext() :: Field solved to RA=20:03:12,Dec=16:54:21N, field Size {Width=0.7966133, Height=0.5288534}

THE FILE ENDS AT THIS POINT
---------------------------

Could the warning message in the log file be significant?

Alternatively, after reading Robin's response to another post, I'm wondering if the error lies somewhere with the coordinate system. Maybe in CdC or EQMOD?

Thanks,

Roger

[admin]

Hi Roger,

you've used the plate solving button in the menu to do your plate solver and that doesn't take any action after the solving is complete. If you want to re-synchronise and centre on the target then you need to use the other plate solving button in the mount control area - https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Mount%20Control

I really must think of a more self-explanatory name for that menu item. Any ideas?

Cheers, Robin

[turfpit]

Robin

Solve & synch

Dave

[admin]

Hi Dave,

that's what the menu *doesn't* do - the button in the scope controls section does that. It would be something like 'Plate Solve Only'. Maybe just a warning that explains what it does?

Robin

[turfpit]

OOPs wrong button. Thanks for clarifying Robin.

Dave

[ggreybeard]

Robin, thank you for responding to my post.

If you want to re-synchronise and centre on the target then you need to use the other plate solving button in the mount control area - https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Mount%20Control

Unfortunately, I do not see a plate solving button in the SharpCap Pro mount control area with my main imaging camera (ZWO ASI071). All I can see is an empty text box for notes.

As a consequence of this, I assumed that I was missing a camera driver and I have spent the last two days researching and repetitively reinstalling all the camera drivers from the ZWO website - but nothing has changed.

ASCOM, EQMOD and CdC are all working for me, as indeed are all the other functions of SharpCap Pro, including the licence.

Is there some pre-requisite to getting the mount control area to appear and work with my ASI071, which I may have overlooked?

PS My other two supplementary cameras, ZWO ASI290 and 120, do provide me with such a control panel - but it is non-active and it lacks a 'solve/sync' button. I discovered it appears in SharpCap when Settings/Hardware/Mount is reset from 'None' to 'On Camera ST4' - but not on my main imaging camera.

I really must think of a more self-explanatory name for that menu item. Any ideas?

Technically the menu description is accurate. Perhaps a warning that this is "solve but not sync" could be slipped into the progress messages which appear in the alert bar or maybe a second menu item for "solve and sync".

Roger

[admin]

Hi Roger,

have you configured SharpCap to talk to your Ascom mount? You need to do that in order to get the mount control panel to show up on the right-hand side. See this part of the documentation : https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Hardware%20Tab

Hope that helps, Robin

PS. Agreed on the messaging – I will sort something out

[ggreybeard]

Hi Robin,

I just wanted to let you know that, after several months, I discovered the reason why I could not get the "PlateSolve & Sync" button to appear in my Camera Settings. It was not until I bought an electronic focuser - and found that it too did not appear in SharpCap - that I began to realise that this pointed towards a problem with ASCOM itself.

Long story short, this was a known installation error with ASCOM which - according to the help I got on the ASCOM forum - can be caused by one of three things: Microsoft Controlled Folder Access, anti-ransomware software or Avast ant-virus software. In my case probably the latter.

https://ascomtalk.groups.io/g/Help/topic/80797620#43931

Their ultimate solution was a somewhat detailed registry edit - but fortunately I had already worked around it by re-running the ASCOM installer and successfully using its repair tool. Suddenly everything in SharpCap began to function as intended!

Thanks very much for your attention to my problem. I hope maybe this thread might be of some use to anyone else who has a similar issue.

Best regards.

[admin]

Good to hear that you've got things going!

I must admit that experience has taught me that Avast seems to be the most aggressive antivirus software in terms of trying to block things and therefore causes the most problems. It's got to the point that rule one of troubleshooting should be 'If it doesn't work and doesn't make sense then it's probably caused by antivirus!'

Cheers, Robin