Ansr problems

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Tomatobro
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Ansr problems

#1

Post by Tomatobro »

I have the index files (About 8Gb) on a micro sd card and the Ansvr program on the c drive. Looking at the Ansvr log the default port 0f 8080 did not work but after changing it to 8011 it says it can connect.
My problem is that Sharpcap (v3.2.6480) cannot find the files and programs with detect automatically feature. manually. Manual search to the Ansvr directory does not show any files with Solve Field Executable.

The plate solve detection status is as follows
Manually configured Astrometry :Not found (Binary path missing)
Astrotortilla : Not found
All Sky Plate solver : Not found at c:\users......etc
Ansvr :data directory not found at c:\users\......etc
Cygwin/Astrometry based : Not found at c:\cygwin
Astap : not found at c:\program Files (x86) Astap\Astap.exe

The software runs on a win 10 pro Minix and works well except for this plate solving issue.
help please!
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admin
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Re: Ansr problems

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

the default install location for the Ansvr plate solving engine is inside your user's 'Local AppData' directory - that is

Code: Select all

C:\Users\<your windows user name>\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr
SharpCap looks for that folder and within it for a 'bin' subfolder, where it expects to find the 'solve-field' application - note that this is not a .exe file, it has no extension to the filename.

If you installed Ansvr to a non-standard location (or as another user) then SharpCap will not find it.

Note that the path that Ansvr prompts you for during the installation - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Astrometry.net Local Solver' only contains the files that run the engine as a background service. SharpCap doesn't care about this and also doesn't worry about the port number (it runs the plate solving engine directly and ignores the port settings entirely).

If you can find the root directory of the plate solving engine (which will look like the below) then you can specify the location manually in SharpCap - it will be <root directory>\bin\solve-field
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (39.61 KiB) Viewed 1312 times
Hope this helps,

Robin
Tomatobro
Posts: 79
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#3

Post by Tomatobro »

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did not change the default Ansvr settings but just accepted where the download said it was placing them but will give your instructions a try and post a reply.

Again many thanks
Tomatobro
Posts: 79
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#4

Post by Tomatobro »

Manually the path found under Browse is...

C:\Users\t####\cygwin_ansvr\bin\solve-field and have applied.

Plate solve detection status now reads

Manually configured Astrometry : not found at c:Users\t####\cygwin_ansvr\bin-solvefield
Astrotortilla:not found
All Sky Plate Solver: not found at c:\Users\t###\AppData\local\Astrometry
Ansvr:Data directory not found at c:\Users\t###\Appdata\local\cygin_ansvr\usr\share\astrometry\data
Cygwin/Astrometry based: not found at c:\cygwin
Astap:Not found at c:\Program Files (x86)\Astap.exe

Note t#### is hide my information

The files list at cygwin_ansvr matches the screen shot above. There are some 19678 files in total.
In the c:\Users Default is a folder called AppData, with two sub folders Local and Roaming
Local has two more sub folders Microsoft and Temp
Roaming has just one folder Microsoft

Thanks in advance for any help
Tomatobro
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#5

Post by Tomatobro »

I suspect that the remaining problem lies with the location of the data files.
As I search through the usr/share/astrometry directory there is a file "data" listed as a system file which I guess has the pointer to the D:\Plate_Indexes.

Sharpcap cannot find the data directory
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Re: Ansr problems

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

SharpCap expects that the FITS data should be in that folder (which is the default location for it). Since not setting up any index data is a common cause of plate solving issues, SharpCap checks for those files.

If you manually put at least one FITS file in that folder, SharpCap should be happy (and Ansvr will look for the data as configured on the SDcard anyway)

cheerse,

Robin
Tomatobro
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#7

Post by Tomatobro »

Sharpcap still reports "Data directory not found at c:\Uers\t####\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\share\astrometry\data

There are three directories in the astrometry location, "data.save ", " examples" and "ups"
The fourth file "data" is shown as a System file.

I copied and pasted index_4207_10.fits across to the astrometry file and into the data.save, examples and ups directories in turn and Sharpcap still reports data directory not found.

If I try and create a folder "data" or "Data" then I get a warning "There is already a file with the same name as the folder name you've specified. Specify a different name" The show hidden files is ticked

I tried re running ansvr_setup-0.22 again leaving it to choose where the data files should go and just specified the index_4027_10.fits and I am pretty sure it flashed up data file found no action taken.
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Re: Ansr problems

#8

Post by admin »

Hi,

Ok, I see I think...

When you move the data to another location, Ansvr sets up a symbolic link in the /usr/share/astrometry data to point to the real location. As far as Windows is concerned, this looks like a system file.

SharpCap is not smart enough to understand this and sees that instead of the expected 'data' directory, there is a 'data' file, and assumes something is wrong.

I will add a fix into SharpCap 4.0 to make it aware of this problem. I think you can work around it though...

1) edit (using notepad) ....AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\etc\astrometry\backend.cfg and change

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add_path /usr/share/astrometry/data
to

Code: Select all

add_path /usr/share/astrometry/data2
2) rename the data system file in AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\usr\share\astrometry to data2 (should be fine to do that in Windows explorer)

3) Create a 'data' directory next to data2 and put 1 fits file in it (to keep SharpCap happy).

cheers,

Robin
Tomatobro
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#9

Post by Tomatobro »

Thanks for looking into this, followed your instructions and Sharpcap is happy and can find the files ok
Tomatobro
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:06 pm

Re: Ansr problems

#10

Post by Tomatobro »

Tested it tonight and the plate solve works a treat
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