Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

Discussion of using SharpCap for Deep Sky Imaging
Monika
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Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2021 5:46 pm

Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#1

Post by Monika »

Hi there, I am brand new to astrophotography. For plate solving, I downloaded Astrotortilla. Astrotortilla recommended I download plate solver from this site: http://adgsoftware.com/ansvr/ I followed the instructions on this site and the index files all downloaded to my desktop, I can see them there.

When I go to SC > File > SC settings > Plate solve, it selects astrotortilla as preferred plate solver which is right. But in the "Path to plate solve tool" section, when "detect automatically" is selected, it says "none found". I then went to "Browse" under "enter manually." Then I took the path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr (as instructed on the above website)- this lead me to several folders (see Plate Solver Browse screen shot), and im not sure what to click from here.

The plate solver configuration Status section doesn't show anything detected (see Plate Solver Configuration screen shot)

I think during some confusion a couple weeks ago I downloaded the Ansvr Set up.exe twice (see ansvr setup screen shot), could that have anything to do with it?

What am I missing to allow sharp cap to detect my plate solver?

Thank you!
Attachments
ansvr setup.png
ansvr setup.png (459.78 KiB) Viewed 2130 times
Plate solve configuration.png
Plate solve configuration.png (289.18 KiB) Viewed 2130 times
Plate Solver Browse.png
Plate Solver Browse.png (434.53 KiB) Viewed 2130 times
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Menno555
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#2

Post by Menno555 »

Hi Monika

I don't know that plate solver myself but most likely you have to point SharpCap to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\bin\
I use ASPS myself and there it is in ..\bin\ so I assume that it is also there in your case.

Menno
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#3

Post by admin »

Hi,

if you look at the SharpCap screenshot you shared, you can see in the detection status area at the bottom of the settings window that for Ansvr it shows a message beginning 'Data directory not found...'. That means that SharpCap has located your installation of Ansvr, but could not find the plate solving data files that Ansvr needs to work. This could be because they are not installed, or because you have installed them in a non-standard location, or possibly it's a bug in SharpCap.

If you do have the data files installed in a non-standard location then try out SharpCap 4.0, which has improved handling of this possibility or see this thread, which shows a workaround for a similar problem : viewtopic.php?t=4185

hope this helps,

Robin
Monika
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Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2021 5:46 pm

Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#4

Post by Monika »

Hi Menno and Robin

Menno- after posting yesterday, I put C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\bin\solve-field in the manual path but still the Detection Status read:
Manually configured Astrometry: Not found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\bin\solve-field

AstroTortilla: Not found (binary path missing : C:\cygwin\bin)

All Sky Plate Solver: Not found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\Astrometry

Ansvr: Data directory not found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\usr\share\astrometry\data

Cygwin/Astrometry based: Not found (binary path missing : C:\cygwin\bin)

Astap: Not found at c:\Program Files (x86)\Astap\Astap.exe

So then I went into my file explorer and looked for C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\bin\solve-field . The "solve-field" is just a text file- when i opened it in notebook it showed this directory: export PATH="/usr/lib/astrometry/bin:${PATH}" (see solve field screen shot). Is it supposed to be a text file or an app? I'm not sure what the text means here but i followed this new lib directory using browse in sc, and nothing showed in that folder. But when i search for it in file explorer (rather than brose in sharp cap), there is an app called solve-field. Not sure what that means or whether that's relevant.

Robin- when you say "plate solving data files" are you referring to the index files? If so, I saved them to my desktop so this is likely the problem. It looks like the person in the thread you've shared had a similar issue. When I go to the Ansvr directory listed above at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr\usr\share\astrometry , I see the same folders as that person reported: data.save, examples, ups, then a system file called "data" (see data_system_file screen shot). Based on your reply in that thread, SC is looking for index files but it is confused when it finds that data system file instead (if I have understood correctly). I will try following your instructions in that thread. If doesn't work I will try the beta SC 4.0. Out of curiosity, could it also help if I tried installing All Sky Plate Solver instead?

Thanks so much for both of your replies!
Attachments
data_system_file screenshot.png
data_system_file screenshot.png (159.26 KiB) Viewed 2107 times
solve field screen shot.png
solve field screen shot.png (221.8 KiB) Viewed 2107 times
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#5

Post by admin »

Hi Monika,

yes, it's the move of the index/data files onto the desktop that confuses SharpCap 3.2 - the 'system' file is a symbolic link as far as the Ansvr application is concerned - it says go look in this other place for the folder you expected to find here. SharpCap 3.2 doesn't understand that, so its check for a correctly configured plate solver trips up.

SharpCap 4.0 (no longer in beta) should be ok. Alternatively you could use ASPS or Astrotortilla or even reinstall Ansvr and allow it to install its index files in the default location.

Robin
Monika
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#6

Post by Monika »

Robin, thank you for clarifying that sc 4.0 is no longer in beta (not sure how i missed this). I downloaded 4.0, and now sc is detecting my plate solver and files!!! (see screen shot and detection status below)- is the plate solve function now ready to go or is there anything else i need to do?
sc_4.0_platesolve_settings.png
sc_4.0_platesolve_settings.png (598.87 KiB) Viewed 2102 times
Manually configured Astrometry : Found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr
AstroTortilla : Not found (binary path missing : C:\cygwin\bin)
All Sky Plate Solver : Not found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\Astrometry
Ansvr : Found at C:\Users\monik\AppData\Local\cygwin_ansvr
Cygwin/Astrometry based : Not found (binary path missing : C:\cygwin\bin)
Astap : Not found at c:\Program Files (x86)\Astap\Astap.exe
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#7

Post by admin »

Hi,

you could try using the 'Test Selected Plate Solver' button at the bottom of the settings page - that will feed a sample image (actually of stars near the north celestial pole) to the plate solver and check it gives a result. For use with your own images you may need to tweak the 'sigma' parameter in the settings - turn it down if you do not get enough stars found by the plate solver (<50) and up if you get too many (>500 or so).

Robin
Monika
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#8

Post by Monika »

Hmm I tired this and it failed- error message says "read file/tmp/tmp.ppm.OD2txp: 1280 x 960 pixels x1 colour: max val 255 Using 8 bit output" I used a simulator mount and V3 camera simulator, and just clicked Test Plate Solve in the settings. It seems that it wants the camera to have 8 bit output- The colour space of the v3 camera simulator is RBG48, is this why it's failing? I am unable to change the colour space.
platesolvefail_screenshot.png
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#9

Post by admin »

Hi,

please can you capture and share the SharpCap log after you have run the plate solving test - all the output from the plate solving engine goes into the log, so we will probably see more information that can explain the failure in the log. Note that the FOV of the test image is 1.33x1.00 degrees, so if your installed index files do not cover this range then you may get a failure.

Robin
Monika
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Re: Sharpcap not finding my plate solver?

#10

Post by Monika »

Hi Robin,

It might be the FOV that is the problem- the index files I have are for FOV 11-120 arcmin. But, based on the log, it looks like there is an error with locating an index file? It says: Debug 14:14:41.696728 #1 Notification (Status=Warning): Solving: You must list at least one index in the config file (/etc/astrometry/backend.cfg) in void SharpCap.UI.NotificationViewModel.DisplayMessage(NotificationMessage message)
Error 14:14:41.700753 #1 Failed to plate solve : Exception of type 'Exception' : Plate solving failed : Read file /tmp/tmp.ppm.u1jFaQ: 1280 x 960 pixels x 1 color(s); maxval 255
Using 8-bit output solve-field.c:518:run_backend backend failed. Command that failed was: /usr/lib/astrometry/bin/backend --config/etc/astrometry/backend.cfg /tmp/2ce35220-f729-49f5-bc31-1f6a7267aecf/frame.axy
ioutils.c:605:run_command_get_outputs Command failed: return value 255


Here is full log:
Log1.png
Log1.png (231.82 KiB) Viewed 2064 times
I wasn't sure how much you required so took a second shot of additional log:
Log2.png
Log2.png (264.97 KiB) Viewed 2064 times


Thanks!
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