INDI support

[T-Studio]

Mr.Robin

The Indigo bridge is primarily used with the Indigo server and driver. Indigo has a compatibility mode for INDI, but I don't think you can use the INDI driver with this bridge.

https://www.nuget.org/packages/INDISharp.INDI/

I found the dll here, but I'm not familiar with the program.

[T-Studio]

I tried the beta version and it freezes when I try to change the driver. . .

[admin]

Oh dear

I must admit that I have never myself used Indigo or Indi, since I work with a Windows PC next to the mount that does all the hardware control. Sounds like I will have to invest some time in the end to look into this in more detail. Note that this will be after the release of SC 4.1, so probably autumn at the earliest.

cheers,

Robin

[T-Studio]

Robin

I use Windows, Mac and Linux and your app is the best for live stacking.
,,,, but I think INDI has the best degree of freedom for the driver.

If you own a Mac, you can use everything, including the driver, by copying the Kstars app to your HDD (no installation required).

If you have a distribution that works with Raspberry Pi (I also distribute it), you can connect over the network even on Windows.

https://tstudioastronomy.blog.fc2.com/b ... y-268.html

[T-Studio]

INDI has a powerful simulation driver, so if the simulation driver works, you can test it.

The camera driver alone is sufficient for ShapCap. (Since the driver can coexist, other elements can be done with another application.)

[admin]

Hi,

thanks for the further information - I do have at least a couple of Raspberry PI around here somewhere (and I can always make a Linux virtual machine too). No Macs here mind you!

Robin

[Kopa]

Hi All

Just installed 4.1 and noted that some support for INDI is now built in.

I looked in the manual but could not quite make sense of what to do to let eg cameras appear in sharpcap. there are pointers but no proper instructions.

I have installed the INDI Control panel and have added the port to my Raspberry PI and I have access to all my devices remotely from the PC.

When I open SC, I do not see any of the cameras that are in the control panel. some help is needed.

I need to set up the "ASCOM Alpaca Bridge Agent" but I have no Idea how to do that. Specific help needed

Kind regards

Vince

[admin]

Hi Vince,

at the time that I wrote the documentation, it didn't quite work, since there was a bug in the Indigo implementation of the Alpaca agent that made it incompatible with the ASCOM libraries in SharpCap - nothing got detected unfortunately. This bug was fixed in Indigo in October (https://github.com/indigo-astronomy/indigo/issues/504), so the fix should be in the most recent Indigo releases (ie 2.0-264).

With the latest Indigo, it seems to work (just tested). Steps required are

* Install Indigo and latest SharpCap 4.1
* In Indigo Control Panel go to Server, Main, Available Drivers and enable 'ASCOM Alpaca Bridge Support'
* Also enable your actual devices or some simulators in Indigo
* Make sure Alpaca agent discovery port is default (32227)
* Ensure Indigo server and SharpCap PC on same network with no firewall blocking access.
* Run SharpCap, check Cameras menu and Hardware dropdowns in the settings for Indigo devices
* If nothing shows up, try 'Rescan for remote hardware' on SharpCap file menu

Screenshot 2023-12-31 160210.png (22.89 KiB) Viewed 23915 times

cheers,

Robin

[Ryther]

Hi Vince,

at the time that I wrote the documentation, it didn't quite work, since there was a bug in the Indigo implementation of the Alpaca agent that made it incompatible with the ASCOM libraries in SharpCap - nothing got detected unfortunately. This bug was fixed in Indigo in October (https://github.com/indigo-astronomy/indigo/issues/504), so the fix should be in the most recent Indigo releases (ie 2.0-264).

With the latest Indigo, it seems to work (just tested). Steps required are

* Install Indigo and latest SharpCap 4.1
* In Indigo Control Panel go to Server, Main, Available Drivers and enable 'ASCOM Alpaca Bridge Support'
* Also enable your actual devices or some simulators in Indigo
* Make sure Alpaca agent discovery port is default (32227)
* Ensure Indigo server and SharpCap PC on same network with no firewall blocking access.
* Run SharpCap, check Cameras menu and Hardware dropdowns in the settings for Indigo devices
* If nothing shows up, try 'Rescan for remote hardware' on SharpCap file menu

Screenshot 2023-12-31 160210.png

cheers,

Robin

Thank you Robin, both for SharpCap and all the support for the AP community!
I'm trying to use SharpCap for some of it's great features, like the Sensor Analysis tool. I would love to use SharpCap's Focus Assist for moon and planetary imaging and the Smart Histogram to select the correct exposure before DSO capture (and now3).
My problem is that I use kstars/ekos with an RPi's and don't own a notebook so I've to use my pc with SharpCap from another room.
I've setup everything as you said and the camera (and other instruments) appear in the SharpCap's menu, but I cannot change the imaging type from "Mono16" to something like "RAW16". Is it normal behaviour or I'm missing something?

Best regards,
Edoardo

[admin]

Hi,

I suspect that somewhere along the way between INDI and SharpCap the camera is being reported as having a MONO sensor, and SharpCap is believing that report. My guess is that it's either at the INDI end or in the Alpaca agent code.

Anyway, SharpCap will only show MONO16 for the colour space option because the sensor is reported as mono, but actually that bug exists on a few normal ASCOM drivers too, so SharpCap has a workaround in place. You should see the 'Debayer Preview' option a couple down from the colour space - that is normally not displayed for monochrome cameras, but I force it to show for ASCOM mono cameras to allow this bug to be dealt with. Simply set that control to the right bayer pattern for your camera and everything should work pretty much as designed.

You can use the 'Capture Profiles' feature or SharpCap's option to restore camera controls to make that debayer option get set automatically each time you open the camera.

cheers,

Robin