Has anyone here tried INDI to control all their astronomy gear?

[g__day]

http://indilib.org/

Its feature list is here http://indilib.org/about/discover-indi.html it seems pretty full to me - noting AO support is still experimental but supported devices seems reasonable http://indilib.org/devices/

I just saw an interest video on Open Source software solution - cross platfrom to control the majority of Observatory gear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTL170a-QaM

The download is about 1.6 GB depending if you want a Linux variant or a VM for Windows (running under wINI - needing a 1.8MB download) - NB only the 32 bit link seems attached at - http://www.cloudmakers.eu/windi/


I wonder if anyone here has come across this rather interesting proposition - which to my very limited understanding is analogous to a freeware ACP?

Very interested in folks views and experience.

Cheers,

Matthew

[lazjen]

I've used it off and on. I would like to use it 100% but I sometimes run into bugs that stop my progress for a while. Since playing with the astro software is secondary to actually getting images, etc. I normally go back to windows for a while until I see fixes come through and the cycle begins again.

I do expect to eventually be using it 100%, although I suspect I'll still use FireCapture for Solar/Planetary for a while.

[phomer]

Matthew,

Yes, I run a Raspberry Pi 2 and all my equipment off a 12v battery using INDI. This allows me to run all night from a single battery and to run dew heaters as well.

The equipment consists of

Losmandy mount
QSI 583 camera
Lodestar X2 guide camera
Microtouch focuser

It was a challenge getting everything set up.

I VNC into the system to start everything off and then to periodically monitor things.

Regards

Paul

[hamiland]

I'm looking at running INDI from a compute stick, have lubuntu and all required installed, just waiting for a clear night, Paul you don't by chance have a Gemini 2 hooked up via ethernet to INDI do you, if so how do you attach or do you setup a virtual port using socat or similar?

Looks like a good product, however I have 2 compute sticks, one with the original Windows 10 with a copy of all of my capture apps, so I have a backup capture suite as the goal is to play imaging not IT (which I spend all day with anyway).

[phomer]

Anders,

No, I am running the non gemini Losmandy, so I am only controlling the mount for guiding.

Regards

Paul

[hamiland]

Thanks Paul,
Looks like I'l have to have a play, hopefully not write/rewrite a driver.

Anders

[lazjen]

I've got the G11 Gemini 2, and I've had to connect via USB.

I'm not aware of an ethernet driver, but if you do find one (or create it :) ), let me know.

[NeilW]

Hi all,

I've been playing around with this on the weekend. I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 and loaded Ubuntu-Mate on it. I then installed K-Stars, Indi & Ekos, and remarkably was able to get Indi to talk to my HEQ5, Canon 70D and QHY5L-II. I was then able to remote access it from my Win 7 laptop and drive all the above successfully. It has some potential, but it's still somewhat flaky. K-Stars seems to have a habit of crashing periodically, so I wouldn't want to commit to the Pi over my Win 7 setup just yet, and EQMOD/ASCOM is just so good by comparison.

I also installed Cartes Du Ciel (the Pi version) and Stellarium, but found that neither worked well on the Pi. CDC kept invoking an error saying "Image too big", and Stellarium was just unworkably slow.

Interesting exercise though.

[hamiland]

Hi Neil,
Congratulations, sounds like you've had a success.

I will say that the Raspberry Pi is probably a little under specced to be running Stars and Ekos locally which is why you may be seeing it as flakey. I'm still fairly new to the while INDI suite but I deliberated as to which way to run it and ended up grabbing an Intel Compute Stick to run Ekos and Stars at the mount on Lubuntu and remote control via VNC. The other option was to run a Pi as an INDI server only (Not KStars or Ekos) at the mount and the other applications on a Laptop, I just thought the Compute sticks were cute :)

For your setup and if you want to continue down the INDI path, the no cost (and easy, no need to roll your own) solution would be to install Virtualbox and run the INDI supplied Virtual machine http://indilib.org/download/virtual-machines.html, whilst using the RPi to act as your INDI server providing the physical connection to your devices. Otherwise if you have an old Core 2 laptop laying around try Distro Astro, which comes bundled with Ekos, KStars, CdC, Stellarium, and a whole heap more and runs all of the applications quite well.

Happy to field any more questions if you need a hand.

[NeilW]

Hi Anders,

Thanks for that. I'm fascinated by the Compute Stick too, so a couple of questions:

Can you buy them pre-loaded with Linux (I know they normally come with Win 8.1 or 10), and

Can you source them in Australia, otherwise where so you suggest?

The Windows option would work for me except that Win 8.1 & 10 don't have remote desktop "listening" capability by default.

Regards,

[phomer]

Anders,

I am using a Raspberry Pi 2 I and would say that it has adequate performance so I would expect the Raspberry Pi 3 would be more than adequate.

Really, for the price it is quite impressive.

Unfortunately it is not that easy to set up and requires some effort but that has made it more satifying. INDI has made huge progress over the last couple of years.

Regards

Paul

[hamiland]

Hi Neil,
The compute stick is available in Australia and you can get them pre-loaded with Ubuntu, however the Ubuntu one available has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, so the Windows version with 2 and 32 respectively for not a great deal more expense makes sense when loaded with Linux. The model I purchased was the STK1AW32SC, unfortunately this is a very similar model number to the previous year. PC Case Gear has them for $179 at the moment. Also there are some clones out but I would avoid them and recommend the Genuine Intel ones.

I would highly recommend that you would go with the 2016 version as there are 2 USB ports (one USB 3) not one, and there is a slight performance advantage, but only very slight. The only thing to take into consideration is that the inbuilt micro SD card reader doesn't work fully under Ubuntu, there is some discussion about it being certain speeds and brands of cards, however just something to consider until an OS update is released (the newer kernels are making headway), so you would either store data to internal storage or use a USB card reader or a network storage volume.

There is an option to enable an RDP listener in Windows home versions, the instructions on the following page work, so that would get you around that issue should you choose to keep Windows 10. I would recommend against installing the Anniversary build at this stage as I had issues with wireless and Bluetooth.

Paul,
No arguments there, however for someone who doesn't want to tweak package lists and optimise (I get enough "satisfaction" :) doing this at work)... The compute stick route may be a little less efficient and more costly, but for something I don't have to buy a case for and can just throw vanilla Lubuntu at, add a couple or repos and install all that I need with very minimal configuration it fits the bill for me. I'd also recommend it to anyone starting the linux route for imaging as the extra horsepower makes a nicer and easier experience.

Horses for courses though, if you like fiddling, go down the Pi route as there is some satisfaction to getting something to run on minimal resources. If you want to take the easy route, and what I'd suggest for a *nix beginner which will give easier results, is to use more compute power (old Core2 laptop, Atom laptop, virtual machine or the compute stick).

Regards

Anders