Sky simulator for Ascom & Alpaca Activity
Sky simulator for Ascom using an artificial sky or online DSS images.
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Activity for Sky simulator for Ascom & Alpaca
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William Varney posted a comment on discussion General Discussion
I appreciate your help! Yes I picked that camera and tried with the simulator stopped and running. It has to be a NINA thing I guess because like I said I tried with 3 different computers, got everything set up correctly following the YouTube tutorial and online instructions, focuser thing with the image of saturn shows but as soon as I hit connect I immediately get that error. I dont have it hooked up now but will try again in a few days-maybe I missed something but dont know what it could be. Am...
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han.k posted a comment on discussion General Discussion
Did you select the camera in the screenshot? If it is not visible then you have to start the Sky simulator.
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When I try to connect the camera.
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Han modified a comment on discussion General Discussion
At which phase in using Nina you get the error? Have the simulator running. Select option artifical images. In Nina, first try to get the camera working. So in Nina you have to configure a camera. For simulation you have to select the Alpaca camera "Sky simulator. " Then the next step to try is to connect is. Once your camera is connected, you can take an (simulated) image. Where in the process do you get the error?
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At which phase in using Nina you get the error? Have the simulator running. Select option artifical images. In Nina, first try to get the camera working. So in Nina you have to configure a camera. For simulation you have to select the Alpaca camera "Sky simulator. " Then the next step to try is to connect is. Once your camera is connected, you can take an (simulated) image. Where in the process to get the error?
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I have a EQ6R-pro mount. I have spent hours trying to do this-switched everything back to ASIair yesterday because it seems like everywhere I turn there are errors that pop up with Nina-really wanted to learn how to use it and still do but got burned out. As far as how far I have my setup ready not sure what you mean. I have everything downloaded, am able to open the program-tried following a YouTube video but cant get past the error. Thanks!
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Thanks for the response. Yes I see the sky simulator and am using the simulated mount. I have tried my surface laptop Win 11, my HP laptop win 11 and my Mele Quieter 4 Win 11 pro. And yes it is a Nina error. Thanks again!
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Hi William, I assume you get a Nina error? Once the simulator is running, do you see in Nina the camera "Sky simulator" ? Which mount are you using. The simulated or a real mount? Can you explain how far you have your setup ready? Han
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Greetings! First time here. Am trying to run skysim on NINA tried 3 different computers with the same 80040154 error. Am trying to learn how to use NINA but am not a computer guru. Can handle basic stuff but GitHub and the like are beyond me. Have poured $12K into this setup so far but everywhere I turn there are problems that eat up all my time. Looking for help on this one-thanks!
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Sky simulator for Ascom & Alpaca updated /program/readme.txt
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'v3.0.5a'
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I have implemented lastexposurestarttime today. Can you test it using Alpyca? Han
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'v3.0.5a'
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Arto Oksanen posted a comment on discussion General Discussion
Enlarging the FOV did the trick. It is working fine now. arto
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Some areas are just star poor. But you could download the G18 (down to magnitude 18) from here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/hnsky/files/star_databases/g18_star_database_mag18.zip/download Unzip in the same directory as the program. Then select G18 in the simulator. Else just increase the field-of-view.
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Some area are just star poor. But you could download the G18 (down to magnitude 18) from here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/hnsky/files/star_databases/g18_star_database_mag18.zip/download Unzip in the same directory as the program. Then select G18 in the simulator. Else just increase the field-of-view.
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Sometimes there are just a few stars on the simulated image. My FOV is 17x13 arc mins and I have downloaded and selected the G16 star database. Usually there are more than enough stars for plate solving, but sometimes less than five. Focal ratio is f/2. Is there any (other) adjustment for the amount of stars? More is better. arto
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I will have a look later in the day.
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Running this https://ascom-standards.org/alpyca/alpaca.camera.html#example-acquiring-an-image-creating-fits-image python example I noticed that the API function to get "lastexposurestarttime" is not implemented. It is not needed for my use case, but maybe you would like to implement it. Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\oksanart\OneDrive - Tietoevry\Documents\sirius\pyrade\camera_test.py", line 60, in <module> hdr['DATE-OBS'] = c.LastExposureStartTime ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File...
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'v3.0.5'
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Good. It was also good to test the Linux version since it is hardly used. If you find any other bug or problem please report. Han
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Installing the new version did the trick. Your internal alpaca telescope is now answering from for example: http://localhost:11111/api/v1/telescope/0/declination Thanks!! I will work on with my script. arto
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Yes correct radio button. Maybe it requires a reboot. It works in Lubuntu 24, so I assume it should work in Ubuntu 24 Gnome as well.
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You mean the radio button? Mount tab "Alpaca interface"? Yes it is selected. Not working. And netstat does not show it. I will try the new version. arto
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I have now also changed now the defaults to Alpaca so the problem does not reoccur.
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Okay I have it working in Linux Lubuntu24. The check-mark for the mount was not activated. I also compiled it in Lubuntu 20 so it will also run in older Linux versions. I have also updated the script. 1) Check in tab if the mount is checked. Optional: You could update the program but not required: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sky-simulator/files/program/linux_installer/sky_simulator_amd64.deb/download 2) The updated script: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sky-simulator/files/program/linux_installer/sky_simulator_mount_control_scripts_windows_linux.zip/download...
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I asked ChatGPT to write two script files. The Windows version works but the Linux version not. See attached. I need to check why the simulator server is not responding in Linux.....
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Compiled in Lubuntu 20 it works. I need some experimenting to find the cause....
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I asked ChatGPT to write two script files. The Windows version works but the Linux version not. See attached. I need to check why the simulator server is not responding in Linux.....
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With Firefox (http://127.0.0.1:11111/setup/v1/telescope/0/setup) on the same computer I get "Unable to connect". Alpaca server details: "127.0.0.1" and Port Number: "11111". Simulation running. Should I see something on the log? There is just "Error: 99 Can't assign requested address". What does it mean? netstat -at does not show anything on port 11111. arto
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I never worked with Python but in Firefox you could enter: http://127.0.0.1:11111/setup/v1/telescope/0/setup The reply would be: Driver Setup There is no Sky Simulator setup information. I will see if more is possible via the browser...
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Sorry, but I still dont understand. Is the URL and port on the Alpaca page for the internal Alpaca server? If I put there URL 127.0.0.1 and port 11111, I cannot connect to Telescope('127.0.0.1:11111', 0). Can you give an example for a working setting and the corresponding URL to connect? arto
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The Alpaca telescope of the simulator should be at: http://127.0.0.1:11111/setup/v1/telescope/0/ I was hoping to connect Sky Simulator to the Alpyca driver and simulate polar alignment errors with it for making a pointing model for the telescope. The internal Alpaca driver is doing the same as your Alpyca driver. The both are a server which can be accessed by a client but the server can't talk which each other. Your Phyton program is a client. So if at the same computer you will need something like:...
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I am developing an Alpyca telescope driver. It is currently running on RasperryPi against a telescope hardware simulator (Arduino Uno) both sitting on my desktop, but will be soon controlling a real telescope. I was hoping to connect Sky Simulator to the Alpyca driver and simulate polar alignment errors with it for making a pointing model for the telescope. The Alpaca client is very simple. In python something like this. import time from alpaca.telescope import * T = Telescope('192.168.8.2:5555',...
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I understand Alpyca is a "Python API client library for ASCOM Alpaca" so it can connect to an Alpaca server like the simulator. But I never tested it.
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Currently the mount can be either an: External ASCOM mount Internal Alpaca mount. So connecting to an external Alpaca mount is yet not implemented because no Alpaca capable mount was available up to now. So the current program provides a server as it is a Alpaca telescope which programs like CCDCiel can connect to. Since you have an Alpaca capable telescope it will require an Alpaca client to connect to. No problem to look into this. For testing I could run two simulators and I can use one as server...
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Currently the mount can be either an: External ASCOM mount Internal Alpaca mount. So connecting to an external Alpaca mount is yet not implemented because no Alpaca capable mount was available up to now. So the current program provides a server as it is a Alpaca telescope which program like CCDCiel can connect to. Since you have an Alpaca capable telescope it will require an Alpaca client to connect to. No problem look into this. For testing I could run two simulators and I can use one as server...
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What should be in the Alpaca server details? My Alpyca telescope has this URL and it is working from the browser: http://192.168.8.2:5555/api/v1/telescope/0/rightascension?ClientTransactionID=7931&ClientID=27588 I tried to put just the ip-address and the full address with and without the port number but it just always says "Error: 99 Can't assign requested address". Port number input has: 5555. arto
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Yes! This version is working. Or at least it does show the user interface. :) I will try to set it up. Thanks for excellent support! arto
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'v3.0.5'
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The QT5 need a library. Lets skip that one. I used now an older compiler. Try this one just uploaded: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sky-simulator/files/program/linux_installer/
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Neither is working. The qt5 version is not even starting and the gtk-version is as before. Program starts, but does not show any UI. In the system log I found this error: /opt/sky_simulator/sky_simulator: error while loading shared libraries: libQt5Pas.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory The gtk-version shows several errors like this when starting: Negative content width -18 (allocation 16, extents 17x17) while allocating gadget (node button, owner LCLGtkButton) arto
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It was compiled on Lubuntu 24. widget gtk2 should work. But I noticed by accident I compiled to gtk3 which could be buggy. Try again the standard version just uploaded and the qt5 version and tell me if they work for you. Note you will need a program like CCDCiel to use the simulator in full because it communicating in Alpaca and not in Indi. https://sourceforge.net/projects/sky-simulator/files/program/linux_installer/ The program should be self explaining and look to the balloon hints. Some info...
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I am running it on Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS on GNOME 46 desktop. GTK version is 4.14. arto
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The program should start in the left top of your screen. The only reason why it could not work is that your system doesn't support widget GTK2 anymore. Which Linux version do you use? I could compile for QT5. Han
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Hello! I downloaded and installed the linux version. I can start the "Sky Simulator" and can see it is running, but there is no UI. How it is configured or accessed over the network? Some instructions would be nice. arto
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Jose Mozart Fusco posted a comment on discussion General Discussion
Hi Han, Great idea! Excellent feature. Thank you very much! Good Seeing & Clear Sky, Mozart
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'v3.0.5'
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Try simulator v3.05. just released Added a checkmark for focal length. If unchecked then driver focal length is not used. Han
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I will make using the mount focal length from the driver optional. That is probably better. Cheers, Han
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Hi Han, Thank you very much for your help. Okay, it worked fine! I've been using Telescope.Simulator .NET before. Interestingly, in previous versions of Sky Simulator 3.x.x, I was able to change the focal length using this telescope simulator in the Sky Sim camera tab. Clear Sky and good seeing, Mozart
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Hi Han, Thank you very much for your help! I switched to the old simulator and it worked fine. I can change the focal length. Previously, I was using Telescope.Simulator .NET. Interestingly, in previous versions of Sky Simulator 3.x.x, I was able to change the focal length with this telescope simulator (mount). Best regards, Mozart
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Hi jose, Which Ascom mount driver you using? Whit the older simulator I can switch off the optics and then you can set the focal length in the simulator. See attached. Han
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Hi Han, I'm using Sky Simulator v3.0.4c and ASCOM 7.02. However, on both Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 Pro, the focal length, despite being modified in the ASCOM profile and also in the Sky Sim camera tab, doesn't change. When I launch the simulation, it displays a grayed-out value of 1260 mm. Any other value saved in Sky Sim or the ASCOM profile is changed back to 1260 mm. Thank you very much! Cheers, Mozart
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'v3.0.4c'
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Hi. Okay looks like you find it. G16 is at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sky-simulator/files/program/star_databases/ zipped G17 and G18 (maybe overkill) you could find at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/hnsky/files/star_databases/ Han
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stephen kaiser posted a comment on discussion General Discussion
Ahh. Never mind. just watched the Youtube from Southern Cross Amature Astro and he explained loading database and nice tutorial on using Sky simulator.
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I am trying to setup your sky simulator program (v3.0.4c) when I start it , it is trying to reference STAR DATABASE G14 I have down loded your G17 base to hopefully give better simulation of my SCT 9.25, FL2430 , OAG scope setup. Will this help with this longer FL and smaller FOV? Should I install the G17 in the same dir as the G14 C:\Program Files\Sky Simulator directory Thanks for your help
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I am trying to setup your sky simulator program (v3.0.4c) when I start it , it is trying to reference STAR DATABASE G14 I have down loded your G17 base to hopefully give better simulation of my SCT 9.25, FL2430 , OAG scope setup. Will this help with this longer FL and smaller FOV? Should I install the G17 in the same dir as the G4 C:\Program Files\Sky Simulator directory Thanks for your help
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I am trying to setup your sky simulator program (v3.0.4c) when I start it , it is trying to reference STAR DATABASE G14 I have down loded your G17 base to hopefully give better simulation of my SCT 9.25, FL2430 , OAG scope setup. Will this help with this longer FL and smaller FOV? Should I install the G17 in the same dir as the G16 C:\Program Files\Sky Simulator directory Thanks for your help
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'v3.0.4b'
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'v3.0.4b'
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