Mount Controls

Experimental Mount Controls

OpenLiveStacker mount control is based on indi.

Connecting to the mount

In order to connect to mount go to Mount tab in settings

1. Select driver you want to use

   

   Note you can also connect to remote indi server by using indi:remote driver name

2. Select communication settings as protocol/host:port, and press connect. Note on Android only network (wifi) mount controls are supported, on Linux and remote indi server serial connection is supported as well

   

3. You now see a general settings tab with information and various options for mount

   

   Some of the options:

   • Tracking speed: Lunar, Sidereal and Solar and start, stop tracking. Change upon goto.
   • Action on reaching meridian: either stop tracking or perform flip
   • Min/Max altitude limits - they are enforced strictly on goto, but during manual slew or slew to the target, the mount may slightly pass these limits - so use with care
   • Geolocation and pointing information
   • Alignment information. When mount support alignment via INDI number of alignment points is shown. You can reset the alignment by pressing "Reset" button. Alignment is preserved between application starts. So if you shut down the mount and restarted it, it is good idea to reset the alignment.
   • "Sun" goto support - it is disable by default for safety reasons. Enable only with proper solar equipment
   • Show coordinate options on main screen

General controls

Once the mount is connected the mount controls button will appear

Upon pressing mount controls appear on the screen:

Notes:

• Goto target can be catalog code like M45, NGC467, star name like Polaris, planet name like Venus, Jupiter and Moon and Sun.

  You can also write target in RA/DE coordinates like 03:47:24, +24:07:00

• When manually aligning the mount on a star select a star in goto target, Center the star in the field of view and press sync for two seconds. It can be used when plate solve does not work well or just manual alignment is preferred

Using with Plate Solving.

When the mount is connected new options appear Solve & Sync and Solve, Sync and GoTo.

• Solve & Sync plate solves the image and if successful synchronises the mount with current location
• Solve, Sync & Goto works as above but also performs goto to the selected "Object" upon success

When mount it connected the plate solver (ASTAP) searches around the coordinates the mount is pointed to. If you uncheck Use Mount Position the search will be performed around the target - it is useful when the mount is not aligned and way off the expected location.