ASI2600MC AIR -> ALPACA -> N.I.N.A

HvRooyen

Thank you! Can confirm that N.I.N.A. is able to obtain images from the 220MM over Alpaca, but PHD2 is not.

Was pulling my (remaining) hair out over this. Recently moved my equipment to a remote location and am trying to set up using N.I.N.A and PHD2. Everything was working on my test setup at home, but as soon as I moved my equipment to the remote location I was completely unable to obtain (tracking) images via PHD2 (yet N.I.N.A imaging worked fine). Did not think to try capturing an image on the 220MM using N.I.N.A. Was actually about to post a question regarding Alpaca via station vs access point modes, but this makes way more sense - especially as the firmware updated on first boot after moving the equipment.

Will be heading to PHD2 forums to ask there as well.

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen Apparently I've managed to make PHD2 working again! I've installed ASI Studio, I've launched the ASIImg application; when I've connected the camera, it asked me to update the camera ASCOM Service.
To be precise, ASIImg detects the 10.0.10-3 version (the latest one, I assume installed with the latest ASI Air firmware update) and proposes to "upgrade" to the 10.0.9-1 version (the previous one).
Applying the "upgrade", then, apparently I've reverted the ASCOM service to the previous version (working with PHD2) and actually PHD2 is working again...

Now the funny thing is that PHD2 works again, but apparently N.I.N.A. cannot download images from the ASI 2600 (main camera) when the exposure time is equal or longer than 1s (the process remains in the "exposing" phase and never reaches the download phase, leading to a "Camera Timeout" error).

At this point we are at a dead end apparently... 😥

Let me know if you experience the same...

HvRooyen

After receiving some very useful information from Bruce (Waddington?) over at PHD2, I investigated traffic between my computer and my ASI2600MC Air using WireShark. It seems to me as if the difference in technique used by PHD2 vs N.I.N.A. to obtain images causes the camera to not return an "ImageReady" reply (PHD2 basically seems to keep on asking "are we there yet?" like a kid in the back seat of a car on a long distance trip, while N.I.N.A. is more civilised about it).

I have sent a support request to support@zwoastro.zendesk.com (ref 27211) and will report back if / when I receive a reply.

HvRooyen

Just received feedback from ZWO support:
"Thanks for your feedback.
This is Alpaca issue and we will fix this issue in next release."
H

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen that’s great! At this point we’ll wait for the next update!

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen just a last comment, waiting for the alpaca update: I've tried to reset the firmware of my ASI 2600 MC AIR (from the "info" section of the ASIAir app) and apparently now it's working fine both on N.I.N.A. and PHD2 side... it could be a temporary solution.

NOTE: obviously now it's heavy raining... so I can't test the whole thing 😭

HvRooyen

AleDorigatti I considered doing that, but suspect that would revert a few things I have changed (like losing WiFi passwords etc - could be problematic as I am currently 600km away).

ZWO have since confirmed that they have found the root cause. For now, I will continue using the AsiAir app on my phone to run the system - not ideal, but at least I can get some photography done. We have had the equivalent of a whole year's worth of rain since 1 January, with a break predicted over the next few days.

HvRooyen

AleDorigatti
Did everything work after you reset the firmware? I am seriously considering it this time.

woodbourne

ZWO has no ability to fix an "Alpaca Issue" rather they need to fix their code. Last post was over a month ago and apparently if you've upgraded your smart camera it still doesn't work. Is that correct?

HvRooyen

Correct, it still does not work. Does anyone know of a page that keeps track of the latest firmware for the camera?

More info for those who may be interested: The problem is not with Alpaca, which seems to do what it should. Everything worked until ZWO updated the firmware, and as descibed above a firmware rollback fixes the problem. I sniffed the traffic between the guide camera and N.I.N.A - the camera never sends an "image ready" reply - thus seemingly a timing issue on the ZWO side (PHD2 basically bombards the camera with "are we there yet?" requests, which seemingly unmasked a latent timing issue in the firmware). Lastly, ZWO have confirmed that they will be rolling out a fix in the next update.

HvRooyen

https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/22635-asiair-v233-has-been-released

As we speak....

HvRooyen

New firmware update released in the past day or two seems to have fixed the problem.

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen that’s great news! I will test ASAP!

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen it is working for me too, now!

fotisr

HvRooyen can you please describe how you connect the guide sensor of 2600 air to PHD2? I can connect both sensors to NINA through alpaca, but PHD2 does not recognize any ASI camera. I have the latest asi ascom drivers, the latest PHD2, the latest ascom, the 2.4 beta asiair firmware and windows 11 pro. Thank you in advance, Fotis

HvRooyen

AleDorigatti
All seemed well until I noticed last night during a test run that I keep seeing the same satellite trail in 9 consecutive photos. On further investigation I realised that Flats Wizard in N.I.N.A. was also acting up. It seems the (new?) problem is that the main camera (randomly?) starts to send the same image repeatedly, instead of a new exposure every time. I will try to debug this one as well, but must admit I am stumped for now.

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen apparently yes, but given the distance from your telescope I think it should be better to test the workaround only if you have the option to reinstall the latest update.

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen anyway now the new 2.4 beta is out and the changelog reports the fix to the Alpaca exposure issue… so maybe this will finally solve the problem!

HvRooyen

I think I am missing something here. Perhaps I just don't understand the software environment:
My android app is on V2.3.3 with no newer version offered on Play Store (although I see a version 2. 5 on the ZWO website), but the firmware on the ASI2600MC-AIR is reported as Firmware Build 41.63 on the bug report I sent in yesterday.
Where do you see the beta version you are referring to? Is it a firmware beta release, or the (android?) app?

The way I understand it, the latest firmware for the camera fixed the Alpaca timing issue on the tracking camera, but introduced / unmasked the duplication issue with the main camera (as I described above).

Anyway, I am now much closer to my telescope and can easily revert to factory settings - provided I have a reasonable expectation that it will work. It certainly seems preferable to waiting another 6 weeks for the next firmware update, as the duplication issue makes the camera functionally unusable - maybe even with the ZWO app!

AleDorigatti

HvRooyen take a look at the following post: https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/22676-asiair-v24-public-beta-released

At the end of the post you will find the link to the beta!

HvRooyen

AleDorigatti Thanks. To me the changelog in the link you gave would imply that any phone / tablet using the ASIAir app also connects to the camera via Ascom Alpaca?

On the other hand, the problem is generated on the camera side - therefore the primary problem is in the camera firmware, not ASIAir related.

If I am correct in both of the above, I would be very wary of doing any astrophotography with the current firmware, regardless of the client software I use. How would you know that each exposure is in fact a new one, and not one in a train of duplicates?

Unless I am missing something?

HvRooyen

fotisr
I recall this was an issue for me as well, but I cannot remember exactly how I fixed it. I recall that this link helped me:
https://ascom-standards.org/help/developer/html/e3870a2f-582a-4ab4-b37f-e9b1c37a2030.htm

Basically you need to do discovery in some other app (not PHD2) first. Whenever things change significantly (new network config meaning new IP address for the camera), I use Ascom Diagnostics (which I recall came with the Ascom Platform download), then go through the discovery process as per the link above. This prompts me to create the device. Once that is done, the device appears in the PHD2 device list.

Hope that helps
H