Fwd: KStars

[Martin Rabanser]

Hello All.

This is a relaunched message that I had sent to Jasem Mutlaq, and it is about some problems I encountered with the latest iteration of KStars (and previous ones). I’m a huge fan of KStars and would like it to prosper and grow.

With my equipment, there are a few difficulties, I do hope they can be overcome over time.

Martin


> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Jasem Mutlaq <mutlaqja at ikarustech.com>
> Subject: Re: KStars
> Date: 8. January 2024 at 16:14:54 CET
> To: Martin Rabanser <martin.rabanser at yahoo.com>
> 
> Hello Martin,
> 
> Thank you so much for your email. I think it is best if you can re-send your email to kstars-devel at kde.org <mailto:kstars-devel at kde.org>
> 
> This way it reaches all KStars developers and not just me and then we can have a good discussion about the issues you faced.
> 
> --
> Best Regards,
> Jasem Mutlaq
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jan 8, 2024 at 6:01 PM Martin Rabanser <martin.rabanser at yahoo.com <mailto:martin.rabanser at yahoo.com>> wrote:
> Good afternoon Jasem.
> 
> I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to look into my crash report of KStars, previous versions and before. Peter Polakovic was so nice to forward it to you.
> 
> With the new release (3.6.8) it would seem to be better, as no crash occurred during equipment connection. But I do still have problems connecting to all of my equipment. What I’d like to connect is:
> 
> - An Astro Physics Mount (AP 1100 GTO / CP4)
> - A Canon DSLR (main imaging camera)
> - A ZWO ASI 290 mm mini (guide camera)
> - A PegasusAstro Pocket Power Box Advanced Version 2
> - An Optec ThirdLynx Focuser
> 
> After some fiddling, I was able to connect almost everything, but the Pegasus PPBAv2 refused to connect. No port was available to it, even though sometimes it does connect and is available, just not for every session. If a configuration works, I do save it (in Options / Save). But the next time I try to use it, it might or might not work. The AP V2 gets one USB port, the PPBAv2 the second. Everything else is connected to the PPBAv2.
> 
> And I still do not understand why the Ethernet connection is not usable for mount control. If it were, it would free another USB port, which could come in handy.
> 
> Under Windows and ASCOM I do not have any problem whatsoever to connect to all of this, but I struggle under MacOS and Linux. So sad, as I would have preferred to use either MacOS or Linux, rather than Windows.
> 
> But such a system has to be reliable, and in my case, it isn’t under Linux / Mac.
> 
> That brings me to KStars. I believe, and please correct me if I’m wrong, that you’re the main maintainer of KStars, so please forgive me if I bring a few (minor) concerns to your attention.
> 
> - The Meridian Line, that can be toggled on in preferences, is not showing the local meridian accurately, and never has in the past. It is displaced about 9’ towards West, if you look southward. Same applies if your viewing direction is North, in this case towards East. I do often look at this line to see if an object has passed the meridian, but in the case of KStars, this can be misleading. I do not know the reason of this, but it could be epoch / equinox related. But KStars does not give the option to chance epoch settings, or does it? And still talking about the Meridian Line, it does not go all the way down to the Horizon Line, which does look a bit unfinished, to my eyes.
> 
> - It would be nice to be able to toggle the view of the Celestial Poles, like NCP and SCP, and Zenith and Nadir (Especially Zenith), like almost every planetarium program that I know of, allows you to do.
> 
> Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I’m just trying to help improve KStars. I did not speak out before, because I always waited for the next version to correct a few things, but much of it has stayed the same, for years. If you look at the progress that Stellarium (just to name one) has made, well, KStars is a little bit behind that.
> 
> But the potential of KStars and EKOS is outstanding, and I’d really like to see it prosper. If I can help with that in any way, please let me know. I’ve been a Beta Tester for an iOS app, Luminos (and Luminos Pro), for years, so I’m not new to troubleshooting. I’m no programmer though.
> 
> Please find a screenshot of the Meridian Line issue below.
> 
> Thank you Jasem, and Kind Regards.
> 
> Martin
> 
> Martin Rabanser
> Bolzano, Italy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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