EQStar User Guide www.astro-gadget.com
15
7.
EQStar control via a Linux Controller
There are Linux open-source applications that can work with the EQStar via its WiFi interface. One
such set is the KStars planetarium program paired with the Indi EQMOD plug-in. KStars contains a
companion EKOS app for automated astrophotography control.
The Linux operating system could be any of a number of Linux distributions, including UBUNTU,
Mint, or Redhat running on a laptop or standalone controller. Control is accomplished via the Indi
astronomical control WiFi interface.
The KStars planetarium program can be paired with the Indi EQMOD plug-in to provide goto control.
Note that goto operations can use astrometry-based plate solving looking for identifiable stars in a
post-goto image to refine the telescope pointing automatically to center the KStars-requested
object.
KStars also has a companion EKOS app that supports scripted long exposure astrophotography
sessions with auto guiding based on a guide camera as well as control of the primary imaging
camera, including collecting captured images.
7.1.
Linux applications for control
For Linux-based control of EQStar, the combination of KStars (a planetarium program) and EKOS (a
mount control program for scripted, guided astrophotography) will work with the addition of an
Indi-EQMOD package for KStars/EKOS. All this software is available from the KStars package
manager. While KStars is available from several Linux package managers, the Indi-EQMOD is not. It
is better to install all this software from the KStars package manager at ppa:mutlaqja/ppa.
Command lines to do this:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mutlaqja/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indi-full kstars-bleeding
sudo apt-get install indi-eqmod
7.2.
Linux Control via KStars/EQMOD
7.2.1.
When the EQStar USB cable is plugged into the Linux controller, it shows up as
/dev/ttyusb0 (or similar). The ‘lsusb’ command should list it.
7.2.2.
KStars has a device manager where the indi_eqmod_telescope device can be added
pointing to this ttyusb0.
7.2.3.
KStars has an optional telescope control panel that can be enabled to manage control of
the telescope, including slewing or synching to the active object in KStars, parking or
unparking the telescope, and stopping the mount in case of problems.
7.3.
KStars documentation:
7.3.1.
KStars: https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kstars/kstars/
7.3.2.
EKOS: https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kstars/kstars/tool-ekos.html
