How To Setup Astroberry On Your Raspberry PiAstroberry is a powerful tool for controlling your Raspberry Pi astronomy projects. Learn how to setup Astroberry on your Raspberry Pi!
Astroberry is an easy-to-use open-source tool designed to control and automate astronomy projects on the Raspberry Pi. With Astroberry, you can remotely control your telescope mount, camera, guider and more. Learn how to install and use Astroberry to make your astronomy projects easier and more efficient.
Download the Astroberry Software to your Raspberry Pi
To set up Astroberry on your Raspberry Pi, the first step is to download the software package to your Raspberry Pi. Visit the official Astroberry website , download the 64-bit ARM file
Download Etcher from here , install and run. It gives you the option of selecting the image to flash, the destination SD card and a button to start the process. Simples.
Once the process is complete you simply insert the micro SD card into the Raspberry Pi and turn the power on.
Configure the Connection Between Your Computer and Raspberry Pi
Before you can get started using Astroberry, you need to configure your setup properly. To do this, power on the Raspberry Pi and wait a few minutes. It will create its own Wi-Fi hotspot (ssid: astroberry / password: astroberry) which you need to connect to, then you can use an internet browser to navigate to http://astroberry.local. When this loads you will be given a short setup page after which you can log on. The default password is astroberry for most, if not all, password requests.
Once the desktop has loaded you can configure the Wi-Fi or network connection using the System tools. You can leave the Wi-Fi hotspot enabled if you wish, but the Raspberry Pi won't have any internet access for updates or looking at the web. To access your home Wi-Fi network, click the icon in the top left corner of the screen, choose "Preferences" and then "Advanced Network Configuration''. Click the plus icon to add a Wifi Network then fill in the details from your router. These are usually on a card on the back of the router. Click on the general tab and ensure that the priority is set to 0, or something positive. The default hotspot is set to -999 priority, so if you take the Raspberry Pi remote where there isn't Wi-Fi it will create the hotspot for you to connect to.
Using KStars Astronomy Software
KStars is a free, open-source, cross-platform Astronomy software application. It provides an accurate graphical simulation of the night sky, from any location on Earth, at any date and time. The display includes up to 100 million stars, 13,000 deep-sky objects, all 8 planets, the Sun and Moon, and thousands of comets, asteroids, supernovae, and satellites.
KStars is the main software I use, from it I can browse the night sky and control my HEQ5 SynScan mount.
The basic window shows the standard planetarium view from your location. If you don't have a GPS-enabled device, it can be configured from Settings > Geographic.
Now the fun stuff can start, connecting the HEQ5 SynScan mount to Ekos and controlling it with KStars!
Connecting Astroberry to a Mount with INDI Server
For this write up I am using simulated equipment as clear skies this time of year are few and far between. I will endeavour to update the screenshots with real equipment views as and when I remember them whilst observing.
This part took a lot of trial and error for me, so this is how I set up my HEQ5 SynScan to work with KStars and Ekos. My HEQ5 was an original HEQ5 with a quartz drive which I later upgraded to a SynScan controller. I don't know if this is why I had problems. The instructions for an HEQ5 Pro didn't work for me.
Anyway, in KStars, click on the observatory icon towards the right-hand side of the toolbar. The tooltip is "Toggle Ekos". From there, in the first section click the + to add a new profile. From here enter a name for the connection and select your mount connection type. For my HEQ5 the EQMOD Mount worked, since I am directly connecting using an EQMOD USB to Serial cable. Now set any extra devices you have connected, such as guiders, imaging cameras and so on.
You can then click the play button in panel 2 which will attempt to connect to the mount. All being well you should get a green light. If there are connection problems, check the cables and power supply to the mount and that the right mount type is selected.
Controlling HEQ5 SynScan using KStars and Ekos
Back in KStars you should see a FOV marker shaped like a red Telrad style finder (the default but you can change this), and a red marker with a label the same as the profile you just created. The FOV marker is where you are looking in the planetarium software, you can line an object up here. The other marker with your mount label is where the scope is currently pointing and tracking.
You can slew to a target (assuming polar alignment - see below) by positioning the FOV marker over the target, right-clicking, selecting your mount from the menu and clicking Goto. There is a handset simulation window which you can toggle from the toolbar, and this has a Goto button but that didn't seem to work for me. There should also be a keyboard shortcut, but again, I couldn't find one in the documentation.
Connecting Imaging Cameras
I mainly use my Canon 80d for imaging. Sometimes connected via Sigma 150-500mm lens, other times using a T-Mount adaptor on my scope. When you connect devices in Ekos for the first time it will ask for the sensor resolution and pixel pitch. This information can usually be found on DigiCamDB . Pixel Pitch is calculated by dividing the physical sensor width (22.5mm on the 80d) by the actual sensor resolution (6026px) and multiplying by 1000. In this case (22.5 / 6026) * 1000 = 3.73. Do the same for the height. You should then be able to connect.
For planetary imaging and some DSO I use a Bresser Full HD Deep-Sky Camera which is configured using the ToupCam driver. This was much less painful to get working than the DSLR. Just plug in, click connect and it works.
Connecting Guidescopes
When I'm not using the Bresser Deep-Sky Camera for imaging, I use it as a guide. Calibration and guiding are straightforward using Ekos. Simply head to the guider section in Ekos, click capture to verify that there is an available guide star then click guide. The software will do the rest. If you get errors around "calibration rejected star drift too short" try increasing the pulse in the options. I had to increase mine to 2500 to get a calibration.
The screenshot above was created using the simulator which I don't think can guide well since it's 100% accurate with no drift. Next time I have my scope out I will capture a real guider configuration.
Polar Alignment using Astroberry KStars and Ekos
KStars has a Polar Alignment Assistant which makes polar alignment simple. Before we being you need to download the index files for plate solving in Ekos.
To get the latest index files, or to download them the first time if you haven't already got them, click on the Options button in the bottom right of the Ekos window. In the config window, click on the index files tab. You can see the index files for each field of view. Go ahead and check each of the missing index files for the required and recommended FOV. Ekos will then download the files. If/when the files are downloaded they will appear green.
In the Ekos window, click on the alignment tab on the toolbar. It's the concentric circle's icon. Set the mount position in the KStars window to the North Pole, unlock the clutches on the mount and point the telescope to the north pole (home position) with the weights pointing down.
The defaults are usually pretty good so go ahead and click start to get going. I'm using the simulator in these screenshots because at the time of writing in January, in Scotland, it's going to be a long time before I get any clear skies.
The alignment process is pretty painless when it works, and a pain when it doesn't. Most of the time it works well, certainly a lot easier than using the handset controller or the alignment reticle.
Put your EQ mount in the home position, or pointed anywhere on the meridian. Select the mount direction and speed in the controls in the polar alignment tab then click start. It will then connect to your imaging CCD to capture the region the telescope is pointing at and attempt to determine the location based on the stars it sees. It will then slew a little and capture again. Eventually, it will know where it is and where the telescope is pointing. The alignment is complete!
Taking First Astrophotogoraphy Images
Now that everything is configured, connected, aligned and guided we can start taking photos! Head over to the camera tab in Ekos where you can see all the camera-related info. The screen is the same regardless of if you are using a DSLR or a CCD imager. You have all the basic settings like exposures, count is the number of exposures to do. Delay is the delay between exposures which you can use to allow the mount to settle. The file settings allow you to save locally (to the camera), remote transfer them to the Raspberry Pi or you can save to both.
There is an option to see the live view from the camera which is useful if you want to use a Bahtinov focusing mask or to precisely frame the image.
You can take exposures using the buttons below the sequence queue. There is a test capture button, there is a continuous shoot button and then the live view button.
Once you are happy with the settings you can add the settings to the sequence using the plus button. This allows you to automatically capture your light, darks, flats and bias or change filters with automatic filter wheels. Finally, the play button will start the sequence running.
