Camera running on remote computer from BYN

[ChrisMoses]

Hi,

I'm a developer.  I just wrote a proxy-system to allow using ascom mounts connected to other machines. Basically ASCOM-over-ip.  It lets you run just the drivers and the small proxy program on the (very small) computer at the mount.  So fat it seems to work with MaximDL and TheSkyXPro, the only programs I've tried. 

 

I would like to start working on ASCOM cameras next.  If BYN/BYE uses ASCOM commands, I would love to play with it. So a few questions

1. Does this sound interesting to anybody?

2. If so, will you ship the driver as a separate install? I can't install BYN/BYE on every machine  for the simple reason that I would need some machines without it to make sure it really worked.

 

If this sounds interesting to anyone, let me know.  I  know and use BYN and would love to be able to get rid of virtually all usb wire clutter and/or long lines going inside during the winter.  Just place a stick computer or NUC computer right on the mount or eyepiece table and run everything to it.  From there, the equipment is controlled remotely over wi, on computers running the reall programs.  No need for larger computers that can support VPN/RAS solutions.

 

Thanks

[astroman133]

Typically, DSLR cameras use custom SDKs for camera access, rather than ASCOM. The capabilities of DSLR cameras do not map particularly well to the ASCOM camera interface.

 

I use Team Viewer for remote access to my observatory during imaging. I monitor ambient conditions, control power, mount, cameras, focuser, etc. from the laptop in my warm room and then remotely control the laptop from up at my house. It works well for my needs and allows me to control my gear from either location (the observatory warm room or up in the house).

[s3igell]

BYE/BYN doesn't currently provide an ASCOM Interface for its operations, nor does it use or support ASCOM Cameras (rather Canon and Nikon SDKs over USB connections).  Its only ASCOM components are the "Mount Nudge" and "Focuser Control (not AutoFocus)" and "Filterwheel Control" Tools available in the Premium Editions.

That is not to say that the utility of "ASCOM-over-IP" doesn't sound Interesting...

 

I, too, have used TeamViewer to Remote Control a "Small Laptop mounted near the Scope".  This has been via Ethernet Cable making a small Ad Hoc Network (Ad Hoc WiFi could possibly also have been used but throughput might have been an issue).  The "Host" could have easily been a small NUC or Stick-PC (both needing to be setup for Headless Operation), but there are many scenarios where the integrated Display of a Laptop proves Very Valuable.

 

I've found that in order to support a truly "Remote" setup, there are quite a number of functions which currently need to be running on that "near the Scope" device besides just BYE/BYN - AutoGuiding (PHD2), Plate-Solving (AstroTortilla or Astrometry.net), Imaging Session Planning Software (AstroPlanner, Stellarium, or other Planetarium Software).  The latter could be run from the "Controller" PC in the House (but the Mount Control portion would require an ASCOM-over-IP support).  The Plate-Solving could be setup over the network, using the same ASCOM-over-IP support if the Targeting Images were also transferred across the wire.  But PHD2 is severely dependent upon the throughput between Camera and App - often saturating a USB2 Connection - and is dependent upon Vendor-supplied Camera Drivers (which are almost exclusively USB- or older Parallel-Connection based).

There have been a couple of other threads discussing the idea of ASCOM-based Remote Operation of BYE/BYN, in which Guylain (the Developer) detailed some of the Challenges that he could foresee.  The dependence on Camera Manufacturer SDKs is the biggest, but there are additional issues of Data Throughput and Latency.

 

Perhaps you could provide a bit more detail of your Vision for ASCOM-over-IP, and how it would actually compare to the more traditional Remote Control Software based implementations that we use to the same result.

[jaylyle]

I started this on the wrong subforum but it is related to this thread:

 

https://www.otelescope.com/index.php?/topic/1733-backyardeos-as-a-server/#entry11429

 

Here is my input from that thread:

 

I am using virtualhere.com to connect to my sloooooooooow laptop near my scope.  I use a faster computer inside to run AstroTortilla, EQMOD, Carte De Ciel and PHD.  All of these work "as if I am right at the computer"

 

VirtualHere makes the USB ports on the remote computer act as if there are native to my fast indoor computer.

 

AstroTortilla can command the remote BYE fine by changing the IP address in AstroTortilla. (i.e. API works just fine over network)

 

Here is my question.....    virtualhere does not see my Canon t2i.   Would it be possible to add a feature to BYE by allowing a remote instance of BYE to connect to it like a server?  Kind of like making one instance of BYE like a client connecting to a remote instance like a server.

 

Edit:  Added->  Windows 10 both computers

 

Edit:   My question is solved on the thread above.  Yup, I kinda high jacked this thread.  So back to the original discussion.....