KStars 2.8.9 is released!

Here comes the last KStars release for 2017! KStars v2.8.9 is available now for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Robert Lancaster worked on improving PHD2 support with Ekos. This includes retrieving the guide star image, drift errors and RMS values, among other minor improvements and refactoring of the Ekos PHD2 codebase to support future extensions.

Furthermore, Robert added drift plot support to Ekos Guide module which provides a visual indication of the accuracy of the guiding.

The Ekos Guide module received further improvements to make it more straightforward to use with end users. The calibration button is now removed and performed automatically whenever guiding starts. The user can clear the calibration at any time to restart the process.

Meridian Flip support improved with various fixes to post-meridian-flip operations including autofocus. Filter Manager received several fixes to improve filter switching during various phases of the capture process. Users can also control when to run the In-Sequence focus check. By default, the check is executed after each frame, but now can be configured to be executed only after several frames are captured.

A minor but quite useful addition is the Meridian Line. It can be turned on so that users can get a visual indication on how close the mount is to executing a meridian flip procedure.

Enjoy the new release, and do not forget to report any bugs or suggestions over at bugs.kde.org.

KStars 2.8.5 is released!

So here comes another minor release for KStars v2.8.5 just less than two weeks after 2.8.4 was released. KStars v2.8.5 is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. In addition to the usual bug-fixing and enhancements, here are a couple of useful features for our users:

1. Log Manager

Users complained over the year that it was hard to get logs for Ekos & INDI to diagnose issues. Due to the complexity of Ekos & INDI, logs are absolutely necessary in order to diagnose any issues. With 2.8.5, it's now super easy to enable logs and they're all in one place. From the Ekos Summary screen, click logs to open the Log Manager and then select which specific Ekos module and/or INDI driver you want to diagnose. Start Ekos as you normally do and then all the logs are stored locally, even if you are using remote INDI drivers!

2. Filter Manager

While users were able to select filter focus offsets in previous version of KStars, it was only applicable in the capture module. Not only that, you were limited to locking a specific filter when running the focus module, but what if you need to lock the filter depending on what current filter is in use? What if you don't need to run autofocus on filter change for all filters, but specific ones? The Filter Manager is here to resolves these issues.

My primary motivation behind this is due to my recent imaging session with IC5070. I wanted to use Luminance filter as the locked filter for both Lum and Hydrogen-Alpha, and when using OIII/SII, I wanted Ekos to keep the current filter and focus with it. With the old system, you were limited to one locked filter for everything, but now it is much more versatile and configurable. Please test away and report any bugs to KDE Bugtracking system.