KStars v3.6.0 released
The INDI-based all-in-one planetarium and observatory control software KStars/Ekos has seen an update in the form of the release of version 3.6.0. Two main improvements are the introduction of a new autofocusing routine called Linear 1 Pass Algorithm, and a polar alignment tool using continuous plate solving.
The new Linear 1 Pass Algorithm autofocus routine is a very welcome addition to the regular Linear algorithm. As the name suggests, the new algorithm uses only one pass along the V-curve instead of 2, increasing the speed significantly. And since the solution is based on a weight-based curve fitting, the final result is probably very comparable. When starting the routine, the focuser moves outward by a selectable amount. It then will move inwards at user-defined step sizes and takes an image at each step. It will continue to do so until well passed the bottom of the V-curve. Then it calculates the focuser position with minimum HFR as the solution. The focuser is moved outward again to well passed the minimum. It then moves inwards again, now to the calculated solution. This method is also great for focusers that have a serious amount of backlash.
The other major improvement is in the polar alignment tool. The original tool was already quite good in that it did not require direct sight of Polaris. Instead it took three images with the scope rotating around the RA axis. The screen would then show a triangle indicating the polar misalignment. You could position this triangle on a fairly bright star in the image, take images in a constant loop and adjust Altitude and Azimuth settings until the triangle had more or less disappeared. Unfortunately the methode did not always work so well. If the misalignment was large, the triangle would extent outside the frame of the camera, making it difficult to assess what was going on. Also there was not always a bright enough star in the image to lock on to. And if you lost the star during adjustments there was not way to tell which way to go anymore.
The new method introduced in 3.6.0 relies on plate solving instead. This should solve the issues mentioned above. And rather than a sometimes difficult to read triangle on the image, the user interface now presents two big arrows indicating the direction in which the Altitude and Azimuth knobs need to be adjusted to get to a good polar alignment. The plate solving may require a little bit more time between images, but the plate solver in KStars/Ekos works quite fast, so this should not be too much of an issue.
There are several other improvements made in the application. For a full list you can have a look at the release notes. KStars/Ekos is completely free software. Should you wish to install the new version, you can download your copy from https://edu.kde.org/kstars/. Mac-users should pay attention that the minimum requirement for the operating system is MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) or higher.
The new release comes with the INDI driver library, version 1.9.7. This new library contains new device drivers and updates to existing ones. INDI driver libraries are updated bimonthly.