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Ascom Alpaca Fails To Connect To ASCOM REMOTE (User Needs Community Support)

Hi

 While I wait for a possible solution for SF7 to connect via WiFiscope, I tried using ASCOM Alpaca .

Setup:

Win 10 PC, I7 processor, 32Gig ram,

Celestron CGX, controlled with CPWI via CGX onboard USB port., Ascom Remote v 1.6.7946.20070

SF7 on Ipad pro , Ipad IOS 15.1,

Process:

Start CGX mount.

Start CPWI on PC and connect to CGX via USB

Start ASCOM Remote on PC

ASCOM Remote starts normal, and finds device Telescope (ASCOM CPWI telescope)

Here is Remote setup

Here is Remote Server configuration

Run SF7 on Ipad, got Settings>Presets>Add Preset

Select ASCOM Alpaca

Select Scan network

 SF7 reports no ASCOM Alpaca server found

I also try MANUAL CONFIG

Select MANUAL CONFIGURATION in SF7

Set IP to 127.0.0.1, PORT to 11111 ( default of Ascom remote)

Select Check IP and Port

SF7 reports nothing found

Any idea on how SF7 should find-connect to ASCOM Remote?

Thanks

Date Votes

19 comments

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    As the yellow box in the Remote Server Configuration says, leaving the default server IP as 127.0.0.1 means the server will respond only to apps running on the same system (the Windows PC). Follow those directions to expose Remote to the outside world through your PC’s real IP address (WiFi or Ethernet). The drop list shows all of the IP address by which your  PC may be reached. But the easiest is to just select All IP Addresses as shown below. Also note that automatic discovery will only work if your SS7 device is open the same local net as your PC. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Hi Bob

    Thanks for help on this. I think I am following your directions. But not real savvy on IP setup. In Ascom Remote on the PC , In Server Config. I Set the Server IP address to ALL IP-Addresses. Server port 11111, Discovery listen 32227.   My Laptop PC is Connected to my local WiFI and my Ipad is connected to the same WIFi.

    When I try Auto-Detect in SF7 . MSG is -Could not auto discover Ascom Alpaca server.  Also tried

    In manual config. IP 127.0.0.1, Port 11111.  MSG is -Could not connect to  Ascom Alpaca server

    In manual config. IP 127.0.0.1, Port 32227.  MSG is -Could not connect to  Ascom Alpaca server

    In manual config. IP 192.168.1.110, Port 32227.  MSG is -Could not connect to  Ascom Alpaca server

    What Am I missing here. Thanks for your help.

    Steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    For reference the ASCOM team (not just me) offer help for these sorts of things on the ASCOM Talk Help forum. That’s the Go-To place.

    SS7 should  have found it with All Addresses and 11111 (i assume that’s what’s stil set there). Sometimes discovery takes a  few tries. Use the Scan button 5 times before giving up. Don’t mess with 32227 it is only used for discovery. Assuming your PC is on IP address 192.168.1.110, then 192.168.1.110 / 11111 should work (the one combination you didn’t try). I am unsure why Discovery didn’t work. 

    One thing, when you started ASCOM Remote the very first time, did you happen to see a Windows Firewall popup asking you to permit things to connect to ASCOM Remote? In the C:\Program Files (x86)\ASCCOM\Remote directory you will see a program ASCOM.SetNetworkPermissions.exe. Right-click, select Run as Administrator. Now try again. It’s  not a cure-all but Peter tried to make a simple app that would make up for missing that Windows Firewall permission popup. The last resort is to check the Windows Firewall to see if you have “local network” permissions for both TCP and  UDP and ports 11111 and 32227 set for ASCOM Remote. Try without ASCOM  Remote and just the ports again for Local Network(!!!)

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Bob

     thanks for the help on this. I have checked into firewall settings. Ran the Permissions program. Ascom remote seems to have Action- allow, various addresses- Any. So doesn’t look like any restrictions. Tired AUTO-detect multiple times. Tired all the Different IP address, port settings in SF7. Multiple times. No luck. Rather than take up your time and this forum ,  I guess I will try the  ascom talk help forum and see if they can figure this out. I will report back here if I find out what I am doing wrong.

    take care, steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    I am interested in this because if you have hit it, so will others. While I am not the author of ASCOM Remote, it is open source so I can see what’s in there, and if there’s an as yet undetected problem I can do the leg work for the author. I don’t yet see your new thread on the ASCOM Talk Help forum so I’m answering here.

    Please give me a time at which I can remote in and see this with my own eyes, Send email to rdenny@dc3.com with your contact info and a time. I’m pretty open this weekend. 

    I know that SS7’s support for Alpaca isn’t the problem because I have exhaustively tested it under several net topologies, and also with the cross-platform Alpaca Simulators on the Raspberry Pi and Windows. That cross-platform package should be publicly available soon. It was delayed by  a flurry of work to optimize the transfer of image data over the network, and those methods had to be added to the Specs, the Simulator, the Conformance Checker, etc. etc. We had hoped for that to be available last month.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    I spent quite a while on this. Iopened a port on a public IP here and he was able to control my scopes no problem, so his SS7 is fine for Alpaca. However I checked everything on his PC, firewall rules, ASCOM remote.. Nothing ever showed as incoming to ASCOM Remote. He has a WebRoot firewall on it, and nothing showed from his iPad on that either. This is a connectivity problem not a problem with either SS7 or ASCOM remote. I flamed out :-(

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Bob was a real trooper trying to get my system working with ascom. Big thanks for working on this.

    At bob’s suggestion, I will post to ascom group to see if anyone can get my setup talking.

    will report back here with any results.

    take care

    steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Pedro Braganca

    Thank you so much for working on this together - please do keep me updated!  

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Quick up quick update.

    I tried ascom remote on another laptop I have. Same problem. No connection with SF7. I even uninstalled webroot software, disabled windows firewall. Also as noted in my other posting, SF7 will not connect to this laptop via WiFi scope (by main sequence software). 
    Yet SF6 will connect on either laptop (via WiFi scope).

    I did post on ascom astronomy support page . Waiting to see if any suggestions come back.

    take care

    steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3


    I wonder if SF7 is doing something different from SF6 which my router doesn’t like.? I just ran into a issue where my linksys router “guest” login no longer works. Seems Microsoft has locked down a (port/setting?) that was being used to setup a restricted access. Linksys says they are working on a fix for this for my router. Supposedly it is not a problem with newer routers. (Mine is high end but from 2015)

    find it hard to believe this problem would occur with 2 different laptops, 5-6 years different in age, yet From what I can tell no one else is having this kind of issue. Any insight from the software group if they are using different interface routines for external communication?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Quick update on this issue.  No luck so far in getting SF7 talking to PC via Ascom Remote. Working with ascomtalk.groups.io to try and get this solved. One thing of note. Using the web browser on the Ipad I was able to connect to RemoteServerPort/setup on the PC. So Ipad can reach the ASCOM remote server.

    Sent more info-screen shots to ASCOM group. Will up date here with any progress. Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving.

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    And SS7 could reach my ASCOM Remote here in the office and control the telescope (Software Bisque Paramount simulator). This is going to be a weird one. Thanks for sticking with this Steve.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    One more Update. I bypassed my home router completely. I have a RAVPOWER portable router. So I connected my PC to the RAVpower router and I connected my Ipad to the same router. Using the web browser on the Ipad I was able to connect to RemoteServerPort/setup on the PC. BUT I still can not make the SF7 ascom connection to the PC via Ascom Remote. I think this eliminates a router configuration issue. Ascom group gave me something else to check so will give that a try. I also posted on cloudy nights to see if anyone has successfully connected SF7 to Ascom remote using CPWI on a PC.

    Take care

     

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    The ASCOM support group asked me to post the link to my discussion.  They Believe there is a problem with SF7 on a Ipad  using Ascom to talk to Ascom remote.on a PC.  I was able to use a 2nd PC running ASCOM diagnostics, to connect to my telescope  Ascom Remote on my 1st PC. They believe this shows the problem is with the ASCOM communication from the Ipad

    They would like for you to review what was found and see if you can diagnose the problem from your end.

    Here is the link

     

    https://ascomtalk.groups.io/g/Help/topic/sf7_ascom_alpaca_fails_to/87249207?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate/sticky,,,20,2,0,87249207,previd=9223372036854775807,nextid=1635568874436238494&previd=9223372036854775807&nextid=1635568874436238494

    Thanks for looking into this.

    Steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Ros Hartigan

    Hi Steve, thanks for all your hard work on this.  

    There is an additional couple of things you can do for this.  First, generate a telescope log file in SkySafari:

    1. Go to Settings/Telescope/Settings/ and turn on Save Log File
    2. Try to connect to the scope
    3. Access the log file by connecting your iPhone to iTunes (or directly to finder if you have a Mac) and downloading the file from the SkySafari 7 Pro app.

    Second, can you update your screen shots with the connection info for the Alpaca Scope Preset, and a screen shot of the connection error message.

    Thanks,

    Ros

     

  • 1
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Good afternoon ross

    welllll.. 

    this is interesting. 
    so I went through my usual procedure 

    start and connect CPWI on my pc  to my CGX mount

    start Ascom Remote on my pc

    start SF7 on my iPad, set logging feature,  and went through steps to add preset for CPWI mount.

    SURPRISE.. SF7 completed the connection to ascom remote on my pc.

    I now have a preset for CPWI that works. 
    I even shut down all software and restarted.       SF7 still connects OK.

    I was just trying this same process yesterday with no luck.

    The only differences I know about. I enabled the logging in SF7. to double check I did disable logging and restarted all software. Everything still works ok.

    this reminds me too much of my work career , developing and debugging robotic systems.  (I’m retired now)

    so bottom line. SF7 now works with Ascom Remote with my CGX mount. The bad news , NO idea how this was fixed.

    Nothing more to do here I guess.

     Thanks for listening and trying to help

    now I can finically check out all the new functions and features 

    take care

    steve

     

     

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bob Denny

    Ugh, I wish we had found the problem. I should have asked you to try setting up the ASCOM Telescope SImulator .NET as another reachable Telescope on your PC via ASCOM Remote. Or did I? We were on for an hour and a half trying all sorts of things. 

    Anyway, you're running OK now. 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Yes. Happy to report.  I’m running right now with SF7 through Ascom remote. Fast connection. No problems. Even have calm clear skies.

    take care

    steve

  • 0
    Avatar
    Skaiser3

    Rats

    SF7 now failing ascom remote connection again. See new posting.

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