INDI Seestar Driver Suite

Complete INDI driver implementation for the Seestar smart telescope via ASCOM Alpaca REST API

🎯 Project Overview

This project provides a complete set of INDI drivers for the ZWO Seestar smart telescope, enabling control through standard astronomy software like KStars, Ekos, and any INDI-compatible application.

Available Drivers

• indi_seestar_telescope - Mount control (slewing, tracking, parking)
• indi_seestar_ccd - Camera control (imaging, gain, temperature)
• indi_seestar_filterwheel - Filter wheel control (Dark, IR, LP filters)
• indi_seestar_focuser - Focuser control (0-2600 steps, absolute positioning)

All drivers communicate with the Seestar via its built-in ASCOM Alpaca REST API (port 32323).

🚧 Current Status: Active Testing

⚠️ These drivers are currently under active testing. While fully implemented, they should be considered BETA quality.

• ✅ All four drivers built and installed
• ✅ API compatibility verified with Seestar v1.1.2-1
• 🔄 Field testing in progress
• 🔄 Integration testing with KStars/Ekos
• 📋 Bug reports and feedback welcome

📋 Features & Capabilities

Telescope Driver

• Working: RA/Dec positioning, slewing, tracking modes, parking, site location, manual axis movement, guide rates
• Tested: 65/84 methods (77% coverage)
• Limitations: No Alt/Az slewing support

CCD Driver

• Sensor: 1080x1920 pixels, 2.9µm pixel size, 16-bit depth
• Bayer Pattern: GRBG color filter array
• Gain: 0-400 range
• Exposure: 0.00003s - 2000s
• Working: Image capture, gain control, subframe/ROI, temperature monitoring, abort
• Tested: 40/58 methods (69% coverage)
• Limitations: No binning, no cooler, no pulse guiding

FilterWheel Driver

• Filters: 3-position wheel (Dark, IR, LP)
• Focus Offsets: Configurable per filter
• Working: All filter selection and query methods
• Tested: 4/4 methods (100% coverage)

Focuser Driver

• Range: 0-2600 steps
• Mode: Absolute positioning only
• Working: Absolute moves, halt, temperature monitoring, position tracking
• Tested: 10/13 methods (77% coverage)
• Limitations: No relative moves (hardware limitation)

🔧 Installation

Prerequisites

# On Debian/Ubuntu/StellarMate:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake libindi-dev libcfitsio-dev

Building from Source

cd indi-seestar/indi-seestar
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

This installs:

• Drivers to /usr/local/bin/
• Configuration to /usr/local/share/indi/

🚀 Usage

Starting the Drivers

# All drivers together:
indiserver -v indi_seestar_telescope indi_seestar_ccd indi_seestar_filterwheel indi_seestar_focuser

# Individual drivers:
indiserver -v indi_seestar_telescope
indiserver -v indi_seestar_ccd

Connection Setup

1. Configure Server Address (in INDI client):

   • Host: seestar.local (or IP address)
   • Port: 32323
   • Device Number: 0

2. Connect: Set CONNECTED property to ON

3. Ready: All device properties will populate automatically

Using with KStars/Ekos

1. Start INDI server with desired drivers
2. In Ekos Equipment Profile:
   • Mount: "Seestar"
   • Camera: "Seestar CCD"
   • Filter Wheel: "Seestar FilterWheel"
   • Focuser: "Seestar Focuser"
3. Configure connection settings for each device
4. Connect and start imaging!

📚 Documentation

Detailed documentation available in the docs/ folder:

• Supported.Common.md - Common ASCOM methods (7/14 working)
• Supported.Telescope.md - Telescope methods (65/84 working)
• Supported.Camera.md - Camera methods (40/58 working)
• Supported.FilterWheel.md - FilterWheel methods (4/4 working)
• Supported.Focuser.md - Focuser methods (10/13 working)
• CCD_DRIVER_STATUS.md - CCD driver implementation details
• FILTERWHEEL_DRIVER_STATUS.md - FilterWheel driver details

API Testing Results

Comprehensive API testing completed against Seestar v1.1.2-1:

• Overall: 126/173 methods working (73% success rate)
• All critical imaging and positioning functions operational
• See documentation files for complete method-by-method results

🧪 Testing

Test Programs

The alpaca-tests/ directory contains validation programs used during development:

cd alpaca-tests
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make

# Run individual tests:
./alpaca_discovery_test
./telescope_complete_test
./camera_methods_test
./filterwheel_methods_test
./focuser_methods_test

See alpaca-tests/README.md for complete test program documentation.

🐛 Known Issues & Limitations

Hardware Limitations (Seestar)

• No Alt/Az slewing support
• No camera binning
• No camera cooling control
• Focuser absolute positioning only (no relative moves)
• No pulse guiding

Driver Status

• Coordinate updates may be slow during rapid slewing
• Temperature compensation not available (focuser)
• Some ASCOM methods return "not implemented" errors

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! This project is in active development.

How to help:

• Test the drivers with your Seestar
• Report bugs via GitHub Issues
• Submit pull requests with fixes or enhancements
• Improve documentation

📝 Project Structure

indi-seestar/
├── indi-seestar/           # Driver source code
│   ├── indi_seestar.cpp/.h              # Telescope driver
│   ├── indi_seestar_ccd.cpp/.h          # CCD driver
│   ├── indi_seestar_filterwheel.cpp/.h  # FilterWheel driver
│   ├── indi_seestar_focuser.cpp/.h      # Focuser driver
│   ├── indi_seestar.xml                 # INDI device registration
│   └── CMakeLists.txt                   # Build configuration
├── alpaca-tests/           # API validation test programs
├── docs/                   # Detailed documentation
└── README.md              # This file

🔗 References

• INDI Library - INDI framework
• ASCOM Alpaca API - API specification
• Seestar Telescope - Hardware information
• KStars/Ekos - Astronomy software

📄 License

LGPL-2.1 License - See individual source files for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• INDI development team for the excellent framework
• ASCOM Initiative for the Alpaca API standard
• ZWO for the Seestar smart telescope
• StellarMate for testing platform

⚠️ Disclaimer

This is an independent open-source project and is not officially endorsed or supported by ZWO. Use at your own risk. Always ensure your equipment is properly set up and supervised during automated operations.

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Seestar Firmware Tested: v1.1.2-1
INDI Library Version: 2.1.7
Last Updated: January 2, 2026