Astrometry.net API server for Sequence Generator Pro Blind Solving
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This package provides a shim between Sequence Generator Pro and the
astrometry.net plate solver. It implements a web service running on
the local machine that SGP can use in place of the real
nova.astrometry.net web service.

You can direct SGP to the server running on the local machine to get
blind plate solves without having to connect to the
nova.astrometry.net web service.


1. Installation instructions

NOTE: there is now a Windows installer available that provides a fully
automated install of cygwin, astrometry.net, ansvr, and related
utilities.

    http://adgsoftware.com/ansvr/index.html


The instructions below are provided in case you need to manually
install astrometry.net and ansvr into a cygwin installation.


1.1. Download and run the AstroTortilla 0.5 installer from

      http://sourceforge.net/projects/astrotortilla/

  When you run the installer, you'll need to install Cygwin and
  astrometry.net, plus the Astrometric index files. We won't be using
  AstroTortilla itself, so selecting AstroTortilla to be installed is
  purely optional.

1.2. Install the required perl JSON module:

  Open Cygwin Terminal and run the following command:

      perl -MCPAN -e 'install JSON'

  Hit Enter to accept the default answers to the prompts. You'll need
  to have an internet connection so the JSON module can be downloaded
  and installed.

  If you see an error bulding or installing JSON, it probably means
  your cygwin is missing GNU Make. You should run the cygwin installer
  and install the GNU Make package.

1.3. Install ansvr

  Download the ansvr package from

      http://adgsoftware.com/ansvr/ansvr-latest.tar.gz

  Save it in C:\cygwin\tmp

  Open a Cygwin Terminal and run:

      tar xfz /tmp/ansvr-latest.tar.gz -C /

1.4. Configure Sequence Generator Pro to use the local server for Blind
Solves.

   - Open the SGP Control Panel (hit Control-E). Go to the Plate Solve
     tab. Click the "Other" button under Plate Solving Interface.

   - Enter this End Point value:

          http://127.0.0.1:8080/api

     and click "Ok".

That completes the installation. You can now start the server.

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2. Starting the server

The server can be started from a cygwin terminal or from a Windows shortcut.

To start ansvr from a cygwin terminal, run

  /opt/ansvr/ansvr

To start ansvr from a Windows shortcut, set the shortcut's Target to

  C:\cygwin\bin\bash.exe -lc "/opt/ansvr/ansvr"

You may want to put the shortcut in your Startup folder, so ansvr will
start automatically whenever you login to your machine.

ansvr will run in the background, with all output sent to the log file

  C:\cygwin\var\tmp\platesolve\ansvr_<date>_<time>.log

Once the server is running, blind solve requests from SGP will go to
the local server and get solved locally. But you may want to configure
the server first before trying that.

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3. Configuring the server

Most server settings can be configured through the ansvr web interface:

  http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/config

Settings made on that page are stored persistently and will be
restored each time ansvr is started.

Many SGP users find the default settings work well and provide
reliable, fast plate solves:

  Scale error estimate, percent: 5
  Downsample factor: 2

You should experiment with your images and see what values work best
for you.

Some server settings can be given on the command-line. To see all the
available options, run the following command in a cygwin terminal

  /opt/ansvr/ansvr --help

For example, if you want ansvr to use port 8081, your Windows
shortcut Target would be:

   C:\cygwin\bin\bash.exe -lc "/opt/ansvr/ansvr -p 8081"

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4. Getting help

You can get help on ansvr by posting on the Main Sequence Software forum

   http://forum.mainsequencesoftware.com/

Or you can contact me directly:

  andy DOT galasso AT gmail DOT com

Andy Galasso