NINA TPPA (Polar Alignment)

Control Three-Point Polar Alignment (TPPA) in N.I.N.A. via the ninaAPI WebSocket /tppa channel

Actions4

Start Alignment

AI-generated

Summary

Start a Three-Point Polar Alignment (TPPA) session in N.I.N.A. via the ninaAPI WebSocket, configuring alignment parameters and collecting alignment measurement data for a specified duration before returning.

Inputs

  • Collect Results For (Seconds) — Duration in seconds to listen for alignment measurements before returning (default 120).
  • Exposure Time — Exposure time in seconds for each plate-solve image (default 2).
  • Manual Mode — Flag to indicate if user moves mount manually between points (default false).
  • Target Distance — Distance in degrees the mount moves between alignment points (default 0.5).
  • Move Rate — Mount movement rate in arcseconds per second (default 0.1).
  • East Direction — Whether to move the mount eastward between alignment points (default true).
  • Start From Current Position — Whether to start alignment from the current mount position (default false).
  • Alignment Tolerance (Arcmin) — Acceptable polar alignment error in arcminutes (default 1).
  • Search Radius — Plate-solve search radius in degrees (default 0.5).
  • Filter — Filter name used during alignment exposures; if empty, uses current filter (default empty).
  • Binning — Camera binning mode e.g., 1x1, 2x2 (default "1x1").
  • Gain — Camera gain; use -1 to apply default gain (default -1).
  • Offset — Camera offset; use -1 to apply default offset (default -1).
  • Initial Alt Degrees — Initial altitude degrees component of the mount position (default 0).
  • Initial Alt Minutes — Initial altitude arcminutes component of the mount position (default 0).
  • Initial Alt Seconds — Initial altitude arcseconds component of the mount position (default 0).
  • Initial Az Degrees — Initial azimuth degrees component of the mount position (default 0).
  • Initial Az Minutes — Initial azimuth arcminutes component of the mount position (default 0).
  • Initial Az Seconds — Initial azimuth arcseconds component of the mount position (default 0).

Output shape

a single JSON object containing arrays of all alignment messages received, filtered alignment measurements, the last measurement, and the count of measurements

The node collects alignment measurement messages by listening on a WebSocket connection to N.I.N.A.'s tppa channel for the specified 'Collect Results For (Seconds)' timeout period. Returned data includes all raw messages, filtered measurement entries (with AzimuthError or AltitudeError fields), the last measurement received, and the total measurement count.

Examples

Example 1: Start an alignment with default settings accumulating data for 2 minutes

Set operation to 'start alignment' and optionally adjust the exposure time, manual mode, target distance, and camera settings as needed. The node will initiate the alignment and wait for the specified timeout before returning the measurement data.

Links

Discussion