Issue Using Motorola Edge 40 Neo as CCD Camera via ASCOM ALPACA/INDI

[Borsa98]

Hi,

I’ve been looking for an existing way to connect my Android phone (Motorola Edge 40 Neo) to ASCOM-compatible software and use it as a CCD-like webcam with tools such as SharpCap, PHD2 Guiding, and N.I.N.A., while being aware of the limitations of such an approach.

I came across your app/project and found it very promising. After downloading it ( last available version 1.1.4 ), I successfully connected the app server to my PC using both ALPACA and INDI (via hotspot and USB tethering). I was able to use it with SharpCap, N.I.N.A., and PHD2.

However, I’m encountering a few issues:

• The maximum exposure time seems limited to about 0.4 seconds on the main camera.
• The frame rate is quite low, probabily due to the resolution and the way the server and clients talk.
• If I try to go beyond ~0.4 seconds exposure, the connection drops.
• I also experience disconnections when attempting to change resolution.

I checked the Camera2 API level of the device, and it reports Level_3 support, so I expected fewer limitations.

Do you know what might be causing these issues? Could this be a limitation of the phone hardware, or is it related to the ALPACA/INDI drivers or app implementation?

Thanks in advance for your help. This project looks very promising.

Best regards,

Amedeo

[TacoTakumi]

Hi there, thanks for trying it out!

After some digging it seems the 0.4 second exposure may be a hardware limitation. The Moto Edge 40 Neo (Sony IMX787) is widely reported to cap manual exposure around 400ms. Camera2 Level_3 only certifies feature support (YUV reprocessing, RAW, etc.), not exposure range. You can check SENSOR_INFO_EXPOSURE_TIME_RANGE in any Camera2 probe app. I will eventually add a sensor capabilities report to the app.

The disconnects are on me to fix. I'll address them when I have some time.

Thanks!

[peppuccio]

Hi, very nice project to use standard smartphone for astrophotography. But unlike Borsa98 my Samsung S21 via NINA says 0.14467s for max exposure. In pro mode Samsung S21 max exposure is 30s.
Thanks
Joe