Comprehensive documentation for accessing the DWARF camera streams:
- RTSP URLs and channels (ch0=tele, ch1=wide)
- The critical prerequisite: camera must be opened via WebSocket first
- ffmpeg commands for frame capture, timelapse, and video recording
- mpv and VLC usage with TCP transport
- Python/OpenCV integration example
- Troubleshooting common issues (black image, connection refused, VLC delay)
- Comparison of RTSP vs MJPEG modes across device models
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Assisted-by: Crush:glm-5.2
Major breakthrough: RTSP preview fully operational on DWARF Mini.
Key discovery: RTSP (port 554) only works AFTER opening the camera via
WebSocket. Without CMD_CAMERA_OPEN (10000/12000), the RTSP server accepts
connections but never sends frames. This was the missing piece.
RTSP details:
- Tele: rtsp://<ip>:554/ch0/stream0
- Wide: rtsp://<ip>:554/ch1/stream0
- Codec: MJPEG over RTSP (not H.264)
- Transport: TCP (confirmed from RtspPlayerView.java ijkplayer options)
- Resolution: 1920x1080 both cameras
Port 8092 (MJPEG HTTP /mainstream, /secondstream) is inactive on the Mini.
The DWARF Mini uses RTSP exclusively, not the HTTP MJPEG fallback.
Added `dwarfctl preview grab [--cam tele|wide] [output.jpg]` that:
1. Opens the camera via WebSocket
2. Waits 2s for RTSP to become available
3. Captures one frame via ffmpeg
Updated API_REFERENCE.md with the corrected RTSP details and the camera-open
prerequisite.
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Assisted-by: Crush:glm-5.2
The APK supports 6 device models: DWARF_2 (id=1), DWARF_3 (id=2),
DWARF_MINI (id=4), DWARF_4 (id=5), DWARF_DRAGON (id=6).
Key findings from DeviceType.java + CameraFeatureGate.java:
- The DWARF_MINI is the only model with Advanced Settings enabled
- Mini has no NFC, no auto-shutdown, no panorama create
- Mini has identical tele/wide FoV (3.188×1.794°) — likely single sensor
- Normal Track supported on Mini and DWARF_2 only
- Wide Normal Track is DWARF_2 exclusive
The connected device reports DWARF_3 FoV values (2.14×1.2°) despite being
marketed as a DWARF Mini — the Mini likely shares optics with the DWARF_3
and is differentiated by feature gating rather than hardware.
Added analysis/DEVICE_MODELS.md with the full feature matrix.
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Assisted-by: Crush:glm-5.2
Complete reverse-engineering of the DWARFLAB Android app (v3.4.0) protocol
and implementation of a working CLI tool to control DWARF II telescopes.
Analysis (from APK decompilation with jadx):
- Extracted 17 protobuf definitions (382 messages) from embedded descriptors
- Mapped all 323 WebSocket command IDs across 16 modules
- Documented the full protocol: BLE discovery, WebSocket control (port 9900),
RTSP preview, WsPacket envelope (proto v2.3)
- Documented the Android UI structure (screens, navigation, shooting modes)
- Key discovery: telescope responds with type=3 (reply), not type=1 (response),
and several commands are fire-and-forget (RGB, camera open/close)
dwarfctl Go client:
- Protobuf bindings generated from extracted .proto files (397 messages)
- WebSocket transport layer with request-response matching and notification fan-out
- Typed API covering cameras, motors, astrophotography, focus, tracking, system, power
- Cobra CLI with 30+ subcommands and --debug traffic logging
- 57 unit tests (transport round-trip, command routing, proto encoding)
- Validated on real hardware: state, photo, motor slew (all directions/speeds),
focus, RGB, time/location sync all confirmed working
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Assisted-by: Crush:glm-5.2
