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Notes - Session 616 (2018-07-25)
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Session Aims & Highlights - Executed Observing Plan - Night Summary Plot |
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Operational Issues |
| - Critical Issues (0), Major Issues (0), Minor Issues (0), Small Defects (0), Continuous Improvement (0) | |
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Fully Automated Operation Test |
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Images from 2018-07-25 >> |
| 2018-07-29 (Dark Frames) | |
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Dark Frames -10c |
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Dark Frames -15c |
| 2018-07-29 | |
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Desktop Computer (Failure & Fix) |
| 2018-08-06 | |
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Observatory Door Improvement |
Main aims of this nighttime session was to continue the ramp-up phase for the Clair3 Observatory including
1) Perform live test of Observatory System operating in Fully
Automated Mode,
in particular testing newly added code
that would skip over/cancel images that would cause a target
to overrun its scheduled time slot, and a bug fix allowing Mosaic Frames to be
acquired.
(This follows corrections and modifications to the CCDApp2 code since previous night (2018-07-24), in particular a critical modification which would intentionally skip over/cancel images that would cause a target to overrun it's scheduled time slot. Session was closely monitored during first part of night to understand any issues and intervene if required, but then left to operate under fully automated, non-monitored operation for the rest of the night including closing down the observatory, parking the dome and telescope, at the end of the session )
2) Acquire a full night of images
3) Continue checking stability of
POTH.Hub (Telescope + Dome) & Observatory Control Software
Equipment & Software
- 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
- CCDApp2,
TheSky6, CCDSoft 5, POTH Hub,
Highlights :
- The new Fully-Automated Operation Routines
generally worked as designed. In particular the new code to skip over/cancel
images that would cause a target to overrun its scheduled time slot worked
perfectly. Again a few further few things were noticed that will require further
correction and improvement. The test can be judged a
success (see test notes)
- Specific successful achivements of
the automated system :
- a new session
(session ID, session name, session folders) was created for the night
- an optimised Observing Plan/Schedule was created for the night from a database
of targets and loaded ready for observing
- Dome,
Telescope and CCD Camera were connected to
- Temperature
Set Point on CCD Camera was set (based on ambient temperture)
- Dome,
Telescope and CCD Camera were operated
- Weather
and Cloud Sensor data was used to open and close the Dome Shutter several times
during the session
- Execution of Observing Plan / Target Queue proceeded according to scheduled
start times.
- Close down of the Observatory (Telescope &
Dome Parking, CCD Disconnection)
- Post Session
Housekeeping (File copying etc)
- Overall high
efficiency due to good sky conditions and success of new code to skip
over/cancel images
that would cause a target
to overrun its scheduled time slot
(Wait to Next Night and
Commence Next Session were not tested on this occassion)
- No specific failures of the automated system.
- Some further
corrections/minor improvements to the routines were identified
- A fix is needed to record 'Partially Completed Observations' in the Session
Records (SQLite database)
- Images of several targets were obtained, including Mosaic Frames for
M11.
- There were with
no major issues with the Observatory System
itself.
Desktop Computer failed overnight with what appears to be a hard disk failure
Images during the second half of the session
were degraded by dew/condensation due to
the dew heater being not turned up higher enough at
the start of session (human
error)
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Executed Observing Plan (2018-07-25,
S616) (Observation Status : Green=Completed, Yellow= Partially Completed, Red= Failed) |
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Observing Result (2018-07-25, S616) (Observation Status : Green=Completed, Yellow= Partially Completed) A software bug prevented 'Partially Completed' observations from being recorded. |
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Night Sky Summary Plot -
2018-07-25 Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs) |
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Issues arising during the session:
Risk reduced (Dew Control is now performed by Pegasus Powerbox and the power
going to Dew Heater can at least bee seen and changed remotely)
Issue Resolved in 2019 (a new User Laptop Computer is now used for
Observatory Monitoring and Remote Control)Back to Top
With key hardware powered up (Observatory Laptop, Dome, Telescope and CCD Camera), key software running (TheSky6, CCDSoft5 and CCDApp2) and key observatory services started (Observatory Manager, Weather/Cloud Sensor, ASCOM Dome, ASCOM Scope), the observatory manager control was placed into 'Fully-Automated' Mode (see screenshot). early in the evening. This initiated the Fully-Automated cycle of operation, comprising the following session states : Pending, Initiating, Starting, Equilibrating, Running (or Suspended), Closing, Housekeeping, Finished, Back to Pending.
The Session began in the 'Pending' State, but as the Sun had already set (Sun Altitude < 0) the Session immediately moved to 'Initiating' where the routine picked up a previously created (BAse-Plan) observing plan for the night with a scheduled start time equivalent to a sun altitude of -10 deg. Once created the observing plan was successfully loaded into the Target/Job Queue ready for execution.
The Session then moved to 'Starting' where CCD Camera and Telescope were successfully connected and an appropriate CCD Temperature Set Point was selected and used. Session setup was successfully performed (new Session ID, Session Name and Session Folders).
Session Starting 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Session: Ok 2018-07-25 (NightDate)
Connect Camera 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Connecting camera... Ok
Temperature Regulation... Ok
Temperature Set Point... Ok -10 °C
TempMonitor: Ok Already active
Connect Telescope 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Establishing link... Ok
Telescope Coords... Ok Az: 180.3, Alt: 2.7
Turn Off Tracking.. Ok Telescope Tracking is OFF
Session 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Session Name: Ok 2018-07-25 S00616 (Session)
Creating session folder ... Ok .\New\2018-07-25 S00616
Creating analysis folder ...Ok .\...\2018-07-25 S00616
Creating subfolders ... Ok .\...\2018-07-25 S00616\_RAW, \_REDUCED etc
Stopping CCDSoft Ok
Setting Autosave Number Ok 616001
Restarting CCDSoft
Creating Camera object... Ok CCDsoft.Camera
Creating Autoguider object..Ok CCDsoft.Camera
Creating Folder object.. Ok CCDSoft.Folder
Reconnecting camera ...
Connect Camera 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Connecting camera... Ok
Temperature Regulation... Ok
Temperature Set Point... Ok -10 °C
TempMonitor: Ok Already active
Setting AutoSave Folder ... Ok .\New\2018-07-25 S00616
The Session then moved to 'Equilibrating', but since it was still some 30 minutes before the Scheduled Plan's Start excecution of equilibration step paused until it was closer.
Session Equilibrating 2018-07-25 22:41 (Local)
Updating Setpoint... Ok -15 °C
(<<<< Manual Operation)
Updating Setpoint... Ok -15 °C
(<<<< Manual Operation)
Open Shutter... Ok Shutter is opening...
Open Shutter... Ok Shutter is open (45s)
Dome Equilibration: Started 2018-07-25 23:18 (Local)
Rotating Dome into wind Wind Direction 225°
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:18 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.3 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:19 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:20 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:22 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -15.2 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:23 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:24 +0.5°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.2 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Obs.T - Amb.T at 23:25 +0.4°C Obs. 14.7 °C, Scope 13.1 °C, Amb. 14.3 °C, CCD -14.8 °C
Dome Equilibration: Stopped 7.3 mins (7.3 mins total)
After performing equilibration the session moved to 'Running' and begun executing the Job Queue
Session Running 2018-07-25 23:26 (Local)
NightDate: Ok 2018-07-25 (NightDate)
Turn on Dome Slaving... Ok Dome Slaving is ON
Turn On Tracking.. Ok Telescope Tracking is ON
Take Frame Jobs (Live MODE) 2018-07-25 23:26 (Local)
Checking Plan... Ok 2018-07-25 V3 BEST PLAN (Plan ID= 171)
Checking Targets... Ok 25 targets selected
AutoSave Folder... Ok C:\Data\CCD Imaging\New\2018-07-25 S00616
AutoSave Start Num... Ok 616001
Date/Time (TheSky6)... Ok 2018-07-25 23:26:02 (Local)
2018-07-25 22:26:02 (UT)
Lat/Long (TheSky6)... Ok 57 19 09.00 N / 02 00 24.99 W
CCD Regulation ... Ok Regulation is ON (Setpoint: -15.0 °C)
Checking CCD Temp... Ok -15.2 °C (86%)
Airmass Cutoff... Ok Airmass 3.3
Checking Targets ... Ok 25 targets selected
Setting Up RealTime VMA... Ok (1.2 Method)
Checking VMA Folders ... Ok
Reading Reference File ... Ok ..\Reference\ProjectStars.txt
The Job Queue (25 targets) was fully executed. Nearly all of the scheduled observations were completed or partially completed. Only one observation failed, which was due to the Target Declination being beyond the hard-coded Declination Limit. Observations were partially completed in situation where final image(s) were skipped to ensure that the Observation would not overrun its allotted time slot and prevent the following observation from being made. This was performed by code added since the last session. In the example below from 'S Cyg' the final 120s V image was skipped as it would have lead to S Cyg overrunning its allotted time slot, however rather than simply finish the target observation, it used the time that was still available to take the final 15s R image and final 10s I image. A Mosaic image set was successfully acquired for M11.
NGC 6742 (1/25) 2018-07-25 23:26 (Local)
Target: Ok NGC 6742 (ID: 234)
Object Type: Ok Pl. Neb
Constellation: Ok DRA
Comment: Ok Abell 50
Observation Type: Ok Regular/One-Off
Checking Start Time ... Ok Wait till 23:27 to commence target (1.9 mins)
Waiting till 23:27...
Continue..
Checking Target ... Ok RA: 18 59 19.799, Dec: +48 27 59.00, J2000 (NGC 6742)
Checking Altitude ... Ok Altitude 80.3 degs
Checking Airmass ... Ok Airmass 1.01
Continuing (no slew)... Ok
Checking CCD Temp... Ok -14.8 °C (86%)
Checking Focuser ... Ok Tube Temp: 13.1 °C
Taking 60s image (C)... Ok [00616001] 22:27:13 (UT) Full 3x3 60s C
Taking 60s image (C)... Ok [00616002] 22:28:23 (UT) Full 3x3 60s C
Taking 60s image (C)... Ok [00616003] 22:29:32 (UT) Full 3x3 60s C
GCVS S Cyg (2/25) 2018-07-25 23:30 (Local)
Target: Ok GCVS S Cyg (ID: 16)
Object Type: Ok Mira variable
Constellation: Ok CYG
Comment: Ok Cyg S
Observation Type: Ok Regular/One-Off
Checking Start Time ... Ok Wait till 23:35 to commence target (4.8 mins)
Waiting till 23:35...
[ lines removed for brevity ]
Image Group 1/3 [GSet 5]
Taking 120s image (V)... Ok [00616007] 22:38:49 (UT) Full 3x3 120s V
Taking 15s image (R)... Ok [00616008] 22:41:06 (UT) Full 3x3 15s R
Taking 10s image (I)... Ok [00616009] 22:41:38 (UT) Full 3x3 10s I
Image Group 2/3 [GSet 6]
Taking 120s image (V)... Ok [00616010] 22:42:12 (UT) Full 3x3 120s V
Taking 15s image (R)... Ok [00616011] 22:44:29 (UT) Full 3x3 15s R
Taking 10s image (I)... Ok [00616012] 22:45:01 (UT) Full 3x3 10s I
Image Group 3/3 [GSet 7]
Taking 120s image (V)... Cancelled Image skipped to prevent target from overrunning it's time slot
Taking 15s image (R)... Ok [00616013] 22:45:34 (UT) Full 3x3 15s R
Taking 10s image (I)... Ok [00616014] 22:46:05 (UT) Full 3x3 10s I
[ lines removed for brevity ]
M11 Mosaic - Mosaic (6/25) 2018-07-26 00:04 (Local)
Target: Ok M11 Mosaic (ID: 374)
Object Type: Ok Open Custer
Constellation: Ok SCT
Comment: Ok Article p54 Ast.Nov Jun 2018
Observation Type: Ok Mosaic
Checking Start Time ... Ok
Checking CCD Temp... Warning Cooling Capacity [97%] is > 90% (Temp -14.8 °C)
Checking Focuser ... Ok Tube Temp: 13.1 °C
Reading Mosaic Points... Ok 3x3 - 9 points (M11 Mosaic 2018.dat)
Slewing ... Ok M11 Mosaic (Mosaic A1 )
Waiting for scope... Ok 2.0s
Delay (1s) ... Ok
Checking Dome Position ... Ok
Mosaic Point 1/9
Slewing ... Ok Mosaic A1
Waiting for scope... Ok 4.0s
Delay (1s) ... Ok
Checking Dome Position ... Ok
Taking 30s image (C)... Ok [00616037] 23:06:12 (UT) Full 3x3 30s C
Taking 30s image (C)... Ok [00616038] 23:06:56 (UT) Full 3x3 30s C
[
lines removed for brevity ]
Mosaic Point 9/9
Slewing ... Ok Mosaic A9
Waiting for scope... Ok 7.0s
Delay (1s) ... Ok
Checking Dome Position ... Ok
Taking 30s image (C)... Ok [00616053] 23:20:05 (UT) Full 3x3 30s C
Taking 30s image (C)... Ok [00616054] 23:20:47 (UT) Full 3x3 30s C
[ lines removed for brevity ]
SAC Berk 10 (25/25) 2018-07-26 02:59 (Local)
Target: Ok SAC Berk 10 (ID: 171)
Object Type: Ok Open Cluster
Constellation: Ok CAM
Comment: Missing
Observation Type: Ok Regular/One-Off
Checking Start Time ... Ok
Checking Target ... Ok RA: 03 39 24.012, Dec: +66 31 59.98, J2000 (SAC Berk 10)
Checking Altitude ... Ok Altitude 52.7 degs
Checking Airmass ... Ok Airmass 1.26
Checking Declination... Failed Dec.[66.59] is beyond Hard-Coded Dec Limit
Operation... Completed
With completion of Job Queue, the Session moved to 'Closing' and proceeded to close the dome, park the dome, park the telescope and disconnect the CCD camera. (Note: several corrections still need to be made to code to ensure closing of observatory equipment is fully completed before moving to the housekeeping stage ).
Session Closing 2018-07-26 02:59 (Local)
Closing Session...
Closing Down Observatory 2018-07-26 02:59 (Local)
Turnoff CCD cooling ... Ok
Turn off Dome Slaving... Ok Dome Slaving is OFF
Park Dome 2018-07-26 02:59 (Local)
Park Telescope ... Ok Parking Scope via POTH.Telescope command
Disconnect Telescope ... Ok
Disconnect focuser ... Ok
Wait for CCD to re-warm ...
Wait for CCD to re-warm ... Ok
Disconnect Camera ... Ok
(..)
Close Shutter... Ok Shutter is closed (970s)
Park Dome... Ok Dome is Parked
Park Scope ..
Park Scope .. Ok Scope Is parked
The Session then moved to 'Housekeeping' and proceed to clean up raw files and move them to 'analysis/raw' folder, and to move log files to 'analysis/log' folder, before moving to 'Finished'. (Note: several corrections still need to be made in order to not repeat/duplicate certain housekeeping chores).
Session Housekeeping 2018-07-26 03:00 (Local)
Finishing Session... Info 2018-07-25
Cleanup FITS file names in ./New folder
Preparing to clean-up file names
197 fits files have been cleaned up
Create FITS summary file of ./New folder
Preparing to transfer New files
197 fits files have been examined in ./New folder
Transfer New Files to ./_Raw folder
Preparing to transfer New files
Copying .fits files ...
Copying Fits Summary.dat
197 fits files have been copied to the ./_RAW folder (Total : 145.6 MB)
0 images have been copied to the ./_RAW/_FOCUS folder (Total : 0.0 MB)
Operation... Completed
Archive Session Log Files
Archive Files
Ok
Session Finished 2018-07-26 03:00 (Local)
Waiting till next night...
Session: 2018-07-25 Info Sun has been reached SunAlt of -2 degs
Close Session
Close Session Thread Started
Close Session
Session Housekeeping 2018-07-26 04:41 (Local)
Park Dome 2018-07-26 04:41 (Local)
Finishing Session...
Dome: Info 2018-07-25
Ok Dome is parked
Cleanup FITS file names in ./New folder
Preparing to clean-up file names
Park Dome 2018-07-26 04:41 (Local)
Park Telescope ... Ok Parking Scope via POTH.Telescope command
197 fits files have been cleaned up
Create FITS summary file of ./New folder
Preparing to transfer New files
Disconnect Telescope ... Ok
Cleanup FITS file names in ./New folder
Preparing to clean-up file names
Problem handling 00616037.Mosaic_.FIT Error: Length cannot be less than zero.
Parameter name: length
to
Problem handling 00616064.Mosaic_.FIT Error: Length cannot be less than zero.
Parameter name: length
197 fits files have been cleaned up
Create FITS summary file of ./New folder
Preparing to transfer New files
Error encountered
Transfer New Files to ./_Raw folder
Preparing to transfer New files
Copying .fits files ...
Copying Fits Summary.dat
197 fits files have been copied to the ./_RAW folder (Total : 145.5 MB)
0 images have been copied to the ./_RAW/_FOCUS folder (Total : 0.0 MB)
Operation... Completed
Archive Session Log Files
Archive Files
Ok
197 fits files have been examined in ./New folder
Transfer New Files to ./_Raw folder
Preparing to transfer New files
Copying .fits files ...
Copying Fits Summary.dat
197 fits files have been copied to the ./_RAW folder (Total : 145.6 MB)
0 images have been copied to the ./_RAW/_FOCUS folder (Total : 0.0 MB)
Operation... Completed
Archive Session Log Files
Archive Files Ok
Session Finished 2018-07-26 04:42 (Local)
Waiting till next night...
Park Dome... Ok Dome is Parked
Park Scope .. Ok Scope Is parked
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A few days after the S614 session (acquired at -10c CCD Temperature) 25 sets of Dark Frames (17 frames each) were taken at -10c CCD Temperature for a range of exposures and binning. From these Master Dark frames were created in Sigma Beta 10 using Average of Medians method, and used in the reduction of raw frames acquired in the S614 session.
| Exposure | 3x3 | 2x2 | 1x1 | |
| 0.12s | x | |||
| 0.2s | x | |||
| 0.3s | ||||
| 0.5s | x | |||
| 1s | x | x | ||
| 2s | x | |||
| 3s | x | |||
| 5s | x | x | ||
| 8s | x | |||
| 10s | x | x | ||
| 15s | x | x | ||
| 20s | x | x | ||
| 30s | x | x | ||
| 45s | x | x | ||
| 60s | x | x | ||
| 90s | x | |||
| 120s | x | |||
| 300s |
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A few days after the S616 session (acquired at -15c CCD Temperature) 41 sets of Dark Frames (17 frames each) were taken at -15c CCD Temperature for a range of exposures and binning. From these Master Dark frames were created in Sigma Beta 10 using Average of Medians method, and used in the reduction of raw frames acquired in the S615 & S616 session. A further 2 dark frame sets (again 17 frames each) were acquired after the S617 session to infill the master dark library
| Exposure | 3x3 | 2x2 | 1x1 | |
| 0.12s | x | x | x | |
| 0.2s | x | x | x | |
| 0.3s | x | |||
| 0.5s | x | x | x | |
| 1s | x | x | x | |
| 2s | x | x | x | |
| 3s | x | x | ||
| 5s | x | x | x | |
| 8s | x | x | ||
| 10s | x | x | ||
| 15s | x | x | ||
| 20s | x | x | ||
| 30s | x | x | ||
| 45s | x | x | ||
| 60s | x | x | ||
| 90s | x | x | ||
| 120s | x | x | ||
| 180s | x | |||
| 300s | x |
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HP Desktop Computer used for monitoring and operating the observatory remotely failed on the morning of 2018-07-26 with a failure of its main Hard Disk containing the C Drive with Windows 10 operation system putting it out of action. Whilst the observatory can be monitored remotely using an IPad running UltraVNC, it is not convenient for specific remote tasks that are more easier achieved using a mouse, so finding a solution (new Hard Disk ?) was relatively important.
The failure was investigated on 2018-07-29. The BIOS reported that the main Drive (300 GB) on SATA 1 was BAD, but the secondary drive (1000 GB) on SATA 2 was OK. Since the secondary drive was believed to have plenty of space, it was decided to disconnect the BAD drive, move the Working secondary drive to SATA 1 and reinstall Windows 10 Pro.
This worked and within a few hours, the Desktop Computer was back up and running with key software installed (Anti-Virus, UltraVNC, Internet Explorer, TextPad4, PaintShopPro5 and TheSky6). At the point where Windows Installation asked for a Product Key, I ticked the option 'I don't have key right now' and the Windows Installation proceeded. Whilst I was expecting to enter my product key at some point shortly after installation I found from Checking Control Panel/System that Windows had self-activated itself (since the failed drive with original Windows Installation was not connected it's presumed that the new Installation must have somehow checked the computer CPU's unique identification or MAC number against an online Microsoft database with the original activation and finding it, had accepted the new activation).
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It was quickly noted after assembly and first use that the door supplied with the Pulsar 2.2m dome observatory is very flimsy and easy bends /wobbles under its own weight when its open. I finally got around to having the observatory door stiffened up using shaped wood & fiberglass cross-pieces. The remediation was performed at a local fiberglass workshop for £60.
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Observatory Door - as supplied Flimsy & bends too easily under its own weight |
Observatory Door - stiffened Door stiffened up by the addition of shaped wood & fiberglass cross pieces |
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| This Web Page: | Notes - Session 616 (2018-07-25) |
| Last Updated : | 2023-11-27 |
| Site Owner : | David Richards |
| Home Page : | David's Astronomy Web Site |