David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 801 (2020-08-30)

Notes (S800)

Notes Main

Home Page

Notes (S802)

	2020-08-30 (Session 801)
	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (6),  Continuous Improvement (0)
	AutoStart Results
	Foc1 Auto-Focusing - Impact of Weather/Seasonal related focus changes
	Images from 2020-08-30 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2020-08-30)

Main aims

1. Targets. Acquire images of a number of targets if conditions allow.
2. AutoStart. Use AutoStart to completely automated the session and see how it goes without any form of remote monitoring or check-in.
3. Main Scope Focus. Refocus LX200 Main Scope (Foc1 Focusing)

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  DeviceHub 4.6.1.10, UPB 1.5 
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.9
   
• AstroMain 3.28.1,  AstroGuard 1.4.3,   AstroPlan 1.16,  AstroShCap 1.2.23, AstroVOE 1.3.6
  (AstroWeather 1.10.10, AstroAllSky 3.6)
  

Highlights

• AutoStart. AutoStart was successfully used to kick off the session, without remote monitoring.
• Target. A number of targets were successfully imaged once the focus issue was resolved.

Lowlights

• Unfocused Images. Initial images taken with LX200 Main Scope were badly out of focus. Although Wide Focus Search option was used, the range wasn't large enough to find best focus. User intervention was necessary to nudge the position towards best focus, before Foc1 autofocusing worked. This is a critical lesson: Wide Focus Search needs to be wider in order to pick up the approximate best focus position.

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

Slew/Centering Performance

Guiding Performance

Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)

Night Sky Summary Plot Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Pre-Session Weather Forecast (API data from darksky.net) Pre-Session Weather forecast showed fairly clouy condition reaching 85% cloud cover, but potentially reducing to 54% cloud cover by dawn. with moderate-light wind (15-12 mph), very low risk of rain <= 5% and a minimum temperature of 8-9°C. In the event conditions were cloudy prior to midnight with light showers between 22:00 and 00:20 .  A separate weather forecast indicated potential of clear skies after midnight, so AutoStart was engaged before going to bed.  Skies cleared at 01:40 and remained fairly clear until dawn with cloud passing at 02:20 and 03:50 to 04:15.  Night was dry from 00:30 onwards with minimum outside temperature of 5.5°C

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 00:17:20 Session Created Live Session Created (2020-08-30 S00801, ImageSaveNum: 801001) 00:17:22   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 00:18:53   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:19:01 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 00:19:03 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 21:13 & 04:04 00:19:05   AutoStart Waiting AutoStart waiting till earliest start time at 21:13 00:19:07   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to cloud 00:19:09 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (00:16) 00:19:11 Session Pending Session pending (2020-08-30) 00:19:13 Session Initiating Session initiating (2020-08-30) 00:19:15   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.16) 00:19:28   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2020-08-30 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 535) 00:19:40   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C) 00:19:47   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:19:58 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 00:20:43   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 00:20:46   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 00:23:04   Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (2.3 mins total) 00:23:06 Session Running Session running 00:23:08   Queue Started Observing Queue started (16 targets selected) 00:24:19       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:30:42       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - failed QC check (Range) 00:30:45       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:33:05       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 00:35:04       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:35:19       Focusing Checked Foc2 Focusing Check Succeeded 00:35:22     Target Started (1/16) Target started (1/16, NGC 6704) 00:40:56     Target Completed Target partially completed (1/16, NGC 6704) 00:40:58     Target Started (2/16) Target started (2/16, GCVS SS Cyg) 00:42:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:50:02       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:54:53       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - failed QC check (Quadratic) 00:56:04     Target Completed Target partially completed (2/16, GCVS SS Cyg) 00:56:07     Target Started (3/16) Target started (3/16, GCVS S Cyg) 00:58:02       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - star is lost (TCF-S) 01:09:03     Target Completed Target completed (3/16, GCVS S Cyg) 01:09:05     Target Started (4/16) Target started (4/16, 61 Cyg) 01:11:11       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - star is lost (TCF-S) 01:14:19     Target Completed Target completed (4/16, 61 Cyg) 01:14:21     Target Started (5/16) Target started (5/16, GCVS HH And) 01:16:33       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - star is lost (TCF-S) 01:20:14   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 01:20:27     Target Completed Target completed (5/16, GCVS HH And) 01:20:29   Queue Paused Queue paused for SoftSuspend 01:20:31 Session Suspended Session suspended 01:21:19   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 49s) 01:32:00   User Intervention User intervention to adjust Foc1 Focus Offset 01:40:41     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (6/16, NGC 582) due to cloud 01:47:36 Session Resuming Session resuming 01:48:21   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 01:48:24 Session Running Session running 01:48:26   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 01:48:28     Target Started (7/16) Target started (7/16, WDS GRB 34) 01:50:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:54:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 01:57:02       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 01:57:04     Target Completed Target partially completed (7/16, WDS GRB 34) 01:57:06     Target Started (8/16) Target started (8/16, GCVS RX And) 01:59:09       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:01:55       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 02:04:25     Target Completed Target completed (8/16, GCVS RX And) 02:04:27     Target Started (9/16) Target started (9/16, GCVS BL Lac) 02:06:17       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:08:54       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 02:12:35     Target Completed Target completed (9/16, GCVS BL Lac) 02:12:38     Target Started (10/16) Target started (10/16, GCVS Z And) 02:14:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:17:00       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 02:20:37     Target Completed Target completed (10/16, GCVS Z And) 02:20:39     Target Started (11/16) Target started (11/16, GCVS U And) 02:22:32       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:24:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 02:34:32     Target Completed Target completed (11/16, GCVS U And) 02:34:34     Target Started (12/16) Target started (12/16, UGC 1032) 02:37:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:41:26       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 02:51:12     Target Completed Target completed (12/16, UGC 1032) 02:51:15     Target Started (13/16) Target started (13/16, UGC 695) 02:51:19     Target Failed Target failed due to slew error (13/16, UGC 695) 03:18:13     Target Started (14/16) Target started (14/16, UGC 829) 03:21:01       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:24:12       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 03:40:15     Target Completed Target completed (14/16, UGC 829) 03:40:35     Target Started (15/16) Target started (15/16, SHK 40) 03:42:56       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:45:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 04:01:48     Target Completed Target completed (15/16, SHK 40) 04:02:57     Target Started (16/16) Target started (16/16, UGC 1775) 04:05:42       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:08:54       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 04:24:43     Target Completed Target completed (16/16, UGC 1775) 04:24:46   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 04:24:51 Session Closing Session closing 04:25:41   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 45s) 04:26:20   Dome Park Aborted Dome Park aborted (0s, Az=90.1degs) 04:26:58   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 35s) 04:27:28   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Powerbox. 04:28:17   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 04:28:19 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 04:28:24 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail 04:26:20 Dome Failed To Park Parking aborted after 3 mins, Rotation Drive wheels are likely to be slipping (Dome at Az 90.1 degs)

Back to Top

Operational Issues (2020-08-30, S801)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (6)
• Continuous Improvement (0)

[ Prev | Next ]

Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Initial images taken though LX200 Main Scope were 'Out of Focus'.  Although wide focus search was enabled the window wasn't wider enough to pick up the correct approximate position of best focus.  Focus Window needs to be wider in order to pick up the best focus in situations where there has been a large temperature /atmosphere change since the last session.  Foc1 Focus Window for Wide Search is widened in to 3960 steps (23 positions at a step increment of 180) in new AstroMain version (3.28.2).
  Fixed  (AstroMain 3.28.2)

Minor Issues

• Focus Profile Charts were overwritten by following Focusing Run.  Foc1 Autofocusing generated Wide Focus Charts using Profile 1 identifier at 00:24 to 00:29. Best Focus from Curve Fit was rejected.  Alternate Best Focus position of 2236 failed QC checks (presumably because it lay ws at the extreme end of focus range and lay outside 95% percentile window required by code). It is presumed that ProfileNo was rolled back as Profile 1 was reused for Foc2 autofocusing (wide & standard) at 00:30.  May need to investigate to see if roll-back should/shouldn't be used.
  Closed  (AstroMain)
   
• Field Name labelling Issue on Focus Profile Chart.  Whilst the Focus Profile 1 (wide) had correct field name label (Focus Field 22) on chart, the Standard Focus Profile 1 chart (at 00:30) showed an incorrect field name label (GCVS SS Cyg). The reported field name was correct in the Report File (Focus Field 22) and SS Cyg target wasn't activated until some 10 minutes later (00:40). Focus Chart is dated 00:40 suggesting that chart was overwritten using a combination of data from the original Focus Profile and Field name data from initial  profile save at start of SS Cyg focusing. Is this caused by jump from Foc2 to Foc1 systems ?
  Fixed  2020-09-02  (AstroMain 3.28.3)
   
• Fitted curve on Focus Profile doesn't extend to base of FHWM Axis range. Focus Profle 1 (Foc2 system) shows yellow fitted curve that stops at a FWHM of around 11 (left and right arms appear to stop at slightly different FWHM values) whilst the FWHM axis is from 0 to 12 arc secs.  For other profiles the curve also occasionally stops early (eg 11.8 on Profile 11). Problem would appear to be a resolution issue associated with incrementally finding position of intercept.
  Fixed  2020-09-01 (AstroMain 3.28.2)
   
• The 'Close ACDSee Windows' routine is very slow  to run if there are multiple windows to be closed. Investigate if there is a way to optimise the code and speed up the process.  The standard routine ( KillProcess() )  includes a 3s delay for each ACDsee Window after which the ACDSee window/process is checked to see that it has closed.   A new process (KillProcessQuick() ) has been created which doesn't include delay/test and works almost instaneously.
  Fixed  2020-09-02  (AstroMain 3.28.3)
   
• Range reported for Foc1 and Foc2 Wide Focusing is incorrect. Range reported for Foc1 Wide focusing was 1930, however the correct value  (2316 - 276 was 2040.   Range reported for Foc2 Wide focusing was 710 however the correct value is 750 (9050 -8300). Ranges reported for Standard Standard Foc1 focusing (1320)  and Standard Foc2 focusing (290) are both correct.
  Fixed  2020-09-01 (AstroMain 3.28.2)
   
• Alerts/Alarms older than 5 hours old should be completely ignored by Observatory Alarms Web Page (AstroAlarms). This is to ensure than alarms from previous session doesn't cause any uncessary confusion those from new session.
  Fixed 2020-09-01 (AstroAlarms / Website)

Continuous Improvement

• None

[ Prev | Next ]

Back to Top

AutoStart - Results

Back to Top

Foc1 Auto-Focusing - Impact of Weather/Seasonal related focus changes

Foc1 Auto-Focusing was performed at the start of session on a Near Zenith Star Field (Focus Field 22) and on SS Cyg Star field.   Even though Wide Focus Search was enabled with a 2040 range (the standard range is 1320),  this range was insufficient for the wide search autofocusing process to find the correct best focus position. This was due to unusually large change in focus  between the date that the Focus Offset were last established (2020-08-24) and the date of the new session (2020-08-30) caused by a combination of colder ambient temperature at ground level (7.8 vs 12.4°C) and a ? colder atmosphere. (2020-08-24 and 2020-08-30 had similar max daytime temperatures : 19.1 vs 19.2°C)

After spotting that the first 4 targets were out of focus an intervention was made to shift the Focus Offset used for the session to bring it into the terrority appropriate to the new focusing conditions. Once this had been done auttomated wide focus search was able to establish the approximate position of best focus and pass this on to standard profile focusing.

The experience demonstrates that Wide Search needs to use a much large search window in order to guarentee finding correct best focus  (a range of 4000 is proposed compared to the current value of 2040).

The following composite plot compares the new focus profile (right) with the last valid profile (left) and highlights the magnitude of the actual focus change between the two sessions compared to the focus change expected from just a 4.5°C decrease in ambient temperature alone.

Back to Top