David's Astronomy - Notes 2020-10-13 (S0819)

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Notes - Session 819 (2020-10-13)

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	2020-10-13 am

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result - Night Summary Plot - Session Event Log

	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0), Major Issues (0), Minor Issues (11), Continuous Improvement (19)

	Images from 2020-10-13 >>

	GCN Monitoring - GRB Swift 999948

	2020-10-14
	GCN Monitoring - GRB Swift 1000255

	2020-10-15
	DeviceHub 6.5.0.1
	Stalled Dome Issue - Status
	SharpCap Scripting- Notes

	2020-10-21
	AstroSN - Data Source and Proof of Concept

Session Aims & Highlights (2020-10-13)

Main aims

Autoguide Monitoring / Charts. Check that autoguide monitoring / charts are now working correctly following revision to PHD2 Messaging Routines made in AstroMain 3.30.3
Targets. Acquire images of a selection of deep sky targets
Bug fixes. Check that bugs discovered in last session in AstroMain 3.30.3 have been fixed.

Equipment & Software

12" LX200 and ST-10XME
80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2, DeviceHub 4.6.1.11, UPB 1.5
Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
SharpCap 3.2, PHD2 2.6.9
AstroMain 3.30.6, AstroGuard 1.4.5, AstroPlan 1.16.6 AstroShCap 1.2.27, AstroVOE 1.4.1, AstroProtect 1.4.1
(AstroWeather 1.10.13, AstroAllSky 3.6)

Highlights

Autoguide Monitoring / Charts. The problem that was caused autoguide monitoring to believe there was some 22 times more guidestep events than there actually were is confirmed to be fixed.

Lowlights

Cloud / Poor Guiding. Conditons poor.

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 initial wet and cloudy conditions (64-93% cloud cover),
gradually improving to become failry clear from 01:00 onwards (15-23% cloud cover)
Wind (13-16 mph), Minimum temperature 12°C by dawn

In the event conditions were initial showery with rain at 19:00 and 21:30.
Sky clear and dry between 21:40 and 01:00 allowing observing session to take place.
Cloud developed rapidly at 01:10 and ended the night's observing. Rain from 03:00 to 04:40.

Session Event Log

Time	Event	Detail
19:07:58	Session Monitoring	AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 19:07 & 05:46
19:08:02	AutoStart Delayed	Session delayed due to cloud
19:36:07	Session AutoStarting	Session autostarting (19:36)
19:36:37	Session Created	Live Session Created (2020-10-13 S00819, ImageSaveNum: 819001)
19:36:40	Scope Switched On	Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox.
19:38:29	Services Started	Observatory Services started
19:38:38	Observatory (Auto)	Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode
19:38:42	Session Pending	Session pending (2020-10-13)
19:38:44	Session Initiating	Session initiating (2020-10-13)
19:38:46	Plan Requested	Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.16.6)
19:39:17	Plan Loaded	Observing Plan loaded to queue (2020-10-13 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 554)
19:39:29	Camera1 Connected	SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C)
19:39:35	Telescope Connected	Telescope Connected (TheSky6)
19:39:45	Session Equilibration	Session ready for dome & camera equilibration
19:42:27	Dome Opened	Dome opened (opening time 45s)
19:42:29	Session Running	Session running
19:42:31	Queue Started	Observing Queue started (36 targets selected)
19:43:38	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
19:47:53	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1)
19:50:48	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1)
19:50:51	Focusing Started-Foc2	Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap)
19:53:45	Focusing Completed	Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide)
19:55:50	Focusing Completed	Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2)
19:56:10	Focusing Checked	Foc2 Focusing Check Succeeded
19:56:13	Target Started (1/36)	Target started (1/36, GCVS S Cyg)
19:58:53	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
20:01:35	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3)
20:11:12	Target Completed	Target completed (1/36, GCVS S Cyg)
20:11:14	Target Started (2/36)	Target started (2/36, 61 Cyg)
20:13:33	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
20:16:20	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4)
20:17:41	Target Completed	Target completed (2/36, 61 Cyg)
20:17:43	Target Started (3/36)	Target started (3/36, GCVS SS Cyg)
20:20:19	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
20:23:18	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5)
20:26:51	Target Completed	Target completed (3/36, GCVS SS Cyg)
20:30:47	Target Started (4/36)	Target started (4/36, GCVS CI Cyg)
20:32:53	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
20:35:51	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6)
20:39:22	Target Completed	Target completed (4/36, GCVS CI Cyg)
20:39:24	Target Started (5/37)	Target started (5/37, C/2019 K7 (Smith), ToO)
20:41:39	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
20:44:42	Focusing Completed	Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7)
20:45:32	Critical Cloud Alert	Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter)
20:45:34	HardSuspend Called	Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud)
20:45:37	Target Aborted (5/37)	Target aborted (5/37, C/2019 K7 (Smith), ToO) due to cloud
20:45:39	Queue Paused	Queue pausing for HardSuspend
20:45:41	Session Suspended	Session suspended
20:46:27	Dome Closed	Dome closed (closing time 49s)
20:51:28	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (6/38, C/2019 U6 (Lemmon), ToO) due to cloud
20:51:32	Target Missed (7/38)	Target's time slot was missed (7/38, GCVS BL Lac)
20:57:58	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (8/38, GCVS HH And) due to cloud
20:58:53	Session Resuming	Session resuming
20:59:38	Dome Opened	Dome opened (opening time 45s)
20:59:40	Session Running	Session running
20:59:42	Queue Resumed	Observing Queue resumed
20:59:44	Target Started (9/38)	Target started (9/38, UGC 12914)
21:01:53	Focusing Started-Foc1	Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
21:04:35	Focusing Failed	Foc1 Focusing Failed - star lost
21:06:34	SoftSuspend Called	Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars)
21:08:04	SoftSuspend Cancelled	Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions
21:20:18	Target Completed	Target completed (9/38, UGC 12914)
21:20:21	Target Started (10/38)	Target started (10/38, NGC 708)
21:23:00	SoftSuspend Called	Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars)
21:23:13	Focusing Failed	Foc1 Focusing Failed - star is too dim (TCF-S)
21:26:00	SoftSuspend Cancelled	Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions
21:30:06	SoftSuspend Called	Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars)
21:30:31	SoftSuspend Cancelled	Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions
21:37:22	Critical Cloud Alert	Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter)
21:37:24	HardSuspend Called	Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud)
21:37:26	Target Aborted (10/38)	Target aborted (10/38, NGC 708) due to cloud
21:37:28	Queue Paused	Queue pausing for HardSuspend
21:37:30	Session Suspended	Session suspended
21:38:12	Dome Closed	Dome closed (closing time 40s)
21:39:47	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (10/38, NGC 708) due to cloud
21:55:23	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (11/38, GCVS U And) due to cloud
22:05:19	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (12/38, GCVS GK Per) due to cloud
22:13:44	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (13/38, GCVS RX And) due to cloud
22:23:32	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (14/38, GCVS DY Per) due to cloud
22:43:24	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (15/38, UGC 1803) due to cloud
23:05:46	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (16/38, NGC 48) due to cloud
23:16:56	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (17/38, WDS GRB 34) due to other condition
23:32:23	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (18/38, NGC 514) due to cloud
23:45:34	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (19/38, GCVS TT Ari) due to cloud
00:01:41	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (20/38, M31_AT2020vak) due to other condition
00:23:03	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (21/38, UGC 12506) due to cloud
00:37:43	Camera1 SetPoint	SBIG Camera Set Point Temperature Updated (new set point -10°C)
00:45:25	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (22/38, UGCA 1) due to cloud
01:13:51	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (23/38, NGC 474) due to cloud
01:32:13	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (24/38, UGC 6930) due to cloud
01:53:35	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (25/38, NGC 2782) due to cloud
02:15:57	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (26/38, NGC 772) due to cloud
02:34:19	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (27/38, NGC 720) due to cloud
02:55:41	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (28/38, UGCA 24) due to cloud
03:14:03	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (29/38, NGC 584) due to cloud
03:35:25	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (30/38, UGCA 82) due to cloud
03:46:35	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (31/38, GCVS FU Ori) due to cloud
03:58:41	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (32/38, Nova AT2020bfc) due to cloud
04:18:48	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (33/38, NGC 1843) due to cloud
04:41:10	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (34/38, IC 421) due to cloud
05:23:39	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (35/38, NGC 2232) due to cloud
05:35:38	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (36/38, Berkeley 26) due to cloud
05:55:08	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (37/38, GCVS CM Tau) due to cloud
06:16:27	Target Cancelled	Target cancelled (38/38, GCVS RR Tau) due to cloud
06:16:32	Queue Completed	Job Queue completed
06:16:39	Session Closing	Session closing
06:16:44	Dome Closed	Dome already closed (closed at 21:38, closing time 40s)
06:16:52	Dome Parked	Dome parked (parking time 7s), Az: 90.0 deg
06:17:38	Telescope Parked	Telescope parked (parking time 43s)
06:18:08	Telescope Switched Off	Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Powerbox.
06:18:55	Services Stopped	Night Services stopped
06:18:57	Session Housekeeping	Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files)
06:19:04	Session Finished	Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time		Alert	Detail
19:57:16		Dome Discrepency	Difference between Telescope Az and Dome Az is > 8 deg (GCVS S Cyg)

Operational Issues (2020-10-13 S819)

Critical Issues (0)
Major Issues (0)
Minor Issues (11)
Continuous Improvement (19)

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Critical Issues

None

Major Issues

None

Minor Issues

LockShift Guiding Images for Comet object has stopped functioning. Target C/2019 K7 (Smith), Target ID 1585 was a non-sidereal comet target (according to the target database). It should have had Lock Shift applied during autoguiding (based on the comet's rated of motion) but it wasn't applied. Lock Shift which was working ok for many sessions has stopped functioning recently even though 'Guide on Comets' options is definately on. It is suspected that LockShift Guiding for Comets has stopped working as an unwelcome side-effect (bug) from recent code changes that were designed to disable Lock Shift for follow up images of StarFields where a previous comet attempt was made (i.e. Object Type : Comet, but explict coords and sidereal = true) . Bug fixed (T.sidereal was being tested against the wrong boolean value)
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
When Guiding is started 'Guiding .... Fail', 'Review Guiding... Fail ', messages are shown even though there is a preceeding 'Settling Done... Ok" message. Problem seems to be consistent one. ie the Fail result always occurs. Issue fixed (loop wasn't being exited when a successful Settling Done event was received)
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Report Line & Subtitle inserted with the reporting of a Target Waiting/Timing Out whilst session is suspended is confusing and unnecessary. See example below:
GCVS GK Per  (12/38)                    2020-10-13 21:55  (Local)
  Target:                     Ok        GCVS GK Per       (ID: 71)
  Type:                       Ok        Variable
  Program:                    Ok        Main Variables    (ID: 12)

  Planned Start..             Ok        2020-10-13 22:01  (Scheduled)
  Planned End..               Ok        2020-10-13 22:10  (Scheduled) Duration : 8.7 mins
  Session Status:             Hold      Session is suspended due to cloud
  Waiting on weather...       Hold      Wait for conditions to improve

GCVS GK Per  (12/38)                    2020-10-13 22:05  (Local)
  Target:                     Ok        GCVS GK Per       (ID: 71)
  Current AllSky Meas...      Ok        Light Cloud       (23)
  Session Status:             Fail      Session is suspended due to cloud
  Target Result:              Fail      Failed (cloud)
The 'mid-target' ReportLine and ReportTitle are triggered by the InterruptedBySuspension flag. It would seem that if the Session was already suspended when the target (planned observation) 'commenced' , and hadn't moved to resuming/then back to suspended in the meantime then the target shouldn't be considered as 'InterruptedBySuspension'. Issue fixed for modifying the conditions under which 'InterruptedBySuspension' is set to True.
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
A 'Red' Session Alert was generated following slew to Target 1/36 (S Cyg) 'difference between Telescope Az and Dome Az is > 8 deg' but the Dome Position was ok. S Cyg was at Alt 88.1 deg (almost directly overhead) and Az 293.9 deg, dome commanded to position Az 230.1 deg. Although the Az difference (55.5 deg) is large and easily passed the 8 deg threshold for the alert, the shutter opening was evidently fine as both main scope and guide scope had clear view of the night sky. Since the slaved dome azimuth positions calculated by DeviceHub can differ significantly from telescope azimuths when target is at high altitudes then it is appropriate to allow for this when raising an alert or not. There are probably better ways of checking Dome slew performance and checking for stalled dome conditions. Another way of proceeding would be to compare the position of the dome with the expected dome position based on telescope position and the algorithms used by DeviceHub. Fixed by demoting the condition back to a just a Yellow warning, and adding a new Red Alert when 'Slaved' Dome hasn't appeared to have moved following a telescope slew of > 5 deg.

Fixed 2020-10-16 (AstroMain 3.30.8)
Housekeeping Table at end of session reported unexpectedly large waiting time. Time breakdown at end of session reported that of the 539.0 mins (=8.98 hours) Inactive Time, 537.4 mins (558.9%) was Waiting time with only 1.6 mins (1.7%) was Suspended Time. Most of the inactive time was during time the suspension was suspended due to cloud, so may be the two times are accidently reversed in someway. 537.4/539 = 99.7% , 1.6 / 539 = 0.3% so there is an issue with percentage calculations too. Fixed issue with percent (waiting and suspended times divided by the wrong divisor). Confirmed that waiting and suspended time not reversed in anyway. Whilst SetScopeMode(Suspended) is called when session enters Suspended State, the next target enters a wait loop (waiting on session to resume or to reach end of target's TimeSlot) and SetScopeMode (Waiting) is called when switches ScopeUse recording from Suspended to Waiting, and hence the apparent very large 'Waiting' time seen in the Time Breakdown. Fixed by modifying SetScopeMode routine so that Scope Waiting notifications are ignored if the session is suspended.
Fixed 2020-10-20 (AstroMain 3.30.8)
Mosaic stats are not being collected correctly for Mosaic Targets.Testing (2020-10-16) confirms issues seen with B110 Mosaic in earlier live session (2020-09-13, S808). Only one frame/frametset error graph plot is drawn and one only frame/framset is shown in history graph in 2020-10-16 Test. Frame 1 Graph 1 shows N=217, whilst AllFrames Graph shows N=18. GuideSumm table shows FrameSet totals of 18-21 guide steps per point. This seems about right (20 guide steps in 30s exp, 1.5s per guide step). Mosaic had 9 frames (1 for each mosaic point) so assuming 20 guide steps per point, this would suggest a total for 180 guide steps (rather thna 217) . N number tabulated for individual points seems to increase by around 20 per point, indicating that Stats are'nt being reset at the start of each image, but gradually accumlate. It also seems that the Image Stats aren't being reset at the start of the Target, as the N values suggest the numbers include guide steps from the previous target.
Fixed 2020-10-17 (AstroMain 3.30.8)
AllSky/Weather data stopped updating at ~ 03:20 due to Windows Update/Reboot ( 2020-10-16). Checking 'Current Weather' webpage in the morning 08:30 showed that updates of AllSky and weather data from the observatory stopped in the night at around 03:20. Investigating indicated that the AllSky/Weather had most-likely rebooted as part of Window Updates procedures. Whilst it seems that updates can be pushed out to max of 30 days, eventually Windows 10 will force installation/reboot at the time outside of core working hours and when the computer isn't being 'used'. Whilst no mouse-movements or key presses will have been coming from the computer in the night, the computer is constantly working (24x7), but this may not register as user activity. It an attempt to at least move the time that any future updates/rebootsso that they won't occur when a live Observatory Session is running, 'core working hours' in Windows Settings were changed to 15:00 to 09:00 (18 hrs = max number of hours allowed). Any future automatic reboots should at least occur during the daytime hours (09:00 to 15:00) when data outage is more likely to be spotted (from online charts or from an alert from the Observatory Computer)
Fixed (AllSky/Weather Computer)
Names of manually initiated (ad-hoc) targets are not displayed on AstroPlan's Session Observations Form and appear to prevent Observing Results chart from plotting. Manually initiated (ad-hoc) single target or mosaic target observations are entered into database with Target ID = 0. Whilst Target Name is stored in the 'observation' table, the form prefers to join with 'target's table on TargetID to get Target Name / Object Type etc. The join fails leaving the Target Name blank.
Fixed 2020-10-17 (AstroPlan 1.16.7)
Focus Profile points sent to Focus data file from Foc1 Wide Search Focusing still retain standard Search Type. '(Profile) Type' column in Focus.dat file should be have the value "Profile, wide" for Foc1 Wide Search Focusing. At the moment the value is "Profile". Type is corrected listed for Foc1 Wide Result line and for Fc02 Wide Search focus points.
Fixed 2020-10-19 (AstroMain 3.30.8)
Unable to access temperature of the sensor in ST-10 or ZWO 178MC cameras via PHD2 Server. Request to the "get_sensor_temperature" method made through via PHD2 Server are returning return the error "method not found" (spelling is exactly as per the method name listed in EventMonitoring document)
https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2/wiki/EventMonitoring
This happens whether PHD2 is connected to an SBIG Camera (ST-10) or a ZWO ASI Camera (178MC) or to the Simulator. Data is needed validate the sensor temperature when the ST10 cooled camera is connected to PHD2 and for general monitoring of trends when ZWO uncooled camera is connected to PHD2.
17:00:21.02 | 22 REQUEST >> {"method": "get_sensor_temperature", "id": 22}
17:00:21.05 | 22 Response << {"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32601,"message":"method not found"},"id":22}
The problem has been posted to the PHD2 Forum, 2020-10-20.
Problem resolved. There was an error in the wiki documentation - the required method is called 'get_ccd_temperature'. Apply this method then allowed a temperature to be successfully read from the ZWO 178MC camera. Unfortunately it was still not possible to get a temperature from the ST-10 Camera (a limitation that can't be readily overcome)
Fixed 2020-10-22 (AstroMain, PHD2 Wiki)
Image Link stalled on one particular FIT file causing TheSky/CCDSoft to freeze and also unable to quit AstroMain. Known occasional issue without solution, other than manual intervention to kill processes, remove offending FIT file from process folder and resume or restart Reduced File Analysis. Closed as there is no way of predicting or preventing problem with particular FITS file and a manual workaround is available.
Known problem with no obvious solution (CCDSoft/TheSky/AstroMain)

Continuous Improvement

Modify Take Single/Mosaics facility (Observing Tab) so that 'Take Mosaic' uses T class / Ob.ExecuteTarget_Ob submission.
Done 2020-10-16 (AstroMain 3.30.8).
Save Manual Initiated Observations (Single Targets/Mosaics) in database as a session observation.
Done 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Wide Search Focus Profile to show '--' for HFD values in Report Table instead of '0.0' values
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Where a ToO is deferred to a previously imported ToO of equal rank, the message should be ' deferred due to a preceeding ToO' . Currently the message is deferred due to a 'Higher Rank' ToO Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Reporting of Last Dome Movement in new 'Dome Position Check' section to be altered to be like 'Dome Move 0.6 mins ago (20:31:15)
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Guide Settling events should be reported with delta seconds since guiding started. e.g
Guiding Started   Ok   Guiding started (0.0s)
Settling Begun     Ok   Settling started (2.3s)
Setting Done       Ok    Imaging Can Commence (11.2s)
Fixed 2020-10-14 (AstroMain 3.30.7).
Guiding Chart Titles for Mosaic's should have a Mosaic' suffix added.
Done 2020-10-16 (AstroMain 3.30.8).
Examine ways of saving a file copy of initial Full Guide Frame from PHD2. Sending a 'save_image' request returns a file path to image file with value C:\\Users\\David\\AppData\\Local\\phd2\\sav34D5.tmp. Examining the file shows it to be a FITS file even though has '.tmp' file extension. Code has been created to copy the file to an appropriate folder in the session folder with an appropriate name/extension . e.g. .. \CCD Imaging\New\Session\_AUTOGUIDE\GuideFrame_20201014.224612.FIT (or GuideFrame.20201014.Guide05.FIT) and then cleanup by deleting the original .tmp file. Test ok but the calling statement needs to be placed at appropriate positionin StartAutoGuiding routine, eg at start of guiding.
Done 2020-10-16 (AstroMain 3.30.8).
Create new routine 'GetProposedDecGuideMode'. The relatively large amount of backlash on the Main Scope's Declination axis requires that Dec Guiding is best done using UniDirectional guiding (i.e. either North or South), rather than bi-directional. The RunPHD2GuideMonitoring routine uses an initial focusing/settling period (but can run into first part of imaging) to establish the Dec drift direction and then sets the appropriate DecGuideDirection for the remainder of the target's guiding. For FastReact targets and Mosaic targets it would be handy to be able to access a recommended DecGuideDirection from a new routine 'GetProposedDecGuideMode' which would propose the DecGuideDirection appropriate to the particular part of the sky that guiding is to take place. It may be as simple as passing azimuth as a parameter which would determine if target is east or west of meridian and return the corresponding DecGuideDirection that has been more or less established. In case of targets at or just east of the meridain, DecGuideDirection of 'None' (i.e no Dec Guiding necessary) may be appropriate value returned by the function. GetProposedDecGuideMode function has been written. Values returned are harded and dependant on azimuth based on drift directions established with the current telescope alignment. A later enhancement would be make the values dependant on user settings. The routine also take in altitude as a parameter, but this is not currently used but could be used in future)
Done 2020-10-19 (AstroMain 3.30.8).
Record and use the number of mosaic points completed such that if a Target is restarted following a short suspension the execution can continue at roughly the point it left off from. LastMosaicPointCompleted variable added to store the number of Mosaic Point that was last completed. If Target is reattempted following a short suspension, execution can resume on the next Mosaic point without having to redo Mosaic points already acquired. If a mosaic point is half completed (say 1 out of 3 frames aqcuired) any completed frames (1 in our example) will still be repeated however. Feature added to AstroMain 3.10.8 and tested on development machine. It is may be some before a short live session suspension occurs whilst taking a mosaic to know if the code performs as intended. Item is therefore closed in the meantime on the assumption that the implementation works.
Done 2020-10-19 (AstroMain 3.30.8).
Create a Cam2 Temperature Chart and upload to website. New chart type added to Charts.vb module in AstroMain (based on existing CCDTempChart). AstroPlan updated to upload this new chart
Done 2020-10-23 (AstroMain 3.31 / AstroPlan 1.16.8).
Change AstroLaunch so that it shows both Analysis and Observatory Tab when using the Development Computer.
Done 2020-10-19 (AstroLaunch 1.4.5).
Add Facility to quickly access the Folder areas for any of the last 3 live observing sessions. This could be combination of updating the link property of 3 shorctuts in taskbar toolbar listing and a new tab 'Recent' in AstroMove.
Done (AstroMove 1.5.6)
Add Cam2 Traffic Light to Obs.Viewer (ObsPic) and annotate it with its sensor temperature. 178MC sensor temperature can be gleaned though AstroShCap when the camera is connected to SharpCap. Attempts to access 178MC's sensor temperature through PHD2 (using method "get_sensor_temperature") fails with the error message "method not found". A response to query on the PHD2 forum revealed the the PHD2 wiki was in error and the correct method name is 'get_ccd_temperature'. This method was tried and it was found to successfully retrieve a temperature from the camera. Cam2 Traffic Light and temperature added to ObsViewer in AstroMain 3.30.8 / 3.31, but for being only tied into the temperature acquired from PHD2.GetCcdTemperature. At the moment temperature is not acquired from ShCap.GetCcdTemperature.
Largely Done 2020-10-23 (AstroMain 3.31).
Create checks that can explicitly identify that Dome Driver has 'stalled' (stops updating with fresh data from the dome and/or when dome slaving stops working). Includes a physical test 'Dome.TestForStalledDome' (where slaving is turned off, dome moved az + 10deg, and dome azimuth checked to see if it has appeared to move or not. May involve controlled restart of Dome Driver connection to 'restart' data refreshes. Job Queue code extended to run 'TestForStalledDome' at the most appropriate point when a stall is suspected. Obs.Manger Code extended to identify a stalled dome. and to send out alerts and messages. At the moment no remedial action is taken automatically as activity log data needs to be collected first in the event of a stalled dome event. However a new routine ' RestartDeviceHub' has been written that be run via 'Restart DeviceHub' button function. In due course Obs.Manager can be set up to automatically this new routine.
Done 2020-10-15 (AstroMain 3.30.7 / 3.30.8)
Auto-Restart DeviceHub in the event of Stalled Dome Slaving. Obs.Manager / Job Executor (AstroMain 3.30.7+) can recognise Stalled Dome Slaving and a Restart DeviceHub routine has been written (AstroMain 3.30.8). The Restart routine can only be called by manual intervention at present (3.30.8). Unless the underlying issue in DeviceHub can be resolved, then at some point it will be appropriate to have the Obs.Manager to automatically Restart Device Hub. This is on hold at present as activity log data needs to be collected from the new Device Hub version (6.5.0.1) which can only be collected by manually copying the Dome activity dato to clipboard, before restarting the DeviceHub. Decision made to close this proposal following review on 2021-05-13, as the stalled dome condition no longer occurs since problem exceptions are caught in by new version of DeviceHub. (6.4.1.11 / 6.5.0.1)
Closed. Feature no longer required 2021-05-13 (AstroMain )
Automatically call 'Auto Colour Balance (from Histogram)' and 'AutoStretch' to auto-set the histogram in SharpCap's LiveStack Histogram from Python Script. In order to get a reasonable looking colour image in LiveStacking one has to manually set Histogram colour balance, and background/range or manually or manually click the AutoColour Balance and AutoStretch buttons. These manually required operations are incompatible with automated target/imaging sequencing. There doesn't appear to be a way of forcing SharpCap to always use Auto Colour Balance & Auto Stretch via a setting in SharpCap or a way of controlling SharpCap to do these operations from a script. A query / proposal for adding functionality to SharpCap has been sent to SharpCap/Scripting Forum. Ticket closed 2023-02-21 as SharpCap Live Stacking is no longer used (due to the histogram difficulties) - whilst SharpCap/AstroShCap is still used for capturing images, Siril is now used instead for the process of aligning and stacking frames).
Closed 2023-02-15 (SharpCap).
Evaluate method to make wide focus search faster/smarter. Implemented a method where by the last few points are cancelled when it is established that the peak/best focus has been passed.
Done (Website).
Add ZWO ASI178MC camera and TS 80mm APO telescope to equipment list with relevant information and links. .
To be done (Website).
Redesign PHD2 Interface to use modern 'ascom style' structure with exception throwing and separate interface (driver-like) behaviour from Client side processing.
To do (AstroMain)
Clear Graphs & Stats shown in PHD2 before commencing guiding on a new target. Whilst this can be done manually by clicking on the 'clear button' on the History, Target and Stats graphs in PHD2, this is not often practical and it would be nice if this be conducted as a program controlled task by the Job Executor using the PHD Server. At the moment there is no function in PHD2 API for doing this task. A proposal for adding a new API method called 'clear_graphs' has been sent to the PHD2 Forum, 2020-10-18.
Waiting on PHD2 functionality (AstroMain)

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2020-10-13 am

GCN Monitoring - GRB Swift 999948 (2020-10-13)

AstroVOE program picked up a GCN/Swift Notice for a GRB Target of Interest last night at 03:46:42 UT.

2020-10-13T03:46:42 GCN/SWIFT NOTICE    61  Observation SWIFT_BAT_GRB_POSITION          999948    GRB_ALERT
                    Name:       GRB Swift 999948
                    Trigger No: 999948
                    Dec:        57.0°
                    Pos Error:  0.1°
                    Con:        Lyn (Lynx)
                    GRB Alt:    73.1°       (Clair Observatory)
                    GRB Az:     77.9°       (Clair Observatory)
                    Sun Alt:    -23.5°      (Clair Observatory)
                    Moon Dist   53.0°
                    Moon Illum: 18.6%
                    Observatory isn't operating in automated mode and can't react.

Whilst the skies where unfortunately cloudy last night and the Clair Observatory wasn't open, AstroVOE's rapid recognition of the GRB Alert as being of interest (i.e. occuring at night time, in a part of the sky that is accessible by the observatory telescope and with a small positional uncertainty) is encouraging.

[ Swift Trigger and Burst REAL-TIME Information ]

Action

Confirm that telescope / system reaction to a ToO is as fast as possible with no avoidable delays to getting a rapid first image of the GRB position. New routine 'SetDecGuideModeBasedOnLookup' added to allow iImaging of GRB and other Fast-React targets to immediately after autoguiding is started without previous delay involved whilst waiting for DecGuideMode to be determined from watching Star Drift.
Done 2020-10-19 (AstroMain 3.30.8)

2020-10-14

GCN Monitoring - GRB Swift 1000255 (2020-10-14)

AstroVOE program picked up a GCN/Swift Notice for a GRB Target of Interest last night at 03:46:42 UT.

2020-10-14T22:49:53 GCN/SWIFT NOTICE 61 Observation SWIFT_BAT_GRB_POSITION 1000255 GRB_ALERT
                    Name: GRB Swift 1000255
                    Trigger No: 1000255
                    Dec: 27.7°
                    Pos Error: 0.1°
                    Con: Psc (Pisces)
                    GRB Alt: 58.2° (Clair Observatory)
                    GRB Az: 150.5° (Clair Observatory)
                    Sun Alt: -39.7° (Clair Observatory)
                    Moon Dist 139.0°
                    Moon Illum: 5.3%
                    Observatory isn't operating in automated mode and can't react.

Whilst the skies were unfortunately cloudy last night and the Clair Observatory wasn't open, AstroVOE again recognised the GRB Alert as being of interest (i.e. occuring at night time, in a part of the sky that is accessible by the observatory telescope and with a small positional uncertainty).

AstroVOE program picked up a further GCN/Swift Notice for a GRB Target of Interest at 2020-10-15 22:50:32 UT

2020-10-15T22:50:32 GCN/SWIFT NOTICE 61 Observation SWIFT_BAT_GRB_POSITION 1000452 GRB_ALERT
                     Name: GRB Swift 1000452
                     Trigger No: 1000452
                     Dec: 53.4°
                     Pos Error: 0.1°
                     Con: Cas (Cassiopeia)
                     GRB Alt: 82.9° (Clair Observatory)
                     GRB Az: 243.1° (Clair Observatory)
                     Sun Alt: -40.1° (Clair Observatory)
                     Moon Dist 124.5°
                     Moon Illum: 1.2%
                    Observatory isn't operating in automated mode and can't react.

The forecast wasn't good for the night and the observatory wasn't set to an operation state (AutoStart not running). Whilst there were some clear patches between 20:10 UT and 22:30 UT, at the time of GRB (22:50 UT) the sky had clouded over again.

[ Swift Trigger and Burst REAL-TIME Information ]

2020-10-15

DeviceHub 6.5.0.1

A new version of DeviceHub was installed today (2020-10-15) which offers some improved trapping and logging of exceptions during dome slaving calculations. Version 6.5.0.1 is a pre-release of the ASCOM 6.5 SP1 version of DeviceHub which might help to identify what is causing the 'Stalled Dome' issue that has affected several sessions since moving over to using DeviceHub instead of POTH. It is hoped that the information collected from further incidents of the issue will help identify a future fix or other remedy.

There was some concern over the possibility of problems due installing the new 6.5.0.1 version on older ASCOM 6.4 SP1 platform (neither Observatory Computer and Development Computer have been moved to 6.5 platform yet) but it seems to have installed ok and tests show it to be operating working.

The full list of changes in 6.5.0.1 are

Side Of Pier and Destination Side Of Pier will now be calculated by Device Hub if not available from the downstream driver
The dome shutter can now be opened and closed while slaved
Exceptions are now trapped and logged during dome slaving calculations
Improved support for locales that use comma as the decimal separator
Profile settings will now be preserved when upgrading
Side Of Pier exceptions will now be forwarded to the client

https://github.com/ASCOMInitiative/ASCOMDeviceHub/releases/tag/6.5.0.1

Stalled Dome Issue - Status

2020-10-15 DeviceHub 6.5.0.1. A new version of DeviceHub was installed which offers some improved trapping and logging of exceptions during dome slaving calculations. Version 6.5.0.1 is a pre-release of the ASCOM 6.5 SP1 version of DeviceHub which might help to identify what is causing the 'Stalled Dome' issue that has affected several sessions since moving over to using DeviceHub instead of POTH. It is hoped that the information collected from further incidents of the issue will help identify a future fix or other remedy.

2020-10-15 AstroMain 3.30.7. A new version of AstroMain (the observatory's control program) can now identify the Stalled Dome situation and send appropriate Alert Messages. This uses a function 'Dome.TestForStalledDome' to run a couple of quick tests to confirm conclusively whether the Dome Driver/Dome Slaving is stalled or not. A routine "Restart DeviceHub" can be run via a button function to restart the DeviceHub application, including managing the disconnection of observatory telescope/dome clients and reconnecting those clients again afterwards. (The RestartDeviceHub isn't automatically run for the time being in order that activity log messages can be manually copied and saved for later problem investigation and diagnosis)

SharpCap Scripting- Notes

Pause/UnPause LiveStacking
SharpCap.LiveStacking.Parameters.Paused = True
... dither ...
... wait at least one frame to avoid stacking dithered frame ...
SharpCap.LiveStacking.Parameters.Paused = False

Tell of LiveStacking is open or not
SharpCap.LiveStacking.IsActive

Name of Last Image Captured
SharpCap.GetLastCaptureFilename()

File Path to Dark Frame to subtract
print SharpCap.SelectedCamera.Controls.Find(lambda x: x.Name == "Subtract Dark").Value

Set Dark Frame for Pre-Processing 'Subtract Dark'

SharpCap.SelectedCamera.Controls.Find(lambda x: x.Name == "Subtract Dark").Value
= "C://Data//ZWO Imaging//SharpCap//2020-10-20 TEST//darks//Test Camera 1 (Deep Sky)//RAW16@3096x2080//2.0s//gain_150//dark_10_frames_2020-10-20T17_28_19.fits"

Camera.Controls for ZWO ASI178MC camera

Capture Format and Area : [Colour Space], [Capture Area], [Binning], [Output Format], [Debayer Preview], [Pan], [Tilt],

Camera Controls : [Exposure], [Gain], [Temperature],
   More :                     [Frame Rate Limit], [Flip], [Turbo USB], [High Speed Mode], [Hardware Binning],
Image Controls :    [Brightness],   [White Bal (R)],    [White Bal (B)],   [Timestamp Frames]
Misc Controls :       [Mono Bin], [Auto Exp Target Brightness], [Auto Exp Max Exp M S], [Auto Exp Max Gain]
PreProcessing :     [Subtract Dark], [Apply Flat], [Banding Suppression], [Banding Threshold]
Display Histogram:   [Display Black Point], [Display MidTone Point], [Display White Point], [Gamma],
Others:                      [ST4 Guide Port], [Notes], [ASCOM Pegasus UPB Focuser], [Overclock]

Capture Area - Available Values

print SharpCap.SelectedCamera.Controls.Find(lambda x: x.Name == "Capture Area").AvailableValues

>> List[str](['3096x2080', '3096x1560', '2320x2080', '2320x1560', '2080x2080', '1920x1200', '1920x1080', '1600x1200', '1560x1560',
'1544x2080', '1544x1040', '1280x1024', '1040x1040', '1024x768', '800x600', '768x520', '640x480', '320x240', 'Custom...'])

ResolutionList = SharpCap.SelectedCamera.Controls.Find(lambda x: x.Name == "Capture Area").AvailableValues
print ResolutionList[0]

>> 3096x2080

2020-10-21

AstroSN - Data Source and Proof of Concept

AstroSN is a proposed new AstroSuite application, which is to provide fast automated access to new Supernova and other transient objects are offer them up to AstroPlan/AstroMain as Targets of Opportunity, that could be automatically inserted in the observing queue. It work in a manner not dissimilar to AstroVOE which monitors the NASA GCN for reatime GRBs and can organise the automatic submission of a GRB for fast reaction observing should the observatory be open.

Step 1 : Data Source

The initial proposed data source for Active SN is the Rochester Supernova website, and in particular the html document http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/snactive.html
which is meant to be a list where active objects can be more easily found that the full page . It is also meant so that it can easily be parsed by automated programs.

Quick assessment indicates the document contains a number of html errors that might confuse strict parsing. <label> tags closed by </lable>.However data is organised sufficiently well that that data can be accessible for moving to the second line that contains the keyword '<table' . Then Skipping the first table row <tr>
and then read tables until </table> is reached.

rows are in form <tr><td><a href="../supernova.html#2020urz" target="_self">AT2020urz</a></td><td>anonymous</td><td>17:54:59.990</td><td>-21:22:40.10</td><td>0.0 </td><td>11.1</td><td>2020/10/02</td><td>Nova?</td><td>n/a</td><td>11.1</td><td>2020/10/02</td><td>2020/10/02</td><td>BraTS</td><td>BraTS-SON-T2-020</td></tr>

Step 2 : Proof of Concept Program

Instead of building a custom html parser an online search suggested that the package HtmlAgilityPack had the necessary tools for parsing the web document
https://www.nuget.org/packages/HtmlAgilityPack/

After extracting the .DLL and referencing it from a new Visual Studio Project 'AstroSN' it was quickly established that the data in the web page could be read and manipulated.
Copies of AstroVOE files added to the project as existing items, and a Test Button/Routine into which an online example of code using HtmlAgilityPack was included. The code was edited to reference the required web page and a couple of other edits made to allow it to run/pull data from html document.

try 
   Dim web As New HtmlWeb()
   Dim doc 
As HtmlDocument = 
web.Load("http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/snactive.html")

   
' Get all tables in the document
   Dim tables As 
HtmlNodeCollection = doc.DocumentNode.SelectNodes("//table")

   
' Iterate all rows in the first table
   Dim rows As 
HtmlNodeCollection = tables(2).SelectNodes("//tr")
   For i As 
Integer = 0 To rows.Count - 1

      ' Iterate 
all columns in this row
      Dim cols As 
HtmlNodeCollection = rows(i).SelectNodes("//td")
      
For j As Integer = 0 To cols.Count - 1

         
' Get the value of the column and print it
         
Dim value As String = cols(j).InnerText
         
MessageBox.Show(value)     
      
Next
   Next
Catch ex As Exception
     
MessageBox.Show("Error: " + ex.Message)
End Try

Update: 2021-02-14
Since the proof of concept program was built the program has been built into a fully working application (AstroSN 1.4) that is run manually ahead of each new session. New Supernova of sufficient brightness/interest are loaded into Targets Database and then automatocally incorporated in the night's observing plan. Other objects, suhc as bright CV outbursts are also loaded to the database. Data loaded including discovery date allow time since discovery to be easily calculated for any later observations. This aid documentation of obsrevations on website.

This Web Page:	Notes - Session 819 (2020-10-13)
Last Updated :	2024-02-21
Site Owner :	David Richards
Home Page :	David's Astronomy Web Site

David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 819 (2020-10-13)