David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 926 Attempt 1 (2021-10-15)

Notes (S925)

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Notes (S926B)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (6), Small Defects (2),  Continuous Improvement (9)
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	Pegasus Astro USB Control Hub
	2021-10-12
	AllSky/Weather Computer - Installation of Pegasus Astro USB Control Hub

Session Aims & Highlights (2021-10-15)

Main aims

1. Resync Scope. Resynce scope position and perform short mapping running to update TPoint Model, following daytime maintaince work which necessiated loosing the Telescope's Dec Clutch .
2. Dec Motor. Make guiding runs to examine the performance of a new Dec Motor Unit that had been installed earlier in the day. 
3. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by time & conditions.
4. SkyQuality Chart.  Assess the appearance of graph curves & legend on new SkyQuality chart.
5. AstroMain. Check on fixes and new features added to AstroMain 3.44.2

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2 2.6.10,  DeviceHub 6.5.1.4,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.1.361, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.5 SP1
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.10
   
• AstroMain 3.44.2  AstroPlan 1.25.1  AstroShCap 1.3.2, AstroGuard 1.6.2,  AstroVOE 1.8,  AstroSN 1.6,  AstroProtect 1.6
  (AstroWeather 1.13, AstroAllSky 3.12.1, AstroObsCam 1.5.7, AstroLaunch 1.6.5)

Highlights

•  AstroMain.  AstroMain 3.44.2 confirmed to have fixed a number of issues.
   
•  Dec Motor.  New Dec Motor Unit worked ok through the session but there was no opportunity to examine/test its guiding performance.
•  SkyQuality Chart.  Data plotting and data legend, and upload to website all worked ok,   but the display of data was not sufficiently clear,
         It did however allow the formulation of proposed changes to improve the new chart.
   
•  Focusing.  Telescope was found to be badly out of focus at start of session. Focus position had to be changed from the previous night
        by a considerable amount (more than any other occasion). Time was taken up performing an extra wide search for best focus under manual control.
•  Cloud.  Cloud unfortunately developed quickly and interferred with the night's planned operation to resync the telescope,
        perform a short mapping run, and examine the performance of the  newly installed new Dec Motor.
•  Resync Scope.  Operation to resync scope and perform short mapping job wasn't fully achieved and will need to be redone at start of next session.
•  Targets.   Cloud prevented the acquisition of any targets

Notes:

  Summary Plots & Logs

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)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 01:09:17 Session Created Live Session Created (2021-10-15 S00926 Attempt, ImageSaveNum: 926001) 01:09:19 Program Resumed AstroMain UI resumed again at 01:09 after 8s 01:09:26   Services Started Observatory Services started 01:09:42   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 01:11:27   Services Started Observatory Services started 01:12:09   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 01:12:39   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 46s) 01:15:03 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:15:33   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 01:15:59 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:20:22   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 01:21:21     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 2, HIP 9508) 01:22:57     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 2, HIP 9508) 01:29:22       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 01:32:05       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:37:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 01:39:27       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 01:40:35 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:43:36 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:46:28 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:47:37   Telescope Telescope pointing successfully synced 01:47:39   Telescope Pointing Mapping run started 01:47:45   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 01:51:59   Automapping Aborted Automapping aborted (0 points mapped out of 12 points) 01:52:25   Telescope Pointing Mapping run finished (Mapped 0 / 12) 01:53:00 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:54:05 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 01:55:21   Telescope Telescope pointing successfully synced 01:55:24   Telescope Pointing Mapping run started 01:55:28   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 02:07:24   Automapping Completed Automapping completed (6 points mapped out of 12 points) 02:07:51   Telescope Pointing Mapping run finished (Mapped 6 / 12) 02:08:20   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 02:12:47   Automapping Aborted Automapping aborted (2 points mapped out of 12 points) 02:13:25 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 02:14:44 Telescope Running 'ResetScopePointing' under user supervision 02:15:40   Telescope Telescope pointing successfully synced 02:15:42   Telescope Pointing Mapping run started 02:15:48   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 02:17:30   Automapping Aborted Automapping aborted (0 points mapped out of 12 points) 02:17:42   Telescope Pointing Mapping run finished (Mapped 0 / 12) 02:18:25   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 33s) 02:18:39   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 02:19:00   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 02:20:10   Dome Parked Failed Dome parking failed 02:20:13   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 47s) 02:20:15   Dome Park Aborted Dome Park aborted (47s, Az=199.4degs) 02:21:16   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 51s) 02:21:19   Dome Parked Dome parked 02:21:43   Services Stopped Night Services stopped

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2021-10-15, S926 Attempt 1)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (6)
• Small Defects (2)
• Continuous Improvement (9)

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• 'Park Dome' button routine fails when Shutter needs to be closed.  Using the 'Park Dome' button routine whilst in Manual Observatory Mode saw the Shutter Close Ok, but Parking Dome at its park position (Az 090°) failed.  Resolved in-session by clicking on the 'Park Dome' button for a second time.  It is hypothosised that the park dome operation failed because the routine was trying to execute Close Shutter and Park Dome tasks concurrently.  Routine should be changed to make the Park Dome operation wait until the Close Shutter operation is completed. This is not a problem when executing the operation in automated mode as the Close Shutter and Park Dome are conducted as sequential operations. Logs show command to Close Shutter being sent at 02:19:24.31, with command to slew dome to azimuth 090° being made at 02:19:24.33.  Dome Slew monitoring detected that slewing was in progress .Slewing = True at 02:19:24.86 but at detected that there had been no movement in Dome Azimuth and exited the monitoring loop at 02:20:09.65 as it had been 'waiting more than 8s'. In fact is waited some 47s which was the time in took for the shutter to close and the Dome.Slewing return to False.  'ParkDome() routine modified to include a wait loop after calling CloseShutter() that exits when Shutter is Closed or after a maximum of 100s of waiting time (timeout condition).
  Fixed 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• After  the scope was parked at the end of session and the session finished  TP.Scope details weren't reset leaving Scope / Near Focus Field annotation on AllSKy Images for remainder of night and into the next night until issue was spotted. Scope was parked by manual initiation of Park Scope button routine and manual session close, meaning that the normal automated tasks (including clear TP scope/next target array) weren't undertaken.  Fix made by adding calls to TP.HideScope()  from the 'Park Scope' and 'Park and Close Down' button routines.
  Fixed 2021-10-17  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• 'Park and Close Down' button routine doesn't seem to close the Dome's Shutter. Whilst examining code it is noticed that the Whilst the routine parks the dome, parks & turns off the scope and turns of the CCD Camera, it doesn't seem to call any routine to Close the Shutter. .
  Fixed 2021-10-17  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Unable to run 'Build Local Jpg Page' on session files, process failing with the  message 'Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Data\CCD Imaging\Analysis\2021-10-15 S00926\_TargetInfo'. lThe 'BuildJpgPicturePage()' routine was developed as a way of presenting Target JPG pictures and Target Info data from a session and was later extended to show other graph, tables and logs from the session.  The routine 'expects' target JPG picture / target info to always be present and exited when running against a session were no target images were acquired.  Modify routine so that routine can still build a slimmed down local  web page that is still useful.
  Fixed 2021-10-17  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Whilst running AstroMain 'Image Reduction'  for Session 2021-10-15 S00926 the session's SkyQuality Chart file was found to have been overwritten by the SkyQuality chart that was previously active in 'Observatory' for test session '2021-10-17 TEST'.  Whilst testing 'Build Local JPG Page' it was found that the Sky Quality chart was not the expected one, but the one that had been created a few minutes before during an Observatory Test Session. It would seem that SkyQualityChart.AddData was still being called by ObservatoryMonitor which adds data every 45s to the chart and saving the chart with the name given by the current SkyQualityChartFileName value.  Fixed by ensuring that AddData is only executed if emConsoleMode = emMode_Observatory.   Underlying problem would seem to be that ObsMonitor service wasn't stopped when Observatory Console Mode was exited to go the Reduction Console Mode ?.  Problem occurred when 'Image Reduction' was selected from the program's Main form whilst the console was still in Observatory/Manual Mode. This couldn't occur on the Observatory Computer since the program operates solely in Observatory Mode and doesn't expose the Main Form (the Main Form is only available on Development/Analysis Computer).
  Fixed 2021-10-17  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Focus position on LX200 scope had changed by a considerable and unexplainable amount since the last session. The final focusing run at end of the previous session (Profile 14, S925, 2021-10-14) showed a QCed Best Focus at 2222 step position at temperature 6.1°C which represented a focus adjustment offset of -996 (relative to Standard Temperature Compensated Equation).   In comparison Profile 1 from the S926A session showed a QCed Best Focus at 5528 step position at temperature of 4.0°C which represented a focus adjustment offset of 2127.  These figures indicates that a difference in Focuser Draw Tube position of 3123 steps, equivalent to 0.27 in or 6.8mm over an interval of just 19 hours.   In comparsion temperatures during session S925 fell from 9.4°C to 6.1°C but the focus position only chnaged by 21 steps +/- 80.   Whilst a new Dec Motor Unit had been fitted to the telescope between the two sessions no intentional or accidental change to the telescope's primary mirror focuser.  Large changes have occasionally been seen before and are asserted to be due to some significant change in atmospheric properties.  Focus position to be carefully rechecked at the start of next session (autofocusing to be be monitored remotely).   The underlying issue is that size of the focus position was greater than the normally used wide seach range, that was a focusing mode specially added to workaround these occasitional large focus changes. The initial autofocus run was attempted at 2391 steps with +/- 1980 wide range. Although this failed due to the focus star being too dim / too out of focus (the scope had not yet been synced on a star at this stage so targeting on a specific bright star was not possible) it is clear that the focus profile over the range 411 to 4371 steps would have failed to cover the eventually determined best focus position at 5528 steps. Autofocusing at the start of the following session (S926B, 2021-10-18)  showed a QCed Best Focus at 4472 step position at temperature of 14.9°C which represented a focus adjustment offset of 2162. This is very similar to the figure of 2127 from the previous S926A session showing that, despite the nearly 11° difference in ambient temperature, the underlying temperature compensation framework is fairly reasonable and prehaps suggests that the large difference between S925 and S926A sessions was down to some shift in the primary mirror rather than atmospherics ?. Closed after review (2021-10-19).
   Closed after review  2021-10-19 (Session) 

Small Defects

• Grid Lines on right hand portion of new Sky Quality Chart are incorrect. Grid line extensions are not being drawn at same positions as in the first 4 hour period of the graph. SkyQualityChart.ExtendGraph() routine needs to be changed to drawn the correct grid lines positions.
  Fixed 2021-10-17  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Clarity curve on Sky Quality Chart is starting from a value of zero.  This shouldn't be happening it seems that CloudSensor.Clarity is showing a value before it refreshes with a real value from the Cloud Sensor.
  Fixed 2021-10-18  (AstroMain 3.44.3) 

Continuous Improvement

• Incorporate ASCOM Switch access into the AstroObsCam program,  with buttons functions to Connect/Disconnect Control Hub,  to toggle ObsCam State On/Off  &  to Reset the ObsCamera. 'Reset' is to be a sequence of actions to disconnect camera, disable camera , enable camera & finally reconnect camera)
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroObsCam 1.6)
   
• Extend AstroLaunches  launch options for AllSKy Computer to include the Pegasus UCH Program.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroLaunch 1.7)
   
• Reporting of 'Park Dome' button routine shows that two ReportLine/ReportTitle routine calls are being made.  Reporting cosmetics will look better if one of the two sets of ReportLine/ReportTitle calls is removed. Examine 'ParkScope' button routine.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.44.3.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Tweak the reporting of Scope Parking to place the Handbox display information and Confirm Park on two separate lines.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• The 'Stop Night Observatory Services' button routine should uncheck the night services when finished. .
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Sky Quality chart axes to be further revised in order to better display the data (Av Image Diff (Centre Offset), C Term, AllSky Stars,  Clarity). Second version of Chart used during Session Attempt S926A shows that there is a clearer/better way of displaying that data. Instead of 0 to 360 (left axis)  and -60 to 60 on right axies it is proposed to move to 360 to 0 (left axis) and 60 to -60 (left axis).  Reduce line thickmess of Standard Deviation and RMS curves and change line colour of Star No. from blue to black.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Query: 'Close Hub Services' (Dome & Scope) button routine was slow to report activity/1st part of result. Check whether the routine it is run in UI thread, or is run as a threaded operation. The threaded operation is correct way of running the routine.   Code changed in AstroMain 3.44.3 to run StopHubServices(1) as a threaded task by starting a thread pointing to the address of new routine  'RunStopHubServicesMode1'.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroMain 3.44.3) 
   
• Add new feature to AstroPlan WebUploader that allows Latest Session web page contents to be rolled back to the previous session.  Where a new session is created, image and data files used for populating the Current Session/Latest Session web page are overwritten by small 'blank versions. This is normally ok, but when the new session doesn't giv erise to any effective observing  due to bad conditions and/or hardware, software failures there would be benefit in rolling back the image and data files to those from the previous session and have them reflected in the Latest Session webpage on the Observatory's website. It is envisioned that the contents of live Folder are automatically back up to a 'Saved Session' folder when a new session is created (removing the prior 'Saved Session' folder or archiving it). A new 'Rollback Session' button will be added that after user confirmation will replace the contents of the live folder with files from the Saved Session Folder and a 'Full Upload' initiated.  This may need the FTP Queue to be paused whilst the file replacements are being made. Rollback operation would normally be used in the morning after a Session Attempt wasn't worthy of recording online.    This doesn't block / prevent the preservation of file/results/data in the attempted session's session folder.
  Done 2021-10-16 (AstroPlan 1.26)  
   
• Query: What does 'TempMonitor' service actually do. Can it's Tasks be incorporated into either the 'Observatory Monitor' or 'CCD Monitor' Services ?.  TempMonitor handles the recording of various environment information to the session's (monitor).dat file every 2 minutes and writing of specific information to console's Status Bar.  It is also responsible for sending updated data to three time series charts (BestFocusChart.,  CcdTempChart,  FocusTempChart).  Question answered.  Combining tasks into single routine has little benefit.
  Closed 2021-11-14 (AstroMain) 

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Pegasus Astro USB Control Hub (2021-10-15)

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2021-10-16

AllSky/Weather Computer - Installation of Pegasus Astro USB Control Hub

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