David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1015 (2022-06-01)

Notes (S1014)

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Notes (S1016)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (2),  Small Defects (1),  Continuous Improvement (3)
	Images from 2022-06-01 >>         [ Local Files >> ]
	2022-05-15
	DeviceHub 6.6.0.10

Session Aims & Highlights (2022-06-01)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by time & conditions.

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.0.8,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.10
   
• AstroMain 3.51.12,  AstroPlan 1.30.7,   AstroShCap 1.3.12, AstroGuard 1.8.1
  AstroVOE 1.10  AstroSN 1.8.2,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.1
  (AstroWeather 1.17, AstroAllSky 3.16,  AstroObsCam 1.9, AstroLaunch 1.9.1)

Highlights

•  Targets. x targets were successfully acquired.

Notes:

• Summer Twilight . Twilight conditions for session. (Sun Alt -10.80° at local midnight)

  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)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 23:49:17 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 23:51 & 01:08 23:49:21   AutoStart Waiting AutoStart waiting till earliest start time at 23:51 23:51:41 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:51) 23:52:10 Session Created Live Session Created (2022-06-01 S01015, ImageSaveNum: 1015001) 23:52:12   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 23:53:54   Services Started Observatory Services started 23:54:01 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:54:04 Session Pending Session pending (2022-06-01) 23:54:06 Session Initiating Session initiating (2022-06-01) 23:54:08   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.30.7) 23:54:38   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 775) 23:55:01   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 23:55:08   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 23:55:32 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 23:56:53   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 23:57:09   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 00:02:08   Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (5.0 mins total) 00:02:10 Session Running Session running 00:02:12   Queue Started Observing Queue started (8 targets selected) 00:02:15     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 16, HIP 78946) 00:04:56       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:08:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 00:09:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:10:01       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:12:11       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 00:13:57       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:14:15     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 16, HIP 78946) 00:15:34     Target Started (1/8) Target started (1/8, NGC 3367 w/SN2022ewj) 00:21:24       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 00:38:03     Target Completed Target completed (1/8, NGC 3367 w/SN2022ewj) 00:38:07     Target Started (2/8) Target started (2/8, NGC 4088 w/SN2022jzc) 00:41:18       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 00:57:23     Target Completed Target completed (2/8, NGC 4088 w/SN2022jzc) 00:59:34     Target Started (3/8) Target started (3/8, AT2022jrp (CV)) 01:03:14       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:05:25       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 01:11:12     Target Completed Target completed (3/8, AT2022jrp (CV)) 01:11:34     Target Started (4/8) Target started (4/8, GCVS SS Cyg) 01:16:13       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:18:20       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 01:23:19     Target Completed Target completed (4/8, GCVS SS Cyg) 01:27:49     Target Started (5/8) Target started (5/8, GCVS BL Lac) 01:30:24       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:32:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 01:36:25     Target Completed Target completed (5/8, GCVS BL Lac) 01:37:55     Target Started (6/8) Target started (6/8, HIP 87937) 01:41:49       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:44:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 01:46:30     Target Completed Target completed (6/8, HIP 87937) 01:46:34     Target Started (7/8) Target started (7/8, UGC 11177 w/AT2021koq) 01:49:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:51:36       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 02:07:22     Target Completed Target completed (7/8, UGC 11177 w/AT2021koq) 02:07:26     Target Started (8/8) Target started (8/8, GCVS AM Her) 02:10:08       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:12:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 02:18:13     Target Completed Target completed (8/8, GCVS AM Her) 02:18:16   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 02:18:18 Session Closing Session closing 02:19:11   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 02:19:54   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 36s), Az: 90.0 deg 02:21:05   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 67s) 02:21:20   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 02:21:42   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 02:22:38   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 02:22:40 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 02:22:46 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2022-06-01, S1015)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Small Defects (1)
• Continuous Improvement (3)

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Dome Slew to Target 3/8 (AT2022jrp) was abnormally slow. Dome slew rate to AT2022jrp target (0.56°/s) was abnormally slow. Slew took 77s to slew 43.4° from Az 285.1° to 241.7°.  Examining the dome slew data shows that the dome was held for 51s whilst trying to pass Az 247.0.  This is known issue which results from a combination of dampness,/grease of roof flange,  any slackness in tension of dome drive motor assembly against the roof flange and bulges in roof flange passing across guide wheels related  to the dome walls not being perfectly circular when the observvatory was erected in 2018. Known issue. Roof flange to be cleaned and tension checked. Otherwise a known issue. Closed after review.  (Note: The Slew to Target 4/8 (SS Cyg) also took a particularly long time (143s), however given its 169°slew angle the slew rate of 1.2°/s isn't outside normal/tolerable range)
  Closed 2022-06-03 (Pulsar Dome) 
   
• DeviceHub activity log only captured the last 36 mins of the sessions. DeviceHub's activity log is critical to helping diagnose occassional anomalous slews like the one that affected a slew to SS Cyg during the S1014 session (see Investigation -  Issue Identifying End Of Dome Slew 2022-05-31) however the activity log works with a fixed space capacity and once the ceiling is reached the oldest messages begin to get overwritten.   Even logging just Dome and Scope related commands, the default space restriction meant that only the last 36 mins of the session could be captured, comprising just 2 slews preventing the ability to diagnose any issues with earlier slews. The author of DeviceHub has provided a workaround to this issue. The default log capacity is 125000,  however the capacity can be changed by editing the value of 'ActivityLogCapacity' in the DeviceHub configuration file  (C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ASCOM\DeviceHub\ASCOM.DeviceHub.exe.config) . The capacity could be increased ten-fold by change the setting thus :
    <setting name="ActivityLogCapacity" serializeAs="String">
    <value>1250000</value>
  </setting>
  It should be noted that the value is reset back to default after each new installation/update of DeviceHub.
  Fixed 2022-06-03 (Pulsar Dome)

Small Defects

• Format of log messages for 'Scope Movement' differs slight from the message for 'ScopePath' . Time column width is too long by one character and needs to be shorterned to same length as used for ScopePath rows.  ScopePath uses
     "Time: " + RAlign(SecondsSince(StartTime), 5, 1) + ", " +
  whilst Scope Movement uses
    "Time: " + RAlign(SecondsSince(StartTime), 6, 1) + ", " +
  Format for 'Scope Movement' messages changed to that used by ScopePath
  Fixed 2022-06-03 (AstroMain 3.51.13 )

• Automatically report azimuth positions that dome slews are getting held up at and for how long.  Investigating the details of slow dome slews is tedious and could be helped by automatic reporting. Feature added to AstroMain 3.51.13 which records holdups longer than 5s and highlight any slew were total hold-up is greater than 30s.
  Done 2022-06-03 (AstroMain 3.51.13 ) 
   
• Consider dumping DomePath to log file for all slews not just slow slews. At the moment the domepath whilst captured for all dome slews, is only dumped out to the log file if the slew was determined to be particularly slow.  It may be useful to dump the slew path for all slews in case of other slew issues.   It is probably appropriate to reduce the length of the path by only writing out rows where there is a change in azimuth value (to 1 dp) .   Dumping of domepath could go hand-in-hand with reporting of positions where dome slews are being held up. Implemented in AstroMain 3.51.13.  
  Done 2022-06-03 (AstroMain 3.51.13 )
   
• Remove reporting of AllSky Measurement from Near Zenith Focusing as it always wastes 30s and timesout. Access to AllSkyMeas at start of session/during Near Zenith Focusing using GetCloudInformation() has always been problematic and hasn't been resolved despite multiple tries.  Currently 30s is given over to trying to get AllSkyMeas information but this inevitably fails - it doesn't return any Sky measurements and the loop times out (wasting 30s). The relevant 30s wait loop is removed (commented out) from FocusScopeNearZenith() routine.
  Done 2022-06-03 (AstroMain 3.51.13 ) 

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2022-06-02

DeviceHub 6.6.0.10

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