David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1020 Attempt (2022-06-26)

Notes (S1019)

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Notes (S1020)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (4),  Small Defects (1),  Continuous Improvement (4)
	No images from session     [ Local Files >> ]
	DeviceHub 6.6.0.12

Session Aims & Highlights (2022-06-26)

Main aims

1. Observatory Computer. Perform nightime session test using Observatory Computer and ensure systems and devices are working correctly together. This will be the first session attempt since the computer had a complete reinstall of Window 10 and all observatory software (2022-06-21 to 2022-06-23).
2. AstroMain. Check out new 3.52 version of AstroMain. Ensure that new version hasn't introduced any new issues and that fixes and improvements are working as per design. 
3. PHD2 Calibration. Perform a new calibration of TS80/178MC profile . 
4. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by time & twilight conditions.

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.0.11,  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 3.52,  AstroPlan 1.30.8,   AstroShCap 1.3.12, AstroGuard 1.8.1
  AstroVOE 1.10  AstroSN 1.8.2,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.1
  (AstroWeather 1.17.1, AstroAllSky 3.16,  AstroObsCam 1.9, AstroLaunch 1.9.2)

Highlights

•  Observatory Computer.  Observatory Computer, freshly reistalled software and connected devices all operated without any issues or problems
•  AstroMain. AstroMain 3.52 operated without any new issues or problems
•  PHD2 Calibration. PHD2 was working , but unable to complete calibration due to lost star/cloud at 00:45.
        Conditions cleared for a while a little later (01:10 till 02:00) but had retired to bed.
•  Targets. Session was aborted early due to cloud and the failure to acquire a PHD2 calibration

Notes:

• Summer Twilight . Twilight conditions for session (Sun Alt -9.3° at local midnight)
  

  Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

No plan was generated for the session

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

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 00:00:29   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -10°C) 00:00:31 Session Created Live Session Created (2022-06-26 S01020, ImageSaveNum: 1020001) 00:00:38   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 00:02:24   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:09:48   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:11:45   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 44s) 00:12:38     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 15, HIP 73454) 00:17:05       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:21:10       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 00:23:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:23:24       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:25:35       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 00:27:21       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:27:39     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 15, HIP 73454) 00:41:39 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 00:41:44 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 00:42:29   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 00:44:12   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 78s) 00:44:27   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 00:44:49   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 00:46:13   Dome Parked Dome parked 00:46:15   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 78s) 00:47:02   Camera1 Disconnected SBIG Camera closed down & disconnected 00:47:15   Services Stopped Night Services stopped

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail 00:05:18 Dome Shutter Pulsar Shutter has woken up (fresh data started at 00:05:18, outage 0.0 mins)

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Operational Issues (2022-06-26, S1020A)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (4)
• Small Defects (1)
• Continuous Improvement (4)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Focus Near Zenith having problems before Image Link/Centering due to too few stars (twilight stars). Due to twilight sky (sun alt 8.4. degs) there are to few stars for plate solution/centering using 10s image. Eventually plate solved on 4th attempt after exposure time had ramped up to 60s. Probably should move to centre brightest star operation after first 2 attempts had failed. Consider raising a continuous improvement ticket.
  Resolved by itself  2022-06-18  (Session)
   
• Local Files web page didn't contain images/graphs associated with Near Zenith Focus Field. Near Zenith Focus Field 15 was visited as part a manually initiated Near Zenith Focusing. Locate JPG pictures were created under oid001. Foc1 and Foc2 Focusing was completed.  with pictures under oid001.  No ObsCam pictures were taken as ObsCam picture monitoring hadn't been started.    Examining and testing code in debug mode showed that the problem was due to a bug in BuildJpgPicturePageNew() which was using 'nTargetInfoFiles = TargetInfoFiles.GetUpperBound(0) - 1'.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.52.2 by changing the code line  to 'nTargetInfoFiles = TargetInfoFiles.Length'.
  Fixed 2022-06-28 (AstroMain 3.52.1)
   
• Due to user obmission the ObsCam wasn't started and running ahead of initiating the session.  ObsCam was set off line a few days beforehand whilst the user was in observatory over a period of time for computer setup & testing,  and wasn't put back on-line after this work had finished and in particular wasn't put online ahead of the S1020A session.
  Closed 2022-06-18  (User)
   
• The Local Files WebPage is displaying Focus Profiles (2 Foc1 + 2 Foc2, ie 4 in total) for each of the 3 Locate Frame pictures from Focus Field 15.  The appropriate Foc1 Focus Profiles are shown correctly with the Focus.foc1.jpg picture, and the appropriate Foc2 Focus Profiles are shown correctly with the Focus.foc2.jpg picture.  However locate frames pictures (Loc1.jpg, Loc2.jpg and Loc3.jpg) shouldn't have any Focus Profiles displayed. Issue occurs because Focus Profiles are displayed with a JPG picture when the JPG picture has '.Focus' in the name.  But this catches not only .Focus.foc1 and .Focus.foc2 pictures but also .Focus_Field_15.LocX pictures.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.52.2
  To fix 2022-06-28 (AstroMain 3.52.2)

Small Defects

• A green dome shutter alert was issued with an outage of 0.0 mins and seemingly without any preceeding yellow alert.  After starting session at 00:00 and connecting New Services between 00:00 and 00:02 (note the Dome Service was reported as 'already started')  and then whilst observatory operations were idle a green Dome Shutter alert was issued at 00:05:18 with message 'Pulsar Shutter has woken up (fresh data started at 00:05:18, outage 0.0 mins)'. The outage of 0.0 mins possibly suggests a false alert situation ?.  Investigate why green alert issued without an obvious yellow alert.  Examining the log file shows a sequence of Dome.LastDateTime log messages from the ObsViewer " DomeRecord.LastDateTime = 1990-01-01 00:00:00" which is vcNullDate. These messages appear at 23:59:18.03 (at the time that the Dome service was started  & dome connected) and  continue until 00:05:15.71 which is about the time the green alert was issued.  Immediately prior to starting the session at 00:00 the dome service was started  23:59, and the dome log monitor was attached to 'ASCOM.Pulsar_Observatories_Dome.2359.172550.txt'. Messages sent to the Pulsar log file from 23:59 onwards appear totally normal and there isn't anything in the log file that changes at around 00:05:18 when the green alert was issued.  PulsarDomeMonitor.ParseDomeLogRecord() routine will only have issued a green (Pulsar Shutter has woken up) alert  if  bPulsarOutageReported had previously been set to True.  This is only set to True in circumstances where a Yellow (Pulsar Shutter is deemed to be asleep) alert has (at some point) been issued. It is not possible to confirm this alert, as alerts for general sessions are overwritten by the following he general session from the following day.   Extra tracing has been added to record the occurance of Green & Yellow Alerts to log file and report file.  [ This extra tracing was utilised during a General Session on 2022-06-29, when after having Dome connected in AstroMain and AstroGuard, the dome service was stopped & then restarted in AstroMain.  There was an immediate yellow alert (last fresh data at 1990-01-01 00:00:00 following by green alert (at 16:40:44, outage 0.0 mins).   Issue was repeatable after switching off/switching on Services, incl Dome) ]
  Closed 2022-06-28  (AstroMain 3.52.2)

• Dump set of predicted Wind Speeds/Directions to log file as start of session. This is to support investigation over the choice of focus Field for new Zenith focusing.   Instead of dumping a table of predicted Wind Information, a table is dumped showing the exclusion reason (moon proximity, wind conditions, larger LHA/lower altitude) for each focus field that is not selected.
  Done 2022-06-28 (AstroMain 3.52.2)
   
• Guide North tool to indicate when Pulse Guide has completed.  Implemented using new routine,  WaitOnPulseGuide(). Needs live test to confirm that implementation is effective with live telescope.
  Done 2022-06-28 (AstroMain 3.52.2)  
   
• Add code to JogUsingPulseGuide() to simulate Synchronous behaviour when Scope Driver (like the Telescope Simulator for .Net) uses ASynchronous behaviour. PulseGuide() show Synchronous behaviour when used with MeadeGeneric driver & LX200GPS telescope, but the Telescope Simulator for .Net driver shows ASynchronous behaviour.   It order to better simulate the behaviour of the actual observatory system code should be added to Scope.JogUsingPulseGuide() routine (which is run as a threaded operation), that tests for ASynchronous or Synchronous behavior when using a non-MeadeGeneric telescope driver by comparing the time taken to return from objScope.PulseGuide with the specified Pulse Duration and if seemingly Synchronous then sleep for the remainder of the Pulse Duration in order to simulate Synchronous behavior.
  Done 2022-06-29(AstroMain 3.52.2)
   
• Cosmetic improvements to JogUsingPulseGuide(), RunJogScope(),  MakeCorrectiveJog() routines. Small cosmetic improvements to reporting for various Guide/Jog routines.
  Done 2022-06-29(AstroMain 3.52.2)

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DeviceHub 6.6.0.12

DeviceHub was updated on Development & Observatory Computers today (2022-06-26) from version 6.6.0.11 to new 6.6.0.12 version. 

This new version contains a change to returned dome slewing value after initiating a SlewToAzimuth command, following correspondance with author of DeviceHub over an issue with DH Dome returning to normal polling (every 5000ms) too quickly after a SlewToAzimuth command.  This was a problem when using Pulsar Dome where AstroMain's dome client was unable to 'see' short <= 5 deg dome slews (nor the first part of longer slews), but would instead suddently see the result of the slew some 5.1s later.

6.6.0.12 Release Notes
- Simplify DomeManager command logic.
- Ensure that short slews are handled correctly so that the client can get the downstream driver's Slewing state immediately after the command is issued.

Activity Log
After installation of the new version the Activity Log Capacity value (which was reset to its standard default value (125000) during installation ) was again increased ten-fold (1250000) by editing the DeviceHub configuration file (see notes DeviceHub 6.6.0.10, 2022-06-02 )

Results
Daytime testing showed that DeviceHub 6.6.0.12 made no practical difference to the data recieved by dome client and didn't resolve issue with 'seeing' short slew (<= 5 deg).     No issues found with new version during S1020A session attempt (2022-06-26) or during S1020 session (2022-06-27).

>> Device Hub Releases :  https://github.com/ASCOMInitiative/ASCOMDeviceHub/releases

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