David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1156 Attempt (2023-10-10)

Notes (S1155)

Notes Main

Home Page

Notes (S1156)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (2),  Minor Issues (4),  Small Defects (0),  Continuous Improvement (8)
	No Images from 2023-10-10 >>
	Greenhouse Temperature/Humidity Sensor
	Zigbee / Rest API Notes

Session Aims & Highlights (2023-10-10)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions.
2. Comets. Acquire images of xxx
3. AstroMain. Check new AstroMain version (3.62.17) for recent fixes and improvements.
4. Zigbee Network.  Check stability and any issues with Observatory Zigbee Network following addition of GreenHouse MultiSensor (T,H & P)

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.1.1,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.11dev4, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
   
• AstroMain 3.62.17, AstroPlan 1.38.5,   AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.13  AstroSN 1.10,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.12.6
  (AstroWeather 1.21.2, AstroAllSky 3.19.4,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4, AstroLaunch 1.11.1

Highlights

• Session. Session was an observing failure. AstroMain lost the correct power status of the SBIG Camera earlier in the dy when deConz software was restarted. AstroMain thought SBIG Camera power was on when it was actually off and then failed to progress beyond the starting stage when Camera Connection was made and CCDSoft stopped responding and Foc1FieldsUpdater & ObsMonitor froze.  ObsOverseer unable to resolve situation and session remained 'stalled' until morning when user intervention made to RestartCCDSoft.
• Targets. No targets were attempted due to failure in CCDSoft/SBIG/AstroMain whilst session starting. A few hours of observing time were lost
• Comet.  'New Comets' entered into database / Must-Include Targets set. but no images were acquired due to major issue with session (see above)
• AstroMain. No issues associated with changes in new AstroMain version (3.62.17), but potential deficiences seen in Zigbee Device Status tracking and ObsOverseer.
•  Zigbee Network. There were no issues with the Zigbee Network 'per se', but a restart to deConz software earlier in day caused AstroMain to hold wrong states for Door Sensor (AstroMain thought door was open when it was closed) and SBIG Camera (AstroMain thought SBIG Camera power was on when it was actually off). 
•  AllSky Camera. AllSky Camera Images were clear of dew/condensation following recent reopening of Camera's hemisphere & wiping dry.

Notes:

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

No picture

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

No picture

Slew/Centering Performance

No picture

Guiding Performance

No picture

Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)

No picture

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 01:58:48 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 01:58 & 05:29 01:58:53   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 02:10:19 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (02:10) 02:10:29   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 02:10:54   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -5°C) 02:10:56 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2023-10-10 S01156, ImageSaveNum: 1156001) 02:11:01   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 02:11:43 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 02:11 in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 02:12:47   Services Started Observatory Services started 02:12:54 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 02:12:59 Session Pending Session pending (2023-10-10) 02:13:01 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-10-10) 02:13:03   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.38.5) 02:13:04 TempMonitor Frozen TempMonitor appears to be frozen at around 02:13 in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 02:14:26   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 930) 08:16:39   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 08:16:46   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 08:17:15   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 08:17:28   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -15°C) 08:17:39 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 08:17:41 Session Closing Session closing 08:17:43   Dome Closed Dome already closed 08:17:45 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 08:17 in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 08:17:45   Dome Parked Dome already parked 08:18:40 TempMonitor Frozen TempMonitor appears to be frozen at around 08:18 in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 08:18:44   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 62s) 08:18:58   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 08:19:21   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 08:21:14   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 08:21:19   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 08:21:21   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 08:21:23 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 08:21:27 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 02:12:59 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (35.24 GB) is less than 50 GB 02:13:26 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 02:11:43) in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 02:15:36 Red Alert TempMonitor TempMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 02:13:04) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 08:16:44 Green Clear Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater has resumed again (08:16) after 365.0 mins 08:16:46 Green Clear TempMonitor TempMonitor has resumed again (08:16) after 363.6 mins 08:19:29 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 08:17:45) in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 08:21:14 Red Alert TempMonitor TempMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 08:18:40) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 08:21:19 Green Clear Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater has resumed again (08:21) after 3.6 mins 08:21:21 Green Clear TempMonitor TempMonitor has resumed again (08:21) after 2.6 mins 08:21:23 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (35.11 GB) is less than 50 GB

Back to Top

Operational Issues (2023-10-10, S1156A)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (2)
• Minor Issues (4)
• Small Defects (0)
• Continuous Improvement (8)
  

[ Prev | Next ]

Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Connect Camera issue at 02:10 and/or 02:14 which froze Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor processes (02:14).  Session S1156A begun under Autostart at 02:10 and a Camera Connection was made at 02:10.  'Session Initiating' appeared to be entirely normal and Observing Plan was loaded ok. During Session Starting at 02:14 there was a further Connect Camera operation.  At this point ObsOverseer gave a warning "TempMonitor is frozen (02:15) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' ". Logs message at 02:13:26.42 showed a alert "Foc1FieldsUpdater is Frozen (103s) in section 'Update Foc1Fields'"  . This would suggest Foc1FieldsUpdater became frozen at 02:11:43.  in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' (This was around 40s after starting "FocusTempChart" at 02:11:04.93).  At 02:15:16.59 the TempMonitor was logged as Pending (132s) which would place its freeze point at 02:13:08  corresponding to time when AstroMain was waiting for AstroPlan to finish creating the night's observing plan.  CCDSoft evidentally stopped responding and ObsPics showed the 'Cam1 CCD' frozen on "4.5°C (95%)".  What caused CCDSoft to stop responding and two AstroMain monitor processes to freeze ? This became a major issue for the session as user wasn't monitoring at this late time (and therefor couldn't intervene) and ObsOverseer/ObsManager didn't make an automated intervention. (see issue below).  Considered to be resolved by AstroMain 3.64 by changes to CCDMonitor, TempMonitor and Foc1FieldsUpdater and the introduction on new CCDCamera object & thread.
  Considered resolved 2023-11-05  (Session, AstroMain 3.64, CCDSoft, SBIG Camera)
   
• Connect Camera issue at 02:14 not resolved by ObsOverseer/ObsManager which left the session in 'Session Starting' state until day-break (02:14).  Session begun under Autostart at 02:10 and Camera Connection made 02:10. 'Session Initiating' appeared to be entirely normal and Observing Plan was loaded ok. During Session Starting at 02:14 there was a further Connect Camera operation.  At this point ObsOverseer gave a warning "TempMonitor is frozen (02:15) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' ". Logs message at 02:13:26.42 showed a alert "Foc1FieldsUpdater is Frozen (103s) in section 'Update Foc1Fields'"  . This would suggest Foc1FieldsUpdater became frozen at 02:11:43.  in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' (This was around 40s after starting "FocusTempChart" at 02:11:04.93).  At 02:15:16.59 the TempMonitor was logged as Pending (132s) which would place its freeze point at 02:13:08  corresponding to time when AstroMain was waiting for AstroPlan to finish creating the night's observing plan.  here was no further progress until user intervention made at 08:16 to Restart CCDSoft (including SBIG Camera Restart). This released the 'hold' and 'Session Starting' continued with 'ConnectTheSky Telescope.' during which report lines were interlaced with report lines form 'Connect Camera' operation that automatically followed the Restart CCDSoft (including SBG Camera).   After Prepare Expected Timings' ObsManager recognised that End of Scheduled Plan (05:53) has been passed, and moved to 'Session Closing' . (During 'Close Camera' operation progress stalled at 'Turn off CCD Cooling'  and user intervention had to be made to Restart CCDSoft and to separately Stop/Restart the SBIG Camera using button facilieis on the More/Cam1 tab". It is unclear if this is related or not.).  ObsOverseer/ObsManager should have taken some corrective action at 02:14+ to resolved the frozen temp monitor. Considered to be fixed by AstroMain 3.64 by changes to CCDMonitor, ObsManager and the introduction on new CCDCamera object & thread.
  Fixed 2023-11-05  (Session, AstroMain 3.64)
   
  TBA  Earlier in the day the SBIG Camera was switched off from AstroMain at 14:27 and a while later the camera was switched on from AstroMain at 14:35.  A 'Connect Camera' operation was then initiated from AstroMain (14:35). Although successful the ObsOverseer/GUI Checker initially reported a warning that AstroMain UI had stopped responding (14:35). GUI checker reported that the UI had resumed again after 18s.  A 'Disconect Camera 1' ABIG Camera disconnected from CCDSoft' was then reported, followed by Restart CCDSoft (including SB Camera) initiated by user action (14:36) was then reported. A user action to 'Connect Camera' at 14:37 was successful. A 'Close Down Camera' initial by user action (14:38)  was successful.   At some point (time uncertain ) the Power Switch to the Zigbee Power Plug for SBIG Camera was manually turned off & then turned on again (this was to try to get the new Greenhouse T/H zigbee sensor which tied itself to the Zigbee Power Plug for SBIG Camera, connected to other zigbee device, but this didn't change things).  The SBIG Camera was reported as 'On' and Observatory Door reported as 'Closed' when Observatory Zigbee Network was reported at 01:49. This is likely to have been user initiated. Observatory Services were stopped at 01:51. and then restarted at 01:52. The SBIG Camera was again reported as 'On' and Observatory Door reported as 'Closed' when Observatory Zigbee Network was reported at 01:52.  Services when then stopped at 01:52 and the '2023-10-10' (General) session closed by user andAstroMain closed (10:53) and restarted at 01:56.  The SBIG Camera was again reported as 'On' and Observatory Door reported as 'Closed' when Observatory Zigbee Network was reported at 01:57.  Autostart Mode was initiated by at 01:58, at 02:10 the conditons became suitable for starting a live session. Session  '2023-10-10 S1156' (later S1156A) was created by Auostart at 02:10, and CCDSoft was restarted (to set Autosave No.), and the SBIG camera successfully connected (02:10). Night Service were started at 02:11, and an Observing Plan was created at loaded (02:14). During Session Starting at 02:14 there was a further Connect Camera operation.  At this point ObsOverseer gave a warning "TempMonitor is frozen (02:15) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' ".  There was no further progress until a user intervention made at 08:16 to Restart CCDSoft (including SBIG Camera Restart). . Fortunately the Observatory was in a safe condition (Shutter was still closed, Dome was still parked and Telescope although started, was stationary with Tracking Off. ObsViewer remains active and ObsPics continued to be recorded every 30s. These show that 'Cam1 CCD' stuck on '4.5°C (95%)' and clearly wasn't getting fresh data.

Minor Issues

• AstroMain Observatory Picture unexpectedly showing the observatory door is 'Open' (01:30). Whilst remotely monitoring autostart operations it was noticed that Dehumidifier was 'Off' because 'Observatory Door is Open'. This was totally unexpected. Checking ObsViewer appeared to confirm that the Observatory Door was 'Open'.  Although door was believed to have been closed and locked during a visit in the afternoon, there was nevertheless the possibility that my memory was playing tricks. With the possibility that door had been left open a visit out to the Observatory was made at 01:35 to 01:40.  But the door was closed/locked. Observatory was opened and a quick check confirmed that both halves of the Zigbee Open/Closed Door Sensor were present. ObsPics (saved every 30s) show that the observatory door opened at 13:41, and then seemingly had remained open since then. The visit at 13:41 were for the purposes of adding a new Zigbee Sensor (Greenhouse T/H) to the Observatory's Zigbee Network. During this work the deConz program that operates the network and is responsible for sending out WebSocket Events to AstroMain's Zigbee Monitor, was restarted. Log files recorded by AstroMain's zigbee monitor show a Open Door event at 13:41, but no events are recorded after this until 01:52 which was shortly after AstroMain was restarted. In particular it does record a Close Door event or other events such as SBIG Camera being turned off / on ?.   With no 'Door Close' event being received, AstroMain continued to think that the Observatory Door was open.   The SBIG Camera was reported as 'On' and Observatory Door reported as 'Closed' when Observatory Zigbee Network was reported at 01:49. At this time (between 01:49:15 and 01:49:30) ObsPics flip from showing 'Door Open' (mauve flag) to Door 'Closed' (green flag).  (the ReportZigbeeNetwork() routine refreshes AstroMain's understanding of sensor states (independant of deConz websocket event monitoring).  This is ranked as a Minor Issue and was resolved in-session by restarting AstroMain (it is possible that using the backdoor facility 'Restart Zigbee Network' may have also resolved the issue but this is uncertain. Observatory Services including the 'Zigbee service' were restarted at  xx:xx.  A separate issue concerning the SBIG Camera described above in the 'Major Issues' section, was initially thought to be caused by the same underlying cause, but this hasn't been bourne out by more detailed investigations.
  Resolved In-Session 2023-10-11  (Session, deConz, AstroMain)
   
• AstroMain didn't log 'Connect Camera' operation (02:10). Session begun under Autostart at 02:10 and Camera Connection made 02:10 according to Session Report File following a 'Restart CCDSoft' operation to 'Set Autosave No.'.  Logs record the Restart CCDSoft operation' but don't record the Connect Camera operation. This would have been useful when trying to understand issue with progress stalling in 'Session Starting' until a user interventation was made after day-break.  This seems to be general issue and not a single-session issue (e.g the same problem affects at least Session S1165 (2023-11-11).
  Fixed 2023-11-13 (AstroMain 1.64.6)
   
• 'Connect Camera' failing with error "SBIG driver: Device not found" (08:21). After General Session was resumed at 08:21, CCDSoft was restarted to set Autosave No., after which 2 attempts were made to automatically 'Connect Camera' but both failed with error message "SBIG driver: Device not found".  Shortly after (08:21) Report Zigbee Network showed that SBIG Camera was off.   The apparent fact that SBIG Camera's power was off would explain the error message. The question is 'why did Restart CCDSoft (to set AutoSave No). follow up with a call to Connect Camera ?'  It would seem that AstroMain must have thought that Camera was connected when it entered 'Restart CCDSoft', otherwise it wouldn't have tried to Connect Camera.   So next question "why was Camera thought to be connected when its power was off. Going back to a user initiated 'Restart CCDSoft (including SBIG Camera)'  there is some ambiguous reporting (see issue below "'Stop SBIG Camera' / 'Restart SBIG Camera' operation didn't switch on SBIG Camera" . This is very confusing and suggests that an anomalous event action occurred when left the SBIG Camera in an "Off" state.  AstroMain should be modified so that 'Connect Camera' is not called if SBIG Camera is reported as Off by the Zigbee Network. or returns without making the Connect Camera call to CCDSoft.  A very similar issue occurred during a Session Attempt in Feb 2024 (S1184,  20234-02-12) which was investigated and a fix attempted that wait increases await period between switching off SBIG Camera Power and Switch it on again from 4s to 12s.
  Fix attempted 2024-02-13 (AstroMain 3.65.13, Zigbee, SBIG Camera)
   
• 'Stop SBIG Camera' / 'Restart SBIG Camera' operation didn't switch SBIG Camera back on (08:21) A  'Restart CCDSoft (including SBIG Camera)'  showed ambiguous reporting to Stop SBIG Camera / Restart SBIG Camera. .  In response to a call to Stop SBIG Camera / switch off SBIG Camera (08:21:21.63 | Command >> PUT /api/<apikey>/lights/3/state { "on": false }) , there is an event info message at  "SBIG Power has switched off   (08:21:21, on time 4.5 min) " from a 'e: changed, on:false' event at 08:21:21.64, followed by an unexpected "SBIG Power has switched on    (08:21:21, off time 0 sec)"  message from a  'e: changed  on: true' event at 08:21:21.69.   Then in response to 'Restart SBIG Camera'` / `'Switch on SBIG Camera' there is a statement "SBIG Camera is already on" (from a "on":true response at  08:21:25.65 from a GET api/<ApiKey>/lights/3" command which explains why there is no command "PUT /api/<apikey>/lights/3/state { "on": true}' in the session's '(zigbee)' log file. This is followed by info message "SBIG Power has switched off   (08:21:26, on time 5 sec) " in response to a "e:changed, on:false event" at  08:21:26.52.   This is very confusing and suggests that an anomalous event action occurred in the Zigbee Network.  A very similar issue occurred during a Session Attempt in Feb 2024 (S1184,  2024-02-12) which was investigated and a fix attempted that wait increases await period between switching off SBIG Camera Power and Switch it on again from 4s to 12s.
  Fix attempted 2024-02-13 (AstroMain 3.65.13, Zigbee, SBIG Camera)

Small Defects

• None

Continuous Improvement

• Add a Observatory Zigbee Network section to website's 'Notes by Topic' page. When attempting to add and test a new Temperature/Humidity Sensor to the observatory's Zigbee Network it was difficult to remember various matters associated with the Zigbee Network, deCONZ & Phoscon App. It would be useful to have a section in the 'Notes by Topic' (notes_by_topic.htm) to refer to. Section link would include Observatory Zigbee Network (2022-10-21).  
  Done 2023-10-10 (Website)
   
• Add Aqara Temperature/Humidity sensor to observatory's Zigbee Network for monitoring greenhouse remotely. New multi-sensor for recording Greenhouse T/H (named 'Greenhouse') was added to the Zigbee Network using Phoscon App. (See notes:   Greenhouse Temperture/Humidity Sensor (2023-10-10) ).  This added 3 items to the network's sensor list.  ID 9 :  Greenhouse, ZHAHumidity, humidity, ID 10 : Greenhouse, ZHATemperature, temperature, ID 11: Greenhouse, ZHAPressure, pressure. Further actions are been raised to make the sensor values accessible to AstroWeather / Website.
  Done 2023-10-10 (Observatory Zigbee Network)
   
• Add Handing for Greenhouse Sensor (Greenhouse Temperature, Greenhouse Humidty & Greenhouse Pressure) to AstroMain's Zigbee Monitor . Added 3 TDeConzDevices (structure) objects: GreenhouseHumidity, GreenhouseTemperature & GreenhousePressure. Added 2 new fields to TDeConzDevices structure: Humidity & Pressure (note : Temperature is already present).  Added 3 internal zigbee device ids :  zbGreenhouseHumidityID=12, zbGreenhouseTemperatureID=13, zbGreenhousePressureID=14. Added 3 zigbee sensor ids (rest_api sensors) : zbSensGreenhouseH_SensorID=9, zbSensGreenhouseT_SensorID=10 & zbSensGreenhouseP_SensorID=11.  Added QueryDevice() calls for GreenhouseHumidity, GreenhouseTemperature & GreenhousePressure to QueryAllDevices() routine.  Added handling for Greenhouse sensors to  ReportZigbeeNetwork(), Zigbee.QueryDevice(), Zigbee.ReportDevice(), Zigbee.HandleSensorChange(), Zigbee.UpdateSensorFields(), Zigbee.ClearFormFields().
  Done 2023-10-11 (AstroMain 3.62.18 / 3.63). 
   
• Add Greenhouse Temperature, Humidty and Pressure to ObsEnv records that are sent from AstroMain to the AstroWeather & other programs running on AllSky/Weather Computer.
  Done 2023-10-11 (AstroMain 3.62.18 / 3.63).
   
• Modify AstroWeather's ObsEnv record reading and update relevant Graph Charts (Graph ID 59)
  Done 2023-10-12  (AstroWeather 1.22)
   
• Check successful implementation of Greenhouse Temperature/Humidity recording. Check graphs on https://www.astro-richweb.net/astro/greenhouse_current.htm to ensure regular delivery of T/H information.   During tests on 2023-10-12 Greenhouse Temperarture/Humidity 'changed' events were typically received every 1 to 22 minutes.  (They seem to always come as a pair of events.  Greenhouse Pressure 'changed' events were typically received every 1 to 1.7 hours.
  Done 2023-10-12  (Website, AstroMain)
   
• Recreate Observatory Ch2 Graphs. The Ch2 T/H Sensor associated with the Weather Station was used in the greenhouse for a while for aftering encountered data communications issues it has been replaced with a Zigbee T/H multisensor the Ch2 sensor returns to its previous duty as a back-up Observatory T/H sensor.  Original Ch2 Temperature and Humidity box graphs need to be recreated as GraphID =63 and GraphID = 64, and Ch2 Temp/Humidity curves need to be re-added to Observatory T/H graphs.
  Done 2023-10-12  (AstroWeather 1.22)
   
• Add button faclity to AstroMain's More/Backdoor tab to allow Zigbee event monitoring to follow and output all websocket events for observatory's zigbee network for a period up to say 60 mins.
  To do 2023-10-08 (AstroMain 3.63)

[ Prev | Next ]

Back to Top

Greenhouse Temperature/Humidity Sensor

Back to Top

Zigbee / Rest API Notes

dCONZ Rest API

Information/online manual

Find Gateway

As a first step the gateway IP address and port must be found using https://phoscon.de/discover

Back to Top