David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1027 (2022-08-11)

Notes (S1026)

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Notes (S1028)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (2),  Small Defects (2),  Continuous Improvement (7)
	Images from 2022-08-11 >>        [ Local Files >> ]

Session Aims & Highlights (2022-08-10)

Main aims

1. 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 6.6.0.16,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.11
   
• AstroMain 3.53.5,  AstroPlan 1.30.12,   AstroShCap 1.3.12, AstroGuard 1.8.2
  AstroVOE 1.10  AstroSN 1.8.2,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.1
  (AstroWeather 1.17.5, AstroAllSky 3.16,  AstroObsCam 1.9, AstroLaunch 1.9.4)

Highlights

•  Targets. x out of x planned targets were acquired. Last 4 targets failed due to cloud.
•  Dome.  Dome rotation held up at Az 305.4° (00:32) & 305.8° (01:18).  Later on an anomalous slew occurred during final dome slew from Az 162° to 90°, the dome started at and ended at expected positions but the Az values returned by Pulsar driver showed this unexplained anomaly where at T+34s the  Dome Az reported by the driver suddenly jumped from 92.8° to 176.4°.

Notes:

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 20:25:40 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 21:58 & 03:18 20:25:44   AutoStart Waiting AutoStart waiting till earliest start time at 21:58 21:58:41   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 23:47:00 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:47) 23:47:28 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2022-08-11 S01027, ImageSaveNum: 1027001) 23:47:31   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 23:49:14   Services Started Observatory Services started 23:49:21 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:49:25 Session Pending Session pending (2022-08-11) 23:49:27 Session Initiating Session initiating (2022-08-11) 23:49:29   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.30.12) 23:50:04   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 789) 23:50:25   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -10°C) 23:50:32   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 23:50:56 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 23:51:41   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 23:52:31 Session Running Session running 23:52:34   Queue Started Observing Queue started (15 targets selected) 23:52:37     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 20, HIP 98535) 23:52:50   Dome Unparked Dome unparked 23:54:51       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:57:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 23:59:26       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 23:59:29       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:01:39       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 00:03:25       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:03:43     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 20, HIP 98535) 00:05:57     Target Started (1/15) Target started (1/15, NGC 5875 w/SN2022oqm) 00:09:32       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:11:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 00:27:48     Target Completed Target completed (1/15, NGC 5875 w/SN2022oqm) 00:27:52     Target Started (2/15) Target started (2/15, IC 1132 w/SN2022prv) 00:30:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:33:23       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 00:49:49     Target Completed Target completed (2/15, IC 1132 w/SN2022prv) 00:49:53     Target Started (3/15) Target started (3/15, NGC 6701 w/AT2022nxe) 00:52:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:55:02       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 01:10:49     Target Completed Target completed (3/15, NGC 6701 w/AT2022nxe) 01:11:57     Target Started (4/15) Target started (4/15, NGC 6745 w/SN2022prr) 01:14:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:16:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 01:32:42     Target Completed Target completed (4/15, NGC 6745 w/SN2022prr) 01:33:57     Target Started (5/15) Target started (5/15, NGC 5894 w/SN2022pgf) 01:38:15       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:40:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 01:56:35     Target Completed Target completed (5/15, NGC 5894 w/SN2022pgf) 01:56:39     Target Started (6/15) Target started (6/15, GCVS EV Lac) 02:00:15       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:02:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 02:05:48     Target Completed Target completed (6/15, GCVS EV Lac) 02:05:52     Target Started (7/15) Target started (7/15, 61 Cyg) 02:08:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:10:37       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 02:12:12     Target Completed Target completed (7/15, 61 Cyg) 02:12:16     Target Started (8/15) Target started (8/15, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:14:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:17:00       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 02:21:41     Target Completed Target completed (8/15, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:27:42     Target Started (9/15) Target started (9/15, GCVS BL Lac) 02:30:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:32:44       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 02:36:32     Target Completed Target completed (9/15, GCVS BL Lac) 02:37:48     Target Started (10/15) Target started (10/15, UGC 11946 w/SN2022hsu) 02:40:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:43:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 02:53:17   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (reducing clarity) 02:53:37   SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to improved conditions 02:54:37   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (reducing clarity) 02:59:34     Target Completed Target completed (10/15, UGC 11946 w/SN2022hsu) 02:59:36   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 02:59:38 Session Suspended Session suspended 03:00:28   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 03:10:44     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (11/15, AT2022fnb (CV)) due to cloud 03:19:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (12/15, GCVS HH And) due to cloud 03:27:45     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/15, WDS GRB 34) due to cloud 03:36:36     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (14/15, GCVS RX And) due to cloud 03:54:44     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (15/15, WDS GRB 34) due to cloud 03:54:49   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 03:54:54 Session Closing Session closing 03:54:59   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 03:00, closing time 50s) 03:56:14   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 67s), Az: 90.0 deg 03:57:28   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 73s) 03:57:43   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 03:58:05   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 03:59:01   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 03:59:03 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 03:59:09 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2022-08-11, S1027)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Small Defects (2)
• Continuous Improvement (7)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Unable to access any pages on website including the important Current Weather and Current Session web pages that are important for remote monitoring (Pre-Session).  Although not critical for running or monitoring a live session the pages are nevethess a great convenience for monitoring the session expected this evening.  Unable to reach any pages for a 6+ hour period. Issue present on 3 different computers/devices.  Made a live chat call to hosting platform and they didn't really say what was wrong, eventually they said they could reach website ok via Chrome. (Had a similar issue a few months ago and again they didn't realy say what was wrong, but website access suddenly started working again).  Might suggest an issue with ISP or router blocking access.  Son was able to reach site ok . I suspect that the web host had place a block on traffic coming from my IP (prehaps due to the regular 24x7 automatic FTP uploads), and they released the block when I called them, but didn't tell me this was the problem or the fix. Checking log files later showed that the Observatory Computer had problems uploading files from 10:47 onwards but uploading suddenly resumed again at 19:52.   Logs from the AllSky/Weather Computer show that it was unable to connect to web server from 11:46 onwards, but uploading resumed again 19:52:13.
  Resolved 2022-08-11 (Website Host)

Minor Issues

• Report Messages are not immediately seen in AstroMain's console when observatory services are being stopped after clicking the 'Close' button.  If Observatory Services are running when 'Close' button is clicked, the StopObservatoryServices() routine is run to close any services that are still runnning.  Currently this routine run as a synchonous operations which causes the GUI to be locked until after the routine has been completed.  Only after execution returns do report messages become displayed/visible in the console.  Fixed by having the objconsole.btnClose_Click() routine call a new routine RunStopObservatoryServices() which submits StopObservatoryServices() as a threaded process, and then enter a loop which waits until the bServicesStarted flag changes to False.  Same fix made to MainForm.btnExitMain_Click().
  Done 2022-08-13 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Best Foc2 Focus Position determined for Profile 2 (Normal) is suspect. The best focus determined by MeasureFocusProfile_Foc2() routine for Profile 2 was determined to be 7906 (from Curve Fit) whereas best focus from a visual inspection of the data is at around 7975. This difference might have affected guiding. Issue resolved in-session by adjusting the focus offset from -1170 to new value of -1170 and saving the change, and then moving Foc2 focuser to the revised Temp Compensated Focus Position.   Focus Profile to be replayed in order to see how the Autofocusung code could be adjusted to produce a better determination of best focus position or to test a potential fix.  Fix implemented In AstroMain 3.53.6 by invalidating points where HFD >= 14 and MaxPixel  < 0.5 * PeakMaxPixel. See Fig 1  showing the problem profile from S1027 (left), and after passing focus data point through fixed code (right).
  Fixed 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)

Small Defects

• Autosave Number in Report File is being displayed as a hyperlinked 'telephone' number in Safari. By default any numbers like 1027001 that appear to be potential telephone numbers get displayed as hyperlinked (blue undelined) number  when viewing Latest Sessions Report File in Safari browser on IPAD. Whilst this can be turned off by using a special html string in the web page header, the Report File (.htm) file doesn't have a header so this option is not available.   Fixed issue in AstroMain 3.53.6 by surrounding AutoSave number in [  ] brackets like [1027001].
  Fixed 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Calculate correct 'MustInclude' and 'Overall' values for display on Convergence Plot at the Gen0/Gen1 position. 'Overall' is currently plotted at 0.0 for Gen 1 position, whilst  'MustInclude' isn't plotted at all for Gen 1 position. Fixed both items in AstroPlan 1.30.13.  Overall Fitness for Gen 1 Plans is fitness* no. of fit observations/no. of observations. 
  Fixed 2022-08-12 (AstroPlan 1.30.13)

• Make a number of additional cosmetic and minor technical improvements to Report File and Log File messages.
  Done 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Modify Stop Night Services / Scope.Disconnect to report 'Stopped already' if service was previously running.
  Done 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Report SNR of Guide Star when Lock Position, Star is Selected or Settling is Done.
  Done 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Add Av SNR and Av Elong to the reporting of Average FWHM.
  Done 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Remove carriage return from ends of Event messages before writing them to the Session PHD2 Log file.  Occassionally the Event message recieved from PHD2 seems to end in a carriage return or line feed which breaks the flow of messages contained in Session's PHD2 log file. It would be handy if these CR / LF characters were removed.
  Done 2022-08-12 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Hide '>>Stopping magick' messages being reported to console (Development Computer).    Message is produced in ConvertFitsToJpg by the call KillProcessQuick("magick").  The KillProcessQuick() is modified in AstroMain 3.53.6 to take a new 'bQuietMode' parameter, and the Convert FitsToJpg () routine is changed to call KillProcessQuick("magick", True) . A 'kill process' message is still written to the log file.
  Done 2022-08-13 (AstroMain 3.53.6)
   
• Report Guide Stats associated with Focusing/Settling stage. Implemented in AstroMain 3.53.6.  Using new routine Guider.Capture_GuideF2_Image(), changes to OB.ExecuteTarget to call Capture_GuideF2_Image().
  Done 2022-08-13 (AstroMain 3.53.6)

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