David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1281 (2024-12-10)

Notes (S1280)

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Notes (S1282)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (3),  Small Defects (7),  Continuous Improvement (2)
	Images from 2024-12-10 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2024-12-10)

Main aims

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

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 7.0.3 RC2.4692, MeadeGeneric 1.3.11.512 , UPB 1.5, ASCOM 7.0.3 RC2,  Pulsar Dome Firmware 1.51 & Driver 6.3.10
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S 6.0.6
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.13, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 7.0.3 RC2
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.73.6,  AstroPlan 1.42.5  AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.6   (any new items or versions in bold)
  AstroVOE 1.15.1,  AstroSN 1.14,  AstroProtect 1.10.6,  AstroMove 1.14   
  AstroWeather 1.27, AstroAllSky 3.21.10,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4 (not 1.11.5), AstroColorCam 1.1.5, AstroLaunch 1.11.12

Highlights

• Targets. 9/44 planned targets observations were completed with 1 further target partially completed.  Other targets failed due to cloud
•   Dome. There was one issues closing the shutter during session which is being investigated. Dome closed and parked at end of session Ok

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 17:21:40 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 17:21 & 06:18 17:21:43 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (17:21) 17:22:04   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 17:22:31   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -20°C) 17:22:33 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2024-12-10 S01281, ImageSaveNum: 1281001) 17:22:38   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 17:24:34   Services Started Observatory Services started 17:24:42 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 17:24:44 Session Pending Session pending (2024-12-10) 17:24:46 Session Initiating Session initiating (2024-12-10) 17:24:55   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -25°C) 17:25:02   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.42.5) 17:25:45   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1064) 17:26:24   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 17:26:48 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 17:27:33   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 17:28:03 Session Running Session running 17:28:06   Queue Started Observing Queue started (44 targets selected) 17:28:08     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 23, HIP 113729) 17:28:24       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 17:31:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 17:34:26       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 17:36:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 17:36:45       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 17:38:58       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 17:40:52       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 17:41:12     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 23, HIP 113729) 17:41:30     Target Started (1/44) Target started (1/44, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)) 17:45:28       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 17:48:07       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 17:53:36       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 17:55:20     Target Completed Target completed (1/44, C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)) 17:55:22   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 17:55:24 Session Suspending Session suspending 17:56:06   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 45s, Zigbee 43s) 17:56:07 Session Suspended Session suspended 18:05:36     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (2/44, AT2023aanv (CV)) due to cloud 18:15:54     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (3/44, GCVS BL Lac) due to cloud 18:35:54     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (4/44, AT2024rqk) due to cloud 18:48:14     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (5/44, Nova Vul 2024) due to cloud 18:54:57 Session Resuming Session resuming 18:55:42   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 18:55:43 Session Running Session running 18:55:46   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 18:55:49     Target Started (6/44) Target started (6/44, AT2023uqd) 18:59:08       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 19:15:07     Target Completed Target completed (6/44, AT2023uqd) 19:15:09   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 19:15:11 Session Suspending Session suspending 19:15:59   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 43s) 19:16:01 Session Suspended Session suspended 19:18:56     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (7/44, GCVS HH And) due to cloud 19:38:21     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (8/44, AT2024xpy) due to cloud 20:00:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (9/44, UGC 11087 w/SN2024ixb) due to cloud 20:22:41     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (10/44, AT2023qox (CV)) due to cloud 20:32:55     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (11/44, 61 Cyg) due to cloud 20:44:17     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (12/44, AT2024aasc (CV)) due to cloud 20:57:14 Session Resuming Session resuming 20:57:45     Target Missed (13/44) Target's time slot was missed (13/44, Gliese 65) 20:57:59   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 20:58:00 Session Running Session running 20:58:02   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 20:58:19     Target Started (14/44) Target started (14/44, SN 2024xqt) 21:02:47       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:05:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 21:22:16     Target Completed Target completed (14/44, SN 2024xqt) 21:22:21     Target Started (15/44) Target started (15/44, AT2024gfh) 21:26:53       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 21:43:17     Target Completed Target completed (15/44, AT2024gfh) 21:43:21     Target Started (16/44) Target started (16/44, AT2022fnb (CV)) 21:46:46       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:49:29       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 21:55:29     Target Completed Target completed (16/44, AT2022fnb (CV)) 21:55:33     Target Started (17/44) Target started (17/44, WDS GRB 34) 21:58:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:01:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 22:03:20     Target Completed Target completed (17/44, WDS GRB 34) 22:03:24     Target Started (18/44) Target started (18/44, AT2024dcg (CV)) 22:04:21       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 22:04:46       SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to improved conditions 22:07:46       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:10:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 22:22:25     Target Completed Target completed (18/44, AT2024dcg (CV)) 22:22:29     Target Started (19/44) Target started (19/44, M33 w/Nova M33 2024-08a?) 22:28:15       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:30:30       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed - star lost 22:47:13     Target Completed Target completed (19/44, M33 w/Nova M33 2024-08a?) 22:47:17     Target Started (20/44) Target started (20/44, M31 w/Nova M31 2024-11b?) 22:50:23       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 23:06:49     Target Completed Target completed (20/44, M31 w/Nova M31 2024-11b?) 23:06:53     Target Started (21/44) Target started (21/44, AT2022rhq) 23:10:51       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 23:12:12       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:14:48   Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 23:14:50   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 23:14:52     Target Aborted (21/44) Target aborted (21/44, AT2022rhq) due to cloud 23:14:54   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 23:14:56 Session Suspending Session suspending 23:17:13   Dome Closing Dome closure hasn't finished after 140s (ShutterState=Closing) 23:17:15 Session Suspended Session suspended 23:17:48   Pulsar Dome Recovering Dome 23:18:02   Pulsar Dome Restarting Dome Controller 23:18:38   Pulsar Dome Dome Controller has been restarted 23:18:50   Pulsar Dome Dome Service has been restarted 23:19:27   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 23:19:58   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 5s, Zigbee 302s) 23:24:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (21/44, AT2022rhq) due to cloud 23:41:02     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (22/44, AT2023cuz) due to cloud 23:51:40     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (23/44, AT2024zys (CV)) due to cloud 00:04:39     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (24/44, GCVS RR Tau) due to cloud 00:24:56     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (25/44, Scholz's Star) due to cloud 00:46:16     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (26/44, MRK 0628 w/SN2024aakr) due to cloud 01:08:36     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (27/44, AT2022xao) due to cloud 01:31:20     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (28/44, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) due to cloud 01:41:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (29/44, GCVS U Gem) due to cloud 02:01:23     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (30/44, UGC 4433 w/SN2024uhc) due to cloud 02:23:43     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (31/44, AT2024accj) due to cloud 02:45:43     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (32/44, NGC 2890 w/SN2023xnl) due to cloud 03:08:03     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (33/44, LEDA 1012969 w/SN2022zvu) due to cloud 03:30:03     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (34/44, AT2024fxd) due to cloud 03:52:23     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (35/44, NGC 4192A w/SN2024exw) due to cloud 04:08:31     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (36/44, NGC 5235 w/SN2024grb) due to cloud 04:30:51     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (37/44, NGC 5151 w/SN2024acnr) due to cloud 04:44:17     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (38/44, T CrB) due to cloud 05:04:07     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (39/44, LEDA 2078778 w/SN2024xqe) due to cloud 05:26:27     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (40/44, UGC 5426 w/SN2024aanq) due to cloud 05:48:47     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (41/44, SN 2024adhf) due to cloud 06:11:07     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (42/44, AT2024aart) due to cloud 06:33:07     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (43/44, NGC 4722 w/SN2024ablh) due to cloud 07:05:27     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (44/44, NGC 4933) due to cloud 07:05:31   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 07:05:34 Session Closing Session closing 07:05:39   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 23:19, closing time 5s, zigbee 302s) 07:06:53   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 65s), Az: 90.0 deg 07:07:44   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 48s total) 07:08:09   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 07:08:31   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 07:09:57   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 07:09:59 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 07:10:11     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 88.0 to 92.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 07:10:57     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 90.4°) 07:11:03     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -0.4°) 07:11:05   Dome Parked Dome parked 07:12:55   Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (26mA) 07:12:57 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 17:24:44 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (30.69 GB) is less than 50 GB 19:11:29 Yellow Alert Dome Dome has been stationary for more than 15 mins 20:00:44 Red Alert Dome Alert Shutter Data isn't being refreshed 20:00:48 Yellow Alert Dome Shutter Pulsar Shutter appears to be asleep (last fresh data was at 19:40:42) 20:01:08 Green Clear Dome Shutter Pulsar Shutter has woken up (fresh data at 20:00:57, outage 20.4 min) 20:01:09 Green Clear Dome Alert Shutter Data has resumed updating 20:58:29 Green Alarm Dome Dome Movements have begun again (outage 122.2 mins) 23:17:13 Red Alarm Dome Closing Dome closure hasn't finished after 140s (ShutterState=Closing) 23:17:48 Red Alert Dome Alert Dome hasn't reached 'Closed' state after 120s during HardSuspend 07:10:08 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (29.59 GB) is less than 50 GB 07:12:55 Green Clear Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (26mA)

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Operational Issues (2024-12-10 S1281)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (3)
• Small Defects (7)
• Continuous Improvement (2)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• A 'Dome' red alert was raised with message "Shutter Data isn't being refreshed" (20:00). A 'Dome Alert' was raised at 20:00:44 with the message "Shutter Data isn't being refreshed", followed 4s later by a yellow alert/warning with the message "Pulsar Shutter appears to be asleep (last fresh data was at 19:40:42)".  A green all-clear was issued at 20:01:08 with the message "Pulsar Shutter has woken up (fresh data at 20:00:57, outage 20.4 min)" & "Shutter Data has resumed updating".  These might be a false alarm, but a Green All Clear at 20:58:29 with message "Dome Movements have begun again (outage 122.2 mins)" implies a long running issue ?   This happened during a period (19:16 to 20:58) when the session was suspended.  Telescope Tracking was turned on when the session resumed at 20:58 when dome was at Az 291.3°, whilst this would have eventually led to a periodic dome movements, in this case dome movement was triggered by a SlewToAzimuth (320°) request at 20:58:26 associated with Telescope Slew to Target 14/44 (SN 2024xqt).   Closed after review 2024-12-11.
  Closed after review 2024-12-11 (Pulsar Dome, AstroMain)
   
• A 'Dome Closing' Red Alarm was issued "Dome closure hasn't finished after 140s (ShutterState=Closing " (23:17). A Dome Closing red alarm was raised at 23:17:13 with the message "Dome closure hasn't finished after 140s (ShutterState=Closing)" followed by a red Dome Alert at 23:17:48 with the message "Dome hasn't reached 'Closed' state after 120s during HardSuspend".  Dome opened normally at 17:26 when session was starting, closed normally at 19:15 when session was suspended, then opened again normally at 20:57.  Zigbee Sensors reported that the Shutter was closing at 23:14:54, but then reported that Shutter hadn't finished closing within 60s suggests that the shutter movement stopped or was otherwise held up.   After Session entered Suspended State and after taking an ObsCam Image the ObsManager reported that "Dome hasn't reached 'Closed' state 120s after being requested to close (setting bDomeDataIssue)", and the AstroMain ran its "Recover Dome" routine, during which the Pulsar Dome was rebooted.  When Dome was reconnected, Shutter was reported to be in an Error State, whilst Zigbee  reported the Shutter as 'Part Open'. After 'Recover Dome' routine finished, The Zigbee Sensor reported that Shutter was finally closed at 23:19:55 (which is 5 minutes after it began closing).  The Pulsar system implied that Shutter has closed after 5s, which was time taken to go from Closing to Closed. suggesting that Shutter had been 85% closed when it stopped moving earlier.  Pulsar Dome logs indicate CloseShutter Request at 23:14:53.19 and Shutter changing from 0 (Open) to 3 (Closing) at 23:14:53.41 and remaining in state 3 (Closing) till  23:17:56.13 (3 minutes later) when the Pulsar Dome was rebooted.  After Dome restart the Pulsar log shows Shutter State was 5 (Error) from 23:18:38.56, before changing to 3 (Closing) at 23:19:54.14 (following a CloseShutter Request at 23:19:54.13),  and changing to 1 (Closed) at 23:19:57.10.   Unclear why Dome had this glitch, but the Automated Recovery worked as per design.   Issue doesn't seem to be related to earlier alerts that Shutter data isn't been refreshed (19:40 to 20:01).  Issue closed after review 2024-12-10. A separate Continuous Improvement ticket is raised to examine whether the Dome Recovery process been made to happen earlier than it did.
  Closed after review 2024-12-11 (Pulsar Dome, Zigbee) 
   
• The Ekowitt Gateway is prone to turning off due to a USB connector issue (2024-12-12). At some point whilst cables where being reconnected for Tapo Camera other cables in the AllSky/Weather Computing Bay were being identified and labelled. The USB connector that provides 5V power to the Ecowitt G2000 Gateway was knocked and turned off the Ecotwitt Gateway, which that stopped weather data feed to CumulusMX/AstroWeather.  This issue has been noted several times now. and it seems that the male USB connector from the Gateway doesn't make a good contact with the Pegasus USB Hub that currently provides it with power in the Observatory  or earlier with a USB power supply when the Weather Station was originally tested indoors. Moving the connector showed that the connection is very flakely,  but at least did should that when power was reestablished the Gateway would restart and data would automatically start again without having to press the button on the top of the Gateway. Given that issue occurred indoors during earlier testing and there had been no issue with Pegasus USB Port 6 when used with the old Oregon Scientific WR80 Gateway it would seem that the problem is due to the male USB connector from the Ecowitt Gateway. It would seem that the pins in the connector need to be somehow bent out to give a more reliable connection when used in a female USB port.
  To fix 2024-12-12 (Ecowitt Gateway Power) 

Small Defects

• Free space on Observatory Computer's C Drive has fallen to only 29.5 GB.  49 GB of unneccessary old files were deleted on 2024-12-11 which brought free space back up to 78.4 GB.
  Resolved 2024-12-11 (Observatory Computer) 
   
• Target was continued whilst session was resuming (20:57). The job executor moved to Target 13/44 (Gliese 65) at 20:44 whilst the session was suspended due to cloud. At 20:57 conditions had improved and the Session began resuming and the shutter was commanded to Open. Whilst the dome was opening and the session was still 'resuming',  the target reached the end of it's time slot, and the reporting continued with the message "Target Failed - Planned start time was missed", and reporting then continued to Target 14/44 (SN 2024xqt), and was listing details of its Time Slot when the Shutter finished opening at 20:57:55, and Session State moved to "Session Running (again)", and the new target continued successfully. It would seem that job execution should have been placed on hold / continued in hold whilst the session was resuming and only released from hold once session was running again or had returned to suspended state.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.73.7 by adding an extra condition to the wait loop in QsoQueue.ExecuteQueue() routine which prevents the job executor leaving the wait loop if Session  is Resuming.  The modified wait loop is
    Do While Now() <= T.LatestStartTime And ObsManager.SessionState <> SessionState.Resuming
    ...
  Loop
  Fixed 2024-12-11 (AstroMain 3.73.7) 
   
• AstroMain's 'Dome' instance logging multiple "The RPC server is unavailable" exceptions (23:17). Log file shows 22 exceptions between 23:17:57.86  & 23:18:02.91 with the message "The RPC server is unavailable" from various Get Dome Property calls (Dome.AtPark, Dome.Slaved, Dome.Slewing, Dome.Connected)  This were all produced during a 5s period whilst was Dome was been restarted to resolve a Shutter Closing Issue, and began around the time that DeviceHub Service was started at 23:17:57.90 and ended when the Ascom.Dome Service was stopped at 23:18:02.93. These exception messages shouldn't be logged when the Dome or/or DeviceHub is known to be unaccessible.  The bRecoveringDome flag is set to True during the whole 'Recover Dome' process whilst bRestartingDome flag is set during the time that Dome is being restarted.  Dome Monitoring calls in the RunObsMonitor routine are set to only occurred when the following conditions holds
     bRecoveringDome = False And Dome.bRestartingDome = False And bRestartingDeviceHub = False
so it doesn't seem that the calls came from here. ObsViewer makes calls to Dome when the following conditions holds
     Obs.bDomeConnected And VM.flagPulsarDomeService <> Color.White And Dome.bRestartingDome = False
  The setting of bRestartingDome = True is likely to have stopped the exceptions. Fixed in AstroMain 3.73.7 by setting Obs.bDomeConnected = False and Dome.bRestartingDome = True in RecoverDome() routine before the calls to kill and restart DeviceHub.  ( The code to kill and restart DeviceHub could potentially  moved to a new separate routine called RestartDeviceHubLite() ? )
  Fixed 2024-12-11 (AstroMain 3.73.7) 
   
• USB Connection to Eaton UPS in AllSky/Weather Computing Bay was accidentally turned off (2024-12-12). Whilst trying to resolve a USB Power Connection issue for the Ecowitt Gateway, the Pegasus USB Hub Software was used with the aim of resetting the USB port to Ecowitt Gateway,  using the 'Ecowitt Stn'' off-button, but the Eaton 'UPS' off-button was accidentally clicked.   This brought up the Eaton UPS Companion software with a notification that 'Communication with UPS has failed'.   The 'Eaton UPS' on button was quickly used to restore the USB communicatition to the UPS Box.  It was noted that UPS related messages were reported by  AstroWeather's new UPS Monitor with the alert message   "Alert  - Communication with UPS has failed (12:34:26)" and slightly later an all-clear message "Ok Communication with UPS is restored (12:34:52, Outage 26s)".  This provided a useful test for the newly added feature to AstroWeather.  
  Resolved 2024-12-12 (Eaton UPS, Pegasus USB Hub, AstroWeather, User Awareness) 
   
• AstroWeather is starting the Virtual Weather Station program (VWS) when the Ecowitt Weather data is offline (2024-12-12). Since the new Ecowitt Weather Station has been installed, the old Oregon Scientifiic Weather Station has been decommissioned. The Virtual Weather Station which was used to read the Oregon Scientific Weather Station and create data files & graphs is no longer used. Today (2024-12-12) the USB power connection to the Ecowitt Gateway was temporarily lost which meant that the CumulusMX and therefore AstroWeather could no longer receive data from the weather station.  Whilst the Ecowitt Weather feed was down AstroWeather would start the Virtual Weather Station (VWS) every 15 mins or so. This previously useful practice is no longer uesful and is an annoyance,  and it should be removed from AstroWeather. Fixed in AstroWeather 1.27.1
  Fixed 2024-12-12 (AstroWeather 1.27.1, VWS) 
   
• Target failure "Planned start time was missed" was misleading (20:57).  Target 13/44 (Gliese 65) couldn't be started at 20:44 due to cloud & session suspension. Conditions improved close to the end of the Target's time slot and the session began to resume by opening the dome. Whilst session was resuming, but before the session was running again, the target passed the end of its time slot and was deemed as Failed-Planned start time was missed. This failure cause is misleading.  The Target really failed because of Cloud, the end of timeslot had been reached before session running again, there was no opportunity for target to be acquired.   This ticket should be addressed with the ticket about setting a fail reason for targets that are only partially completed. (2024-12-11).
  On Hold  2024-12-11+ (AstroMain 3.73.7) 
   
• Battery Level in Shutter's Bottom Zigbee Sensor has fallen to 51%. Battery level in bottom sensor is showing as only 51%. This is contrast to Door Sensor, Shutter Top Sensor  and Park Sensor which are at 91%, 88% & 85% respectively.  This explains the 'LB' that appeared next to the Shutter Flag on the ObsViewer. Looking back the Bottom Sensor battery was showing as only 31% at start of session,  but later climbed back to 48% at start of following general session and currently sits at 51% - is it temperature affected ?.   Battery should be replaced before it fails and causes a significant issue.  At start of the following session the battery level from the Bottom sensor was reported as being 68%.
  To review 2024-12-11 (Observatory, Zigbee) 

Continuous Improvement

• Examine whether Dome Recovery Process should commence earlier than it does. During Session S1281 after shutter began closing at  23:14:54 in response to HardSupend call to suspend session, Zigbee Sensors reported Shutter hadn't finished closing within 60s which suggests that the shutter movement stopped or was otherwise held up. Red alerts were raised at 23:17:13 with the message "Dome closure hasn't finished after 140s (ShutterState=Closing)" followed by a red Dome Alert at 23:17:48 with the message "Dome hasn't reached 'Closed' state after 120s during HardSuspend".  After Session entered Suspended State and after taking an ObsCam Image the ObsManager reported that "Dome hasn't reached 'Closed' state 120s after being requested to close (setting bDomeDataIssue)", and the AstroMain ran its "Recover Dome" routine at 23:17:48, during which the Pulsar Dome was rebooted, after which the shutter was eventually finally closed at 23:19:55 (which is 5 minutes after it began closing). The process to recover the dome didn't start until a point around 3 minutes after dome was requested to close. Should the Dome Recovery process been made to happen earlier than it did ?.  It is thought that it should but how to achieve this.  If dome hasn't close within 60s, there is clearly an issue with dome and recovery should begin immediately and not waiting for 120s/140s and wait a further 20s whilst ObsCam pick is taken. If it is raining or liable to rain the process needs to be as quick as possible.  A separate Continuous Improvement ticket is raised to make design & code changes to make this happen.
  Done 2024-12-11 (Pulsar Dome, AstroMain) 
   
• Modify AstroMain to make Check Dome 60-80s after dome closure was requested and start Dome Recovery immediately if there is an obvious issue. A review to examine whether Dome Recovery process should commence earlier than it does concluded that if a dome hasn't closed within 60s, there is clearly an issue with dome and recovery should begin immediately and not waiting for 120s/140s and then wait a further 20s whilst an ObsCam picture  is taken. Design & code changes need to make this happen.  Examining the PerformDomeMonitoring() routine shows that the time allowed for the Shutter to open before taking action is controlled by VM.AllowedShutterTime which is the a text box with name 'txtAllowedShutterTime' on the More/Backdoor Tab with the label "Allowed Shutter Opening/Closing Time (s)" . This is currently set to 140s. When the Allowed time is exceeded  the bDomeClosingIssue flag is set to True.  Figure changed to 60s in both the Form Design and in Virtual (VM) Initialisation. There may be unforeseen side-effects from making this change, which can only be establised through operational experience.
  Done 2024-12-11 (AstroMain) 

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