David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1328 (2025-05-17)

Notes (S1327)

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Notes (S1329A)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (3),  Small Defects (1),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	- Figures (0)
	Images from 2025-05-17  >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2025-05-17)

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 RC3.4694, MeadeGeneric 1.3.12.522 , UPB 1.5,  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 RC3
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.74.16,  AstroPlan 1.43.8,  AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.6   (any new items or versions in bold)
  AstroMag 1.4.11, AstroVOE 1.15.1,  AstroSN 1.14,  AstroProtect 1.10.6,  AstroMove 1.16
  AstroWeather 1.27.9, AstroAllSky 3.23.5,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4 (not 1.11.5), AstroNorthCam 1.3, AstroLaunch 1.13.1

Highlights

• Targets.  10/13 planned target observations were successfully completed with 1 target partially completed,  Three targets failed (due to Software issue, Missed Start and Cloud)
• CCD Camera. There was minor issues with the CCDCamera freezing which were automatically resolved.
•   Dome. There was no issues opening/closing the shutter during the session. 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 23:26:43 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 23:26 & 01:50 23:26:44 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:26) 23:27:05   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 23:27:32   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 23:27:34 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2025-05-17 S01328, ImageSaveNum: 1328001) 23:27:39   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 23:29:30   Services Started Observatory Services started 23:29:37 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:29:39 Session Pending Session pending (2025-05-17) 23:29:41 Session Initiating Session initiating (2025-05-17) 23:29:51   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 23:29:58   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.43.8) 23:30:18   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1113) 23:31:00   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 23:31:24 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 23:32:09   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 46s, Zigbee 40s) 23:32:59 Session Running Session running 23:33:02   Queue Started Observing Queue started (13 targets selected) 23:33:05     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 14, HIP 69068) 23:33:19       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 23:39:03       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:41:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 23:42:44   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:42:48   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera) 23:42:55   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:49:27   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 23:49:34   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:50:28   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 23:50:33   SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 23:51:08   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:51:12   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera) 23:51:19   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:52:12   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 23:52:20   SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 23:54:08       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 23:54:10       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 23:56:10       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 23:57:53       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 23:58:10     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 14, HIP 69068) 23:58:14     Target Started (1/13) Target started (1/13, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 00:03:55       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 00:11:30     Target Completed Target partially completed (1/13, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 00:11:34     Target Started (2/13) Target started (2/13, IC 4408 w/SN2025kfm) 00:31:13     Target Completed Target completed (2/13, IC 4408 w/SN2025kfm) 00:31:17     Target Started (3/13) Target started (3/13, GCVS BL Lac) 00:35:05       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:36:23   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 00:36:27   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera) 00:36:34   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 00:48:32   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 00:48:39   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 00:49:32   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 00:50:11   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera) 00:50:18   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 00:51:11   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 00:51:20   SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 00:52:38       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - RmsE) 00:52:40     Target Failed (3/13) Target failed due to other condition - ExceededTimeSlot (3/13, GCVS BL Lac) 00:52:42     Target Missed (4/13) Target's time slot was missed (4/13, WDS GRB 34) 00:52:45     Target Started (5/13) Target started (5/13, GCVS HH And) 01:00:33     Target Completed Target completed (5/13, GCVS HH And) 01:00:37     Target Started (6/13) Target started (6/13, T CrB) 01:09:27     Target Completed Target completed (6/13, T CrB) 01:09:31     Target Started (7/13) Target started (7/13, AT2025kej (CV)) 01:13:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:16:21       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 01:25:25     Target Completed Target completed (7/13, AT2025kej (CV)) 01:25:29     Target Started (8/13) Target started (8/13, AT2022bqp (CV)) 01:28:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:31:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 01:37:24     Target Completed Target completed (8/13, AT2022bqp (CV)) 01:37:28     Target Started (9/13) Target started (9/13, AT2024adzg) 01:40:45       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 01:57:05     Target Completed Target completed (9/13, AT2024adzg) 01:57:09     Target Started (10/13) Target started (10/13, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:00:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:03:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 02:07:57     Target Completed Target completed (10/13, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:08:01     Target Started (11/13) Target started (11/13, AT2022zzl (CV)) 02:11:28       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:17:38     Target Completed Target completed (11/13, AT2022zzl (CV)) 02:19:31     Target Started (12/13) Target started (12/13, GCVS S Cyg) 02:22:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:25:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 02:36:34     Target Completed Target completed (12/13, GCVS S Cyg) 02:36:38     Target Started (13/13) Target started (13/13, KIC 8462852) 02:37:58   Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 02:38:00   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 02:38:02     Target Aborted (13/13) Target aborted (13/13, KIC 8462852) due to cloud 02:38:04   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 02:38:06 Session Suspending Session suspending 02:38:52   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 43s) 02:38:55 Session Suspended Session suspended 02:51:28 Session Resuming Session resuming 02:52:14   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 40s) 02:52:16 Session Running Session running 02:52:18   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 02:52:21     Target Started (13/13) Target started (13/13, KIC 8462852) 02:53:03   Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 02:53:05   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 02:53:07     Target Aborted (13/13) Target aborted (13/13, KIC 8462852) due to cloud 02:53:09   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 02:53:11 Session Suspending Session suspending 02:53:54   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 45s, Zigbee 43s) 02:53:56 Session Suspended Session suspended 02:55:14     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/13, KIC 8462852) due to cloud 02:55:18   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 02:55:24 Session Closing Session closing 02:55:29   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 02:53, closing time 45s, zigbee 43s) 02:55:48   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 10s), Az: 90.0 deg 02:56:31   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 41s total) 02:57:01   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 02:57:23   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 02:58:46   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 02:58:49 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 02:59:06     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 80.0 to 100.0°, Step 1.0°, Wide) 02:59:59     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 91.0°) 03:00:05     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 89.0 to 93.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 03:00:51     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 91.0°) 03:00:57     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -1.0°) 03:00:59   Dome Parked Dome parked 03:01:09   Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (50mA) 03:01:11 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 23:42:44 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:50:33 Green Clear SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 23:51:08 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:52:20 Green Clear SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 00:36:23 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 00:51:20 Green Clear SBIG Camera Take Image successfully completed (earlier flags are reset) 03:01:09 Green Clear Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (50mA)

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Operational Issues (2025-05-16, S1327)

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

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

      (The loosly related CCD Camera issues below are broken out into 3 separate components/ issues for clarity)

• Focus Frame images failing whilst taking Foc1 Focus Profile (23:43 & 00:37).  During recent session there has been a spate of Image Failures/CCDCamera freezes whilst taking Foc1 Focus Profiles and there were further cases in S1328 session.  Frame 2/14 failed whilst taking Focus Profile for Near Zenith Focus Field 14 at 23:43 and Frame 5/14 failed whilst taking Focus Profile for Target 3/13 (BL Lac) at 00:36.
  In the first case CCDCamera became pending in 'GetCameraProperties / IsExposureComplete' (5s), before turning to 'GetCameraProperties / State' (10-20s).  CCDCamera also became pending in 'GetCameraProperties / IsExposureComplete' (5-20s) in the second case. In both cases, the following automated call to RestartCCDSoft in 'attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera' (00:36:27 in 2nd case)  failed as the final 'Connect Camera' step failed on both 'Connect 'attempts with the exception "SBIG driver: Device not found.".   This begs the question was the initial image failure / CcdCamera freeze somehow caused by AstroMain overloading CCDSoft / Camera during a critical moment (an edge case) or there was a USB / SBIG Driver issue, that was still present when attempting to Connect Camera (during the automated RestartCCDSoft() operation).   Without a firm way of preventing the issue from happening, the best thing is to ensure an automated fail-safe process to quickly restore operations.   Continue to monitor this ongoing issue.
   To review 2025-05-18 (AstroMain 3.74.17)
   
• Automated 'RestartCCDSoft' operation failing during final 'Connect Camera' step  (23:43 & 00:37).  During recent session there has been a spate of Image Failures/CCDCamera freezes whilst taking Foc1 Focus Profiles which aren't immediately attended leading to either failure focusing runs or knock on problems for the first 1 or 2 main image frames.  As an attempted improvement the code in AstroMain 3.74.15 / 3.74.16 has been modified to call RestartCCDSoft () immediately before the next focus frame is taken.  This new code was tested twice during the S1328 session after there was a focus frame failure/Ccd Camera freeze whilst conducting Focus Profile for Near Zenith Focus Field 14 and  again whilst conducting a Focus Profile for Target 3/13 (BL Lac).  In both cases, the automated call to RestartCCDSoft()  failed as the final 'Connect Camera' step failed on both 'Connect 'attempts with the exception message "SBIG driver: Device not found."   It was noticed that windows was putting up a information dialog saying that 'a USB device has failed'.  During the subsequent user initiated RestartCCDSoft() operation, the final 'Connect Camera' step was completed ok. It is unclear whether  the initial Take Image Failure/CcdCamera freeze and the failed Connect Camera ('Driver not found') during the following automated RestartCCDSoft are directly related. It is also unclear why the ConnectCamera during the subsequent user-initiated RestartCCDSoft operation succeeded (was there something intrinsically different about the user-initiated call, or was it just because it was a second call or was it due to the passage of a certain amount of time (allowing Windows/ComPort to reset or timeout ?).  Could the initial RestartCCDSoft / have performed in a way that was successful ?.  Would the connection have worked if the call to RestartCCDSoft had been delayed by a certain minimum time ?  - currently there is no delay.  Would the connection have worked if more time had been allowed for the SBIG Camera to initialise after re-powering it ?  - currently 20s are allowed for the initialisation. Would the connection have worked if a delay had been added between the 2 attempts to connect the camera ? - currently there is no delay. Changes made in AstroMain 3.74.17.
  1) a 30s delay is made after re-powering SBIG Camera to allow more time for camera initialisation to be completed
  2) a 5s delay is made before making a second ConnectCamera attempt.
  3) bRestartingCCDSoft And gCameraConnected checked before restore original camera properties via CCDCamera calls
  Adding the two delays (30s and 5s) didn't resolve the issue as the problem still occured during S1329A session (2025-05-18).
   Fix attempted 2025-05-18 (AstroMain 3.74.17)
   
• Take Focus Profile in new version of AstroMain stuck in an infinite loop taking Focus Frames (23:43 & 00:37).  During recent session there has been a spate of Image Failures/CCDCamera freezes whilst taking Foc1 Focus Profiles which aren't immediately attended leading to either failure focusing runs or knock on problems for the first 1 or 2 main image frames.  As an attempted improvement the code in AstroMain 3.74.15 / 3.74.16 has been modified to call RestartCCDSoft immediately before the next frame is taken. This new code was tested in session S1328 but a significant side-effect of new code was exposed. Whilst conducting Foc1 Focus Profiles for Focus Field 14 at 23:43 and Target 3/13 (BL Lac) at 00:37 one of the Focus Frames failed and the CCDCamera froze (loop became pending) . The new job executor code called RestartCCDSoft (in 'attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera' ), after which the Focus Profile went into what seemed an infinite loop attempting to take the same focus frame and failing (up to 7 cycles took place in case of BL Lac) before the issue was noticed and the user intervened to perform a further RestartCCDSoft operation using a Backdoor button facility.  The issue could have been ranked as 'Major' as without user intervention the program may have continued Focus Frames though Job Executor would have likely intervened at some point when end of target's time slot was reached (at least in the case of BL Lac) and move onto the next target. Investigating reveal that in both cases the automated call to RestartCCDSoft in 'attempt to fix frozen CcdCamera' (00:36:27 in 2nd case)  failed as the final 'Connect Camera' step failed on both 'Connect 'attempts with the exception message "SBIG driver: Device not found.".   After this the next Focus Frame failed due to TimeOut, but the CcdCamera was not reported as pending/frozen and therefore RestartCCDSoft () was called again. The Focus Profile stayed on the current frame and then tried to repeat itself mutiple times, clearly this shouldn't happen. Examination of code revealed bug which didn't allow number of attempts to be considered for exiting loop as bError was true.  Fixed in  AstroMain 3.74.17 - code added to exit loop after 2 attempts in case that Image Fails (where RunTakeQuickFocusShot  returns bError =True) . The gCameraConnected flag which should be check as part of taking an image.  New global variable (nRestartCCDSoftDuringFocusing) added to count how the number of RestartCCDSoft calls made during Foc1 Focusing. Variable is reset to 0 in MeasureFocusProfile_Foc1()  before starting a new focus profile and is used to limit the number of CCDSoft/SBIG Camera restarts within a given Focus Profile to 3.
   Fix attempted 2025-05-18 (AstroMain 3.74.17)

Small Defects

• AstroMain's ObsOverseer still reporting  'taking a long time' TakeImage operations whilst RestartCCDSoft() is running.  AstroMain was recently modified so that '..is taking a long time' messages from TakeImage operations are disabled when RestartCCDSoft() routine is running, but such report messages are still leaking through. Two examples from the S1327 session were "Camera.TakeImageTask in TakeImage/TakeImage is taking a long time? (00:59)"  and "Task in TakeMainImage/Start is taking a long time? (02:54)".  Fixed in AstroMain 3.74.16.
   Fixed  2025-05-17 (AstroMain 3.74.16)

Continuous Improvement

• Modify AstroMag to save local charts into a new /Magnetometer/Local Charts folder.  AstroMag 1.4.11 saves local charts into "C:\Data\CCD Imaging\Charts" folder but this is inconvenient as it mixes the charts from those produced by AstroPlan.  It is proposed to save local charts in a new folder "C:\Data\Magnetometer\Local Charts".  Implemented in AstroMag 1.4.12.
   Done 2025-05-18 (AstroMag 1.4.12)

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