rharter Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Hi all, what are your experiences concerning a complete automated imaging process with the various software applications on the market (e.g. ccd commander, autopilot, SGPro etc.) and Autoslew? As I noticed Sequence beta has an additional task „Sequence run“ which also goes in this direction.Is it possible, in an automated process, to start MLPT before the imaging session, because I get the best tracking results with it?Thanks for your help. Kind regardsRalph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Hi Ralph, using the beta of Sequence, this works remarkabily well (even if a few glitches are still there), and it is somewhat comparable to using ACP. There was some request for a way to use MLPT from other programs, too, but as long as that is not possible, you'd probabily good to give a try to Sequence. During the last months I used it quite successfully for aquiring images without any interaction from my side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prefetch Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 lukas, i haven't tried the latest beta version - but does it have a way to run MLPT at a certain time? eg. "it's 10pm now, but i want you to run this at 2am" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Hm, well, not really... Actually I am not sure if that would even make sense, you basically start an imaging run with several targets and exposures, and it runs them sequentially one after another. You can indeed set certain settings (like, how many measurement points in one MLPT run you want), but at the end it makes one run per target... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prefetch Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 the reason i think it would make sense would be when you want to go to sleep at 11pm, but the target won't be high enough to start imaging until 3am. from what i understand, you would have to wait until 3am to start the MLPT run. i think it'd be nice to set it to start a run at a certain time. am i thinking about this correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rharter Posted December 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 (edited) Sequence should handle even more. In a complete automated system I want to imaging several objects at different coordinates in one night. Unfortunately I have to use MLPT before each object...Is there a possibility to realize this? Ralph Edited December 27, 2014 by rharter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Ralph, this is perfectly possible right now... even if it's limited to 10 objects. It really depends on whetever you need MLPT (like I do) or not. If not, there are other solutions which are more robust and mature than Sequence, that's sure. Prefetch, you're right, usually you'd start at dusk and then go through all single targets one after the other, no matter what time it is (this can actually lead to imaging in dusk or even morning light... but that's another story). What you could do is manually set the start time of Sequence (like, let's say 1 am), then it would start at that time. Of course it's once again valid for the whole list of targets... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rharter Posted December 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hi Lukas, This would be perfect if it works. Do you have a short workflow for the "Sequence run" howto for 1st. movement, start MLPT then imaging, 2nd movement, MLPT next image... unfortunatly only a dry run due to the bad weather Thanks in advance Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hi Ralph, well, you basically would set up your sequence with your targets and respective imaging parameters... It shall do everything by itself. I am not sure if I understood your question correctly, though I'll happily try to assist you (considering that good weather is forecast in the coming nights, even more ) And yes, it takes a bit to set up everything properly, especially the Autofocus routine was a bit complicated for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rharter Posted December 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hi Lukas, I am just trying to set it up ( dry run) but I am struggeling at the point "exposure settings/exposure details. When I set the checkbox MLPT does the program really run the MLPT process alone before the imaging? By the way when I open the box "SET Exposures" I get an error message "Invalid Argument" but I go further with -next- the window Exposure Details appears and then I want to Exit the exposure Details, with the checkbox MLPT on, nothing happens and there is no entry in the field "Exposure setings" ??? Any ideas? Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 28, 2014 Report Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hrm, interesting... Actually, what you have to do in the exposure settings would be: check the "MLPT" checkbox for an MLPT run check dithering if you want it configure some exposures (at least one), as the MLPT lenght is calculated by the sum of the duration of the exposures. An empty "exposure" would probabily cause some errors (just a guess) save the settings as an exposure settings file It's strange indeed if you get that error. If I click the "Set exposures" button the corresponding window pops open and I can insert whatever I need... Which version of Sequence do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pesa Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Sorry to hijack the thread but I would like to know if all you guys using SGP are using the inbuit HUB without problem? Pelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rharter Posted December 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2014 @Lukas: I am using Sequence Version 0.2.0.5. I will try to install it new because on another computer it seems to work and I can choose your mentioned objects. Just have to find out where the failure message came from... @ Pelle: no problems with the internal hub. I additionally work with an etxternal hub with external power supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukepower Posted December 30, 2014 Report Share Posted December 30, 2014 @rharter: Hm well, give it a try Sequence is - of course - still beta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalelieb Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Hi Ralph, I am using AS for many years now with ACP and ACP Scheduler. There are some minor issues that PK is aware of: - Problem with excessive wait (many hours) near the south SP for a pier flip - Some issue with AS not parking after a ACSOM park command under certain conditions. Every now and then I have an unexplained never ending slew/coordinate problems which causes ACP to wait and never shut down in the morning. It sounds worse that it actually is and I get may nights with imaging efficiencies >80% and even the latter problem is safely overridden during a weather event. Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afesan Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) I use Sequence here as a basis for my remote-robotic system since some months ago. It works perfectly as a standalone system ( Sequence+Autoslew+maximDL). That´s all I need . . I can image all night long without noticeable problems.It´s working for me. Of course it could be improved with some other tips... but I guess ASA & Mr. Keller take note of users wish list for a next version ( or I hope so...) . My imaging skill has been improved 100% . I have also installed the Secure System "TALON6" in order to avoid any problems and have complete safety for my remote observatory ( weather events, electricity fails, lost of PC communication,hangs of Windows,timeout, lost of internet connection..etc....,etc ,etc. It try to park the mount) and ALWAYS and close roll-roof systems or even any Dome system ( as it works perfectly with Sequence (ASCOM compliant) . It´s a total universal "panic" system . With Sequence and TALOn6 , I go to bed an can sleep with TOTAL tranquility.I have installed it here since past summer. For interested guys (English) here is the link: . BTW: I don´t have ANY commercial interest . I am only a user ¡.. http://observatoriosspag.es/index.php/en/component/content/article/84-o-a-r-spag/361-talon6-2.html and this: http://observatoriosspag.es/images/R.O.R%20Talon6/IP_Switch_user_manual.pdf Just my two cents CS Antonio Edited January 22, 2015 by afesan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josch Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hi Ralph, I am using CCDCommander since several years with great success. I am making about 600-1000 images and respectly about 500 slews a night cycling about 10 targes in time series over many hours and about 30 targets in snapshot mode (2 images each target and filter). I do photometry and CCDC is the easiest to use in this context. I have also used ACP but it is much more complicated (and much more expensive). I observe more than 300 nights a year. CCDC can control all your ASCOM compatible devices, runs subroutines and external programs. It can even cope with position errors which still pop up once in a while during slews. It takes 2 sec to reset the error and CCDC wait 5 sec before another slew takes place. Since this is included in CCDC I have not lost any observing run due to position errors. I always sleep or work during remote operation of my observatory. Regards, Josch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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