David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 645 (2018-12-28)

Notes (S644)

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Notes (S646)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (1),  Major Issues (2),  Minor Issues (4),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2018-12-28  >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2018-12-28)

Main aims

1. Targets. Acquire images for a selection of variable stars, nearby stars and deep sky targets
2. Software. Test fixes & modifications made to the Observatory Control Program (CCDApp2) since the last session
3. Stability. Continue checking stability of the Observatory System 

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
•  80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
•  CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  POTH Hub
•  Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• AstroMain 3.6, AstroPlan 1.5

Highlights

•  Images.   Images from a number of targets were successfully acquired
• Identified and fixed the bug which was stopping PHD2 GuideStats being written out to the (Guide).dat file for each frame and for the overall target
  
• New code in AstroPlan to automatically fetch the constellation in which a target sits (based on Ra Dec coordinates) is now working
• Session observations are now being correctly saved in database following recent bug fix

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan (2018-12-28, S645)

Observing Result (2018-12-28, S645)

Night Sky Summary Plot - 2018-12-28 Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Time   Activity

Time    Event  Detail  16:41 AstroMain Started AstroMain started (v3.6.1) 16:42 Services Started Observatory Services started 16:43   Dome Connected Pulsar Dome started 16:43   SBIG Camera Connected SBIG Camera connected (temp. set point -20 degC) 16:45   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky) 16:45 Session Initiated Session Initiated (Night Date 2018-12-28) 16:45   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan Schedule Builder 16:47   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded (2018-12-28, V1, Start Time 17:11) 16:49 Session Started Session started (2018-12-28 S00645) 16:50 Session Equilibration Started Session Equilibration started 17:02 Shutter Opened Shutter Opened (45s) 17:03 Dome Port Changed Dome Port changed from COM14 to COM9 17:04 Dome Connected Pulsar Dome connected (COM9) 17:07 Dome Port Changed Dome Port changed from COM9 to COM14 17:09 Dome Connected Pulsar Dome connected (COM14) 17:13 Queue Started Queue started (2018-12-28 V1, 56 targets, Start Time 17:11) 17:50 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud detected (Obs. Manager will close Dome Shutter) 17:51 Queue Aborted Queue aborted by user 17:51 Manual Mode Started Observatory Mode set to Manual 17:56 Automated Mode Started Observatory Mode set to Automated 17:56 Session Reinitiated Session reinitiated (2018-12-28) 17:56 Session Restarted Session restarted (2018-12-28 S00645) 17:56   Camera Reconnected SBIG Camerar reconnected (set point -20 degC) 17:56   Telescope Reconnected Telescope reconnected (TheSky6) 17:56 Queue Restarted Queue restarted (2018-12-28 V1, 56 targets, Start Time 17:11) 17:58   Dome Port Issue Unable to Close Shutter (Port is closed) 17:58 Conditions Improved Conditions Improved (session can be resumed) 17:58 Dome Port Issue Unable to Open Shutter (Port is closed) 17:58 Session Resumed Session Resumed 18:08 POTH stopped POTH services stopped 18:08 Dome Connected Pulsar Dome connected (COM14) 18:08 Poth.Telescope Connected LX200GPS/R connected (COM7) 18:11   Target Started (7/56) Target started (GCVS Z And) 18:17   Target Aborted (7/56) Target aborted (GCVS Z And) 18:17   Queue Aborted Queue aborted by user 18:17 Manual Mode Started Manual Mode started 18:23 Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped 18:41 Services Restarted Observatory Services restarted 18:48 Session Reinitiated Session Reinitriated (2018-12-28) 18:48 Camera Reconnected SBIG Camera reconnected (set point -25 degC) 18:48 Telescope Reconnected Telescope reconnected (TheSky6) 18:48 Session Restarted Session restarted (2018-12-28 S00645) 18:49 Queue Restarted Queue restarted (2018-12-28, V1) 19:18 Queue Aborted Queue aborted by User 19:18 Auto Mode Ended Auto Mode Ended 19:18 Manual Mode Started Observatory Mode to Manual 19:28 Automated Mode Automated Mode started 19:28   Camera reconnected SBIG Camera reconnected (set temp -25 degC) 19:28   Telescope reconnected Telescope reconnected (TheSky6) 19:28 Session Restarted Session Restarted (2018-12-28 S00645, 645092) 19:28 Queue Started Queue Started (2018-12-28, V2) 19:28     Target Started (1/53) Target started (1/53, GCVS HH And) 19:33     Target Completed (1/53) Target completed (1/53, GCVS HH And) 19:34 Critical Cloud Critical Cloud Detected (Obs.Manger will close the Dome) 19:35 Session Suspended Session suspended 19:35 Shutter Closed Shutter closed (49s) 20:48 Conditions Ok Conditions improved (session to be resumed) 20:49 Shutter Open Shutter open (45s) 20:49 Queue Resumed Queue Resumed 21:00     Target Started (8/53)     Target started (8/53, GCVS NV Ori) 21:07     Target Completed (8/53) Target completed (8/53, GCVS NV Ori) 21:12     Target Started (9/53) Target started (9/53, 46P/Wirtanen) 21:15     Target Aborted (9/53) Target aborted by Obs.Manger (Critical Cloud) 21:15 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manger will close the Dome) 21:38 Queue Aborted Queue aborted by User 21:38 Observatory (Manual) Observatory placed in Manual Mode 21:38 Telescope Parked Telescope parked 21:39 Shutter Closed Shutter closed 21:40 Dome Parked Dome parked 21:41 Camera Disconnected SBIG Camera disconnected

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Operational Issues (2018-12-28, S645)

• Critical Issues (1)
• Major Issues (2)
• Minor issues (4)
• Continuous Improvement (1)

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Critical Issues

• Dome Port Connection Changed and handling couldn't prevent issues .
  - Dome Port lost at 17:03:06 (AstroGuard),  17:03:09 (AstroMain) whilst Equilibrating Dome
  - Port Changed from COM14 to COM9 at 17:03:11 (AstroGuard),  17:03:14 (AstroMain)
  - Attempts made to automatically restart dome connection.
  - POTH.Dome connected to COM9 at 17:04 (AstroMain)
  - Dome Port again lost at 17:07:44 (AstroMain),
  - Port changed back to COM14 at 17:07:46 (AstroGuard), 17:07:49 (AstroMain)
  - Attempts made to automatically restart dome connection.
  - POTH.Dome connected to COM14 at 17:09 (AstroMain)
  (AstroGuard failed to make valid connection to Dome at ~17:09 and disconncted  )
  Eventually Resolved (date unknown) by software workarounds and more robust cable & power connections

Major Issues

• Telescope Slews Hanging (Consequence of Port Issue & POTH disruption)
  Telescope slews hanging because POTH.Dome has been affected by Lost Connection to Pulsar Dome
  Disconnecting Dome in POTH.Hub and reconnecting causes the Slew to 'End'
  Resolved (date unknown) through resolution of port issues
   
• Unexplainable Delays between Images Frames (Consequence of Port Issue & POTH disruption)
   (is CCDSoft waiting on TheSky6 ? or is AstroMain waiting on TCF-S Focuser 1
  Performing a Move to User Focus Position appears to hang and eventually time's out.
    Resolved (date unknown) through resolution of port issues

Minor issues

• Whilst waiting to make new dome connection AstroMain put out multiple report messages about Dome Slaving
    "Turn off Dome Slaving...    Fail      Object reference not set to an instance of an object".
  Resolved (date unknown)
   
• POTH.Hub and AstroMain shows an apparently stuck Dome Azmiuth value.  Actual Dome is slaved to Telescope ok as Images from successive targets contain stars ok
    Resolved (date unknown)
   
• A 'Next' ToO unable to start when a regular target is waiting to start.   After NGC 7000 Mosaic (80 mins) failed to start, the Mosaic File located and installed in Targets/Mosaics folder,  attempts to rerun NGC 7000 as an Immediate Target failed, as Job Executor had moved on to SS Cyg and was in a 75 min long wait loop. Job executor code was modified to allow a pending TOA target (Next) to force execution to jump out of a target wait loop in order to commence the ToO.
  Resolved, date unknown (AstroMain 3.7 ?)
     
• ToO Next should happen immediately after current target finishes and not wait until Next Target was due to start
  Fixed 2019-01-02  (AstroMain 3.7 code)

Continuous Improvement

• Quality of Observing Plan Charts.  Quality of Plan and Session Chart images needs to be improved, in particular the colour of text needs to be preserved
  Fixed 2018-12-30 (Chart images are now saved as .png files in AstroPlan 1.5.2, instead of the earlier .jpg files)

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