David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 802 (2020-08-31)

Notes (S801)

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Notes (S803)

	2020-08-31 (Session 802)
	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (1),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2020-08-31 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2020-08-31)

Main aims

1. Targets. Acquire images of a number of targets if conditions allow.
2. AutoStart. Use AutoStart to completely automated the session and see how it goes without any form of remote monitoring or check-in.
3. Main Scope Focus. Refocus LX200 Main Scope (Foc1 Focusing)

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  DeviceHub 4.6.1.10, UPB 1.5 
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.9
   
• AstroMain 3.28.1,  AstroGuard 1.4.3,   AstroPlan 1.16,  AstroShCap 1.2.23, AstroVOE 1.3.6
  (AstroWeather 1.10.10, AstroAllSky 3.6)
  

Highlights

• AutoStart. AutoStart was successfully used to kick off the session, without remote monitoring.
• Targets. 22 targets successfully observed (including 7 Berkeley Open Clusters - see session images)
• AstroAlarm. New web page alarm system successfully used to set and activate a 'live' wake-up alarm at Sun Alt -10deg (rising).

Lowlights

• None

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)

Pre-Session Weather Forecast (API data from darksky.net) Pre-Session Weather forecast showed fairly clouy condition reaching 85% cloud cover, but potentially reducing to 54% cloud cover by dawn. with moderate-light wind (15-12 mph), very low risk of rain <= 5% and a minimum temperature of 8-9°C. In the event conditions were cloudy prior to midnight with light showers between 22:00 and 00:20 .  A separate weather forecast indicated potential of clear skies after midnight, so AutoStart was engaged before going to bed.  Skies cleared at 01:40 and remained fairly clear until dawn with cloud passing at 02:20 and 03:50 to 04:15.  Night was dry from 00:30 onwards with minimum outside temperature of 5.5°C

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 23:55:26 Session Created Live Session Created (2020-08-31 S00802, ImageSaveNum: 802001) 23:55:28   UPB Port Lost UPB Powerbox Port Lost 23:55:30   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 23:57:14   Services Started Observatory Services started 23:57:23 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:57:25 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 23:54 & 04:07 23:57:27 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:54) 23:57:29 Session Pending Session pending (2020-08-31) 23:57:31 Session Initiating Session initiating (2020-08-31) 23:57:33   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.16) 23:58:27   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2020-08-31 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 536) 23:58:38   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -10°C) 23:58:45   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 23:58:56 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 23:59:42   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 23:59:45   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 00:01:27   Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (1.8 mins total) 00:01:29 Session Running Session running 00:01:31   Queue Started Observing Queue started (23 targets selected) 00:02:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:07:23       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:10:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:10:25       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:12:50       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 00:14:57       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:15:14       Focusing Checked Foc2 Focusing Check Succeeded 00:15:17     Target Missed (1/23) Target's time slot was missed (1/23, NGC 6704) 00:15:19     Target Started (2/23) Target started (2/23, Berkeley 43) 00:18:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:21:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 00:27:39     Target Completed Target completed (2/23, Berkeley 43) 00:27:42     Target Started (3/23) Target started (3/23, GCVS CI Cyg) 00:29:48       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:32:29       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 00:36:01     Target Completed Target completed (3/23, GCVS CI Cyg) 00:36:03     Target Started (4/23) Target started (4/23, 61 Cyg) 00:37:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:40:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 00:41:46     Target Completed Target completed (4/23, 61 Cyg) 00:42:10     Target Started (5/23) Target started (5/23, GCVS BL Lac) 00:43:58       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:46:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 00:50:26     Target Completed Target completed (5/23, GCVS BL Lac) 00:52:28     Target Started (6/23) Target started (6/23, WDS GRB 34) 00:55:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:57:51       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 00:59:38     Target Completed Target completed (6/23, WDS GRB 34) 01:00:43     Target Started (7/23) Target started (7/23, GCVS DY Per) 01:03:49       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:06:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 01:11:04     Target Completed Target completed (7/23, GCVS DY Per) 01:11:06     Target Started (8/23) Target started (8/23, Berkeley 102) 01:13:04       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:15:44       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 01:21:17     Target Completed Target completed (8/23, Berkeley 102) 01:22:51     Target Started (9/23) Target started (9/23, GCVS Z And) 01:24:42       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:27:30       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 01:31:10     Target Completed Target completed (9/23, GCVS Z And) 01:31:40     Target Started (10/23) Target started (10/23, GCVS RX And) 01:33:34       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:36:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 01:38:45     Target Completed Target completed (10/23, GCVS RX And) 01:40:00     Target Started (11/23) Target started (11/23, Berkeley 103) 01:42:03       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:44:41       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 01:50:32     Target Completed Target completed (11/23, Berkeley 103) 01:52:00     Target Started (12/23) Target started (12/23, GCVS TT Ari) 01:55:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:58:28       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 02:04:36     Target Completed Target completed (12/23, GCVS TT Ari) 02:04:38     Target Started (13/23) Target started (13/23, GCVS U And) 02:06:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:09:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 02:18:58     Target Completed Target completed (13/23, GCVS U And) 02:19:00     Target Started (14/23) Target started (14/23, Berkeley 6) 02:21:08       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:23:55       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 02:29:52     Target Completed Target completed (14/23, Berkeley 6) 02:30:02     Target Started (15/23) Target started (15/23, Berkeley 100) 02:32:12       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:35:38       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 02:40:55     Target Completed Target completed (15/23, Berkeley 100) 02:42:02     Target Started (16/23) Target started (16/23, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:44:27       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:47:06       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 02:50:37     Target Completed Target completed (16/23, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:57:13     Target Started (17/23) Target started (17/23, GCVS HH And) 02:58:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:01:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 03:03:20     Target Completed Target completed (17/23, GCVS HH And) 03:05:28     Target Started (18/23) Target started (18/23, NGC 582) 03:07:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:10:18       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 03:26:19     Target Completed Target completed (18/23, NGC 582) 03:27:50     Target Started (19/23) Target started (19/23, GSC 1224:29) 03:30:32       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:33:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 03:38:12     Target Completed Target completed (19/23, GSC 1224:29) 03:38:32     Target Started (20/23) Target started (20/23, GCVS GK Per) 03:40:05       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:42:57       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 21) 03:45:51     Target Completed Target completed (20/23, GCVS GK Per) 03:47:13     Target Started (21/23) Target started (21/23, Berkeley 11) 03:49:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:52:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 22) 03:58:36     Target Completed Target completed (21/23, Berkeley 11) 03:59:14     Target Started (22/23) Target started (22/23, Berkeley 19) 04:01:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:04:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 23) 04:10:57     Target Completed Target completed (22/23, Berkeley 19) 04:11:13     Target Started (23/23) Target started (23/23, GCVS CM Tau) 04:13:34       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:16:32       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 24) 04:29:44     Target Completed Target completed (23/23, GCVS CM Tau) 04:29:45   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 04:29:51 Session Closing Session closing 04:30:41   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 45s) 04:30:54   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 13s) 04:31:39   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 41s) 04:32:09   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Powerbox. 04:32:58   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 04:33:00 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 04:33:15 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2020-08-31, S802)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (1)
• Continuous Improvement (1)

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Critical Issues

•  None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Wind Data from WRM80 Weather Station (speed & direction) continues to be intermittent or absent for hours at a time.  Whilst wind sensor seems to eventually come back (at full or part strength) there is a problem here.    Need to check the strength of batteries in Wind Sensor.  It may be an interference problem (Wifi or other equipment), can base unit be moved closer to wind sensor/ observatory ?
  Fixed by replacing batteries in Wind Sensor and resetting wind sensor and base unit. Data has been stable for 4 days now (2020-09-04 to 2020-09-08)
  Fixed 2020-09-04 (Observatory)

Continuous Improvement

• After stopping night services at end of session,  the column of service checkboxes and btnSelectDayTimeServices.Text need to be modified. At the moment Night Services are left checked 
  Fixed 2020-09-02 (AstroMain 3.28.3)

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