David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1103 (2023-03-02)

Notes (S1102)

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Notes (S1104)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (1),  Small Defects (2),  Continuous Improvement (9)
	Images from 2023-03-02 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2023-03-02)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions
2. AstroMain.  Check new 3.61.9 version of AstroMain for any introduced issues

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.1.1,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.11dev4, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
   
• AstroMain 3.61.9, AstroPlan 1.36.5,   AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.13  AstroSN 1.10,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.8
  (AstroWeather 1.19.10, AstroAllSky 3.18,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4, AstroLaunch 1.10.9

Highlights

• Targets.  Only 2 out of 20 planned targets were completed due to cloud and the images from one of these targets were rejected due to bad guiding associated with developing cloud
• AstroMain.  There were no issues associated with new 3.61.9 version of AstroMain.
• Dome Slews.  There were no hold-ups during any of the night's dome slews (Hold Up Stats: 0/4 slews affected, 0%, 0.0 minutes total hold-up time).
• Cloud.  Skies were more cloudy than originally forecast

Notes:

• Short Observing Session due to cloud at .  Shutter Closed and Session suspended at 00:07, and remained suspended until Dawn.
  

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 23:00:41 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 23:00 & 04:57 23:00:42   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 23:00:47 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:00) 23:01:07   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 23:01:20 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2023-03-02 S01103, ImageSaveNum: 1103001) 23:01:47   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 23:03:31   Services Started Observatory Services started 23:03:38 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:03:42 Session Pending Session pending (2023-03-02) 23:03:44 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-03-02) 23:03:46   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.36.5) 23:04:37   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 875) 23:05:02   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -20°C) 23:05:39   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 23:06:03 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 23:07:08   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 23:07:11 Session Running Session running 23:07:13   Queue Started Observing Queue started (20 targets selected) 23:07:14     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 10, HIP 49253) 23:07:28       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 23:11:09       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:11:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:14:08       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 23:16:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 23:16:06       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 23:18:10       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 23:18:29       SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to improved conditions 23:19:51       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 23:20:08     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 10, HIP 49253) 23:20:13     Target Started (1/20) Target started (1/20, C/2020 V2 (ZTF)) 23:23:41       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:26:05       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 23:45:03     Target Completed Target completed (1/20, C/2020 V2 (ZTF)) 23:45:07     Target Started (2/20) Target started (2/20, IC 1874 w/SN2023fu) 23:48:17       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:50:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 23:55:59       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 00:06:49     Target Completed Target completed (2/20, IC 1874 w/SN2023fu) 00:06:51   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 00:06:53 Session Suspending Session suspending 00:07:40   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 00:07:43 Session Suspended Session suspended 00:25:10     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (3/20, UGC 3044 w/SN2023cf) due to cloud 00:49:30     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (4/20, C/2022 U2 (ATLAS)) due to cloud 01:06:44     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (5/20, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) due to cloud 01:26:44     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (6/20, NGC 3799 w/AT2023clx) due to cloud 01:48:44     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (7/20, NGC 3862 w/SN2023bqk) due to cloud 02:03:05     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (8/20, AT2022qyg (CV)) due to cloud 02:19:48     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (9/20, C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)) due to cloud 02:40:08     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (10/20, NGC 5468 w/SN2023cj) due to cloud 03:02:08     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (11/20, NGC 5915 w/SN2023cpt) due to cloud 03:24:08     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (12/20, UGC 6674 w/SN2023bvi) due to cloud 03:46:28     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/20, UGC 8046 w/SN2022zxr) due to cloud 04:00:48     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (14/20, C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)) due to cloud 04:11:07     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (15/20, GCVS BL Lac) due to cloud 04:31:06     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (16/20, UGC 11225 w/SN2023bqh) due to cloud 04:51:37     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (17/20, GCVS SS Cyg) due to cloud 05:00:14     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (18/20, GCVS HH And) due to cloud 05:08:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (19/20, WDS GRB 34) due to cloud 05:37:47     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (20/20, M31 w/AT2023brc) due to cloud 05:37:52   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:37:58 Session Closing Session closing 05:38:03   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 00:07, closing time 50s) 05:39:20   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 68s), Az: 90.0 deg 05:40:50   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 85s) 05:41:05   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 05:41:27   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:42:51   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:42:54 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 05:42:59 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail --             No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2023-03-02, S1103)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (1)
• Small Defects (2)
• Continuous Improvement (9)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• AstroMain started producing "No such host is known" errors on Observatory Computer (20230305, 02:07).   Log files shows following  error messages every 23s starting at 02:07. These lasted until 17:08 when AstroMain was restarted (after installation of new version)
   02:07:53.85 | Exception in Telecomm.SetIPAddress
 02:07:53.85 | Error: No such host is known
  Unclear why messages begun.  Problem resolved itself after AstroMain was restarted. Issue deemed to be closed.
  Resolved 2023-03-05 (AstroMain 3.61.10)

Small Defects

• Various defects and issues associated with running AstroMain, AstroLaunch and AstroMove on Laptop11 (2023-03-04). A number of teething problems associated with running these programs and with accessing TCP/IP data from AllSky/Weather computer.
  Done 2023-03-04 (AstroMain 3.61.10, AstroLaunch 1.11, AstroMove)
   
• AstroMain writing multiple message Cloud Sensor alerts to database.  (2023-03-04).  "Cloud Sensor data has been inactive for 5 min" alerts are being written to database on Observatory Computer every 15s from 22:57 to 00:06. This was during a time that test versions of AstroWeather were being tried out to get TCP/IP data to be seen by Laptop11.  Each red alert was followed 5-10s later by agreen All-Clear records "Cloud Sensor data is active again (outage 0.3 min)". Log file shows equivalent messages "Cloud Sensor data has been inactive for more than 5 min", and Last Cloud Sensor data times that are only a few seconds old.
  Fix attempted  2023-03-12 (AstroMain 3.61.12)

Continuous Improvement

• Extend AstroWeather to send TCP/IP data records to Laptop11. Extend AstroWeather to send Weather Station, Cloud Sensor records to new Development Computer.   Need to use CS Port 4005. Added txtHostName4, txtIpAddress4 fields. Added COMP(9).Type = ctWeather,   COMP(10).Type = ctCloudSensor
  Done 2023-03-04 (AstroWeather 1.20)
   
• Extend AstroLaunch to work appropriately with Laptop11. Extend AstroLaunch so that its behaviour on Laptop11 is the same as Laptop10.
  Done 2023-03-04 (AstroLaunch 1.11)
   
• Extend AstroAllSky to send TCP/IP Record to Laptop11. Extend AstroAllSky to send Synopsis/AllSky  records to new Development Computer.
  Done 2023-03-04 (AstroLaunch 3.18.1)
   
• Add a "Sync Dome to Az 90" button facility. Whilst Dome can be synced  through Device Hub Dome's Other Options, the value 90 has to be entered and there is no record left in session or general events.  When dome is rotated from what it thinks is parked to an say 87 to align the two parts of the induction charger (corresponding to physical park position at Az 90) ObsManager records a 'Dome has unparked' event.  Having a button facility will allow a 'Dome has Synced at Park' event to be recorded. User confirmation should of course be sought before committing the action.  Use objDome.SyncToAzimuth(Azimuth).
  Done 2023-03-05(AstroMain 3.61.10))
   
• Look into using WebDAV as alternative to FTP.  WebDAV (also known as Web diskWebDAV) is a drag-and-drop interface which allows you to access your website's files as if it were a local drive on your computer.  This may be a better alternative than using FTP. (info https://my.justhost.com/hosting/help/2276 ).  Need to examine how it can be used for i) drag & drop, ii) for file upload from VB.Net applications.   Item i) is done  (WebDisk account (upload) created, set to website home directory, configuration files downloaded and executed.   AstroMove updated to open & close a Windows Explorer window connected to the WebDisk)   Item ii) proved to work in test (Example in  https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/36444/How-to-Upload-a-File-to-a-WebDAV-Server-in-VB-NET didn't work, but found that a simple FileIO.FileSystem.CopyFile (sourceFileName, destinationFileName, bool overwrite) did work and it required much fewer lines of code.   Set up WebDisk on Host Site but find it a bit slow  (upload 11 KB/s which is only 0.2 mbps, compared to Broadband Speed test upload of 8 mbps).   Subsequent use of new routine in AstroPlan 1.38 showed that the routine was significantly slower than ftp with upload of a simple dummy 2KB file taking 7.5s to upload compared to only 2s with ftp, which causes an issue at start of session as the uploading of the entire collection of initial dummy files for a new session is still ongoing when the Latest Session webpage is most-actively used to check for progress and any startup issues etc.   Decided to roll back to using ftp whilst looking into SFTP as alternative to FTP (see new Continuous Improvement ticket, 2023-03-27 to look into using SFTP)
  Done 2023-03-03 (WebHost, WebDisk, AstroMove 1.11.1) 
   
• Consider placing CCD Sessions into a separate Sessions.  Consider moving session folders into a separate 'Sessions' group folder, separating them from more general folders/files that would remain in 'Analysis' folder.   This involves critical changes to AstroMain, AstroMove & FitsSummary.  Code relating to use of a particular active session makes use (or should make use) of the 'Session.SessionFolder' string variable, which is set when the session is made active.  Some references to SU.BaseFolder + "Analysis\" + SU.SessionName + "\" remain.   Code that uses files in other subfolder Analysis typically use "C:\Data\CCD Imaging\Analysis\..." directly or use SU.BaseFolder + "Analysis\...".  Twenty nine codelines in AstroMain using either  'BaseFolder + "Analysis" + "\" + Session.Name'  or BaseFolder + "Analysis\" + Session.Name or SU.BaseFolder + "Analysis\" + Session.Name  need changing to 'Session.SessionFolder'.  Five other paths using "Analysis\" need to be changed to "Sessions\"  (several other path using Analysis refere to data general files in \Analysis\Sub folders and don't need to be moved.  AstroMove needs to change to UpdateSessionList().  There are also changes needed to FitsSummary.xls.  Overall the change looks to be achievable and manageable, but it should be noted that old code won't work with the new directories.  Changes implemented on 2023-03-14.
  Done 2023-03-14 (Files/CCD Imaging, AstroMain 3.62, AstroMove 1.12, Excel Fits Summary.xls)
   
• Download and try out software package called 'AstroSurface' for planetary image processing. Download and try out software package called 'AstroSurface' for planetary image processing.   Downloaded and installed 2023-03-12 into 'More Programs\AstroSurface'.  An  start button 'AstroSurface' has been added to AstroLaunch 1.11.1.
  In Progress 2023-03-12 (Software, AstroSurface, AstroLaunch 1.11.1) 
   
• Place Archive CCD Sessions onto an External Drive.  Place Archive Sessions onto external drive in folder 'CCD Session Archive'.  A new 4 TB External Drive (Toshiba , exFAT formatted, renamed as CCDArchive) has been ordered and arrive today (2023-10-08) specifically to archive CCD Sessions. Once archived this will allow space to be freed up on both the Development/Analysis Computer and the Observatory Computer and will allow sessions that currently only reside on old Development Computer to be readily accessed.
  In Progress 2023-10-07+ (Dev. Computer)
   
• Introduce SessionFolder to VBA code in Fits Summary.xls.   Fits Summary folder has been modified on 2023-03-14 to use baseFolder = "C:\Data\Ccd Imaging\Sessions"  throughout instead of (..\Analysis).  Routines subsequently reuse baseFolder variable with the codeline  'baseFolder = baseFolder + "\" + SessionName'.  This is bad practice, and code should be modified to build SessionFolder = baseFolder + "\" + SessionName', and then use SessionFolder instead of baseFolder, when referring an individual's Session  folder
  To review 2023-03-03 (Excel Fits Summary.xls)

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