David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1118 (2023-04-25)

Notes (S1117)

Notes Main

Home Page

Notes (S1119A)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (4),  Minor Issues (2),  Small Defects (4),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2023-04-25 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2023-04-25)

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
• 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 3.62.3, AstroPlan 1.38.1,   AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.13  AstroSN 1.10,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.12.2
  (AstroWeather 1.20, AstroAllSky 3.19,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4, AstroLaunch 1.10.9 / 1.11

Highlights

• Targets. 16 out of 18 planned targets were completed. First two targets failed / not completed at start of session due to CCDSoft/SBIG & software issue
• Starting Delays. There were delays at start of session due to 'Starting Services' routine freezing whilst checking SharpCap/ShCap service and issues with freeze to monitoring process and Take image operations due to issue with CCDSoft.Camera.
• Dome Slews.  Eight dome slews suffered significant hold-ups during the session. Amounting to 40% of slew with total hold-up (wasted) time of 12 mins (Hold Up Stats: 8/20 slews affected, 240%, 12.0 minutes total hold-up time). 

Notes:

• Aurora recorded from the Observatory on night 2023-04-21 / 2023-04-22 over an x  hour period
   (see Aurora Images/Video from 2023-04-21)
  
  

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 22:18:20 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 22:18 & 03:11 22:18:25 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (22:18) 22:18:54   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 22:19:07 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2023-04-25 S01118, ImageSaveNum: 1118001) 22:19:34   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 22:28:42   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:28:49 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 22:28:51 Session Pending Session pending (2023-04-25) 22:28:53 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-04-25) 22:28:55   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.38.1) 22:29:50   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 890) 22:33:43   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 22:33:50   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 22:34:34 Observatory (Manual) Observatory placed in Manual Mode 22:34:53 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 22:34 & 03:11 22:34:55 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode 22:34:57 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (22:34) 22:35:25   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:35:34 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 22:35:37 Session Pending Session pending (2023-04-25) 22:35:39 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-04-25) 22:35:41   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 890) 22:35:56   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 22:36:32   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 22:36:56 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 22:37:41   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 22:37:43 Session Running Session running 22:37:46   Queue Started Observing Queue started (18 targets selected) 22:37:49     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 12, HIP 58514) 22:38:01       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 22:38:04 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 21:38 in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 22:38:25 TempMonitor Frozen TempMonitor appears to be frozen at around 21:38 in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 22:39:34     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 91.4, 129.1, 130.5, 157.4° (Total delay 43s) 22:44:53   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action) 22:55:05 Program Opened Program Opened (AstroMain 3.62.3) 22:55:07 Session Resumed Session Resumed (Live, 2023-04-25 S01118, ImageSaveNum: 1118001) 22:55:19   Obs.Overseer Started Obs.Overseer started 22:55:29   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 22:55:38   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:55:56   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 22:56:07 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 22:56 & 03:11 22:56:09 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode 22:56:24 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (22:56) 22:57:20   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:57:27 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 22:57:29 Session Pending Session pending (2023-04-25) 22:57:31 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-04-25) 22:57:35   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 890) 22:57:50   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 22:57:56   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 22:58:20 Session Running Session running 22:58:22   Queue Started Observing Queue started (18 targets selected) 22:58:26     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 12, HIP 58514) 23:00:28       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:03:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 23:05:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 23:05:06       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 23:05:21     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 12, HIP 58514) 23:05:23     Target Missed (1/18) Target's time slot was missed (1/18, UGC 5276 w/SN2023cxk) 23:07:23     Target Started (2/18) Target started (2/18, NGC 3021 w/SN2023bvj) 23:10:22       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:12:19   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:12:39   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command in progress. Error code = 219 (0xdb).) 23:12:50       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing check failed 23:12:52       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 23:13:10   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix locked thread) 23:13:17   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:14:00   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 23:14:13   SBIG Camera Take Image command accepted (bSbigDriverException flag is reset) 23:17:49   SBIG Camera Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:17:59   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix locked thread) 23:18:06   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:18:49   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 23:19:02   SBIG Camera Take Image command accepted (bSbigDriverException flag is reset) 23:19:09 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 22:19 in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 23:19:19 TempMonitor Frozen TempMonitor appears to be frozen at around 22:19 in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 23:30:32   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (attempt to fix locked thread) 23:30:39   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled 23:31:22   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 23:31:24     Target Completed Target partially completed (2/18, NGC 3021 w/SN2023bvj) 23:31:26     Target Started (3/18) Target started (3/18, C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)) 23:33:12     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 218.2, 217.6° (Total delay 58s) 23:48:20     Target Completed Target completed (3/18, C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)) 23:48:24     Target Started (4/18) Target started (4/18, C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)) 00:02:27     Target Completed Target completed (4/18, C/2019 T4 (ATLAS)) 00:02:31     Target Started (5/18) Target started (5/18, GCVS SS Her) 00:04:50       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:06:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 00:10:39     Target Completed Target completed (5/18, GCVS SS Her) 00:10:55     Target Started (6/18) Target started (6/18, NGC 4611 w/SN2023dtz) 00:12:54     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 127.8, 129.3, 156.6, 157.2° (Total delay 67s) 00:15:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:17:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 00:33:50     Target Completed Target completed (6/18, NGC 4611 w/SN2023dtz) 00:33:54     Target Started (7/18) Target started (7/18, IC 4305 w/SN2023edc) 00:36:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:39:09       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 00:54:58     Target Completed Target completed (7/18, IC 4305 w/SN2023edc) 00:55:15     Target Started (8/18) Target started (8/18, NGC 4995 w/SN2023gfo) 00:58:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:00:21       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 01:16:08     Target Completed Target completed (8/18, NGC 4995 w/SN2023gfo) 01:17:35     Target Started (9/18) Target started (9/18, NGC 5915 w/SN2023cpt) 01:21:03       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 01:37:03     Target Completed Target completed (9/18, NGC 5915 w/SN2023cpt) 01:39:35     Target Started (10/18) Target started (10/18, UGC 10678 w/SN2023foa) 01:41:17     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 158.1° (Delay 62s) 01:43:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:45:27       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 02:01:13     Target Completed Target completed (10/18, UGC 10678 w/SN2023foa) 02:01:35     Target Started (11/18) Target started (11/18, AT2023gde) 02:04:19       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:20:41     Target Completed Target completed (11/18, AT2023gde) 02:23:35     Target Started (12/18) Target started (12/18, AT2023cvz (CV)) 02:26:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:28:41       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 02:34:29     Target Completed Target completed (12/18, AT2023cvz (CV)) 02:35:35     Target Started (13/18) Target started (13/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:38:48     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 88.4, 87.4, 66.1° (Total delay 138s) 02:41:07       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:43:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 02:47:12     Target Completed Target completed (13/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 02:53:21     Target Started (14/18) Target started (14/18, WDS GRB 34) 02:56:35     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 66.1, 59.4, 58.8, 53.5, 52.4, 42.5° (Total delay 161s) 02:59:33       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 03:01:55     Target Completed Target completed (14/18, WDS GRB 34) 03:01:59     Target Started (15/18) Target started (15/18, GCVS HH And) 03:07:27       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 03:09:54     Target Completed Target completed (15/18, GCVS HH And) 03:10:16     Target Started (16/18) Target started (16/18, GCVS BL Lac) 03:14:13       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:16:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 03:20:17     Target Completed Target completed (16/18, GCVS BL Lac) 03:20:34     Target Started (17/18) Target started (17/18, 81P/Wild) 03:22:59     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 120.4, 152.2, 153.7, 154.5° (Total delay 69s) 03:26:09       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 03:43:26     Target Completed Target completed (17/18, 81P/Wild) 03:43:55     Target Started (18/18) Target started (18/18, HIP 87937) 03:46:28       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:48:26       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 03:50:51     Target Completed Target completed (18/18, HIP 87937) 03:50:54   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 03:50:58 Session Closing Session closing 03:51:53   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 03:53:56     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 148.1, 128.3, 126.1, 120.3° (Total delay 41s) 03:53:58   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 118s), Az: 90.0 deg 03:55:10   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 67s) 03:55:25   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 03:55:47   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 03:57:10   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 03:57:13 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 03:57:28 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 22:39:34 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 91.4, 129.1, 130.5, 157.4° (Total delay 43s) 22:39:44 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 21:38:04) in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 22:40:59 Red Alert TempMonitor TempMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 21:38:25) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 23:12:19 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:12:40 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command in progress. Error code = 219 (0xdb).) 23:14:13 Green Clear SBIG Camera Take Image command accepted (bSbigDriverException flag is reset) 23:17:49 Red Alert SBIG Camera Alert Take Image failed (Command timed-out) 23:19:02 Green Clear SBIG Camera Take Image command accepted (bSbigDriverException flag is reset) 23:20:51 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 22:19:09) in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 23:21:52 Red Alert TempMonitor TempMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 22:19:19) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 23:30:37 Green Clear Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater has resumed again (23:30) after 11.5 mins 23:30:39 Green Clear TempMonitor TempMonitor has resumed again (23:30) after 11.2 mins 23:33:12 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 218.2, 217.6° (Total delay 58s) 00:12:54 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 127.8, 129.3, 156.6, 157.2° (Total delay 67s) 01:41:17 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 158.1° (Delay 62s) 02:38:48 Red Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 88.4, 87.4, 66.1° (Total delay 138s) 02:56:35 Red Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 66.1, 59.4, 58.8, 53.5, 52.4, 42.5° (Total delay 161s) 03:22:59 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 120.4, 152.2, 153.7, 154.5° (Total delay 69s) 03:53:56 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 148.1, 128.3, 126.1, 120.3° (Total delay 41s)

Back to Top

Operational Issues (2023-04-25, S1118)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (4)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Small Defects (4)
• Continuous Improvement (1)
  

[ Prev | Next ]

Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Start Observatory Services' routine became frozen whilst starting the SharpCap service (22:21). Whilst starting Night Services as part of AutoStart operations at start of session, execution frozen during 'Start SharpCap Service' . The SharpCap Server' (AstroShCap) was running and was connected to and the 'SharpCap Client was reported as "Start (22:21)", but the start Services task appeared to then hang and didn't proceed with check/starting TCF-S focuser service as expected. Issue was possibly seen before in a one relatively recent session, but wasn't recorded at the time.  Checking the session's log file showed messages "ShCap Server is connected on Port: 4002" and "Starting ShCap Listening Loop" were present as expected, but the normally present message  "Check ShCapConnection Ok | Ready" or "Welcome to SharpCap Server (AstroShCap) was missing.   Issue was resolved in-session by running backdoor button routine 'Restart ShCap Service'  at 22:28. This unlocked the frozen 'Start Services' thread and finished the start up of the ShCap service (it wasn't ideal that the report messages from the original Start Services' routine and the Restart ShCap Service' were intermixed but this was a consequence of it being a backdoor operation). Still need to understand why the original routine process became frozen at this time and put in measures to prevent 'Start Services' operation from freezing - maybe a timeout is needed on loop check. Unclear why routine froze. Extra tracing added to AstroMain 3.62.4.  A Thread.Sleep(250) was added between calling StartListening and setting up datastream, but this lead to an exception connecting to Sharpcap Service in attempted session S1119A (2023-04-28) and consequential issue creating & accessing SharpCap images, leading to the creation and release of a new AstroMain version (3.62.5) on 2023-04-29.   The issue cropped up again during session S1123 (2023-07-22) and S1133 (2023-08-21), see notes.  Closed after review 2023-11-19 as issue hasn't been seen during the last 35 sessions (S1134-S1168).
  Closed after review 2023-11-19 (AstroMainn 3.64.7)
   
• AstroMain's Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor became frozen (22:38). ObsOverseer reported at 22:39:44 / 22:40:59 that Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor thread had became frozen with last cycle times of 22:38:04 & 22:38:25.  Logs suggest that Foc1FieldsUpdater appeared to freeze whilst the Telescope was being slewed to Near Zenith Focus Field at the beginning of the observing session. This was after the Camera was connected (confirmed connected) at 22:36 and CCD Temperature set to -25°C.  Report Log reports Warning ' Foc1FieldsUpdater is frozen' and 'TempMonitor during the start of Centering Operations after reporting 'Waiting on CCD Cooler'. Why did Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor threads freeze. Situation was recovered by Restarting CCDSoft (though due to a separate issue AstroMain and other observatory software had to be restarted to fully recover).   
  Resolved in-session  2023-04-25 (Session, AstroMain , CCDSoft)
   
• Job Executor became frozen whilst waiting of CCD Cooler near start of Focus Field Centering operations (22:39). Because CCD Temperatures were still being lowered to the set point temperature (-25°C) the job executor reported 'Wating on CCD Cooler..." and entered a wait loop.  But due to an immediately prior issue where the Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor thread had became frozen, presumably related to a CCDSoft/Camera Issue the Wait on Cooler operations became frozen, and Job Executor operations stalled.  An attempted in-session fix using Backdoor button routine to 'Restart CCDSoft (incl SBIG Camera)' at 22:44 ended with AstroMain encountering a unhandled exception, due to an attempted access to Camera object whilst Restart CCDSoft operation was still being executed.  After shutting down and restarting Observatory Software including AstroMain, there were no further problems with camera.  Modifcation are required to 'Wait on Cooler' routines to try to avoid situation whereby the routine and thus the Job Executor become locked. ObsOverseer should be extended to report cases where Job Executor becomes frozen waiting on the CCD Cooler.  Fix attempted in AstroMain 3.62.4. CheckForStableCCDTemperature() routine (which is called by Job Executor) now uses CCDMonitor.Temperature and CCDMonitor.TemperatureSetPoint, which are read by the CCDMonitor main loop, so that it doesn't have to refer to the Camera object and doesn't run the risk of locking up if the is an issue with CCDSoft.Camera.
  Fixed 2023 -04-28 (AstroMain 3.62.4)
   
• AstroMain's Foc1FieldsUpdater, TempMonitor and Camera.TakeImage became frozen (23:20). Take Focus Profile for Target 2/18 (NGC 3021) failed at 23:12 whlilst  taking Focus Frame 14/14. Subsequent Focus Check image attempts failed with error message "Command in progress". Ahead of Imaging the Job Executor automatically initiated a "Restart CCDSoft" operation (incl SBIG Camera restart) at 23:13.  This didn't seem to be fully successful as the following "Taking 180s image" task failed with a TimeOut.  In response to this a second "Restart CCDSoft" operation was initiated at 23:17. Likewise this didn't seem to be fully successful as the next "Taking 180s image" task also timed out (whilst waiting for Camera.TakeImage) andthe  Foc1FieldsUpdater & TempMonitor threads were reported frozen at 23:20 / 23:21. After waiting a further 9 mins a third "Restart CCDSoft" operation was automatically initiated at 23:30.   This successfully unlocked the frozen monitoring threads (resumed after 11 minutes) and imaging operations using CCDSoft's Camera object proceeded normally, and without further problem.
  Automatically resolved in-session  2023-04-25 (Session, AstroMain , CCDSoft)

Minor Issues

• AstroMain encountered an unhandled (fatal) exception whilst performing 'Restart CCDSoft' operation (22:44). After Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor thread had became frozen at 22:38 and Wait On Cooler operation became frozen (22:39 - 22:43) an attempted in-session fix using a Backdoor button routine to 'Restart CCDSoft (incl SBIG Camera)' ended with AstroMain encountering a unhandled exception  (System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMexception, due to the attempted access to Camera object associated with reporting of Camera.TemperatureSetPoint, whilst Camera was 'Nothing' in CheckForStableCCDTemperature() routine in CcdMonitor.vb .  Code should be modified so that the exception is caught and handled appropriately. Fixed in AstroMain 3.62.4. CheckForStableCCDTemperature() routines now uses CCDMonitor.Temperature and CCDMonitor.TemperatureSetPoint, which are read by the CCDMonitor main loop, so that it doesn't have to refer to the Camera object.
  Fixed 2023 -04-28 (AstroMain 3.62.4)
   
• 40% of dome slews during session suffered from hold-ups totalling 12 minutes of wasted time. Eight dome slews suffered significant hold-ups during the session, with hold-up times of 41s, 43s, 58s, 62s, 67s, 69s, 138s, 161s and thus unnecessarily delaying the operations for each target affected.  Problem has being gradually becoming worse in last 3 sessions.   Flange on dome roof needs to be cleaned/dried, this normally resolves the problem (at least for a while). Fix attempted during attempted session S1119A (2023-04-29), flange wiped clear of condensation & grime. To monitor for presence of dome holdups during next session.  Eventually fixed 2023-07-19 by adjusting the tension on rotation drive (required loosing the induction charger to access relevant nut inside the drive unit), fixed confirmed in Session S1233 (2023-07-22).
  Fixed 2023-07-19 (Observatory, Pulsar Dome)

Small Defects

• LastCycle Times associated with Alert reporting of frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor threads posts UT times instead of LT Times (22:38). At 22:39:44 / 22:40:59 ObsOverseer reported that Foc1FieldsUpdater and TempMonitor thread had became frozen with last cycle times of 21:38:04 & 21:38:25. Last cycle times should have been reported as 22:38:04 & 21:38:25.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.62.4).
  Fixed 2023 -04-28 (AstroMain 3.62.4)
   
• 'Next Forecast Rain' field on AstroMain's Manager tab showing ' in 38 min (..)' without showing precipitation type. At one particular moment the 'Next Forecast Rain' field was noted to show ' in 38 min (..) when it was expected that it should show 'Rain in 38 min (..).  It might be that the field was trying to be written as 'Snow in 38 min' (due to low temperatures)' or it couldn't find the appropriate value in data record coming from AstroWeather which now using OpenWeather API rather than DarkSky.Net API for getting minutely data.   Subsequently the field was showing Next Rain in 15h " (no precipitation in next 60 minutes so data comes from hourly data.  The field (VM.NextRain) is set to Env.Forecast.NextRain which takes it values from Synopsis.NextRain which is field 11 in the Synopsis/Scorecard record that is sent regularly from AstroAllSky program running on AllSky/Weather Computer.  It appears that this happens when ER.precipStartType is "" for some reason.  Fix added in AstroAllSky 3.19.1 so that  "Rain" is written to the field 11 if ER.precipStartType = "".
  Fixed 2023 -04-28 (AstroAllSky 3.19.1 )
   
• After successfully using 'Restart ShCap Service" the SharpCap flag on AstroMain's Observatory tab isn't being set to lime/green. After initial failure to setup the SharpCap service (via connection to ShCap server), the SharpCap flag on the Observatory tab was shown as white.   Issue is considered to be resolved (3.62.5+) , but monitor future sessions for any repeat of this issue.
  Resolved 2023 -04-29 (AstroMain 3.62.5)
   
• Target 2/18 was recorded in the session's Observing Plan as 'Partially Completed', when no main frames were actually acquired. "Taking 180s image (C)" attempts for Target 2/18 (NGC 3021) all failed due to imaging timeout (associated with a CCDSoft.Camera issue). Observing Plan records target as Partially Completed when it fact it should have been recorded as 'Failed'.   Observing Plan manually modifed to show the Target as 'Failed'.
  To fix 2023-04-26 (AstroMain 3.62.4)

Continuous Improvement

• Add 'Close TextPad Windows' button facility to AstroMove's Admin Tab.
  Done 2023-04-27 (AstroMove 1.12.3)

[ Prev | Next ]

Back to Top