David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1190 (2024-02-23)

Notes (S1189)

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Notes (S1191)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (7),  Small Defects (1),  Continuous Improvement (4)
	Images from 2024-02-23 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2024-02-23)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions.
2. 12P/Pons-Brooks. Acquire images of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks which has been undergoing regular outbursts.
3. Telescope Pointing. Perform telescope re-sync & short mapping run in order to restore telescope pointing accuracy after deterioration in last 6-7 sessions
4. AstroMain. Continue to test fixes to CCDSoft Camera/SBIG Camera operations to prevent stalled execution during starting, fix issues due to occasional repeated failures during Cam1 focusing and occassional unexpected CCD Temperature regulation.

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.1.1,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6,   Pulsar Dome Firmware 1.51 & Driver 6.3.10
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.13, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.65.18, AstroPlan 1.39.5,  AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.13,  AstroSN 1.10.2,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.12.10
  (AstroWeather 1.23.10, AstroAllSky 3.19.11,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4, AstroLaunch 1.11.1

Highlights

• Targets. 29/37 planned targets observations were completed, with 3 other targets partially completed. Other targets failed as slot times were missed due to extended efforts to sync telescope and perform a Short Mapping Run.
• 12P/Pons-Brooks. Images of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks were successfully acquired.
• Telescope Pointing. Telescope re-sync & short mapping run were evenutally performed successful after iinitial protracted issues & delays. Results from following S1191 session indicated that accuracy of telescope pointing has improved to within normal limits.
• AstroMain. No issues with CCDSoft Camera/SBIG Camera.
• PHD2 Service. Issues encountered with PHD2 service over a 19 min period following Short Mapping Run / Telescope Restart operations.  Issue was eventually resolved automatically by AstroMain's Job Exexutor/ObsManager
•  Dome Parking.  Dome parked ok at the correct position at end of the session.

Notes:

• 1.5 hours given up to perform Telescope ReSync & Short Mapping Job mid session (22:45 - 00:15).  This was significantly longer than expected due to linking & mapping failures associated with first attempt. Second attempt working near Capella was successful.

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 18:51:39 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 18:51 & 05:12 18:51:44 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (18:51) 18:51:54   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 18:52:07 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2024-02-23 S01190, ImageSaveNum: 1190001) 18:52:14   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 18:53:56   Services Started Observatory Services started 18:54:03 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 18:54:06 Session Pending Session pending (2024-02-23) 18:54:08 Session Initiating Session initiating (2024-02-23) 18:54:10   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.39.6) 18:55:00   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 964) 18:55:24   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -25°C) 18:56:01   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 18:56:25 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 18:57:10   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 18:57:12 Session Running Session running 18:57:14   Queue Started Observing Queue started (37 targets selected) 18:57:17     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 5, HIP 23569) 18:57:29       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 19:03:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:05:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 19:07:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 19:07:44       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 19:09:42       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 19:11:27       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 19:11:45     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 5, HIP 23569) 19:11:50     Target Started (1/37) Target started (1/37, UGC 12639 w/SN2023jri) 19:15:48       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:18:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 19:34:41     Target Completed Target completed (1/37, UGC 12639 w/SN2023jri) 19:34:45     Target Started (2/37) Target started (2/37, AT2023rao (CV)) 19:39:56       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:42:09       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 19:58:36     Target Completed Target completed (2/37, AT2023rao (CV)) 19:58:40     Target Started (3/37) Target started (3/37, AT2023cts) 20:00:08       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 20:02:28     Target Failed (3/37) Target failed due to cloud (3/37, AT2023cts) 20:02:30   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 20:02:33 Session Suspending Session suspending 20:03:23   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 44s) 20:03:26 Session Suspended Session suspended 20:07:54 Session Resuming Session resuming 20:08:39   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 20:08:41 Session Running Session running 20:08:43   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 20:08:46     Target Started (3/37) Target started (3/37, AT2023cts) 20:15:45     Target Completed Target partially completed (3/37, AT2023cts) 20:15:49     Target Started (4/37) Target started (4/37, AT2022uao) 20:19:04       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:21:16       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 20:37:55     Target Completed Target completed (4/37, AT2022uao) 20:37:59     Target Started (5/37) Target started (5/37, Capella) 20:41:53     Target Completed Target completed (5/37, Capella) 20:42:40     Target Started (6/37) Target started (6/37, AT2023vww (CV)) 20:45:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:48:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 20:53:52     Target Completed Target completed (6/37, AT2023vww (CV)) 20:54:40     Target Started (7/37) Target started (7/37, NGC 3690 w/SN2023wrk) 20:58:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:00:45       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 21:17:14     Target Completed Target completed (7/37, NGC 3690 w/SN2023wrk) 21:17:18     Target Started (8/37) Target started (8/37, AT2023wbv (CV)) 21:21:02       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:23:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 21:28:48     Target Completed Target completed (8/37, AT2023wbv (CV)) 21:29:00     Target Started (9/37) Target started (9/37, UGC 3174 w/SN2023mut) 21:32:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:35:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 21:51:28     Target Completed Target completed (9/37, UGC 3174 w/SN2023mut) 21:51:32     Target Started (10/37) Target started (10/37, AT2023eid (CV)) 21:55:14       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:57:39       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 22:03:28     Target Completed Target completed (10/37, AT2023eid (CV)) 22:03:33     Target Started (11/37) Target started (11/37, 103P/Hartley) 22:06:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:09:05       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 22:19:37     Target Completed Target completed (11/37, 103P/Hartley) 22:19:41     Target Started (12/37) Target started (12/37, AT2023tjz) 22:22:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:24:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 22:40:34     Target Completed Target completed (12/37, AT2023tjz) 22:40:36   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted 22:48:41   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 23:09:29   Automapping Completed Automapping completed (0 points mapped out of 12 points) 23:29:38   Observatory Door Observatory Door has opened 23:29:43   Observatory Door Observatory Door has closed (open time 4s) 00:03:37   Automapping Started Automapping started (12 points planned) 00:07:49   Observatory Door Observatory Door has opened 00:07:58   Observatory Door Observatory Door has closed (open time 8s) 00:14:11   Automapping Completed Automapping completed (10 points mapped out of 12 points) 00:17:11   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 78s) 00:17:26   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 00:17:57   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 00:18:55   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 00:20:46   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:21:24 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 00:21 & 05:12 00:21:26 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode 00:21:28 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (00:21) 00:21:47   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:21:54 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 00:21:56 Session Pending Session pending (2024-02-23) 00:21:58 Session Initiating Session initiating (2024-02-23) 00:22:03   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 964) 00:22:16   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -25°C) 00:22:21   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 00:22:57 Session Running Session running 00:22:59   Queue Started Observing Queue started (20 targets selected) 00:23:05     Target Started (18/37) Target started (18/37, UGC 8317 w/AT2022qvu) 00:27:28   PHD2 Communication Restarting PHD2 service (11 incomplete data stream reads) 00:28:02   PHD2 Restarted PHD2 service restarted 00:33:57     Target Completed Target partially completed (18/37, UGC 8317 w/AT2022qvu) 00:34:01     Target Started (19/37) Target started (19/37, NGC 5630 w/SN2023zdx) 00:37:54   PHD2 Communication Restarting PHD2 service (67 incomplete data stream reads) 00:38:22   PHD2 Restarted PHD2 service restarted 00:40:19   PHD2 Communication PHD2 is potentially stalled ('LoopingExposures' Events not detected) 00:40:49   PHD2 Restarted PHD2 service restarted 00:55:19     Target Completed Target partially completed (19/37, NGC 5630 w/SN2023zdx) 00:55:23     Target Started (20/37) Target started (20/37, AT2024crd) 01:16:25     Target Completed Target completed (20/37, AT2024crd) 01:16:29     Target Started (21/37) Target started (21/37, 62P/Tsuchinshan) 01:20:23       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:22:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 01:34:18     Target Completed Target completed (21/37, 62P/Tsuchinshan) 01:34:23     Target Started (22/37) Target started (22/37, MCG -1-33-30 w/SN2024byg) 01:39:24       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:41:49       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 01:58:02     Target Completed Target completed (22/37, MCG -1-33-30 w/SN2024byg) 01:58:06     Target Started (23/37) Target started (23/37, M101 w/SN2023ixf) 02:02:37       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:18:29     Target Completed Target completed (23/37, M101 w/SN2023ixf) 02:18:34     Target Started (24/37) Target started (24/37, AT2023aanv (CV)) 02:23:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:25:31       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 02:31:20     Target Completed Target completed (24/37, AT2023aanv (CV)) 02:31:24     Target Started (25/37) Target started (25/37, UGC 11858 w/SN2023rjj) 02:35:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:37:39       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 02:53:41     Target Completed Target completed (25/37, UGC 11858 w/SN2023rjj) 02:53:45     Target Started (26/37) Target started (26/37, UGC 9002 w/SN2023pls) 02:57:41       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:00:06       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 03:16:30     Target Completed Target completed (26/37, UGC 9002 w/SN2023pls) 03:16:34     Target Started (27/37) Target started (27/37, AT2021aena (CV)) 03:27:06     Target Completed Target completed (27/37, AT2021aena (CV)) 03:27:10     Target Started (28/37) Target started (28/37, LEDA 83622 w/SN2023bpg) 03:30:39       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 03:46:39     Target Completed Target completed (28/37, LEDA 83622 w/SN2023bpg) 03:48:28     Target Started (29/37) Target started (29/37, MCG -3-34-59 w/SN2023gb) 03:52:07       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 04:08:37     Target Completed Target completed (29/37, MCG -3-34-59 w/SN2023gb) 04:10:28     Target Started (30/37) Target started (30/37, HIP 87937) 04:14:13       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:16:21       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 04:18:46     Target Completed Target completed (30/37, HIP 87937) 04:18:50     Target Started (31/37) Target started (31/37, AT2023txn) 04:21:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:24:16       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 04:30:05     Target Completed Target completed (31/37, AT2023txn) 04:31:11     Target Started (32/37) Target started (32/37, AT2023em (CV)) 04:34:17       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:36:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 04:42:33     Target Completed Target completed (32/37, AT2023em (CV)) 04:43:11     Target Started (33/37) Target started (33/37, AT2023abtv (CV)) 04:46:23       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:48:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 21) 04:54:24     Target Completed Target completed (33/37, AT2023abtv (CV)) 04:55:11     Target Started (34/37) Target started (34/37, GCVS BL Lac) 04:58:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:00:28       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 22) 05:04:21     Target Completed Target completed (34/37, GCVS BL Lac) 05:05:29     Target Started (35/37) Target started (35/37, 12P/Pons-Brooks) 05:09:23       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 05:21:26     Target Completed Target completed (35/37, 12P/Pons-Brooks) 05:23:31     Target Started (36/37) Target started (36/37, (2) Pallas) 05:27:02       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:29:12       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 23) 05:31:40     Target Completed Target completed (36/37, (2) Pallas) 05:32:31     Target Started (37/37) Target started (37/37, AT2023tow) 05:37:00       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:39:10       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 24) 05:55:00     Target Completed Target completed (37/37, AT2023tow) 05:55:03   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:55:06 Session Closing Session closing 05:56:01   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 44s) 05:56:34   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 26s), Az: 90.0 deg 05:57:49   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 71s) 05:58:04   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 05:58:26   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:59:48   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:59:51 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 06:00:53     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 87.0 to 93.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 06:02:22     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 90.8°) 06:02:28     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -0.8°) 06:02:30   Dome Parked Dome parked 06:05:32 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 00:21:39 Yellow Alert PHD2 Alert No. of incomplete PHD2 stream reads has exceeded 5 00:28:32 Yellow Alert PHD2 Alert No. of incomplete PHD2 stream reads has exceeded 5 00:30:07 Red Alert PHD2 Alert No. of incomplete PHD2 stream reads has exceeded 20 00:39:03 Yellow Alert PHD2 Alert No. of incomplete PHD2 stream reads has exceeded 5 00:39:43 Red Alert PHD2 Alert No. of incomplete PHD2 stream reads has exceeded 20 00:58:16 Green Clear PHD2 Alert PHD2 stream reading has stablised again

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Operational Issues (2024-02-23 S1190)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (7)
• Small Defects (1)
• Continuous Improvement (4)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Unable to successfully perform Short Mapping Job / points not linking or not mapping (22:48).  After Syncing Telescope on a Star field in southern sky using TheSky option Sync Telescope & taking the 'Sync With Existing TPoint Model' option "Sync now and start a short mapping run in TPoint. The existing TPoint model will be used as the base model", AstroMain's 'Map Local Points' routine was run (for 12 points at 2° offsets). All 12 points failed to link with GSC & UCA/USNO catalogs in CCDSoft/TheSky.  6/12 points linked ok using ASTAP, but none of these could be mapped giving a mapping success rate of 0% (0/12).
  Due to developing cloud in southern sky, telescope was moved to Capella, centered and telescope Synced.   6 points or so were then manually mapped, involve taking an image near Capella, identifying a star, nudging telescope onto star, taking another image, and mapping the point using TheSky's Object Information/Map facility. Then proceeding with the next point.   For each map attempt theSky put up a dialog with the message "You are about to map a point that appears to be in error. Are you sure you want to continue?" and asking for confirmation (see Fig 1)  The Ok button was clicked each time. It is presumed that the offset between the telescope coords and the map coordinates (likely around 38-40') was deemed by TheSky to be abnormally large.  Finally on the 6-7th point the dialog was no longer produced, presumably because the short mapping run was deemed complete. In future it may be as well to manually map 6 points using the synced star position in order to rapidly proceed though this 'road block' before conducting a Short Mapping Run on 12 points as normal in which 10/12 points successfully mapped.   TheSky document saved under the name 'Clair_S1190_TPoint.sky'  - its TPoint Model comprises the base model + 18 points from Short Mapping (8 manually mapped points + 10 points from the Local Mapping Run). User proceedure to be updated based on this experience (To do).   Issue closed as the problem was eventually resolved in-session.  A separate continuous improvement ticket has been issued to look into the performing of a Short Mapping Job.
  Resolved in-session 2024-02-23   (Session, TheSky6/TPoint / Sync+ShortMapping Run)

Minor Issues

• Issues with PHD2 Service (Incomplete PHD2 Reads etc) following Telescope Restart (00:21 - 00:40). Following Telescope Parking  at 00:15-00:17, 'Start Observatory Services' routine was run to restart Telescope & service and reetablish PHD2 Device Connections (the later seemingly needed 2 attempts).   During subsequent AutoStart operations the 'Start Observatory Services' routine connection was again run at 00:21. Upon reaching the PHD2 Section and reporting that the PHD2 Client had already started, there was an ObsManager warning "Incomplete PHD2 Reads > 5 ".  PHD2 Profile (Cam2) reported as 'Fail' with the message  "Exception occurred whilst trying to set PHD2 Profile" (normally PHD2 Profile would be reported as "Ok    Started already   (Profile:TS80/178MC, ID: 1)" and PHD2 Camera & PHD2 Mount both reported as Fail with message "Unable to set Profile (1) ".  The mentioning of "Cam2" is unusual. During 'Check PHD2 Service' routine at 00:22, the PHD2 Application was reported to be open and the PHD2 Client connected, but no Profile information could be obtained (** profile is required **). After slewing/centering the first target after the 'restarting' the job queue (Target 8/37, UGC 8317) a PHD2 Data Stream alert was raised  with message "11 IncompleteReads(Restarting PHD2 service as precaution) " and  PHD2 Services were restarted at 00:27 with PHD2 Equipment   specified as using  "Cam2" Profile  (ID: 1, TS80/178MC )   PHD2 Profile (Cam2)         Ok        Started (00:28)   (Profile:TS80/178MC, ID: 1 ).  Following the send of Guide Request to PHD2 there was an ObsManager Alert with the message "Incomplete PHD2 Reads > 20 "  but the PHD2 did guide and sent guide step data back to the Guiding Manager that computed average guiding results ok (Ra 0.7", Dec 0.9") . After Slewing/Centering the next target  (Target 19/37, NGC 5630) there was a 'PHD2 Data Stream' Alert  with message "67 IncompleteReads(Restarting PHD2 service as precaution) " and PHD2 Service was restarted (including PHD2 application kill/restart) at 00:37 during which Set PHD2 Profile failed with message "Exception occurred whilst trying to set PHD2 Profile". There was a second attempt to Restart PHD2 Service (not including PHD2 restart) at 00:38  Very quickly the ObsManager gave a warning  "Incomplete PHD2 Reads >5 " culminating in a Red Alert  "Incomplete PHD2 Reads > 20".    Guide Initiation then failed with messages  "Guiding failed    (No 'LoopingExposures' events received)"  and  "PHD2 program may have stopped or otherwise failed". The Guiding Manager then issue an Alert with the message  "PHD2 Stalled ?    (Restarting PHD2 service as precaution)"  and the PHD2 Service was again restarted (including PHD2 Application Kill/Restart) at 00:40.  Target 19/37 was successfully guided (but one 180s frame had to be cancelled due to delays) .   After slewing/centering Target 20/37 (AT2024crd)  guiding setup occurred without incident and a Green (all-clear) Alert was finally issued at 00:58 with message. "PHD2 stream reading has stablised again ", presumably based an absence of any Incomplete PHD2 Reads since Service was restarted at 00:40.    Ultimately AstroMain was able to deal with issue itself, but the issue caused dealys and consequential loss in image frames.  A separate continuous improvement ticket has been issued to look into the circumstances of the PHD2 Service issues and their resolution.
  Resolved in-session 2024-02-23  (Session, AstroMain, PHD2)
   
• Light on Red-Dot Finder stopped working.  Although red light on Red-Dot Finder initiated worked when trying to centre Capella, it later stopped working. The Red-Dot FInder is rarely used but it needs to work when needed.  Without it the task of centering.  A check was made during daylight hours the following day to see if this a battery strength, loose battery connection, switch, light bulb or user awareness issue.  This concluded that the battery & bulb are fine - the red dot appears. The Finder is turned on with  wheel/switch on right hand side (but not the wheel at far end on right which is a levelling adjustment). Wheel is rotated clockwise to turn it on, or anticlockwise to turn it off (it makes a click when off).  There is null zone directly after turning on the finder where the red-dot is still off and the wheel has to be turned further for the red-dot to be visible.  This may have contrbuted to the issue during the session.  Despite this there is still a suspicion that there is some sort of intermittent fault with the switch.
  Closed after tests 2024-02-24  (Observatory, Red-Dot Finder, User Awareness)
   
• Spanner found on top of inside roof flange, left from some earlier observatory adjustment/fix.  When visiting the Observatory to sort out issue with Telescope  after telescope sync and failed short mapping a small spanner was noted to be sitting on the dome's roof flange. Although the spanner didn't cause a problem on the occasion or at any time since the spanner was accidentlly left there,  but leaving any item on the roof flange could cause a major issue if it gets caught ands holds up dome rotation.  The roof flange is a convenient shelf to temporarily working in the observatory,  but it really should be avoided because of the potential of it being left and causing a serious issue and/or damage. This is down to user awareness (if not already known), to avoid putting items on roof flange, checking work space at end of a job.  May be a sign could be put up in the Observatory as a reminder? . A washer was also found lying on the roof flange 8 days later (2024-03-02).
  Closed after review 2024-02-24  (Observatory, Dome, User Awareness)
   
• 2° discrepency reported between Device Hub coordinates & TheSky6 coordinates (00:22).  After performing a short mapping run near Capella and restarting the Telescope a 2.0° discrepency was calculated & reported between telescope coordinates from Device Hub & TheSky6 when starting TheSky6 Telescope Connection. Some discrepency is always reported between the coordinates from the two sources as the coordinates reported by TheSky6 taken into account the TPoint Model.  Typically the discrepency is reported as 1.0° (recently) or in the past 0.8°.   Discrepency of 2.0° is anomously high.  Is this due to Telescope Sync being made on Capella in western sky & Dec 43° rather than with a normal sync on star on meridian in southern sky & Dec 0° or so.  Park altitude at the start of session was 2.3° (TheSky6) / 3.2° (ASCOM), which became 1.3° (TheSky6) / 3.2° (ASCOM) after the telescope resync & restart.  The discrepency in coordinates  (at the Telescope Park position) at the start of following S1191 session was again 2.0°, as was in the S1192 session.   Despite this pointing accuracy was reasonably good ( Pointing error associated with initial slew to Focus Field in S1191 was only 3.1' compared to 6.6 - 8.7' during the last 6 sessions (S1185 - S1190). Average pointing errors after slew was 2.49' and 2.41' respectively in S1191 and S1192 session respectively.  A separate Continuous Improvement ticket has been raised and completed 2024-02-26 to report the difference/discrepency between the two Device Hub and TheSky6 coordinates at the Near Zenith Focus Point.  In the following S1193 session (2024-02-26) it was shown that whilst the difference in coordinates at the telescope park location was 2.0°  the difference in coordinates was only 0.5° at the Near Zenith Focus Point.  Issue closed after monitoring and review.
  Closed after review  2024-02-26 (Session, TheSky6/TPoint, AstroMain)
   
• Pointing errors after slewing (~ 8') are still large after telescope resync. A telescope resync was performed during the S1190 session as pointing errors after slewing have gradually increased during recent sessions with slew error to initial Focus Field being around 8' during the previous S1189 session.  After Telescope was parked/restarted the pointing error for first target was 8.3'  and didn't fall below 7' until after the 8th target (See Fig 2) .   The continuing large error could in part be due to a poor short mapping run, or due to making  Telescope Sync on Capella in western sky & Dec 43° rather than with a typical sync on star lying close to meridian in southern sky & Dec 0°.  However the slow improvement with number of targets slewed to is due to Slewing Adjustment values being initially weighted to errors prior to telescope resync. Scope Slewing Performance from session is shown in Fig 3.  The pointing errors after slewing show 2 distinct clusters that reflect the slews made before and after the  telescope re-sync. The quality of slews afterwards is clouded by the Slew Adjustment calculated from all slews, which is trying to position the scope at the midpoint between errors from the two clusters.  With hindsight the Slew Adjustment should have be zeroed after the Telescope Resync (there is a 'Reset Slew Adj" button on the More/Backdoor functions tab to do this).  The proposal is to see what pointing performance is like during the next session (S1191), at least to clearly understand what the effect of the S1190 resync has been.  A new telescope sync & short mapping will most -likely be needed again in the short-medium term but it should wait until the reviews looking at Sync/Short Mapping and PHD2 Service Issues have been completed.  Average pointing errors after slew in the S1191 and S1192 sessionw as 2.49' and 2.41' respectively  respectively., with pointing errors after slewing to initial Near Zenith Focus Field target of 3.09' and 5.15' respectively (& 5.49' in S1193) (see Fig 4).
  Closed after review  2024-02-26  (Session, TheSky6/TPoint, AstroMain)
   
• LX200 Handbox Controls not working ?. After initially centering Capella in the telescope using red-dot finder and LX200 Handbox buttons to successfully move the scope, a second attempt to move the scope shortly after couldn't be achieved using the handbox.  The move up,down,left,right buttons wouldn't move the scope, and the LCD screen though lit didn't show any information. The Mode button didn't do anything.  Whilst concerning the telescope was able to be moved via the Telescope in TheSky6 and the Virtual Handbox can be used to access/operate any necessary settings etc.   It is unclear what the issue (could it be just a cold-weather glitc ?). The immediate proposal is to check handbox functionality again during the next session or during a daylight testing. The  LCD Screen was also noted to be devoid of text as was also later noted in the S1192 session (2024-02-25).  During the S1193 session (2024-02-26) the observatory was visited whilst the telescope was operating and AstroMain's Virtual Handbox was brought up and used to navigate to the 'Utilities/Brightness Adj' menu item in order to try adjusting the handbox brightness to see what happens (the virtual screen message reads something like  'Use arrows to adjust brightness. Then press Enter')   Pressing arrows changed the LCD screen brightness on the physiscal handbox in the range bright to dim but no text could be made to appear.  Although it messed up final frames from one target, operation of the directional arrow buttons did move the telescope left, right, up, down. Since these buttons all worked it proves that there is no fundamental issue with the connection to the LX200 itself.  Hence it seems that the problem is with the LCD Screen itself or the connectors to the LCD.  One thing to try next would be to bring the handbox indoors and give it a proper warming up - it sits in the cold observatory environment all winter and probably suffers as a consequence. But otherwise,  a new handbox is potentially called for.  First Light Optics website give price as £150 but noted that they are out of stock, but due in 20-25 days. Whilst waiting for new stock a repair of the handbox could be attempted - some people have tried removing and reseating the ribbon cable and this can bring a display back to life "There is a small plastic wedge that is used to secure the ribbon so if you pop that free first, you can pull out the ribbon. Look at the contacts and maybe clean them with a soft eraser, then refit and see what happens" https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/610966-no-text-on-autostar/ .
  Eventually decided 2024-03-09 to order a new handbox from First Light Optics after it had come back into stock (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/meade-telescopes/meade-autostar-ii-hand-controller.html).  The replacement handset arrived on 2024-03-12 and was attached to the LX200 in place of the old.  Testing confirmed that it was working. It was noted that the handbox makes encouraging small beeps when initialisation has finished and again after the scope has parked (the old handset wasn't doing this or at least not recently).
  Replaced  2024-03-12  (LX200 Autostar II Handbox)
   
• Unable to successfully link images from first Short Mapping Run (22:48).  After Syncing Telescope on a Star field in southern sky using TheSky option Sync Telescope & taking the 'Sync With Existing TPoint Model' option "Sync now and start a short mapping run in TPoint. The existing TPoint model will be used as the base model", AstroMain's 'Map Local Points' routine was run (for 12 points at 2° offsets). All 12 points failed to link with GSC & UCA/USNO catalogs in CCDSoft/TheSky. Investigating later it was found that the 12 images saved from session similarly wouldn't link in CCDSoft/TheSky.   Modifying FITS header and replacing OBJCTRA and OBJCTDEC with values from TAG-RA & TAG-DEC it was found that Image would link [at offset 2] after around 17-20s using either 'Link Image (UCAC)' or 'Link Image (GSC)' buttons in AstroMain's Analysis/Analysis Tab.  But 'Simple Link' wouldn't link.  How come TAG-RA and TAG-DEC coords ascribed by AstroMain/Executor are a better indicator of the RaDec coords of the image than the RA-Dec ascribed by CCDSoft/TheSky at run time.  A separate Continuous Improvement ticket has been raised to review the process of resync the telescope and performed a short mapping run.  Issue understood and is closed after successfully trying a slightly modified procedure at start of session S1196 (2024-03-04). A separate Continuous Improvement ticket has been raised to review the process of resync the telescope and performed a short mapping run.
  Closed  2024-03-04  (AstroMain, User Awareness)

Small Defects

• PHD2 Listener Alerts being reported whilst PHD2 Services were restarting (00:40).  Following an issue with & possible stalling of the PHD2 program, the PHD2 Service was restarted (including a kill/restart of the PHD2 Application) at 00:40.  Immediately after stopping (killing) the PHD2 Listener two Alerts were raised : "PHD2 ListeningLoop has unexpectedly stopped "  and "Unable to read data from the transport connection: A blocking operation was interrupted by a call to WSACancelBlockingCall" . These alerts shouldn't have been raised and certaintly not be shown in the report file, since a data read issue would be entirely expected as PHD2 application had been killed.  The routines need to cooperate via a flag (if it doesn't already exist) called bRestartingPhd2Service.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.66.6.
  Fixed  2024-03-15  (AstroMain 3.66.6)

Continuous Improvement

• Report Difference/Discrepency between DeviceHub & TheSky Coords at Near Zenith Focus Point.   Added new  ReportCoordsDifferenceLite() routine based on relavent code from the existing ConnectTheSky6Telescope() routine,  including the Small Defect fix from S1191 session.
  Done 2024-02-26  (AstroMain 3.65.20,)
   
• Add greenhouse vent open/closed flag to Greenhouse Temperature Charts. A zigbee Open/Closed sensor was added to one of the two roof vents back in xxx, and intergrated into greenhouse monitoring and record keeping (ObsEnv file). The addition of a line/flag to relevant greenhouse temperature plots was intended but was captured as a CI ticket or otherwise forgotten about in the meantime.  Graphs (Graph ID 14 & 59) should be updated to include addition feature .
  Done 2024-02-28  (AstroWeather 1.23.12)
   
• Look into isssues with PHD2 Service (Incomplete PHD2 Reads etc) following Telescope Restart during S1190 session. Look at the circumstances surrounding the PHD2 Service issues during the S1190 session and their resolution.  What action could have been taken to avoid the issue from arising.  How should PHD2 Service be handled in the situation where Telescope is parked/restarted in the middle of a live session.  Why didn't initial automatic attempts to Restart the PHD2 service including kill/restart PHD2 itself, not resolve the issue. Why did problems persist over the course of 19 minutes.   Fix developed following the S1196 where near identical situation and issues occurred following remapping run & manual request to Park Scope prior to restarting it and running a live session. Instead of calling CloseDownPHD2() the  ParkScope2_Manual() routine calls StopPHD2() instead. This calls Phd2.StopService() which will not only will disconnect equipment but will also stop AstroMain's PHD2 Client which will hopefully prevent the server/client related 'incomplete data stream' issue from occuring again.   Attempt at this fix is implemented in AstroMain 3.66.2 where a similar change has also been made in ObsManager's Closing Stage code section. 
  Fix attempted 2024-03-05 (AstroMain 3.66.2, PHD2)
   
• Review procedures and code for performing a Short Mapping Run.   Is the process of opening the TPoint model and choosing the Model/Short Mapping Run the same as sync of star in TheSky virtual view and selecting the "Sync now and start a short mapping run in TPoint" option ? .Review made and a slightly modified procedure was successfully used at the start of session S1196 (2024-03-04).  After syncing on a known star or know position, the same position is then mapped 5-6 times using the 'map 'button on the Object Information" window in TheSky6 and for each point clicking 'Yes' on the warning dialog "about to map a point that appears to be in error"  (See Fig 1). After this the procedure running a short mapping job proceeds ok.
  Done  2024-03-04  (AstroMain, TheSky/TPoint)

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