Wed, 01/27/2021 - 22:20
I have a friend that is automating my CCD observing runs.
He is totally bored with COVID and looking at automating my CCD observing runs. He did make the observation that "pretty picture" guys want to spend all night taking one image, while my variable goal is to observe lots of stars in one night.
We (he) did one observing run with APT. He thinks it might be simpler for me to use Sequence Generator Pro.
Right now, we are setting it up for my AP900 mount and SBIG 8-XE camera. However, I travel a lot so I would also like the system to work with my SkyWatcher EQ-6 and my AVX.
Any thoughts and advice is appreciated.
Vladimir
Hello! I run my system unattended in my backyard using SGPro (LX200 classic, Robofocus, SBIG ST-402 and a weather station). It is designed to be used remotely, as well, with dome integration, but I have not used those features
It works well for me. Bit of a learning curve at the beginning, but that would apply to any program. Best regards.
Mike
I'm halfway through the SGP documentation and it still doesn't tell me if it will be able to start autoguiding unattended. But it does say that it is up to be user to start PHD2 before starting SGP. Does not sound like an unattended process to me.
TG
I will have to ask my friend.
For me, I would START the sequence after opening up the observatory and run a set of variables then stop. Then return to the observatory and run another set of variables.
My observatory is next to the house, and I do travel a lot in which case the telescope would be next to the RV.
So those were my parameters for operation.
Vladimir
Yes, SGP will start autoguiding unattended (at least with PHD). In a given sequence, you can define many 'events' (e.g., one event per variable star) and cycle through all stars fully automated if your gear supports that. For example, an event for me (all automated after clicking start) is: auto-center on the target (to within a user-defined number of pixels), set the filter, autofocus, start guiding with PHD (it auto-selects the guide star), settle (wait until guiding stabilizes to within X pixels), acquire the image(s), change filter, auto-focus, start-autoguiding, etc. When done that star/event, it can automatically slew to the next star in the sequence and repeat.
Of course there are many other configurable options. One hiccup for me is that SBIG filter wheels are only sort of compatible with SGP. My B and V filters are not quite parfocal, and I know how many steps they differ with my auto-focuser. SGP has the ability to just apply that focus offset when switching filters instead of repeating the autofocus routine. However, SBIG filter wheels do not report back their position to SGP (SGP can move position as commanded, but it just takes it on 'faith' that it got there) and therefore I cannot use the focus offset feature.
Keith
Thanks Keith.
I sort of thought that should be the case. But just could not find it in the manual!
I currently use CCD Commander. It allows an observation to be triggered by an object's altitude eg wait until object is higher than 30 deg high. Can SGP do that? Again, cannot find anything explicit in the manual.
TG
Yes you can. I've never used it, but you can set either an altitude or a time to start (and stop). You can find this in the Help file under 'Target List and Settings' - Time Constraints.
KNAK,
Do you know if SG Pro can be used to calibrate the variable images. There are hints that the answer is yes. But before I dive into it, if I cannot do it in SG Pro I will look elsewhere. Thanks.
No unfortunately you can't calibrate the images with SGP (I use AstroImageJ), SGP is only acquisition.
Thanks.
Here is the answer from my friend...it seems to match the answer given above.
1st: About PHD guiding from within SG Pro. I've never used SG to control PHD (I only display the graph in the SG window), but from the dialog shown here you can see some options that give some clues:
- "Stop when waiting for next target" - Note that many targets can be defined in a Sequence.
- "Recalibrate auto guider when target changes" - This should not be needed with PHD2, but I don't know if after a Meridian flip.
At software.starkeeper.it
the ability to use simple “code“ to set and manage exception handling to a sequence, along with smarts for sky flats, amazing autofocus and excellent planetarium integration, I really can’t say enough good things for the serious astronomer.
and a bargain to boot.
Thanks for the tip. I had not heard of Voyager before, but in the last few days I installed it and have been learning it.
Extremely impressive. I have not fully tested it, and not yet on sky, but very promising for automated imaging.
And a bonus - it has QHY native drivers. 20MP download in just over 2s, compared to over 3s in ASCOM/SGP.
TG
Does it support SBIG ST-8XE camera's??
No, it does not support it natively. It will integrate with skyX camera add on and leverage the st-8 that way.