If Live Stack is not possible

Questions, tips, information and discussions about using the SharpCap Sequencer and Sequence Planner tools
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koshi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:45 am

If Live Stack is not possible

#1

Post by koshi »

The sequence editor is a great feature.
I've been able to make a list of galaxies and use Repeat for each RA/Dec to automatically observe many of them using CSV files.
The only problem I am having is that I am using Live Stack to take pictures, but when I move to a low altitude light pollution area, or when clouds prevent Live Stack from working, I am not able to reach the expected number of stacks and the step does not go forward.
Is there any good solution?
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admin
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Re: If Live Stack is not possible

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

I think you are using the 'Live Stack for <FrameCount> frames ...' steps. At the moment I can't think of a good way to get around that problem that the frame count doesn't go up if frames cannot be stacked. I can think of a few changes that I can make though that would allow this to be fixed

1) Compare the frame count to the total frames rather than the stacked frames count - that way it would always stop after a fixed time
2) Have a way to configure the step to give up if there are more than <X> bad frames in a row
3) Add another 'stop running these steps' block that takes a time limit, so you could set maybe a 30 minute time limit around each live stack block. The danger here is the stacking being cut off before it saves, so probably not the best idea.

Do you prefer option 1) or 2)? Or do you have a better idea?

cheers,

Robin
koshi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:45 am

Re: If Live Stack is not possible

#3

Post by koshi »

Thank you Robin for your wonderful SharpCapVER4.0.

Fully automated photography is my dream. However, right now I'm using two Sharpcaps running one for sequencing equatorial mount control with dummy camera. and one for actual shooting. I need to do a manual Save operation, but I can also use Pause and Resume of the sequence if the live stack goes wrong, if the auto stretch is not the best, or if the equatorial mount introduction is off. However, even in this case, it is very useful to be able to plan the observation. Thanks to CSV coordinate files in the sequence editor, the efficiency of observation has increased several times.

In my case, my main goal is to be able to handle many observation targets in a short time, so (1) is sufficient. Normally, 10 stacks of 4 seconds are enough for my observations, but if I can capture even one frame and move on, I am satisfied.

But if those who want to get stuck a lot in a long time, they may have a different opinion. I haven't experienced this very often, but it is because if Frames are temporarily unstacked because of a cloud passage or strong wind, the stack may come back before long.

If we can set the count of the schedule stack to 5 and the count of ignore to 10 for example, and when either of them reaches that value, then we can move on to the next step as planned. but I'm sorry, I don't know if that's for the best.
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Re: If Live Stack is not possible

#4

Post by admin »

Hi,

OK, I will add another option to that step so you can specify counting stacked frames or total frames - I think that is best as it preserves the existing default behaviour.

cheers,

Robin
koshi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:45 am

Re: If Live Stack is not possible

#5

Post by koshi »

Thanks Robin. SharpCap is already the best software in my astronomical life, and I look forward to more advances.
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