New Sequencer Steps

Questions, tips, information and discussions about using the SharpCap Sequencer and Sequence Planner tools
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admin
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New Sequencer Steps

#1

Post by admin »

Hi,

just a heads up that I will be adding new steps to the Sequence editor in the next update to SC 4.0 (most likely to be released on 16th August). These will start to fill some of the gaps that have been noticed by Sequencer users. Coming up next week we have some steps to make it easy to ensure that a sequence finishes cleanly and that any steps needed to 'shut down' your setup can be run even if there is an error in the main part of the sequence.

First, there is a group of four new steps that limit how long a sequence will run :

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Stop running these steps at <Time>
Stop running these steps when <AstronomicalEvent> happens (or has already happened)
Stop running these steps when <Degrees> degrees from the meridian
Stop running these steps when less than <Degrees> degrees above the horizon
All of these can contain other steps - the contained steps are run as normal, but if the limit is reached then the sequencer will stop running the contained steps and move on to any parts of the sequence after the 'Stop running...' step.

These steps let you set up sequences that will capture images until 3AM, or until astronomical dawn, or until the target falls to within 25 degrees of the horizon. It may well be possible to set up a primitive 'meridian flip' sequence based on the stop when near meridian step (I have not tested this yet, and plan to include a meridian flip step properly later).

Note that the 'stopping running the contained steps' may not happen instantly, but will usually happen within a few seconds.

Another new step to improve sequencing is to allow 'clean up' actions to be run at the end of a sequence even if the sequence encounters an error (normally, encountering an error means the sequence stops straight away).

Code: Select all

Setup steps to run just before the sequence finishes, even if an error has occurred.
Again, this is a step that can contain other steps. Include this step near the beginning of the sequence, but add to it any steps that you want to run at the end, just as the sequence finishes. The contained steps will be run if your sequence runs to completion *OR* if it stops early due to an error. The only time they will not run is if you cancel your sequence using the Stop/Emergency Stop buttons.

cheers,

Robin
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DocHighCo
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#2

Post by DocHighCo »

This looks very promising. Now I just have to try it out. :D

Thanks

Heiko
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#3

Post by zerolatitude »

Sounds good, especially the plan to build in a dedicated meridian flip step.

Meanwhile, 2 questions
1. What's the resolution in degrees for the meridian step. Can it accept say 0.2 degrees or does it have to be an integer?

2. Is this on both sides of the meridian? Eg if the command is stop at 1 degree (east) to meridian, can the sequence be restarted after the mount flips to 0 degrees west, or will it continue to be stopped till the mount is past 1 degree west?
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#4

Post by admin »

Hi,

you can enter fractional degrees, so for example stop at 0.25 degrees from the meridian. You can also enter negative numbers if your mount can continue tracking some way past the meridian.

My guess for the way to build a meridian flip would be to stop the imaging a bit before the meridian (maybe 0.25 degrees, which is ~ 1 minute before the meridian is reached). Then add a delay step for 90 seconds, which should put the target past the meridian, then a GOTO step to goto the target again, which should put the mount on the other side of the pier, then a plate solve/recenter.

cheers,

Robin
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#5

Post by zerolatitude »

Thanks.

Yes I was thinking along those lines. Which is how the question of whether it would need to be the same number of degrees past the meridian to resume came up (this would need a longer delay).

Since my mounts can go beyond the meridian, using a negative number will be simplest and also take care of this issue.
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

I think that you just need to wait for the target to get past the meridian (even by the smallest amount) and then a GOTO that location should flip the mount. The problem is that different ASCOM drivers may have different ideas about that! Some drivers allow you to flip the mount manually by setting the side of pier, but I haven't tried to implement that in SharpCap yet.

cheers,

Robin
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#7

Post by zerolatitude »

Good point. I'll see what happens with my mount - if the rains ever stop that is :(
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#8

Post by DocHighCo »

I tried it out yesterday. Seems to work fine. I just had to stop early because of clouds.
Just one remark. I suggest to implement an additional step: "Stop running these steps when <clouds come>" - very, very usefull. ;)

Regards

Heiko
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#9

Post by DocHighCo »

PS: Just one additional thing. The "Stop running these steps when <Degrees> degrees from the meridian" would only accept one degree for me - no matter what I put in.
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Re: New Sequencer Steps

#10

Post by admin »

Hi,

thanks for finding the bug which prevents you from changing the distance to the meridian - I hadn't spotted that changing the value didn't actually make any difference, but I have a fix now for next weeks update.

There is actually a thing called an ASCOM safety monitor driver, and some people make cloud detectors that report via the safety monitor system. Right now, SharpCap doesn't support it, but it would be an interesting thing to add in the future.

cheers,

Robin
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