Possible Timing Issue in Sequencer

[garyhawkins]

Hi Robin,

I've been looking at automating measurement sequences on multiple photometry targets. I did not use the Deepsky Planner because I wanted complete control of the capture sequence.

I came across this potential issue last night after noticing plate-solving was failing with exposure/gain settings that always work for my rig.

The problem part of the sequence was:
1) Command mount to move to RA/DEC position
2) Delay 25 secs to allow the mount to settle. My EQ6-R seems to need a little time.
3) Change exposure to 10 secs
4) Change gain to 550
5) Plate-solve and re-sync.

Sometimes plate-solving would fail, and it appeared to be caused by the plate-solver using the previous gain/exposure settings, not the ones commanded.

When I changed this part of the sequence to below, plate-solving worked every time:

1) Command mount to move to RA/DEC position
2) Change exposure to 10 secs
3) Change gain to 550
2) Delay 25 secs to allow the mount to settle. My EQ6-R seems to need a little time.
5) Plate-solve and re-sync.

It appears the camera needs 'time' to take the values before the plate-solving is initiated.

Best regards,

Gary

[admin]

Hi Gary,

if you are running the camera in 'live view' mode then it is quite possible that the camera will not immediately go to the new settings - it may take a frame or two for this to happen. It would possibly help to set the gain first, since the change of exposure will trigger the cancellation of the current frame and the start of a new one, which *should* then pick up the new gain too. Alternatively, putting the camera into still mode should cure this sort of issue, as frames are then only captured on request and should always pick up the current settings.

cheers,

Robin

[garyhawkins]

Thanks for that explanation, Robin.