Live stack time series

[Douglas]

Hi all,

Is it possible to run a time series for several hours on a Exoplanet for example in the live stacking mode, say each stacked image is 2 minutes, and save them in a single folder?

Thanks
Doug

[admin]

Hi,

You can certainly run a series of live stacks - the easiest way is to use the 'Save and Reset every XXX minutes' option - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.0/#Left%20Panel

By default, the images will save to different folders, one for each stack, but by tinkering with the file naming settings (in particular using manual filename templates - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.0/#Filenames%20Tab ), you should be able to get them into the same folder with the date/time in the filename, not the folder name.

cheers,

Robin

[Douglas]

Thank's Robin.

Cheer's,
Doug

[Douglas]

Hi Robin,

Could you give an example of the change in the filename template settings to get the stacks in just one folder?
Maybe a screen shot if possible?

Thanks very much.
Doug

[admin]

Hi Doug,

something like

Code: Select all

{TargetName}\{Date:SZ}_{Time:Z}_{AutoSave}_Stack_{BitDepth}bits_{StackedFrames}frames_{TotalExposure}

For the 'Live Stack' template. The thing to notice here is that the {Date:SZ} and {Time:Z} are both after the last '\' character, so they form part of the filename, not the folder name. If you were sure that the imaging session was not going to cross midnight UTC then you could put {Date:SZ} into the path part. If you did that and you did cross midnight you would end up with 2 folders with the before midnight files in one and the after midnight in the other.

If you are saving raw frames or processed frames, you will need to update those two templates too, again, move the {Data...} and {Time...} bits after the last '\' character so they are in the filename, not the directory name and you should be fine.

Hope this helps,

Robin

[Douglas]

Thanks Robin that works great, this will be a great help thank you very much.
The two separate folders for the date split is not a problem.
The Live stacking creates 16 bit and 32 bit files, so I'll still have to separate them afterwards.

Thanks again,
Doug

[admin]

Hi Doug,

you could put the {BitDepth} tag in the path - ie

Code: Select all

{TargetName}\{BitDepth}bits\{Date:SZ}_{Time:Z}_{AutoSave}_Stack_{StackedFrames}frames_{TotalExposure}

that should put the 16 and 32 bit images in separate folders.

Robin

[Douglas]

Thanks Robin that works perfectly!

Doug

[Douglas]

Hello Robin,

Sharpcap has began to save each image like this:

2023-03-16_21_44_03Z_Stack_6frames_60s.fits
2023-03-16-21_44_03Z_AutoSave_Stack_6frames_60s.fits
2023-03-16_21_45_02Z_Stack_6frames_60s.fits
2023-03-16-21_45_03Z_AutoSave_Stack_6frames_60s.fits
2023-03-16_21_46_07Z_Stack_6frames_60s.fits
2023-03-16-21_46_07Z_AutoSave_Stack_6frames_60s.fits

Is there any way to save just one or the other version in a folder? All these are being saved in a folder called '16 Bits'.
I think this change occured after the last update...

Thank's for any assistance.
Douglas

[admin]

Hi Douglas,

can you send me a screenshot of the settings you have set up in the 'Filenames' page of the SharpCap settings - that will be what is determining the pattern of your filenames, and I haven't changed how this works for quite some time.

cheers,

Robin