LiveStacking question

[Oberon510]

I am using 4.1 10341 version.

I am Live Stacking and when I move to new targets and start stacking again it retains the frames from the previous object stack even though I have stopped the first live stacking - have to clear at start of new object stacking. I also go to my next object by using the Tools-> Goto Catalog option and it starts it's automation steps by closing the previous stack and saving it so it seems odd that the next stack will start with the previous object's frames.

I suppose my question is whether this is operating as expected and if so what do I need to do to close out a live stack before starting a new object's stack?

Enjoying the features in 4.1

Thanks,
Ken

[admin]

Hi Ken,

no, that shouldn't happen when you use the Goto Target tool - it should save and close live stacking as the first thing it does (pretty much first anyway), and part of that should be to reset the stack (so the stack frame count should go back to zero).

I suppose maybe something could be happening like there may be one frame processed onto the stack of the old target after the clear, or perhaps if you haven't moved far there could still be a frame being exposed on the camera that is mostly the old target.

Any further information would be helpful to let me track down what is going on - either SharpCap logs that capture the problem happening or any other observations you have about what happens when the issue occurs.

cheers,

Robin

[Oberon510]

Hi Robin,

Attached is the log file from last night. The weather will close over again so I may not be able to send more before late next week.

The live stacking questions relate to the transitioning from a M109 live stack to an M106 one. See a little below and in the full log attached.

Thanks,
Ken

LIVE STACK SAVE AND CLOSE^M
MOUNT GOTO RA=12:19:00,Dec=+47:17:59^M
TARGETNAME "M106 (NGC 4258)"^M
MOUNT SOLVEANDSYNC^M
END SEQUENCE in async Task SharpCap.Sequencer.SequencerContext.RunAsync(ScriptBlock script)^M
Debug 20:34:51.882582 #1 Sequencer : Starting : in void SharpCap.Sequencer.SequencerContext.OnProgress(string e)^M
Debug 20:34:51.883039 #1 Sequencer : Starting : Save and close live stacking in void SharpCap.Sequencer.SequencerContext.OnProgress(string e)^M
Info 20:34:51.887927 #1 Initializing FitsFileWriter at 6248x4176x3x0bits, RGB, 2 bytes per PEL for ZWO ASI2600MC Pro in void SharpCap.Base.FileWriters.FileWriterBase.Initialize(IFileNameProvider fnp, ColourSpaceId colourSpaceId, int width, int height, int bytesPerPixelElement, int significantBitDepth, int colourPlanes, string DeviceName)^M
Debug 20:34:52.133779 #1 Notification (Status=Error): Output file already exists and has not been overwritten. Please try saving again after the next frame is added to the stack or check your filename settings : D:\Astro\SharpCap Captures\2023-03-31\M109 (NGC 3992)\20_27_35\Stack_16bits_9frames_270s.fits in void SharpCap.UI.NotificationViewModel.DisplayMessage(NotificationMessage message)^M
Warning 20:34:52.134326 #1 Save failed as destination file D:\Astro\SharpCap Captures\2023-03-31\M109 (NGC 3992)\20_27_35\Stack_16bits_9frames_270s.fits already exists. in void SharpCap.FrameTransforms.LiveStacking.LiveStackViewModel.SendToMainLogger(LoggingEvent loggingEvent)^M

[Oberon510]

A little more background.

I usually do the following when transitioning from the current live stack to a new object and live stack:-

0) Prior to (1) I may press Save in the live stack window but not always (use PI to process these and use the rawframes mostly)
1) Press the Live Stack button to turn off the current live stack. There may be a delay before I start (2)
2) Tools->Goto Object and select my next target and then press Start - its' first step is to stop and clear the previous stack.
3) Press the Live Stack button to start the new session (new object name is in the name box)
4) When the live stack window starts at the bottom of screen, I inspect the frame count and if not 0 I press the "Clear" button to reset to a new live stack.

[admin]

Hi,

thanks for the log and further info.

I think that one thing that might be causing some confusion is that closing and then re-opening live stacking does *not* reset the stack or clear the stacked image. This is deliberate, since it would be a shame to have to restart a stack from scratch just because you closed live stacking accidentally (perhaps by wanting to look at the histogram). So, in your mostly manual workflow in the last post, I would expect the stack to re-appear showing the previous image and you would need to press the 'clear' button to get started with a new stack.

In fact, in that workflow, the fact that you are manually closing live stacking before using the GOTO tool means it doesn't see the need to activate the procedure to clear the stack, which may be an issue. Leaving the stack open when using the GOTO tool was the use case that I had in mind, but maybe I should also deal with the case where the stack has been closed but has frames stacked.

Hope this helps,

Robin

[Oberon510]

Yes, this helps. I will try the GOTO without stopping the stack next time.

BTW, what is the preferred way to stop stacking completely - is it Clear and then press the Live Stack button?

Thanks,
Ken

[admin]

Hi Ken,

yes, clear and then pause (or close live stacking). In the latest 4.1, there is an option to not automatically restart after clearing, which might suit some people better than the current behaviour.

cheers,

Robin