Occultation event from OccultWatcher to SharpCap and more ...

[Jean-Francois]

Hello,

It is time to release my SharpCap script and my Addin for OccultWatcher.

Unfortunately, I have no "real" occultation event during the very short period with clear sky in the past 4 weeks.
I tested a lot my script inside. Only on rare occasion outside.

Several conditions are necessary:
- update OccultWatcher with the last version 5.2.0 (if not already done automatically)
- download the last beta version 4.1 of SharpCap (my script work only with the version 4.1.10652.0 or later)
- I guess that you need the ASCOM 6.5 or above (I'm not 100% sure for that)

Unzip the ZIP somewhere on your computer.
Open the PDF document ... and start to read it.

For the use ... you can connect SharpCap with the ASCOM Telescope Simulator and you can use the Sky-Simulator for testing the GOTO and PlateSolve functions.
The script can work with any telescope that can be connected to SharpCap. I tested with my EQ8 with SynScan and GSS. And I tested with my old Meade LXD75 mount.
The script is written for the QHY-174 GPS camera, but it should be possible to use it with any other camera (clear that the GPS function will not work).
If you have no EAGLE computer, then you can modify the line 81 to "EAGLE = False", that will speed up the start of the script.

Best regards,
Jean-Francois

Occultation_Addin_SharpCap_script_part-1.zip

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Occultation_Addin_SharpCap_script_part-2.zip

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[Jean-Francois]

Hello,

Here some additional information about my script and the OccultWatcher Add-in.

After the installation of the OccultWatcher Add-in, the "Export Event to SharpCap" appears in the Add-ins list or in the "right-click" menu.

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_1.jpg (53.45 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

The new Add-in export the future event information in the selected template text file. The simplest is to use the SODIS template report.

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_2.jpg (59.95 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

In SharpCap, it is necessary to set the script in the list of the Startup Scripts:

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_3.jpg (26.88 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

After a restart of SharpCap, the new script will appear in the menu. When the camera and the telescope are connected, then the script will show:

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_4.jpg (35.48 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

After the import of the SODIS template file (from OccultWatcher, the event details will be visible in the "Event Info" tab:

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_5.jpg (40.46 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

In the "Telescope/Camera" tab, it is possible to perform a GOTO to the star coordinates and a following PlateSolve.
With a QHY-174-GPS camera, it is possible to start a quick LED calibration (after the final camera settings are done):

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_6.jpg (22.12 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

Most of the time, I forget to note the observation conditions ... so it is now possible to set it directly in the script before the observation.
The weather information will be saved in the SODIS report:

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_7.jpg (28.93 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

...

[Jean-Francois]

Continuation ...

The "Capture" tab allows to set the capture ... manual or automatic capture and the time before the predicted event time.

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_8.jpg (16.38 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_9.jpg (18.17 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_10.jpg (26.62 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

In addition a "night vision" is implemented ... when the main window of SharpCap is in Night Colors mode.

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_11.jpg (26.34 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

For the LED calibration ... I updated my script (I add the view of the graphs and I simplified/improved the algorithm).

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_12.jpg (133.54 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

OccultWatcher_SharpCap_script_13.jpg (22.54 KiB) Viewed 8139 times

So ... any comments ?

Regards,
Jean-Francois

[Astrojunk]

This looks excellent and follows my manual workflow nicely. I've loaded it up on my Observatory PC and will give it a go tonight!

[Jean-Francois]

Hello Jonathan,

Thanks for trying my script.
If you have some ideas to add ... please, say it.

Regards,
Jean-François

[Astrojunk]

I've had a couple of nights playing/testing and have to say I do like this a lot. Thanks for sharing, and I'm learning a lot about Python tinkering with it.

Needless to say though, I have some suggestions

Firstly, I'd like to see the output filename prefixed something like 2023-08-26 11_14_17Z SharpCap_(5092) Manara_UCAC4 239-125412 so that the files can be aranged chronologically in the file system.

Secondly, and I changed this in mine, the delay is something we have been calling "wings" in Australia to describe the amount of recording either side of the central position of the event. In general 2 mins is normal and as such I set the default delay to 120 rather than 0. The auto capture worked nicely although it can be slightly confusing. I'll cover that in the next point.

It would be fantastic to have a countdown dedicated to the event time and ignoring the delay and it to be minus in the run up, positive after. Similarly the existing timer (I like the colour changes) would be used purely for automatic recording and counts down to record start, up to record end then stops once complete.

The Goto/Plate Solve and LED calibration worked very well. The LED calibration was consistent within a unit or two (are they 1/10th Millisecond? I need to read the documentation!) so that is awesome. I did notice that I ended up with three different sets of offset times: Yours based on the central position of the flash transition, Robbins and my own based on Marc Buie's methodology based on the edge of the flash transition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l7k0XQrdGc). From what I can see, they were all within a millisecond of each other and i'm not too concerned. I will try and test against my IOTA-VTI over the weekend.

Thanks again for doing this, its a great way of simplifying the workflow

[Jean-Francois]

Hello Jonathan,

Sorry for the delay, but last Thursday a thunderstorm killed my DSL router (clear that happen on a Thursday ).
I receive today a new one.

I guess that the filename prefixed could be modified easily.
I can add an input text box and a date/time selection ... so the user could modify the file name as wanted.

For the delay ... the default value can be changed quickly ... simply modify the value in the Python code.
In the file "Occultation_2023-06-19_menu_41.py", in the line 636, change the "0" to the wanted value (in seconds): self.textBoxTimeDelay.Text = "0"
Stop SharpCap and restart SharpCap after modifying the Python file.

For the countdown ... that will be more complicated ... it takes me several weeks for coding the countdown.
It was initially for me the question ... does the countdown be zero at the predicted time or at the start of the capture ?
I prefer the start of the capture, but it is clear that the observer shall not forget to set a delay before starting the automatic capture.
(so a default delay of 120 sec would be safer, I will change it for a future version).

Do I understand correctly ? ... you ask me for adding a timer ... but, I hope that will no distract the observer.

For the LED calibration ... the start and end values are in 75 MHz steps ... so +/- 1 will change ... ach! you can calculate yourself
Other point, do you see that with the SharpCap 4.1, you can change the LED illumination time ?
If you test different LED illumination time, then you will have different value. Shorter is not necessary better.
For the LED "point" ... I do not know what is the best ... but a difference of a few will change the time in the range of some micro-second (not milli-second). I select the central point (also the inflexion point of the Fermi function fit). It was more clear as the start or the end of the curve.
SharpCap uses a general equation for the start and end values. Some times it is very good, but some times it is clearly "off".
You can verify this with the graphics. The start value in my script uses the SharpCap value.

Do you use the export file from my script for your report ?
I do my script for the SODIS observers. From OccultWatcher to SharpCap and then to SODIS for the report.

Regards,
Jean-Francois

[vichman]

Hi Jean-Francois,

great idea, thank you very much for this script.

I only wonder where I can find the latest version of the scrip.
Here, or in this other thread: viewtopic.php?p=35788
I want to make sure that I get the latest one.

Thanks
Stefan

[Jean-Francois]

Hello Stephan,

The last version is in the ZIP "Occultation_Addin_SharpCap_script_2023-07-02.zip" from here: viewtopic.php?p=37028#p37028

I really advise to test my script with dummy event in advance.
You can first use my script for the preparation of the observation. The film capture can be done manually as usual.
Later, when you have more trust ... you can start the countdown for the automatic start ... but do not forget to set a delay time

If you have some comments like Jonathan, then say me.

Regards,
Jean-Francois