Repeat for list of Alt/Az coordinates in file...

[Jupiter]

I have been working on a script that I would like to repeat for each of a list of alt/az coordinates however it seems like implicit in this sequence command is that it will execute a GOTO the coordinate before doing the other steps listed in the sequence.

I can appreciate that in most cases, if you specified a repeat for a list of coordinates you would want to do the GOTO as part of the sequence. In what I am trying to do, this is a problem in that I am using an alt/az list and for my mount, tracking cannot be "on" when doing an alt/az GOTO. So, turning off tracking using that command does work and the mount behaves correctly however I would prefer to be able to turn it back on in the repeat loop before the next GOTO. Practically, I may be able to live with the tracking off for the fill repeat sequence and then turn it back on when the repeat completes. I may try to use the repeat number of times sequence command and in a early program, modify the command programmatically to execute the desired number of repeats.

Bottom line, just wanted to confirm what I think I am seeing and not requesting any changes or additional sequence commands. All that said, through a combination of SC scripting, SC sequencing and a some simple Python programming it is looking good that I can implement a one button push "run alignment" sequence.

[admin]

Hi,

yes, the expected behaviour is that the GOTO is performed before each time through the repeat loop. The 'Can't GOTO Alt/Az while tracking' is a mount specific thing as far as I know (although it makes sense in a way, since if the mount is tracking then it will start moving away from the alt/az co-ordinates as soon as it arrives at them).

I wonder if this would be a case of something that I could handle seamlessly - ie

* If tracking and performing an Alt-Az goto gives an error, retry without tracking?

Would have to make sure to re-enable tracking on GOTO completion to avoid surprising outcomes of the action.

cheers,

Robin

[Jupiter]

Robin,
Thanks for you reply. While I need to do more testing, I think if I order the steps in the sequence in a somewhat non-intuitive way, having the GOTO for the repeats is not an issue. I am having lots of fun puzzling this out. It looks like I can test the alignment script in the daytime using Sky Simulator as the "camera" and either my real mount or the ASCOM simulator mount. Got to put in a good word for the Sky Simulator software. Getting it up and running was surprisingly easy.

[admin]

Hi,

yes, SkySimulator is a really useful piece of software - I use it lots. I find that turning the gain up to 1000 in the 'Sky Simulator' camera and setting an exposure of 2-4s helps with the images being bright enough to plate solve. I wish it had the moon and sun represented in the simulated sky... I could find a use for that in testing various things

cheers,

Robin