SharpCap Forums

Posted: **Wed Sep 23, 2026 5:57 pm**

Hi Robin,

I’m currently trying to set up a video sequence to capture a night-time sky timelapse with a fisheye and automate the whole process using a sequence:

Code: Select all

SEQUENCE
    MOUNT SELECT "ASCOM GS Sky Telescope"
    MOUNT CONNECT
    MOUNT TRACKING None
    RETRY ERRORS UP TO 5 TIMES
        DELAY 1
        CAMERA OPEN G3M178C
    END RETRY ERRORS
    LOAD PROFILE "FishEye Video 15s 500 (veLOX_C)"
    LIVE MODE
    CAPTURE START
    WAIT UNTIL EVENT NauticalDawn
    CAPTURE STOP
    CAMERA CLOSE
    MOUNT DISCONNECT
END SEQUENCE

It works quite well in principle, but I keep running into the same problem: even though I start the sequence at 7:00 PM, the sequence step "WAIT UNTIL EVENT NauticalDawn" terminates the capture immediately due to nautical dawn (in the evening??) —whereas I would expect it to continue until real dawn (around 5:45 AM) the following day.

The time and location are correctly set on the GreenSwampServer and the computer...

Am I missing something?

Best regards,
StarFlea

Posted: **Thu Sep 24, 2026 1:20 pm**

Hi,

fortunately this is a simple one - you have picked the wrong one of two similar steps...

The one you have shows in the code as 'WAIT UNTIL EVENT <x>' and in the UI as 'Wait until <x> happens or has already happened'. It's the 'has already happened' part that is causing the code to continue straight away - at 7pm, nautical dawn has already happened today, so the code carries on immediately.

What you want is 'WAIT UNTIL NEXT EVENT <x>', which shows in the UI as 'Wait until next <x> occurs'. This one will wait until the next nautical dawn.

The two server different purposes - the first one is to be used in situations where you want the sequence to proceed anyway if it arrives at that point after the set event has happened (perhaps you are waiting for astronomical dark, and you don't want to wait a whole extra 24 hours if you run the sequence after it is already fully dark, or if some previous step took longer than expected.

Hope this helps,

Robin

Posted: **Thu Sep 24, 2026 3:12 pm**

Thanks for the explanation!

So, a small but significant difference! I didn't look closely enough!

SharpCap Forums

Sequencer: Nautical Dawn in the evening?

Sequencer: Nautical Dawn in the evening?

Re: Sequencer: Nautical Dawn in the evening?

Re: Sequencer: Nautical Dawn in the evening?