Hello, In the advanced sequencer, I've set up a sequence so that the sequence will stop when the roof closes. The scope is at a remote site a 1000 miles away from where I'm operating it. I know it's possible to tell the sequence to continue the sequence after the roof opens again and it's safe, I would prefer not to have to stay up all night waiting for the roof to open. I am not sure how to program the advanced sequencer to do this. Anyone know? 1. Astronomical twilight is over, roof is open, I start sequence and imaging begins after cooling camera, auto focusing, slewing, plate-solving, etc. 2. Clouds roll in and roof closes, imaging stops as I entered a loop condition that stops imaging when it's not safe (roof is closed). 3. Clouds move on, roof is open again, now what? How do I automate the sequence so that it focuses, plate solves and begins imaging the same object without me having to manually do it? Thanks!!!Jerry
After Roof or Dome Opens and It's Safe to Image
That’s interesting idea…
I use rg11 rain sensor as safety monitor, here’s a link to setup. …
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/792701-arduino-based-rg-11-safety-monitor-for-nina-64bit/page-2
Will be following to see what ideas others have …
I use rg11 rain sensor as safety monitor, here’s a link to setup. …
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/792701-arduino-based-rg-11-safety-monitor-for-nina-64bit/page-2
Will be following to see what ideas others have …
I’ll be going over this in detail on TAIC on the 25th. In the meantime, I’ll email you the NINA advanced sequence I use that handles this prettty well using the Sequencer Powerups plugin Sven mentioned. It’s a tricky proposition. There are quite a number of edge cases to consider, like when the roof closes in the middle of your initial slew and center, or when the roof opens and closes multiple times in rapid succession.
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Timothy Martin:
I’ll be going over this in detail on TAIC on the 25th. In the meantime, I’ll email you the NINA advanced sequence I use that handles this prettty well using the Sequencer Powerups plugin Sven mentioned. It’s a tricky proposition. There are quite a number of edge cases to consider, like when the roof closes in the middle of your initial slew and center, or when the roof opens and closes multiple times in rapid succession.
Thanks Timothy, I'll take a look at it.
I've been communicating back and forth with Stephen Berg, the creator of NINA. He's been explaining to me how this is done without using the Powerups plug-in but I still don't get it. Everything else about the advanced sequencer makes sense to me, except this. The roof at DSPR opens and closes sometimes numerous times throughout the night at least during monsoon season, and I'd prefer to automate the sequence accordingly if possible.
Jerry
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Jerry Gerber:Timothy Martin:
I’ll be going over this in detail on TAIC on the 25th. In the meantime, I’ll email you the NINA advanced sequence I use that handles this prettty well using the Sequencer Powerups plugin Sven mentioned. It’s a tricky proposition. There are quite a number of edge cases to consider, like when the roof closes in the middle of your initial slew and center, or when the roof opens and closes multiple times in rapid succession.
Thanks Timothy, I'll take a look at it.
I've been communicating back and forth with Stephen Berg, the creator of NINA. He's been explaining to me how this is done without using the Powerups plug-in but I still don't get it. Everything else about the advanced sequencer makes sense to me, except this. The roof at DSPR opens and closes sometimes numerous times throughout the night at least during monsoon season, and I'd prefer to automate the sequence accordingly if possible.
Jerry
The only mechanisms to handle this by default in the advanced sequencer without Sequencer Powerups are the "Wait Until Safe," "Loop while safe," and "Loop while unsafe" instructions. They're better than nothing, but not by much. Sequencer Powerups really enables smart handling of just about every roof situation. I say "just about" because there's one edge case I'm aware of that it can't quite handle perfectly--and I'm not sure anything could. That situation occurs when an open roof closes during your initial slew and autofocus run. It creates the possibility that if and when the roof reopens, you could do two slews and two autofocus runs instead of just one. That's a very minor issue, though, compared to all the other normal and edge cases it handles. And it does handle that situation just fine other than sometimes doing an extra slew and autofocus.
But yeah, New Mexico in summer is challenging. If it makes you feel any better, New Mexico in the fall, winter, and spring is also challenging.
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Jerry Gerber:
Hello, In the advanced sequencer, I've set up a sequence so that the sequence will stop when the roof closes. The scope is at a remote site a 1000 miles away from where I'm operating it. I know it's possible to tell the sequence to continue the sequence after the roof opens again and it's safe, I would prefer not to have to stay up all night waiting for the roof to open. I am not sure how to program the advanced sequencer to do this. Anyone know? 1. Astronomical twilight is over, roof is open, I start sequence and imaging begins after cooling camera, auto focusing, slewing, plate-solving, etc. 2. Clouds roll in and roof closes, imaging stops as I entered a loop condition that stops imaging when it's not safe (roof is closed). 3. Clouds move on, roof is open again, now what? How do I automate the sequence so that it focuses, plate solves and begins imaging the same object without me having to manually do it? Thanks!!!Jerry
Hey Jerry!
You should check out this recent YouTube video from @Logan Carpenter it’s a great explainer for this type of scenario…
https://youtu.be/SVoeTUP4-j0?si=wrfjupZsMDGpInmM
Hope that helps!
Timothy Martin:Jerry Gerber:Timothy Martin:
I’ll be going over this in detail on TAIC on the 25th. In the meantime, I’ll email you the NINA advanced sequence I use that handles this prettty well using the Sequencer Powerups plugin Sven mentioned. It’s a tricky proposition. There are quite a number of edge cases to consider, like when the roof closes in the middle of your initial slew and center, or when the roof opens and closes multiple times in rapid succession.
Thanks Timothy, I'll take a look at it.
I've been communicating back and forth with Stephen Berg, the creator of NINA. He's been explaining to me how this is done without using the Powerups plug-in but I still don't get it. Everything else about the advanced sequencer makes sense to me, except this. The roof at DSPR opens and closes sometimes numerous times throughout the night at least during monsoon season, and I'd prefer to automate the sequence accordingly if possible.
Jerry
The only mechanisms to handle this by default in the advanced sequencer without Sequencer Powerups are the "Wait Until Safe," "Loop while safe," and "Loop while unsafe" instructions. They're better than nothing, but not by much. Sequencer Powerups really enables smart handling of just about every roof situation. I say "just about" because there's one edge case I'm aware of that it can't quite handle perfectly--and I'm not sure anything could. That situation occurs when an open roof closes during your initial slew and autofocus run. It creates the possibility that if and when the roof reopens, you could do two slews and two autofocus runs instead of just one. That's a very minor issue, though, compared to all the other normal and edge cases it handles. And it does handle that situation just fine other than sometimes doing an extra slew and autofocus.
But yeah, New Mexico in summer is challenging. If it makes you feel any better, New Mexico in the fall, winter, and spring is also challenging.
Loop While Unsafe really confuses me. Why would someone want to continue the sequence when the roof is closed due to clouds, wind, etc.? There's got to be a better name than Loop while Unsafe. Am I missing something?
If I use Wait Until Safe, where do I place this instruction? I've attached a .json advanced sequence file. Would you mind opening it and take a look? Why I am trying to do is, when the roof re-opens, I'd like to refocus, slew, plate-solve and start imaging where I left off.
Jerry
Default Automation Sequence.json
Loop while unsafe is something you could put in a separate loop in the top of your sequence to ensure that you never even start any shooting until conditions are safe. You could combine it with a Loop Until Time loop condition to terminate the loop at dawn so your scope can shut down properly in the morning if the roof never opens.
Looking at your sequence, as soon as the roof closes once during the night, you're done. The Loop while safe condition will fail and you'll fall out of the loop and start taking flats. The Wait Until Safe instruction will never get a chance to execute.
Really, going through all the nuances of this is really beyond the scope of what we can accomplish in forum posts. I'll send you one of the sequences I'm using. I'll provide much more detail on the 25th. But also keep in mind that creating advanced sequences is much like computer programming–there are often multiple ways to do things and certain choices become a matter of taste and style.
Looking at your sequence, as soon as the roof closes once during the night, you're done. The Loop while safe condition will fail and you'll fall out of the loop and start taking flats. The Wait Until Safe instruction will never get a chance to execute.
Really, going through all the nuances of this is really beyond the scope of what we can accomplish in forum posts. I'll send you one of the sequences I'm using. I'll provide much more detail on the 25th. But also keep in mind that creating advanced sequences is much like computer programming–there are often multiple ways to do things and certain choices become a matter of taste and style.
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That makes sense.
What I am not clear about is where to put the commands Wait Until Safe, Loop While Safe and Loop While Unsafe. I know what I want to do, but don't know how to order the sequence so that when the roof closes, sequence stops, when it re-opens, sequence continues (even if roof closes and opens multiple times, and at dawn, the cover gets closed, the flip-flat light turns on, the flats are taken and the telescope is parked. Then when I wake I can shut everything off and download the subs and flats I took the night before.
Otherwise I am up till 4:30am and I can't sustain that every night I want to image!
Thanks Timothy. If you send a .json file I can open it, analyze and better understand how you're sequencing..
Jerry
What I am not clear about is where to put the commands Wait Until Safe, Loop While Safe and Loop While Unsafe. I know what I want to do, but don't know how to order the sequence so that when the roof closes, sequence stops, when it re-opens, sequence continues (even if roof closes and opens multiple times, and at dawn, the cover gets closed, the flip-flat light turns on, the flats are taken and the telescope is parked. Then when I wake I can shut everything off and download the subs and flats I took the night before.
Otherwise I am up till 4:30am and I can't sustain that every night I want to image!
Thanks Timothy. If you send a .json file I can open it, analyze and better understand how you're sequencing..
Jerry
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