Just a quick update on 3.1. We are making good progress and moving quickly toward a stable release. 3.1 is turning out to be a WAY bigger release than we had originally intended. That said, there is some really cool stuff going on (a lot of you can’t see). SGPro 3.1 has gone into a state we call “feature locked”. In this state, we only fix bugs and prep for release. Any features or changes not in 3.1 as of 3.1.0.272 will not be in 3.1 (the one exception to this is for changes with auto focus… see below). Here are some of the major changes (bug fixes are not listed here):
Major Changes
- SGPro can now load VERY large sequences VERY quickly. After the first target loads, the rest will perform calculations and rendering in the background allowing you to get moving quickly. There is no need to wait for the sequence to finish loading to use SGPro or even run the sequence. The only difference you will see is that, if you click on a target that has not yet finished loading, there will be a small pause while it gets loaded.
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Restart on Safe: This feature should only be used if you have SGPro and PHD2 setup such that you can load a sequence, connect all gear, do NOTHING ELSE, click “Run Sequence” and have success. If you require other manual operations to start your sequence, they will not happen during restart.
To enable Restart on Safe you will need to select the option in the Tools>>Options>>Sequence Options>>Restart Sequence when conditions are safe. You will also need a safety device connected.
When conditions are unsafe SGPro will run the “End of Sequence” options and then immediately restart the sequence and pause. This will almost certainly end up in a paused state where SGPro is waiting on the conditions to become safe. SGPro will wait indefinitely in this state and will require 5 continuous minutes (currently not editable) of safe conditions before it will restart (unpause) imaging. Because of this your “End of Sequence” options should be such that your equipment is in a safe position (mount parked, observatory closed, etc). If you fail to park or home your gear, it will continue to track while waiting for safe conditions. When conditions become safe SGPro will perform a “Reset Sequence (Preserve Progress)”, select the target with appropriate start/end times and then run all of the normal “Run Sequence” events (cooling your camera, auto center, auto focus, starting guiding, etc). - SGPro Notification Center: This has been presented in a couple of other threads. See here: http://forum.mainsequencesoftware.com/t/upcoming-changes-for-notifications-in-sgpro The intent of the SGPro notification center is to provide a user readable log of recent events, warnings and errors. Some aspects of Astrophotography are complex and when your sequence fails it it not always clear why. This should go a long way in working to reduce confusion and aid in general troubleshooting.
- Auto focus… This will see some changes. For 3.1, we will only be altering the way in which we calculate the best focuser position for a focus run. The first attempt at this will consider using a Quadratic fit (as researched by these very smart folks @bulrichl, @mikaelA, @jmacon). More info here: QUADRATIC best fit Focus routine TESTING - SEND LOGS - Sequence Generator - Main Sequence Software
Smaller Changes
- Option to attempt to move to the next target when the sequence fails
- SGPro will now allow centering, focus and guiding startup routines to complete before waiting for TEC to be at temperature
- Copy events to other targets is now BLAZING FAST.
- Full support for Telescopius list and target import
- RBI mitigation for FLI cameras
- Full integration with SkyGuard (this will still be beta after 3.1 release)
- The target display window (upper left of sequencer) is now bigger… don’t get too excited because the text has also gotten bigger so it’s easier to use. Displays ~7 targets now. We will experiment more here in the 4.0 beta.
- The target settings icon is not visible until you move the mouse near the target list. Grants more display area to the target name.
- Moved sequence time stats to the bottom of the sequencer window
- Copy events to other targets is now BLAZING FAST.
- Reorganized the sequence data and controls in the top middle of the sequencer
Tons and tons of tiny things and bug fixes…