Flat Panel Open/Close during Frame and Focus

This copied from another thread as requested.

Just out of curiosity, why does the status stop when the flat panel is open/closed? I wouldn’t think the exposure is stopped during the middle of capture. This is not anything someone would do in normal operation but the software automatically opens the panel before exposure and I want it closed during exposure for testing, so I have to select close during exposure. I appreciate that the panel will automatically adjust for the appropriate exposure type during normal imaging, but having the option to select this behavior in frame and focus would be nice.

The status display issue doesn’t seem to affect the actual camera exposure operation. I’ll try the updated beta and see if it changes the status behavior.

Latest beta installed and status display is still good. However status still pauses when opening/closing flat panel.

So a couple of things:

  1. The flatbox control is in the UI thread…which is not where it should be. This is what’s causing the “pause”. We need to address this. Sorry :frowning_face:
  2. Having the flatbox closed while running frame and focus is not currently supported. The flatbox responds to requests for flats and lights (maybe darks…it’s been a while since I messed with that to be honest). So when you take a frame and focus frame you’re requesting a Light frame and the flatbox opens. Obviously this is not ideal for what you’re trying to do.

The best way to work around #2 is to disconnect the flat box in SGP once you’ve closed it. We should probably support this in a better way as well.

To help me better understand what you’re after can you describe what you’re attempting to do with the flatbox closed and frame and focus? Are you getting an idea of darks or are you trying to se an initial brightness on your flatbox for flats…or something else?

Jared

OK thanks for the explanation. The flat box also responds to darks. The status anomaly is not a major concern and doesn’t really impact normal operation of the software. I setup my equipment indoors to update software, run 30 sec exposures in a loop, and run for several hours to verify operation. Keeping the flat panel closed keeps dust off optics and reduces overexposure. The flat panel behavior is a minor inconvenience and easy to work around but I prefer to test the software as if in an operational environment with everything remaining connected. Again it’s not a major issue and this is mostly out of band with otherwise excellent normal operation. Being able to use the flat box to evaluate camera operation is a useful feature. I use the Alnitak Flip-Flat Electroluminescent Flat Fielding Device.

Hopefully these observations are useful. I appreciate what this software has to offer and look forward to continued developments. Thanks.

Ah, ok. Probably best to close the flat panel and then just disconnect it from SGP in this case. That will at least stop SGP from opening it.

Jared