Help for two instances

Sequence Generator
1

I’m searching the forum for posts that discuss the possibility of dual-sequence setups, but honestly, they’re quite old. I’m trying to configure a dual setup, but I have several questions. I understand there have been some software updates regarding this topic since the last posts, but I still have some doubts.
I’ve kept the current profile I used with the first computer and created another profile with a secondary profile.
There’s only camera, focuser, filter wheel, and scope cover. I’ve tried configuring it as a QHY profile: camera (2), filter wheel (2), focuser (2), and that’s easier. But now I have some questions.
If I create a sequence with its configuration tool, how do I save it for both profiles? If I close both programs, are the capture data saved in both, or only in one? I understand I would create individual folders to save the captures.

Do I still save my first profile as the primary one, or can I set the primary profiles corresponding to each setup in each instance?
These are questions I have before taking the equipment to the observatory. I want to test everything at home. If someone with experience using two instances could guide me, it might be easier or harder than I think. An update to the program to make these dual instances better for the user would be great.

Thank yo so much.

2

I’ll do my best to answer these but please keep in mind that SGPro doesn’t formally support this workflow (we might reconsider if dual rigs become popular and there is demand) and I am not 100% sure of the questions you are asking (feel free to clarify below)

Each instance of SGPro will have its very own imaging train (camera, CFW, focuser) and one of the instances of SGPro will be considered as “master” or “primary” because it the only one that attempts to control the mount / observatory.

Notes: I am unsure what “configuration tool” and “profile” mean in the context of this question.

I am not sure what you mean here. If you close one of the instances of SGPro, the image train it was controlling will no longer produce data. SGPro saves image data as the sequence progresses and not on close.

Whichever profile controls the telescope should be primary. Create a secondary profile for he other instance that only controls an image train and nothing else. Then, in each instance of SGPro create a new sequence for each using their respective profiles.

The key to success here imo, is to set up and execute a sequence on the primary just like there was no secondary imaging train at all. Then, for the secondary instance, you can literally create a sequence that kind of “dumb”. The only thing it should do is auto focus occasionally (careful here… don’t attempt to stop and start the guider from the secondary during AF). In effect the secondary sequence is just grabbing data where it happens to be pointed and focusing and that’s it.

This setup should be fairly robust, but it is important to note that there is no coordination between the imaging trains and the primary will move and recenter, etc all on its own. This will destroy some of the frames on the secondary as it will be capturing the entire time the mount is moving so you’ll need to resolve that some of the frames will be garbage

3

Hi Ken.

Thanks for your replies.

On the first point:
Those of us who have been in this hobby for years find ourselves wanting more and more. Since the idea is “the harder, the better” (hahaha), when you want to do a dual setup, you find that you need some software advantage, and that it’s best to rely on your tried-and-true program. Perhaps I’m not asking for anything too sophisticated, but some user-level help wouldn’t hurt, and maybe with this help, people might be more willing to try a dual setup.

Second point: I’ve been trying to test the profiles for days, but sometimes when I open a second instance and configure several things, they’re saved in the main profile, and I have to change everything again.

Third point: By configuration tool, I mean the “Framing Wizard.” If I select an object from there, I can save it in the first or “master” instance, but how do I transfer the same data to the second sequence?

The idea is to duplicate images. Same camera, same filter wheel, same telescope.

Another problem I have is that in the first instance, I select the main camera (QHY294), but in my second instance, I can select the second camera, but when I save, it saves the first camera. I’m using the profiles QHYCCD camera “2” and Filterwheel “2”…. in the second instance, but SGP isn’t saving the second camera.

And for now, I’m facing these doubts before getting the whole system up and running.

I don’t know if it’s difficult to do; I’m not asking for an SGP that can synchronize both systems, but perhaps some way for the instances to work more independently. Regarding your comment about losing data, I know, I’m aware of that; it’s something I anticipated.

Thank you Ken, always for your dedication and help.

4

A point of clarification… when you say “Profile” are you literally referring to an equipment profile or are you referring to a sequence? In either case, you must use completely separate profiles and sequences for each instance. You cannot share sequences and profiles between instances.

Ah ok. The best way to go about this I think might be to use MFW in the primary instance, create the sequence and then, in the secondary instance import that SGF file into a brand new, not shared sequence. The import will come with centering instruction for each of the targets as set in the primary and you’ll want to take care to “undo” those settings in the secondary so it does not attempt to take any type of centering action (as it is not permitted to interface with the mount).

Currently, it is not possible for SGPro to “share” the workload on a single sequence and you’ll need to manually split by hand before starting.

5

Okay, everything’s much clearer now, Ken. I’ll put everything into practice and run some tests before taking all the equipment to the observatory. I’ll import the sequence as a new one. I suppose I’ll have to get used to a new workflow with SGP.
I’ll keep you posted.

6

Well, after these past few days, I’ve managed to get both instances working simultaneously for dark mode photography, and everything’s perfect. But I’ve run into a problem I can’t seem to solve. In the second instance, no equipment is being saved to the profile. I have to manually select it every time I want to turn on the camera, filters, focuser, etc. They’re not being saved. Any ideas why this might be happening?

7

Not off hand. I don’t see any reason the secondary sequence would behave any differently than any other sequence in this regard. You are saving the secondary sequence to disk using a unique file name and then, later, when opening it on the secondary instance of SGPro none of the selected equipment is preserved?

8

Okay… Let me update you.

Even though I created two different device profiles, some devices aren’t saving correctly. I don’t know if it’s because they use the same driver, but the camera, focuser, and scope cover, even when I save them correctly for each setup, aren’t saving properly.

The various configurations save, but not the devices themselves. Even with different names: Setup1 and Setup2.

Then, following your advice: I created a sequence with one object, saved it in the Setup1 profile, and then opened another instance and imported the sequence with Setup2. I saved that sequence with Setup2, and now I have two sequences saved, each with its own setup.

Well, I can confirm that everything works fine in the sequence with Setup1. However, if I then open the sequence with Setup2, I have to manually select the devices (camera, focuser, scope cover), and the devices aren’t saved in Setup2. The object is imported correctly.

I see there’s some kind of problem here, Ken. I don’t know if using the same SGP driver is preventing it from saving. If they were different devices, it might save the data. But if they’re identical devices, it doesn’t save anything.
It’s difficult to do it this way. Is there any way to fix it?

If you need any more information, let me know.

9

Hm, I don’t know but I appreciate the detailed steps here and I’ll see if I can reproduce this issue.

10

I’m not able to reproduce anything like you describe… I tried by first creating a primary sequence and tested 2 different flows:

  • Open the primary in a new instance of SGPro, change the equipment (to different equipment than the primary), then Save As the secondary. Opening the secondary from this point populates all of the chosen gear as expected. I tried this again using identical equipment to the primary and still no issues.
  • Open a new instance of SGPro and import the primary sequence, set the gear (to different equipment than the primary) and save as a new secondary sequence. Opening the secondary from this point populates all of the chosen gear as expected. I tried this again using identical equipment to the primary and still no issues.

So… might be time for logs to see if we can spot any issues when the secondary attempts to open (i.e. maybe it’s something very specific to the driver you are using). You can send logs from the secondary directly from within SGPro. Guidance here:

SGPro - Help

11

It’s worth mentioning that for all the configuration changes and tests, I was running all the tests, closing both instances, and then reopening them to see if everything was working correctly and to review the changes.

I also tried the first option you suggested, and the problem is that when I opened the second instance, changed all the settings in Setup2, and saved it, when I reopened everything, the first instance (Setup1) was replaced by Setup2 because of the changes. I had to reconfigure the entire main setup.

The second option is the one that “works,” but I have to manually configure all the settings, closing and reopening the program several times. I’ve attached the log of these recent tests. Because I opened and closed the program multiple times, you’ll see different logs from the same afternoon. If this is a problem, please let me know if there’s a better way to send them.

I’ve attached a Dropbox link because this post isn’t appearing in the forum when I search the program’s “help” section.

Sorry.

Sorry Ken.

12

This is where I get a bit lost… Each sequence is represented by a discrete file and one cannot influence the other. There is maybe a chance that the equipment panel might be influenced by another open instance of SGPro due to the shared drivers, but in terms of just regular settings, checkboxes, text, etc, it should not be possible.

Just a note: You may wish to disable this setting here:

[01/06/26 20:51:44.006][DEBUG][Main Thread][NONE] Opening last sequence: E:\Setup1\calisetup1.sgf

As, for you, it will ALWAYS result in the wrong sequence opening on start (i.e. there is only a single notion of “last opened” and each instance of SGPro does not maintain its own). This is especially true since you also have the “auto save” sequence option enabled which could cause the second instance of SGPro to overwrite the primary sequence (because it inadvertently opened the primary on start)

But… since you do have the open last sequence option enabled it actually dumped the sequences to the logs so I can see both.

Since all of these issues are likely caused by the same problem, let’s just take a look at the camera and CFW for the moment. In addition, in order to remove variables a reduce the likelihood of talking past one another, let’s also ignore equipment profiles and ONLY focus on sequence files (sgf)

Setup1 Has:

  • Camera: QHYCCD-Cameras-Capture
  • CFW: QHYCCD FilterWheel

Setup 2 has:

  • Camera: QHYCCD-Cameras2-Capture
  • CFW: QHYCCD FilterWheel2st

And your observation is as follows (correct me if I misunderstand):

  • Zero instances of SGPro open
  • Open an instance of SGPro
  • Open a sequence using Setup 1
    • Observe that selected equipment matches expectations (this is OK)
  • Open a new instance of SGPro (likely opens Setup 1 for you
  • Open a different sequence that uses Setup 2
    • Observe that selected equipment is NOT restored… what actually is it set to? Nothing or the values from Setup 1
13

Setup1 Has:

Camera: QHYCCD-Cameras-Capture
CFW: QHYCCD FilterWheel
Setup 2 has:

Camera: QHYCCD-Cameras2-Capture
CFW: QHYCCD FilterWheel2st
And your observation is as follows (correct me if I misunderstand):

Zero instances of SGPro open

-Yes

Open an instance of SGPro

-Yes

Open a sequence using Setup 1

-Yed
Observe that selected equipment matches expectations (this is OK)

-Yes the setup 1 always works fine.

Open a new instance of SGPro (likely opens Setup 1 for you.

-Ok
Open a different sequence that uses Setup 2

-Here I open the same secuence, for duplicate the lights, same object…

Observe that selected equipment is NOT restored… what actually is it set to? Nothing or the values from Setup 1

-Here the Setup2 respect the name “Camera: QHYCCD-Cameras2-Capture” but select the other camera. If I open the driver to select the camera it’s selected the Setup1 camera. And I have to change manually.

14

Unless I misunderstand you cannot do this (unless it is temporary for the purposes of using Save As…. If you just want the target data, in SGPro instance 2, open no sequence, then IMPORT the primary, then save it as a different sgf file than the primary.

15

Yes yes. this is that i done.. one sgf for Setup1.

And the same target with other sgf for the Setup2.

I can open the two sgf, for the two setups, but the problem is, the devices… don´t save the drivers for the Setup2.

16

I think this is maybe we are miscommunicating. The only thing SGPro controls is the selection of QHYCCD-Cameras2-Capture in the equipment panel. If you are referring to clicking into the settings for this driver and selecting from amongst multiple QHY cameras (and this is the setting that is not sticking) I am afraid this is outside the bounds of what SGPro can control and will need to be directed to QHY.

17

That’s right, that configuration doesn’t save the selected camera. It should be able to save the selected camera even if they share the same driver, since each one has its own part number. This happens with the camera, the focuser, and the Scopecover. So, do I need to contact QHY or ZWO about this problem? I don’t think so, right? SGP should be able to save the device even if they share the same driver, since they have different part numbers.