Hi Guys,
Here is a request for consideration in your backlog. Will there ever be a day when SGP can request or accept a request from an external program to 1) pause for a Merdian flip and await its success or timeout and/or 2) skip to a new imaging target it has a plan defined for if it sees the scopes RA /dec has changed significantly (so detect hey large movement in coord - plate solve and link that to an agreed plan for the new target)?
My use case is likely not the norm for two many folk - I run multiple scopes with several control programs (two at present). APT controls my mono camera, focuser and filter wheel whilst SGP controls my colour camera and its focuser.
I would like either program to be able to say hey in the next 5 - 15 minutes I want to do and Meridan flip - so tell the other to pause imaging - tell Open PHD to stop guiding - do the flip - do a platesolve and recentre and then restart guiding (PHD is configured to guide either side of the meridan - so it doesn’t need recalibration on any new target) - then tell external program/s right we completed the Meridan flip go back to imaging your target and/or hey stop imaging say NGC 6334 - we are on NGC 7293 - switch to that plan now!
One would need a bit of agreement to the who can issue a request to stop imaging - who has precedence defined to accept or reject it - and the ability to detect a target shift (via platesolve - so switch to a new define plan) etc. But boy it would be an incredibly useful capability to have.
Curious if the developers think this might ever be an option or not!
Thanks, Matthew