More control over taking flats

Sequence Generator 2.5.X Features
1

So far I have nothing negative to say about the software LOVE IT.

I would like to be able to add more control with taking flats.

Some of the things I would like to see are.

  1. Coordinates for taking flats : slew to flat panel.
  2. Average focus position of filter during light frames.
  3. Rotator position during light frames.
  4. Default times to take flats.

There is just a lot of manual intervention when doing flats.

Thanks for considering these options.

Rodney

1 Like
2

Most people align this to the park position. It is a simple approach and seems to work well.

This could be useful… would help determine where the focuser should be for flats.

Also possibly useful… need to think about this though. Your rotator would have to be very precise to pull this one off.

Exposure time? Time of day? Which are you asking for? Not sure what this one means.

3

That sounds similar to (or a subset of) this feature request.

Andy

4

As far as accuracy of focuser I am sure there are times when people image two objects in a given night to them go back at dawn or during the day to take flats. We look in the fits file to determine the rotator position, set the rotator and take flats. We take the risk of rotator not being accurate all the time :). And if it doesn’t work we retake them at a different angle. So our starting point is always the fits file anyway. :slight_smile:

Just like start time of a target. Provide a spot in the wizard to enter default start time.

I understand most people use this as the park position however, my park position is away from the sun and sadly the closest wall is towards the east. If I park there the sun could shine on optics. Just as the target “flats” is created along with exposure time, just add the default coordinates. In flat wizard screen give us a spot to add coordinates(I make it sound soooo easy). See fixed. Just kidding I know sometimes the simplest things to add are not simple.

Personally I think each frame type (light,flat,dark,bias) should have the same basic interface. Each should have a wizard. That is asking a lot I know but the software is meant to make our setups as autonomous as possible, yes?

Like I said this software has allowed me to really enjoy the hobby of astrophotography. And even if you didn’t make anymore changes I would be just happy

Thanks so much for all the work you have put into this GREAT WORK GUYS.

Rodney

5

A lot of stuff going on here. Moving the mean focuser position for a filter option to be used as a flat event’s focus pos. I like the idea of this… just need to think through behavior when a flat frame is taken and no such data exists.

For this particular feature, moving to 2.5.X. Unsure about the rest…