Prompts for Flat Frames

Sequence Generator
1

I had several dark frames scheduled for around 4:50am. At 4:49, when my previous light frames were scheduled to end, I got a notification that SGP needed me to place the flat box. This was odd, because I had no flats scheduled. There were flats earlier, but I don’t think they were selected or if they were, they were completed.

I think I hit something like this months ago, but haven’t seen this issue since…

Thanks!
Brian

sg_logfile_20151219180517.zip (241.5 KB)

2

Yes, I found the same issue awhile back. Here’s what I noticed; If you have your equipment profile selected for a manual Flat box and if the “Connect” button is “Green” it seems you’ll get this random request to either place or remove the Flat Box during the sequence. My work around has been to create a separate sequence for only taking flats and for all of my other sequences ensure the Manual Flat box is not connected during any sequences. I reported this back in either late Oct or Nov and Jared was unable to find anything in my logs so I just thought it was something I was doing wrong. I’m glad someone else discovered this as well. This request for the flat box just seems to be random and again I only notice it when I have the manual flat box connected with the “Green” button on during the sequence. I have never had the flat box random message ever come up If the Manual Flat Box is not connected during the sequence,

Mark

3

We will issue a fix for this shortly. This is only supposed to happen of the the flat box has an automatic shutter. Manually placed flat boxes should not see this. If you do have a flat box with an automatic shutter, it should close automatically for darks though (not illuminate… just close).

4

Update on the flat box issue, I was using 2.4.3.24 with ASCOM 6.2 with PHD2.5Dev9. I ran a sequence last night with three Targets (Orion, M78 and Leo Triplet). I used the manual flat event in the Orion target but not in the others. My target events went like this:

Orion - Lights; 10 images @ 45 seconds each, Flats 20 images for 5.81 seconds, Lights 50 images for 45 seconds
M78 - Lights; 75 images @120 seconds
Leo Triplet - Lights; 75 images @120 second, Darks; 20 Frames @ 45 seconds, Darks 20 Frames @ 120 seconds, and Bias 20 frames.

When I woke up this morning there was that message to remove the flat box and my system was locked up. After rebooting the system I found all of the Target Events in the Sequence completed as planned. I tried to open the log file from that night but was unable to open it as it is over 20MB. If you want I can post the log file in DropBox, (Not sure if I can post a 20MB file) to see if you have any luck opening it. The viewers I use all say the file is too large to open.

Thanks,
Mark

5

Yes, please post it.

6

Hi Ken,
Sorry but I just tried to upload the log file to Dropbox and it said the file was too big. How about maybe I try this? since it doesn’t look like we are going to be getting any clear skies here in Ohio for awhile, do you think the error will show up if I create a sequence with only the events being flats followed my some darks and bias frames to see if I can get the message to show up?

Thanks,
Mark

7

I find this very odd. I have uploaded files in excess of 5 gb to Dropbox and regularly upload SGPro builds to Dropbox (50 mb each). In the grand scheme of things 20 mb is quite small. Not sure why dropbox would give you grief about that. Whatever you’d like to do is fine with me.

8

Hi Ken,
Not sure about the dropbox file size. Maybe because I don’t have a paid subscription and that limits not only the storage size but maybe the file size as well?

Anyway, I just ran a small sequence with one target and 5 events. The events were: Light, Flat, Light, Dark, Bias. Everything ran as expected and at the end of the sequence it asked if I want to park the mount so I let it time out and once it timed out the mount was directed to park, which it did but as soon as the mount started to park the Flat box message appeared on the screen.

Here’s the link to the log file:Dropbox - Error

BTW - SGPro is the best Astrophotography software investment I’ve ever made and it just keeps getting better. It’s nice being able to actually get some sleep while your software is churning away keeping everything organized & running smoothly. It so nice to wake up in the morning and look outside and see the scope in the parked position. It’'s like a Christmas present, when you open up the files to see what wonderful images awaits!

Thank you and your team for making Astrophotography fun!
Mark

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9

Thanks Mark.

I’ll take a look at the logs. The description you just gave is definitely not where I applied a fix when the last issue was reported.

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10

Hey Ken,

here’s a cleaner version, new log. I noticed in the previous log file I had a ASCOM issue with the Rotator. this new log should be easier to read.

Thanks,
Mark

12

Thanks, I think I fixed it this time. The bugs you guys reported here were related, but different. Fixing one, unfortunately did not fix the other. This bug was related to “end of sequence” actions, the other was related to in-sequence actions.

This is not a critical issue. It does not cause users to lose data or endanger any equipment. As such, this fix will be introduced in the SGPro 2.5 beta.

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