Sequence Generator Pro 2.4.2.5 Beta is Released for Testing

Hi folks,

Here is the second public beta for 2.4.2 (2.4.2.5):

Changes:

  • PlateSolve2 integration. Note: Some folks have had trouble getting the catalog settings to “stick”. If this happens to you, just try it again… for some reason it seems to work the second time (if it happens to you). Existing beta users (from the private beta) need to open the Log File folder and remove the existing PlateSolve2.exe file.
  • Adding a new feature that will allow you to apply a profile to any existing sequence directly from the “File” menu (File → Apply Profile to Sequence)
  • Adding new feature that allows you to control the number of captured frames per event (helpful in order to compensate for bad frames and showing only what you have really captured)
  • Added option when marking a frame bad to also decrement the captured count on the event of origin. Request ability to change the event progress counter - #2 by CCDMan - 2.4.X Features - Main Sequence Software
  • Focuser temperature “smoothing”. For the focuser, SGPro will now return the mean temperature over the last 5 minutes. This should help with “jittery” readouts and reduce the number of erroneous autop-focus triggers because the focuser decided to report a spontaneous one degree delta (or similar).
  • Added two backup systems for the mosaic and framing wizard target lookup system. One is the SIMBAD mirror hosted at Harvard and the other is local database (now installed with SGPro containing more than 10,000 targets (~1MB). SIMBAD in France seems to be down a lot lately so we added this to improve user experience.
  • Added support for the Nikon D810A
  • Hopefully fixed the “Right click to center” bug found when using the Astrometry.NET solver
  • Sequence recovery will now terminate prior to the 90 minute time limit if the scope passes the meridian.
  • Can now deselect or select all targets by right clicking (a new option in the target context menu)
  • Added the PIXSCALE FITS header
  • Added ability for FLI cameras to set readout speed
  • Note: FLI settings have radio buttons for RBI mitigation (this is not yet functional).
  • Fixed an issue where trying to blind solve 32 bit reference fits would crash SGPro.
  • SGPro will no longer attempt to sync scopes / mounts that don’t want you to sync with them (Like TPoint in some cases).
  • Updated the type of high precision timer we use to time images (will hopefully help folks who have been seeing inconsistent wait times for exposures)
  • The “Direct Mount Guider” is now capable of performing meridian flips
  • Fixed a bug that would sometimes show an error when rendering the filter image icon
  • Added Nikon D4 to the bulb camera list
  • Auto focus pause now occurs prior to AF filter change
  • Fixed a bug where SGPro would crash if an empty ImageHistory cell was right clicked
  • Fixed a bug where the settings buttons for the camera and filter wheel did not work (in the control panel)
  • Implemented a feature where images greater than 4000 px are automatically cropped when calculating image history (hopefully, tit will not take so long for DSLR images).
  • Enforcing a rules that does not allow targets to have the same name
  • The email endpoint has been removed and replaced with 3 email endpoints (you can use different filters for different sets of email addresses). Keep in mind that, if you used the email endpoint, you will need to set it up again!
  • SGPro will now abort the sequence at the beginning of a light frame if it detects the mount is parked or not tracking.
  • Fixed an error that could cause the “Mark Image Bad” operation to fail

As always, you can find it here:
http://mainsequencesoftware.com/Releases

I forget…with platesolve2 do we just need the APM catalog? Or the UCAS3 one also?

You can install 1 or the other or both… it makes no difference. I “think” that if you specify both it defaults to UCAC3… I’m not really sure on that point. Somebody else may have details on that.

You have to have the APM library installed. UCAC is optional.

Both libraries were only 800 mb in total… and the plate solves were awesome.

“Only 800mb”? Actually on my system APM+UCAC is 1.15GB. For my travel miniPC that only has 32GB storage to start with, 1.15GB is a large amount. So the question remains, if UCAC is “optional” what is the point of having it at all? Does it serve some function that APM does not?

Joel,

Sorry to hear that. I run a full computer in my observatory with 4 TB of space on it. Perhaps a shared drive on your network for more storage? I ran a atom-based computer once and I don’t think I’d do it again because of the storage limitations.

The two files I downloaded were each roughly 430MB in size.

Found this on the Sitech website:
a) UCAC3 Catalog 411 MByte Zip File. Read more about the UCAC3 catalog at the US Naval Observatory. NOTE: This download is a customized much smaller version of the full UCAC3 catalog. The program will not run with the full catalog, so to use UCAC3 data, you must use this customized version
b) APM Catalog 525 MByte Zip File. Custom Catalog that is unchanged from the version used with the earlier Sitechexe versions and PlateSolveXP.
c) Download one or both of the Catalogs (and a tip o’the hat to PlaneWave for graciously hosting them on the PlaneWave website download page) at:
http://planewave.com/index.php?page=4 Look for the PlateSolve2 download area, and download the catalog(s) that you want to use (the UCAC3 is highly recommended). There is no need to download the file PlateSolve2.exe, since the Sitech Installer will have already downloaded it and installed it for you.

Apparently it’s ‘highly recommended’.

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