ACP automation for Photometry?

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 01/25/2015 - 20:29

I use ACP and Maxim for my routine (pretty pics) imaging. To date I have had to use the standard observing plan method the ACP uses to control timing and nature of images for photometry. I wonder if there is a less painful way to do such scheduling, especially when I want to observe several objects interdigitated over the night? I have looked at the Scheduler tool associated with ACP and find it a bit troublesome. I really can't let it control open, close etc of my observatory--at least it gives me pause. I am fine with weather closures and running the imaging per se.

Any thoughts on how to improve thruput would be most appreciated.

 

Stan Watson

Ann Arbor, MI

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
automation for photometry

Not sure what your concern is with scheduler.  Be happy to talk to you about it.  I have used it for almost two years now and while there are aspects that are a bit tedious in the set up, it is the cat's meow for systematic nightly photometry, as far as I can tell, and Bob is constantly refining it.  I have a list of about 170+ stars that I monitor nightly - weather permitting.  The system will start up and shutdown for clouds and other adverse weather.  The result is amazing in terms of the data that can be generated and once set up it schedules everything.  Occationally I throw in a side plan and will adjust the priority up or down on those, but everthing else is pretty well fixed.  Currently, I am going through and getting higher frequency imaging on selected stars that apear random in variability - lack any apparent perodicity - to make sure that I am not missing short term fluctuations that appear random on the coarser scale of nighly imaging.  These have to be set up at intervals, between which my routine monitoring can run.  Such plans are a bit tedious to set up but I have a system down that is not too bad.  Have talked to Bob about making these interval plans easier to set up.  

Until not too long ago, I was having periodic issues with the roof failing to close on occation.  In consequence when out of town I have sometime shut the sytem down and for awhile would forgo a night with obvious percipitation in the offing, even when home (observatory is fourty minutes out), but have worked all the bugs out now and have no pause letting it go.  I sometime forget to check in the AM to see that it closed.

Holler if you would like to chat more about this.   

 

 

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Hi
I also use scheduler to do

Hi

I also use scheduler to do my photometry and monitor all the USGU and WZ Sge stars each night unless there is a superoutburst on which I will monitor. Everything is fully automated, priortising objects, opening and closing of the observatory at dusk and dawn and when the weather is poor, automatic focusing, automatic flat fields before and after each night. It works really well. hardest thing is trying to keep up with processing all the data generated.

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
ACP

You can chain scripts together and observe a series of stars without using scheduler.  You have a script for each star you want to observe.   For a time series you include in each script the time you want it to end the observations on that star and chain to the next script.  ACP will move through all of your scripts (stars) in order.  Put your observatory shut down instructions in your last script.

This would definitely be a pain for 100 stars.  It works very well for 5 stars.  Somewhere in between it gets to be a bit much.

Jim Jones