[Aavso-photometry] Image archiving...

[Wolfgang Renz]

Bob,

if you want to keep them indefinitely, you shouldn't forget to reburn
them every 5-10 years.
CD-ROMs and DVDs are one of the least durable storage media
that were ever invented.

Clear skies
  Wolfgang

-- 
Wolfgang Renz, Karlsruhe, Germany
Rz.BAV = WRe.vsnet = RWG.AAVSO



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Koff" <bob at antelopehillsobservatory.org>
To: "Bill Goff" <b-goff at sbcglobal.net>
Cc: <aavso-photometry at mira.aavso.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2005 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Aavso-photometry] Image archiving...


> Bill,
> 
> I've been archiving all of my images, and keeping them indefinitely.  I 
> am saving both raw and calibrated images, writing them to CD/DVD.  I try 
> to remember to include the calibration frames on the CD's as well as the 
> images.
> 
> Putting them on a CD or DVD means they don't take up much room to 
> physically store, and the media is pretty cheap.  So it's practical to 
> save everything, just in case it's needed later.
> 
> This was learned the hard way...
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Bob Koff
> Antelope Hills Observatory
> 
> 
> 
> Bill Goff wrote:
> 
> > I'm wondering what the habits are of folks on this list for archiving 
> > image frames.
> >
> > 1.  How long do you save your images, just till you've reported 
> > results, a year or more or forever?  It seems that as time goes on 
> > those older images would have less value.  I guess if I had images 
> > from a 5m+ scope that I waited a year for time on, I might feel 
> > differently, but I don't have that problem.  I've got some images from 
> > a cookbook camera that are several years old, can't image needing them...
> >
> > 2.  Do you save the raw images or just the calibrated ones?  I've 
> > found a couple of occasions where the calibration was incorrect and 
> > having the raw images saved the day.  I've also found that if I just 
> > wanted to perform a new reduction  such as including a new star, 
> > having to chase down old calibrate frames and recalibrate was a pain, 
> > having saved calibrated images was easier.
> >
> > For now, I've started saving the calibrated images in addition to the 
> > raw.  That gives me a way to recalibrate if necessary and after some 
> > time (yet to be determined) dump the raw ones.  At one point the GTN 
> > people talked about image archiving on their machines, so I'd hate to 
> > dump something that someone else might have a use for someday, but 
> > I've not heard anything on this recently.
> >
> > On the other hand, writing it all to CD or DVD's might be a solution, 
> > if they're important enough to keep.  Any one care to comment?
> >
> > Bill