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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Scheduler Start/Stop Times

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I rarely use the Scheduler, because it seems to lack a key feature I really need, and I do most of my sequences manually.

I live among a lot of trees and hills, and I have a pretty good awareness of when objects will appear and then disappear among my obstacles. I have used another astro program where it was very easy to command a sequence to start and stop at specific times and/or altitudes, then move on to the next object as it rose from behind my trees.

EKOS doesn't have this, as far as I'm aware? It only has an absolute altitude limit, which causes the end of the sequence when it is reached, right?
2 years 11 months ago #70042

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Ekos does have this. For each job in the scheduler you can specify a specific start time:
 
And the number of images taken in the job determines the length of the job. It may not be as flexible as you want but it certainly is doable.
2 years 11 months ago #70044
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I use this all the time, but the job has to be edited every single day.

PLEASE consider adding keywords "TOMORROW" and "TODAY" to this!

Typically capture a given target over multiple nights (and with weather, over weeks!).  This piece of GUI is one of my most common points of failure.
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2 years 11 months ago #70045

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Mark,

We think alike! I have been working on something that basically addresses your request. It is composed of two parts. 
  • Being able to more easily specify the parts of your view which are obstructed
  • Making the scheduler aware of those obstructions.
The first part is complete and available in the nightlies. It itself is composed of two components. (1) the Terrain backgrounds ( indilib.org/forum/general/9035-new-featu...ckgrounds.html#68500 ) which allows you to view your obstructions on the skymap. (2) The ability to outline the obstruction in a way that the scheduler could take advantage of. See this merge request  invent.kde.org/education/kstars/-/merge_requests/263  which has already been merged into the nightly codebase.

The next part, then, would be making the scheduler aware of these constraints. I have a little code in my personal space that I've been experimenting with that does this, at least in a limited fashion so far (here's a draft merge request, not ready for submission, containing the changes for that: invent.kde.org/education/kstars/-/merge_requests/271). I've been imaging with it the past week and it seems to work and is an improvement to my workflow. 

However, the scheduler is a complex piece of code that touches all modules, has complex timing interactions with those modules, and has a history of hard-to-foresee side-effects. Therefore, the folks managing it, Eric, Wolfgang, and Jasem rightfully feel that any new scheduler features need to both be carefully vetted and tested, and also need to add to the overall automated testing of the scheduler.  My plan is to try and do this for this change in the next month or two, and then propose that these changes be merged into the general release.

If you are the type that compiles your own code, and are willing to compile and run new software, I can share my changes to you, and we can perhaps iterate on this together. But it is not ready for general testing by folks who do compile their own code.

Hy
 
2 years 11 months ago #70075

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Thanks everyone, and Hy that sounds like some good work you’re doing. 

My request really is for something very very simple - stop imaging a target when it gets to maybe 45deg altitude, then start on the next one. Whatever is left that hasn’t been done I don’t care about, I’ll consider that at the next session. 

That’s all.

Yes I can set an altitude limit, but that aborts everything and parks the scope, surely building in an option to the altitude limit selection to “move to next target in sequence” is a possibility? That’s all I ever used in Sequence Generator Pro, and it worked an absolute treat. 
2 years 11 months ago #70082

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Thanks, I’ve used the start time feature, but using the “number of subs” method for making a finish time is not always useful. Sometimes autofocus runs more frequently, guiding pauses sometimes, or other delays, and that means the job can run well over the plan. 

I really just want an altitude limit which moves on to the next job in line, that would suit me perfectly. SGP, NINA and  APT all do that with no issues. 
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Last edit: 2 years 11 months ago by Mark Sandford.
2 years 11 months ago #70083

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Yes, it will be very useful to be able to abort a job as soon as an altitude limit is reached. If this limit is useful to star a job, the same utility lies on finishing it. Good point

Rafa
2 years 11 months ago #70099

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