Hello, my name is Mike Sherick. Welcome you to AIC, and thank you for your interest

Transcription

1 Hello, my name is Mike Sherick. Welcome you to AIC, and thank you for your interest in my presentation titled: CCD Commander Automation of CCD Imaging...a User s Perspective. As an astrophotographer, I have been using CCD Commander for a few years now, and it s a pleasure to be able to share with you some of the features and capabilities of this unique application. From a User s Perspective, I hope you find the information presented here, both interesting interesting and informative, as it might apply toward your own CCD Imaging activities. If you are like me, you are always looking for the right tools to help solve problems, and get things done more efficiently. In fact, I have told that to my wife so many times, she now says to me, You gotta have the right tools! In the case of CCD Imaging, I think you would agree -- we need all the help we can get. In that regard -- whether CCD Imaging is just a hobby as in my case, or something more serious, I think you will find that CCD Commander is one such software automation tool for helping to make our imaging efforts more organized, and a lot more productive. To begin, I would like to give you a brief Overview of what my Presentation will cover this afternoon... 1

2 As a fellow Imager, I would like to start by sharing a bit about my background and my experience with AstroPhotography and CCD Imaging over the years. I ll take a brief look at some of the equipment that I have used, and my current setup -- including a new telescope project I have underway. I ll also take a look at the Remote Robotic Observatories that I currently have in operation using CCD Commander. However, the bulk of this presentation will focus on the features and capabilities of CCDC as a tool for the Automation of CCD Imaging tasks. I plan to cover: - an Overview of CCD Commander -Setup considerations -Using the Action elements within CCDC - and Other features you might find useful. Included in this will be a couple of real-time screen capture demos showing the setup up, and actual running of CCD Commander in what might be considered a typical imaging session. A few side notes: -The Astro-photography scattered throughout this Presentation, represents some of my images taken with the aid of CCD Commander from my remote observatories in New Mexico. -To be honest, CCDC has many features that I don t regularly use. However, I will cover all the highlights of CCDC -- some in more detail than others. -Questions are fine, but please hold them until the end of the presentation. I ll do my best to provide answers based on my use and experience with CCDC. 2

3 On the personal side - My career was in the Computer Industry, and I was mainly involved with Electro-Mechanical Design/Engineering tasks, and related R&D. Over the years, I have founded a few Venture funded Start-Up companies, and have worked in a variety of Corp. Management capacities. However, my real passion has always been designing and building things. - Throughout this corporate timeframe, I had an ongoing personal interest in designing and building experimental aircraft, making simple optics, doing astro-photography, designing and building telescopes, and recently -- building a few robotic observatories. Well Time flies when you re having fun. and I am now retired, and live in Las Cruces, NM. I spend my time doing Christian outreach activities, building telescopes, and doing CCD Imaging as often as possible with our remote robotic observatories. As an amateur astro-photographer, I love to create pretty pictures of heavenly objects, and share this special light with others. 3

4 As they say, We all have to start somewhere. My imaging experience began back in 1986 using 35mm film, with a Celestron C-14 as the imaging platform. When I think about time spent Hand-Guiding exposures -- it was amazing that I captured anything close to a good image. Perhaps some of you can relate to those days. By contrast, in today s marketplace we are blessed to have all the wonderful technology that s available to fill our CCD Imaging requirements. Of course, this includes automation tools like CCDC. 4

5 After dabbling with film astro-photography on-and-off for years, I experimented with a StellaCam video imaging system, with the Servo-CAT Dobsonian shown here. Shown in the lower right is a First Light Image off of the StellaCAM. It s not much to look at, but at that time, it was pretty exciting to capture this image of M101. I made this telescope back in 2003, including the 17 parabolic mirror. This was intended as an Anniversary present for my wife -- Boy What was I thinking? As you might imagine, it was better than a toaster, but it wasn t exactly a big hit as an Anniversary present! However, it was a very cool telescope. I used this scope mainly for outreach events to share astronomy with folks. I soon began to take notice of some of the beautiful astro-photos being published at the time by amateurs using CCD Imaging technology, and I realized that s where I wanted to go with this hobby. The Imaging Bug had bit me, and I decided to take the leap into CCD Imaging. 5

6 My first CCD imaging platform was a 10 LX200, with an ST2000, Maxim/DL, and TheSky on a Pentium Desktop. I also did some wide-field imaging with a 250mm Bronica lens setup shown here. I was beginning to see the complexity and myriad of tasks required for CCD Imaging, and I started up the learning curve. I m thankful to the many folks along the way, including the various Imaging Groups that offered encouragement and advice to get me over some of the technical humps in this demanding hobby. 6

7 It wasn t long with this basic setup that I decided to expand the telescopearsenal and build my own refractor using a TMB 6 APO Lens acquired from Thomas Back. When I finished the OTA, I didn t have a mount for it, so I decided to mount it on top of the LX shown in this photo. This was an unusual imaging platform, but it was quite functional for testing purposes, and performed nicely -- although pushing the LX200 to its limits. I later upgraded my camera to an ST10xme with Narrowband Filters. It was around this timeframe I concluded that CCD Imaging was something I wanted to get more serious about -- so I jumped in with both feet! 7

8 It was in 2004 that I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Paramount ME and build an Observatory in our backyard that was dedicated for CCD Imaging. This photo shows our then, Cabrillo Mesa Observatory, located in Camarillo, CA. It served well as a learning tool to help develop and debug all the remote imaging systems that I use today. This observatory project turned out to be a lot of fun, and was the operational prototype for our current remote observatories in New Mexico. 8

9 I have since completed several hardware modifications to the internal structure of the 6 APO telescope, shown here with an FSQ-106 piggy-back. This telescope is currently in use at our Sagrada Observatory, configured with an ST10xme, using an External GuideScope, mounted on a Paramount ME. 9

10 About four years ago, I designed and built a 14.5 RC telescope, using an open-truss design, with Star Instruments RC optics. This telescope is currently in use at our JMSM Observatory in New Mexico. This scope has served as an operational model for a larger instrument currently under construction. 10

11 To digress for a moment (Start Video) While I was working on all the telescope/imaging projects, I was also building a Turbine-Powered experimental aircraft -- called the Turbine Legend. This high-performance aircraft required 8 years for me to build, and was personally a huge engineering challenge. I completed the construction and Flight Testing of this aircraft 4 years ago. The video running at the bottom shows some of the initial flight testing. The top photo shows my wife and I flying the finished aircraft -- Big Bird as we called it -- drilling holes in the sky at 350 mph! With a climb rate of over 6,000 fpm, it was an awesome aircraft to fly! The point of sharing this aircraft project with you is, that it s construction was mainly of carbon fiber and other high-tech composite materials. This leads me into my current telescope project -- in which I am designing and building a 24 RC telescope and dedicated Fork Mount -- all constructed with similar composite materials as used in this aircraft project. 11

12 This view shows the layout of the 24 RC telescope, and associated Fork Mount currently under design and construction at my home in Las Cruces. The RC optics were made by Star Instruments. The design criteria for this OTA was to achieve a rigid, light-weight, and thermally stable support platform for the RC optics and related instrumentation. This is achieved using carbon fiber and honeycomb-nomex composite construction. The weight of the completed OTA will be about 150 pounds, including optics. The Secondary Spider Assembly incorporates a precision linear focusing system, and the BackPlate Assembly incorporates a fan system, and an integrated Instrument Rotator. The Fork Mount base uses massive steel plate construction, with an equally massive RA Shaft, supported by precision instrument bearings. The RA axis is driven by a 24 diameter precision worm gear, with a similar gear system for the DEC axis. The Fork Truss Structure will be of lighter weight steelcomposite construction. The Fork Mount will be driven by a Software Bisque MKS-4000 Servo- Controller, and it will operate much the same as a Paramount ME using TheSky. I m really looking to eliminating Meridian Flips! To date, many of the sub-assemblies have been completed for this project, and it s my goal to have this telescope in operation sometime in

13 In 2006, I finished design and constructed on my first truly Remote Robotic Observatory, located in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. I followed this project with a second robotic observatory, completed in 2008 at our home in Las Cruces, NM -- shown on the right. Each of these facilities can be controlled locally, or from anywhere around the world. Both observatories use CCD Commander to help manage the observatory, telescope, and related CCD Imaging tasks. 13

14 Shown here is our JMSM Observatory completed in late This facility is located near Mayhill, New Mexico at 7,200 feet elevation. The environment here can be somewhat harsh, so I designed the observatory structure incorporating more of an industrial requirement, with redundancy and remote failure recovery systems. This observatory was primarily designed for the 24 RC telescope I m currently building. This facility is active 24/7, and is controlled and operated remotely via the Internet. CCD Commander plays an important role at this facility during all imaging sessions. I also use a variety of real-time monitoring systems to keep tabs on operation and security at this remote site. 14

15 Shown here is a view of the JMSM Observatory from across the valley. As you can see, there are a few other observatories located nearby. The JMSM Observatory was designed to withstand severe weather conditions at this high-altitude site, and it also has extensive structural grounding for dissipating the effects of a direct lightning strike. We also incorporate a lightning detection system that continually monitors all lightning strike events within a few hundred miles. 15

16 It s worth noting that these higher elevations, weather is always a factor -- as shown in this snow covered scene at JMSMO. 16

17 The skies at this observatory are typically clear, and very dark, with overall seeing conditions typically in the 1-2 arc sec range, with good transparency. This slide shows the view from our All-Sky Camera, which monitors the sky conditions 24/7. This, and other weather status information are important when you are hundreds of miles away at a computer screen, trying to plan an imaging session. 17

18 This computer screen capture shows some of the visual feedback we use to monitor conditions and activity at our remote observatories. As you can appreciate, weather plays an important consideration with any CCD Imaging activity. However, with these remote observatories, many times I feel more like a Weatherman, instead of an Imager. Fortunately, CCD Commander serves a vital role during each imaging session to help protect the telescopes and imaging equipment, should weather be an issue. 18

19 About two years ago, we decided to move to Las Cruces, New Mexico, which is about a 100 miles distant from our JMSM Observatory. I designed and built our home shown here, which includes an observatory integrated into the structure. We named this the Sagrada Observatory. 19

20 This view of the Sagrada Observatory shows the 14.5 ft. ASH Dome with its extra-wide shutter. Its pier structure is isolated, and was designed to handle up to a 24 telescope. (Start Video) It turns out that the seeing conditions are fairly good at this site, and the sky reasonably dark, except for some minor glow from nearby Las Cruces. In the case of both remote observatories, Internal IP Cameras ride along with the dome to allow real-time views of activity, which make it seem like you are actually there. I m currently imaging at this observatory with the 6 APO/ST10, externally guided, with a Paramount ME. For both the JMSM and Sagrada Observatories. I communicate with the observatory computers via the Internet using RemoteDesktop. Here again, CCD Commander is used at Sagrada to help manage observatory operations, and imaging tasks. 20

21 I think by now, you can see my requirement for an automation tool to assist with the operation of remote robotic observatories. I was looking for an application that would automatically handle all the imaging tasks, that I would normally do manually during a typical imaging session -- including dome control and weather monitoring. 21

22 I found that solution with CCD Commander. From a User s Perspective, CCD Commander has been a dream come true for my CCD Imaging requirements. So What is CCD Commander? 22

23 CCD Commander was developed by Matt Thomas a few years ago It is a low-cost Windows based application tool for Multi-target CCD Imaging Automation. I believe the current price is less than $100. CCD Commander can control all aspects of the imaging system, including the Camera, Mount, Dome, Focuser, Rotator, and Weather Monitoring. This Windows application uses a simple GUI, and provides ease of use for beginning automation, as well as having endless possibilities for extreme multi-target imaging. 23

24 Next, I ll cover a General Overview of CCD Commander... 24

25 CCD Commander is based on Actions. The term ACTION equates to various functions in CCD Commander that perform Tasks. Most Actions are similar to what you would do manually while imaging. Some examples of Actions are: Move the telescope; Focus, and Take images. The basic operation of CCD Commander contains a list of Actions that get executed one at a time. Execution of each Action progresses through the list from top to bottom. 25

26 An Action List is fully editable You can even edit Actions while the list is executing, although Running and Completed Actions cannot be changed. This allow CCD Commander to be imaging one target, while additional targets are still being setup. I really like this capability for changing the Action list on-the-fly. Check boxes are used to selectively Enable or Disable Actions. Execution of the Action List can be Stopped, Paused and Resumed at any time. This allows for manual intervention when required. CCD Commander uses the Window s Clipboard function, and Actions can be copied, cut, and pasted, which greatly simplifies setup and editing -- especially when you are repeating similar Actions. 26

27 Here is a look at CCD Commander s Main Window when you open up the application your computer s desktop. Remember that I mentioned CCD Commander was based on Actions. Note the Actions drop-down window on the right, showing the various Actions available. We will cover each of these in more detail a bit later. But before we discuss these Actions, we will need to Setup CCD Commander. 27

28 Since each User s Imaging Equipment configuration is different, CCD Commander has a Setup feature to ensure the various equipment works together correctly during an imaging session. 28

29 Let s go through a quick overview of CCD Commander s Setup Windows. We will then review each Setup Tab in greater detail. 29

30 We will first talk about the Control/Device Tab. This sets up all hardware control programs. For Camera Control, CCD Commander supports either MaximDL and CCDSoft, with or without AO. Filter configuration is set by clicking on the Get Filters button from the camera control application selected. Mount Control is either with TheSky6, or ASCOM Driver. There are other selections to be made as well, to include: - Planetarium program, Focuser Control, Instrument Rotator, Dome Control, and Weather Monitor. 30

31 The next consideration is the Mount Parameters Tab. CCD Commander supports either a GEM or Fork mount. The German Equatorial Mount (GEM), has some selection issues that may be important for automation. This has to do with when the mount executes a Meridian Flip. You can set the number of minutes either side of the Meridian for this decision. For example, with the Paramount ME and DDW Dome Controller that I use, I have to set this for (0) zero minutes in order to properly sync dome control with the Meridian Flip. This is also where you set where the Autoguider was calibrated -- Eastern or Western part of the sky. Before/After Slew Scripts are also allowed to provide additional functionality whenever the mount slews. 31

32 This is the Auto Guide Star Tab This part of the Setup allows you to configure how you want the autoguider function to work. These parameters specify the guide star search algorithm. Note that the Guide Box size must be set based on the Camera Control program settings. In this case, the default setting of 32 x 32. You have the ability to set the Autoguider for continuous operation, but you give up Dithering. Also, if you disable Guide Star Recovery, CCDC will search for a new guide star at every Take Image Action. 32

33 The File Options Tab allows for an image save location that can be used in any Action. Maxim DL FITS Compression can be used, but these FITS files can only be read by Maxim DL. 33

34 The next Setup we will look, is the Plate Solve Tab. 34

35 This area allows you to Select and setup the Plate Solve program. Most of the parameters here are PinPoint specific. It is also possible to Dark Subtract the Plate Solve image if required to improve performance. 35

36 Next we will look at the Focuser Options Tab. This area allows you to input any Filter Offsets that may be required. The unit values are in step increments. In my own imaging application, I use FocusMax with a set of Astrodon Tru- Balance Filters. Because these filters are parfocal, I have not found the need to use any filter offsets. 36

37 If you use an Instrument Rotator, the next setup required is the Rotator Tab. 37

38 To use an instrument Rotator, you will need to setup the parameters so CCD Commander properly moves the rotator. There are a variety of Rotators on the market -- each with different setup requirements. I use the Optec Pyxis Instrument Rotator at our JMSM Observatory, with the RC. The Pyxis is very slow, but is accurate and has worked fine. An important setup here it to input the correct Rotation Angle, and where the Guider was calibrated. I like CCD Commander s feature where it matches the Rotation Angle of Camera s FOV indicator to that of TheSky. This allow me to confirm I am on the correct guide star. 38

39 Next is the Dome Tab. This allow you to UnCouple the dome during a slew, and allows for closing the dome on Error. Specific to the DDW hardware/software, which I use, CCD Commander allows for retrys to ensure that the dome is at its Home position and the Shutters are Closed. 39

40 The next tab is to setup for Alerts. I especially like this feature where in a remote imaging application, it is important to be notified when certain conditions have occurred during the imaging session. CCD Commander gives you the ability to check off various conditions for which you want to be notified. An example of this notification might be a weather related event, where a Plate Solve or a guide star acquisition failed. 40

41 Speaking of Weather The Weather Monitor Tab in CCD Commander uses the Boltwood Cloud Sensor as the active device to monitor various weather conditions, and then make decisions based on those conditions. These conditions and associated parameters are set here in the Weather Monitor Tab. Shown here is the Clarity software window, and the Boltwood II Cloud Sensor. The Boltwood unit has the ability to connect directly to your dome control hardware to override operation and close the dome -- due to rain for example. 41

42 You can specify conditions for either a Pause action, or for Closing the Dome or a Roll-Off Roof. The Weather Monitoring feature in CCD Commander is a good safe-guard to have active during any imaging session -- especially in a remote imaging environment. You can also specify Good conditions for CCD Commander to resume operation after a Pause action. 42

43 CCD Commander can also Park the mount when Pausing. This may be important where the mount may possibly collide while the Action List is Paused. It is also possible to repeat the last action after resuming when conditions are set as Good, otherwise, the next action in the List will be run. 43

44 Now that the CCD Commander Setup configuration is complete... Let s consider the Tasks involved in a typical imaging session, and how we can use CCD Commander s Actions to manage these various imaging tasks. The Action List in CCD Commander represents a set of Actions or Tasks we want to accomplish, in the order of preference during our imaging session. 44

45 First let s look at the various Tasks for a Typical Imaging Session. In this simple example, we want to: - Connect with the dome, and Open the Shutters - Cool the Camera - Move to a Focus Star - Focus on that star - Move to our Target - Plate Solve that Target - Rotate the Camera - Take Images and start Autoguiding - Take Automatic Flats - Close the Dome and Warm the Camera Sensor - and finally -- Park the Mount. All of these Tasks can be accomplished with the use of Actions in CCDC. 45

46 To do this, we will create an Action List. This is accomplished by selecting the required Action Items from CCD Commander s Actions drop-down window -- shown here on the right We simply select the desired Action, configure its parameters, click OK, and the Action is placed into the Action List in the order required for our imaging session. Of course, we can fully edit the Action List as required to suit our needs. 46

47 Shown here is our completed Action List -- ready to save and run when we are able to begin our imaging session. Next, we will look at each of these Actions in greater detail. 47

48 In our Typical Imaging Session example, Connect with Dome, and Open the Shutter was our first Task, so we begin our Acton List with the Dome Control Action. In the case of a dome type observatory, as with my setup, CCD Commander plays a significant part in interacting with the Dome Controller/Software. 48

49 The Dome Control Action can specify various functions related to dome operation. For example: - Couple to the Mount or - Open or Close the Shutters, or in the case of a Roll-Off- Roof type of observatory -- Open or Close the Roof. 49

50 The next Action item on our list is the Camera Temperature Control Action. 50

51 CCD Commander calls this Action item Intelligent Temperature Control. The Use Intelligent Cooling checkbox simply selects between Simple Cooling and Intelligent Cooling functions. The Enable Cooler checkbox enables the Use Intelligent Cooling checkbox, where it acts on the desired temperatures that are input to the cooling list. Temperatures can be added or deleted as required. When the Enable Cooler is checked, and the Use Intelligent Cooling is un-checked, then the Simple Cooling function is enabled and the camera is cooled to the value set, and CCD Commander moves on to the next Action in the list. The Disable Cooler checkbox allows for slowly warming up the CCD Sensor. There is also a Fan checkbox for turning the camera Fan On/Off. 51

52 The benefit to Intelligent Cooling is that it gives more control over camera sensor temperatures. The desired temperature is a list of all the acceptable temperatures that can be set for your camera type. CCD Commander goes through the temperature list one at a time -- attempting to set the camera to the coldest possible temperature. 52

53 CCD Commander allows setting of various temperature control parameters that are applied to the Desired Temperatures list. - Maxim Cooler power is the acceptable power level of the final temperature. - Maximum time for temperature to stabilize sets how long CCD Commander will wait at each power level. - Temperature and cooler deviations set what is stable power. When the power is stable, the next temperature is attempted until there are no more temps to try, or a temperature cannot be reached. For my purposes, I typically use the Simple Cooling function in CCD Commander. 53

54 Next in our imaging sequence list, we will talk about the Move to Action. 54

55 The Move to Action allows us to set the RA & Declination coordinates for any target. Either JNow or J2000 Coordinates can be used. J2000 is best for stationary targets, and allows reuse of the same coordinates over days/years. CCD Commander will automatically precess the coordinates to JNow at the time the Action is performed. Also, JNow coordinates are only valid for the date when the Action was created, with the coordinates becoming less accurate over time. 55

56 To get the coordinates for the object we want to move to, we can simply click on the Get RA/Dec from TheSky button. I often will frame my target in TheSky s FOVI to obtain the desired composition and GuidStar, then mouse click on the center of the FOV, and select Cursor Position from TheSky to establish the correct coordinates. We can also use the Get RA/Dec from Current Telescope Position button which queries the current telescope position in TheSky, using its JNow coordinates. Another method is to simply enter the Object Name, and click on the Find Object in TheSky button. 56

57 The Find Object in TheSky button uses text entries in the Object Name field to search the database in TheSky. It then returns with the proper coordinates. The Recompute Object Coordinates before Slew checkbox is used only with JNow coordinates, and is very useful for rapidly moving targets. The Object Name must appear in TheSky. 57

58 The next task in our image sequence is Focusing. Here we will use the Focus Action. 58

59 The Focus Action allow focusing using any filter. As we discussed in the CCD Commander Setup, Focus Offsets are settable. With FocusMax, it is possible to specify the star location. This is a frequently used Action -- especially with refractor type of telescopes that are more affected by temperature rate changes. 59

60 The next task we come to in our imaging sequence is the Plate Solve Action. 60

61 So What is a Plate Solve? This is an imaging procedure that uses an exposure, where the stars in the image are matched to a star catalog. Using the stars in the catalog, the exact center of the image is determined. The mount is then moved to the correct location. Why do we need a Plate Solve? Many times, even our high-end telescope mounts may not exactly center the required target -- for various reasons. Inaccurate centering may result in: Difficulty in getting the desired guide star using self-guided or off-axis guiding mode, or poor target framing. Plate Solve does take a little bit of time, but it results in better images. 61

62 Within the Plate Solve Action, the Exposure time parameter can be set. The Exposure Time should be long enough to get plenty of stars in the image for an analysis for the filter being used. The Bin setting can be as high as 3x3 without major impacts to plate solve accuracy. Bin 2x2 usually works well. For Wide-Field images, using a Half Frame, or Quarter Frame may be necessary. 62

63 The Sync Selection is an important setup parameter for the Plate Solve Action. 63

64 The Sync Selection allows for two modes of operation: Sync Mount and Offset Position. - The Sync Mount setting will send a sync command to the mount using the coordinates from the Plate Solve. This may be undesirable for T-Point users, as the sync command can corrupt the model. - The Offset Position setting tells CCD Commander to compute the offset between where the mount thinks it is pointing, and the Image Link results. Then on future slews, CCD Commander will apply this offset to correct for the mount pointing error. This option is excellent for T-Point users as it will not affect the model. 64

65 Slew to Original Location after Solve will slew the mount to the coordinates it should have been at before the Plate Solve - using either the updated mount position from the Sync, or the offset that was computed. This gives you optimal pointing accuracy. Normally when the Plate Solve fails, for whatever reason, CCD Commander will simply go the next action in the list. Abort List/Sub-List if Solve Fails will abort the entire Action List or Sub- Action List that the Plate Solve action resides in. If the Plate Solve action is in a Sub-List, execution will resume on the next action in the parent list. I will touch on Sub-Lists a bit later. 65

66 Here are a few other features that may be of interest: Retry Plate Solve on Failure will cause CCD Commander to retry the plate solve exposure and solve if the first attempt fails. Slew Mount if First Solve Fails... will slew the mount prior to retrying the plate solve exposure. The slew will move the telescope in a direction toward the zenith by a set amount. If the slew amount is large enough to move past the zenith and you are using a GEM, CCD Commander will flip the mount as part of this slew. This function can be used in a number of different ways. One use for this function is if you are plate solving on a star poor region of the sky, a small slew could help bring more stars into the field-of-view so that the second plate solve exposure can succeed. There are other likely uses for this function as well, such as cloud detection. Skip to Next Target if Second Solve Succeeds will cause CCD Commander to skip all the actions until the next Move To Action. This is specifically used in the rudimentary cloud monitoring system mentioned above, but there may be other uses as well. CCD Commander can also save Plate Solve exposures with images for later evaluation if necessary. 66

67 The next task in our imaging session is to Rotate the Camera. This Action is for use with an Instrument Rotator. I have found that an Instrument Rotator is essential for use with long focal length telescopes. Rotating the Camera/Guider makes it easier to acquire a suitable guidestar with respect to the desired image composition for a particular Target. 67

68 For this requirement, we will use the Rotate Camera Action. This Action simply rotates the camera to a specified Position Angle. You can manually input the New Rotation Angle, which represents the actual North Angle of the camera. CCD Commander will then automatically compute the Rotator Angle, and move the Rotator the proper amount. You can also click on the Get Position Angle from TheSky FOVI button which will query the FOVI in TheSky6. CCD Commander will then enter the proper Position Angle for you. Proper setup with TheSky, Instrument Rotator, and Camera North Angle are all considerations, but once parameters are correctly established, the Rotate Camera Action is very useful -- especially with long focal length telescopes. 68

69 The next task in our imaging sequence is the Take Image Action. 69

70 There is a lot to configure here, and we will start with the Imager Information parameters. These are typical imaging parameters, and are not different than what is seen in either CCDSoft or Maxim/DL. The Calibrate Images function will run a full calibration on your images as they are downloaded. You must setup the image calibration function in the camera control program to use the proper calibration frames. CCD Commander will save both the RAW and REDUCED files. 70

71 Here we will define the Autoguider parameters for autoguiding while the imaging detector is being exposed. With the Autoguider Enabled, the Exposure Time, Guide Star X/Y Position entries are only active when the Automatic Guide Mode is disabled in the Setup Tab. If you are taking a Dark, Bias, or Flat-field image, you would typically disable autoguiding. Max Error to Start - defines what the maximum allowable error (in pixels) that the guide star can be before the imager begins its exposure. The autoguider will run until the guide error is less then this amount, or after Max Guide Cycles to Wait tries. If the autoguider is unable to achieve a value less than this, the action will be stopped and CCD Commander will proceed to the next action in the list. The Guider Init Delay specifies the number of seconds to wait before checking guider error. 71

72 CCD Commander allows for Dithering, which is a function that slightly moves the telescope between images. The result of this is that fixed defects are mis-aligned in the sub-exposures, and are better able to be removed by post processing methods. 72

73 In CCD Commander, Dithering moves the mount slightly between exposures. Dither Frequency defines how often the guide star is dithered during the image exposure. Dither Step defines the size of the dither movement between images. CCD Commander will always move this amount from one image to the next. Maximum Dither defines the total size of the "dither box" around the guide star or initial coordinates. Maintain Dither Position With Filter Change tells CCD Commander to continue the dither position and direction even after a filter change. With this kind of image sequence, the dither position will adjust for every image in the set such that the like-kind sub-exposures are all dithered. You can also specify Unguided Dithering where the dither parameters are set in arc sec. 73

74 The Dither Plot shown here, is an example using a Dither Step size of 1 pixel, and a Maximum Dither movement of 2 pixels. CCD Commander will retrace the dither path back to the starting coordinates. CCD Commander will always dither in a deterministic manner, as shown in the plot. This will ensure that every image is always offset the same amount from the previous image and that any image defects are always at a different location in your image set. In addition, the pattern CCD Commander follows ensures that the guide star will move a minimal amount between exposures, maximizing your imaging time. 74

75 For Adaptive Optics Devices, checking the Center AO When Complete checkbox will set the AO deflection to the exact center position. This helps with mistaken image offsets during Plate Solve actions. Checking Rotate 180 degrees after Meridian Flip will cause the rotator to compensate for the meridian flip. 75

76 The Use Global Image Save Location checkbox tells CCD Commander to use the path specified in the File Options setup window. When the checkbox is checked, the Global path is shown in the Image Save Location box. When Use Global Image Save Location is not checked, the "..." button is enabled. You can then specify a different save location for this action only. Click the "..." button to select the folder you want to use. The Autosave Exposure field can be any text, or we can use the File Name Builder feature in CCD Commander. 76

77 The File Name Builder feature in CCD Commander is a simple tool to allow you to setup the automatic file naming parameters in your filenames. You do not have to use the File Name Builder -- you can simply type the parameters into the text box where needed. However, the File Name Builder feature simply makes it convenient to create file names. 77

78 Shown here is the File Name Builder window. You can select any number of parameters. Each parameter is represented by a token in the file name box, eg. Exposure Time. These tokens will be evaluated when CCD Commander runs the Action List. The Filename text box is fully editable. You can insert any other text you want to include in the file name. The example in this window shows a typical entry. 78

79 We can also use the Plate Solve and Sync after Meridian Flip checkbox. This is useful when you are imaging an object across the Meridian. It is usually necessary due to telescope pointing accuracy. In addition, CCD Commander gives you the ability to do a 2nd Plate Solve to achieve more accurate centering of your target after a Meridian Flip. 79

80 The next task in our Imaging Sequence example is taking Flats. As you may know, Flats can make a big difference in the outcome of our final image result. CCD Commander has an Automatic Flat Action that is very useful in acquiring the raw data for our Flats. 80

81 This is the Automatic Flat Action window. The Automatic Flat Action will take automatic flats at Dusk, Dawn, or using your own flat screen. CCD Commander will automatically determine the optimum exposure time to achieve your desired average ADU. In addition, CCD Commander can continuously adjust the exposure time to maintain as constant an average ADU as possible - especially useful for Dusk and Dawn flats. The main parameter fields are: - Flat Information - Mount Information - Rotations - Filters - Image Save Location Let s take a look at these in more detail, starting with the Flat Information Field. 81

82 Exposure times can be set for Minimum Exposure Time and Maximum Exposure Time, which are used to bound the exposure. Minimum and Maximum Average ADU values can be set, along with the number of exposures, and Binning. CCD Commander will target half way between the minimum and maximum average value. The Exposure Setup Frame Size sets the size of the frame (centered in the middle of the detector) that CCD Commander should use when it is trying to determine the exposure time at the beginning of the flat routine. Once the average ADU value is within this range, CCD Commander will begin exposing your flats. CCD Commander will target half way between the minimum and maximum average ADU value. The Flat Frame Size specifies the frame size for the actual flat field frames that will be saved. Filename Prefix is the text that is used at the start of the filename. 82

83 CCD Commander can also be setup to Take Matching Darks for your Flats. The Take Matching Darks function will, at the end of the Automatic Flat function, take matching dark frames for the exposures used for your flat frames. You can specify how many darks per flat to exposure via the Number of Darks per Flat parameter. The number of matching darks could be quite large, especially when CCD Commander continuously adjusts the flat exposure time during dusk or dawn flats. Setting the Dark Exposure Time Tolerance to one or more seconds will reduce the total number of darks taken. Some experimentation with these parameters may be necessary for your particular CCD Sensor and imaging application. I find that a Fixed Flat Screen with controlled illumination works best for me. 83

84 The Mount Information parameters are set for where you want to expose your Flats. Since I have an illuminated Flat Screen mounted on the observatory dome, I use the Park Mount function when exposing the Flats. You can just as easily set this for exposing the Flats with the Dusk, Dawn, Slew to, or Do not connect or move mount functions. The Dusk Sky Flat and Dawn Sky Flats have additional considerations. CCD Commander will automatically compute the time to start taking Flats based on the Sun Altitude parameter. The Slew To option causes a new fields to appear on the screen where you can specify a specific altitude and azimuth. The Do not connect to or move mount option will leave your mount alone when executing the Automatic Flat. This can be useful if you are using a flat box and have set the telescope to a specific position already. 84

85 A couple more areas within the Automatic Flat Action are Rotations and Filters. The Rotations section defines all of the position angles you want your flats exposed at when using an Instrument Rotator. Flats for all rotations are taken at one filter before the next filter is selected. Also, Flats are taken at the rotations in the order listed. The Filters section defines all of the filters you want to use in the Automatic Flat action. Flats are taken with the filters in the order listed. Also, for Dawn/Dusk Flats, it is important to put the filters in order of filter density. For example: for Dawn Flats start with a Clear filter, then Ha filter. For Dusk Flats, start with the Ha filter, then the Clear filter. Another consideration with Dusk and Dawn Flats has to do with the limited amount of time available to expose the Flats before the ADU values get out of range. This is one reason why I like to Park the mount for taking Flats. 85

86 Speaking of Parking the mount CCD Commander has two Park modes: - Real Park - Simulated Park. 86

87 The Real Park setting will park the mount at its set location in TheSky. After parking the mount, CCD Commander will disconnect from the mount. The Simulated Park will cause CCD Commander to simulate a park function by repeatedly slewing to the same Altitude/Azimuth coordinates specified. CCD Commander will continue to keep the specified coordinates centered even while running other actions. At the end of the Action List, if the Simulated Park is still active CCD Commander will continue to keep the target coordinates centered until the Stop menu or button is pushed. Whether a Real Park or Simulated Park, the mount will remain parked until an action requiring information from the mount takes place. Additionally, the Take Image Action using a "Light" frame will un-park the mount. Dark, Bias, or Flat will not reconnect to the mount. The following actions will also un-park to the mount: Move to RA & Dec Action; Plate Solve and Sync or Offset Action; and Automatic Flat Action. All other actions will leave the mount in its parked state. 87

88 OK Now that we have reviewed many of CCD Commander s Actions, I ll move on to a couple of real-time video demos. The first demo will show how easy it is to create a Simple Action List in CCD Commander. In the second demo, we will run an Action List at the Sagrada Observatory, imaging Multiple Targets, and taking Flats. In this second demo, we will see how CCD Commander moves through an Action List real-time during an actual imaging session from Start-to-Finish. Just a side note: These videos demos were done using a Screen Capture program. Don t worry if you can t read the detail on the screen, I will narrate as the demo progresses. 88

89 To start, we will use the Action drop-down window in CCD Commander, and begin selecting Actions, and creating our Action List. (Click & Narrate Video) - Couple dome to Mount - Wait until 1900 hrs - Open Dome - Wait until 2000 hrs - Intelligent Cooler Enable - Move to Focus Star - Focus with Red Filter - Move to Target - M31 - Plate Solve - Take Image and Autoguide - Close Dome - Park Mount -Take Image -- Darks - Flat Light ON - Automatic Flats - Flat Light OFF - Intelligent Cooler Disable Now that our Action List is saved, we can then Run it when needed. 89

90 In this next demo will o a different Action List that was created earlier. In this Action List, we have setup CCD Commander for a Multi-Target imaging session from the Sagrada Observatory, including Flats. (Click & Narrate Video) Notice that this demo shows four windows on the screen -- CCDC, TheSky, DDW, and the IPCAM. I wanted to show the interaction of CCD Commander running real-time with other applications running on the Desktop. We will first begin by opening up our saved Action List, and review the Action items That completes the demo for the Multi-Target imaging session, with CCD Commander reporting Actions Complete. 90

91 Up to this point, we we have reviewed some of the more typical Actions in CCDC, and have seen in the demo how they function real-time. Next, I ll take a look at some Action List considerations and introduce you to some additional Actions in CCD Commander, that may be useful to further enhance an Action List -- resulting in more efficient automation of our imaging sessions. 91

92 As they say, Focus Focus Focus! Nothing is more frustrating than to have an otherwise smooth running imaging session ruined by poorly focused exposures -- typically caused by ambient temperature changes with telescope equipment. CCD Commander makes it easy to insert multiple Focus Actions for automatically performing Repeat Focuses during an imaging session. This way, we can achieve greater success in obtaining properly focused image data.. 92

93 CCD Commander allows a variety of ways to setup Take Image Actions for different Filter sequences during an imaging session. This makes doing multiple Filter imaging an easy task. 93

94 Whether it s a long list of targets, or a multi-frame mosaic, CCD Commander s flexibility offers convenient setup of the Action List to do Back-to-Back multi-target imaging -- as seen in the previous demo. The Action List is easily constructed, and even allows changes to Actions that have not yet been completed -- making adding or deleting targets easy. 94

95 Another feature in CCD Commander allows the use of Sub-Action Lists. This offers a convenient way to further organize your imaging tasks. 95

96 The Sub-Action List is just like the Main Action List, but will allow you to run an entirely new action list within a single line on your Main Action List. Any number of Sub-Action Lists can be added - including Sub-Action Lists in a Sub-Action List. The Sub-Action List can be made to: - Run Once - Run until Aborted - Run Multiple Times - Run for a Period of Time The Sub-Action List can be very useful when you have common Actions that you repeat throughout an action list. 96

97 If you are interested in further organizing your imaging tasks, CCD Commander s Link to File feature has the ability to Link to File the Sub- Action List you create, which then becomes linked to a CCD Commander Action List File. 97

98 This allows the Sub-Action List to become a separate Action List. In this case, the Linked Sub-Actions will be loaded from the file immediately before they are executed. This can be used to create common actions that you always use (Startup Action List, Shutdown Action List, etc.) that typically never change. This is also useful for remote editing of Sub-Action Lists, since the Sub- Actions List is not loaded by CCD Commander until execution. 98

99 As our imaging sessions become more complex, the use of CCD Commander s Sub-Action Lists and Link to File features can help to clean-up and organize various imaging tasks. 99

100 Here are a few examples where using Sub-Action Lists might be helpful. Again, these are similar to previous Action List examples, but much cleaner. Such as: - Repeat Focus - Filter Sequences - Back-to-Back Targets - Plate Solve Failure 100

101 Sometimes it is convenient to have our automated imaging tasks Wait until the conditions we desire are met. CCD Commander has two such functions named: Wait for Altitude Action and Wait for Time Action. (which we used in the previous demo) 101

102 The Wait for Altitude Action will wait for the object entered to reach the specified altitude. CCD Commander can automatically compute the altitude of the Sun, Moon, or any deep space object using its celestial coordinates. The Get RA/Dec from TheSky button will pull the coordinates from the currently selected object in TheSky, or... You can enter an object name in the Object Name field. When you click the Find Object in TheSky, CCD Commander will query the object's location from TheSky and automatically fill in the RA and Declination values for the object. Wait until object is at altitude specifies the altitude you want to wait until. Rising selects that CCD Commander should wait for the target to be higher than the specified altitude. Note that when the object crosses the Meridian, the Wait will always finish. Setting selects that CCD Commander should wait for the target to be lower than the specified altitude. 102

103 Next is the Wait for Time Action. This Action pauses execution until the requested time is reached. When Absolute is selected, this action will wait until the specified time. The time entered is in normal 24 hour format. When Relative is selected, this action will wait for the specified number of hours/minutes. The longest wait you can enter is 24 hours 59 minutes. 103

104 Here are a few consideration for the Wait Actions: - Neither Wait Action does anything other than wait. - If the mount is tracking, it will continue to track during the wait. - If you have a long Wait Action, always Park the mount using the Park Mount Action prior to the Wait Action. 104

105 Sometimes it is desirable to Skip ahead in your Action List. The Skip Ahead Actions are another helpful way of managing your Action List. CCD Commander will automatically search the Main Action List (and any Sub-Action Lists) for all the Skip Ahead actions. The times are sorted so that the earliest Skip Ahead action will execute first. CCD Commander offers two Skip Ahead functions: - Skip Ahead at Time Action - Skip Ahead at Altitude Action 105

106 The Skip Ahead at Time Action provides a tool for managing your action list. At the Time specified, CCD Commander will skip ahead in your action list to the point where the Skip Ahead action is. As an example, you can use this action to automatically stop imaging and run a shutdown action at dawn. Another possibly use is to ensure that you start imaging an event at the proper time. The Skip Ahead action will force CCD Commander to execute the actions associated with the event at the proper time, regardless of what was in the action list. Note: All Actions between the current executing action are the Skip action are skipped. The Automatic Flat action contains a built in skip when you select dusk or dawn flats. 106

107 The Skip Ahead at Altitude Action will cause CCD Commander to skip ahead to the point that this action is in your list when your specified target reaches the altitude you specify. CCD Commander can automatically compute the altitude of the Sun, Moon, or any deep space object using its celestial coordinates. The Get RA/Dec from TheSky button will pull the coordinates from the currently selected object in TheSky, or... You can enter an object name in the Object Name field. When you click the Find Object in TheSky, CCD Commander will query the object's location from TheSky and automatically fill in the RA and Declination values for the object. Rising selects that CCD Commander should wait for the target to be higher than the specified altitude. Setting selects that CCD Commander should skip when the target is lower than the specified altitude. Note: That if the object crosses the meridian, the Skip will execute, regardless of the altitude set. 107

108 As you can see thus far, CCD Commander offer a variety of ways to structure Action Lists for just about any imaging session requirement. The Wait / Skip Actions are a great way to incorporate scheduling into the Action Lists for an imaging session. 108

109 Here are some possible scheduling examples using the Wait Actions and the Skip Actions: - Wait to start - Skit to 2nd Target - Skip at dawn - Wait / Skip combinations 109

110 We next come to an important part of every imaging session -- monitoring the weather. As we all know, weather plays an important part in the planning and execution of our imaging sessions. Fortunately, CCD Commander has a function called the Weather Monitor Action. 110

111 You can use the Weather Monitor Action to Enable or Disable the Weather Monitoring function. CCD Commander queries the Cloud Sensor hardware on a periodic basis, and acts on the weather parameters as set in the main Setup Tab. If bad weather is detected, the Action List is immediately paused. Once paused, no other action is executed until the weather turns good. The exception to this is that a Skip Ahead at Time and Skip Ahead at Altitude Action will still execute. The Skip Ahead Acitons will never skip a Weather Monitor Action. Depending on the Setup parameters, the mount can be Parked, and the dome can be closed. 111

112 CCD Commander has a Run Program Action. This added flexibility allows the execution of external programs, 112

113 The Run Program Action will run an external program that you specify. You can choose between a Script, or Executable. Remember that in our previous Demo, we used a Script to turn ON/OFF the Flat Light for taking Screen Flats. Click the multi-dot" button to browse your computer for the program you want to run. Once you select the program, the full path name will appear in the window. If you select the Wait for program to finish checkbox, CCD Commander will wait for the completion of the program before executing the next action. If you do not check this box the program will run concurrently with the following actions in CCD Commander. 113

114 CCD Commander provides two types of Graphs to help monitor imaging activity: - CCD Temperature Graph - Autoguider Error Graph 114

115 This slide shows the CCD Temperature Graph. This provide visual information on CCD Temperature and thermoelectric cooler power. The CCD temperature is graphed in Red, the cooler power in Green. In addition there is a dashed line showing the trend of the CCD temperature over time. The Start/Stop button will start/stop recording of the temperature data. The Clear button will clear the existing data in the graph. The Save button allows the data to be saved for evaluation or preservation of the data. The Update Interval setting tells CCD Commander how often to query and plot the temperature and cooler power. The update interval can be set from 5 to 30 seconds. This graph is a very useful tool to check that your imaging session did not have any temperature problems. 115

116 The Autoguider Error Graph is useful to check that the imaging session did not have any severe autoguider problems. This slide shows the autoguider X and Y error while the autoguide process is running, and an image is being exposed. CCD Commander does not plot the error while the autoguider is being setup, or while dithering. The Save button allows the data to be saved in a comma delimited text format for evaluation or preservation of the data. The Clear button will clear the graphs. 116

117 The last feature I will talk about is the Import Target List, which is a more advanced tool in CCD Commander. 117

118 The Import Target List function is useful for imaging applications, such as sky survey work. You must use an external program (like TheSky) to create a comma delimited target list. The target list must contain the Target Name, RA, and Declination coordinates for each target, formatted in decimal degrees. The User Target List is accessed from your computer by clicking on the file retrieve button. For each target, any number of Actions can be setup to execute. At a minimum, a Move To Action, and Take Image Action must be used. The Move To Action coordinates will automatically be filled in from the target list. 118

119 This completes my presentation. I hope you were able to glean some of the features and automation capabilities of CCD Commander. Perhaps CCD Commander is an automation tool that has a place in your CCD Imaging Toolbox. In any case, from a User s perspective, CCD Commander has been a tremendous asset for use in my Remote Robotic Observatories. Frankly, I can t imagine doing remote imaging without it. If you have further interest in this automation application, I would suggest that you visit for more details. Thank you for your attention, and I hope that you have a great time at AIC. At this time, I am open for any questions. I will also be available after the presentation. Thank you. 119