Multi Night Dragscript

This is my standard Dragscript for a mosaic session run over multiple nights. It is a bit long and specific to my setup and way of thinking, but might give others some ideas.

I have a NexDome with automated rotation and shutter, a Cloudwatcher and a SnapCap automated flat field device. My equipment is turned on and off using a Wifi switch powerboard. It is not controlled by the script. Mostly it is left powered on if I am imaging for several nights in a row. All equipment is connected to a UPS (except the Cloudwatcher). If Voyager does not receive data from the Cloudwatcher after a set period of time, it will assume a power failure and shut everything down.

The basic concept is to set the variables at the start based on how many sequences (sometimes I have multiple targets but mostly different filters per sequence) and also what flat frames you want to capture. Also set the altitude constraints for each sequence using RoboClip.

I save my target sequences with the same name (overwritten), so I don’t change this in the script.

The script waits until 10 minutes before dark and then starts. It will then wait until target 1 is above 30 degrees before opening the dome and doing the initial setup - focus, sync mount etc.

If all is ok it will go through each sequence in turn provided subsequent targets are above 30 degrees. If not, or if there is an error, it will retry in 15 minutes. If still unsuccessful (mostly due to cloud not detected by my Cloudwatcher) it will shutdown the dome and wait for 1 hour and try again rather than leave everything open. It will repeat this process all night, resuming from the sequence where it left off (based on a counter).

Once all sequences are completed it will close the dome, take the flat frames, wait until dawn and then restart the Dragscript ready for the next night.

If the Cloudwatcher triggers a suspend event or during the 1 hour wait period if it occurs, it will make use of the time to take flat frames and also in case it does not resume, I will still have flat frames for the images I have managed to obtain. The resume event will go back to the sequence from where it suspended based on a counter (sequence restarts from beginning).

During the next day, I will modify the panes to be captured or filters to be used in the sequence if I want to tailor what is captured.

There are a lot of email messages so I can see what happened during the session or intervene if needed.

Dragscripts are very powerful and customisable. Hopefully someone might get something out of mine or if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

Leigh.

Four Sequence Mosaic Script with Flats Example.chg.vos (829.8 KB)

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