Export plans/sequences to ASIair?

[markusd112]

Hi,

I am using ASIair for my astrophotography. Is ST4 able to create plans that I can import into ASIair?

Thanks,

Markus

[theskyhound]

Hello,

The ASIAir is a phone-based platform, which means it is difficult to work directly with SkyTools because SkyTools uses a different ecosystem; a desktop, laptop, or Windows tablet. What many people are doing instead is to to use a mini-computer running Windows to control their imaging system. We are working on supporting NINA directly on such devices because SkyTools can also be installed on the control computer. That is in testing right now.

It may be possible to accommodate the ASIAir in the future.

It would be relatively trivial for SkyTools to generate a csv file for Targets or for the Panes of a mosaic in the ASIAir software. It would be a bit of a bother to copy the file from the PC to the mobile device, but it would be doable. But those files only transfer targets and pane locations. While that could be useful, it doesn't connect to what SkyTools really does: to schedule your observations. What would be very useful is if SkyTools could generate a similar file that would import a schedule into the ASIAir.

It appears that the most recent version of the ASIAir software supports "planning" which appears to actually be a schedule. That is the good news. From what I could determine this schedule is stored in a JSON formatted database file. But there is no documentation that I could find for the format of this file, as it is intended to be used only internally, and it would be difficult for SkyTools to modify this file as it does not have direct access to it on the phone.

The ability to build a "plan" via importing a file apparently does not yet exist, as far as I can tell. In order for SkyTools to be useful in its primary role of scheduling your imaging, it would need to be able to communicate its schedule in some way. I suggest that you contact them and ask them to add the option to import a schedule from a file. If such a capability existed, it would be relatively simple for me to support it.

[markusd112]

Hello Greg,

ASIair supports importing plans, have a look here:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com...scopius/11

You have to simply copy/paste the plan as csv into the ASIair App GUI.

Maybe with this there is a simple way to "connect" ST4 with ASIair as well.

Thanks,

Markus

[theskyhound]

Hello,

I don't think so. I believe they are misusing the term "plan." What this is, I believe, is the ability to import positions for a mosaic. The purpose of SkyTools is to tell you when to image, e.g. get the OIII filter from 11 PM to midnight. That is a schedule. A plan just says to do 40x300s exposures, without a date or time attached. I believe this import of positions isn't even a plan...

If I am wrong, please point me to some documentation that says otherwise and I will be happy to look at it.

[mike@lockwood.us.com]

Hello,

I don't think so. I believe they are misusing the term "plan." What this is, I believe, is the ability to import positions for a mosaic. The purpose of SkyTools is to tell you when to image, e.g. get the OIII filter from 11 PM to midnight. That is a schedule. A plan just says to do 40x300s exposures, without a date or time attached. I believe this import of positions isn't even a plan...

If I am wrong, please point me to some documentation that says otherwise and I will be happy to look at it.

I recently purchased Sky Tools 4 primarily as a learning tool. I too use the ASI Air ( past 3 years ) and do not have a problem "building" a plan in the AIR software interface.
Having only begun using ST4, I apologize if I did not  thoroughly research this forum for a way to print out the schedule that ST4 creates for a particular target.
I plan to manually input that info into the AIR software. What filters to use, exposure time, quantity of subs, best time to image, etc. etc.

I purchased the software hoping that was/is the case - please tell me there is.

Thank you in advance

[theskyhound]

Hello,

Sometimes clever and simple designs have the side effect that they aren't obvious to new users. ;-). The SkyTools Schuduler has many different modes of operation, which determine what options there are, and more importantly, what output it generates. There isn't any switch to toggle these modes on the Scheduler. Instead, it looks at the properties of the selected imaging system to determine what mode to use. In particular, it looks at the Control System.

To answer your question, if you want to create a schedule that you can print to use to set up your AIR software, open your Imaging System, click on Control System, and select "Hand Controller / Manual Control." With that selected the Scheduler will generate a list that you can print out. It may be time to revisit the label for that selection. Maybe I can make it more clear. "Hand Controller" and "Manual" intuitively really describe what you wan to do.

[mike@lockwood.us.com]

Hello,

Sometimes clever and simple designs have the side effect that they aren't obvious to new users. ;-). The SkyTools Scheduler has many different modes of operation, which determine what options there are, and more importantly, what output it generates. There isn't any switch to toggle these modes on the Scheduler. Instead, it looks at the properties of the selected imaging system to determine what mode to use. In particular, it looks at the Control System.

To answer your question, if you want to create a schedule that you can print to use to set up your AIR software, open your Imaging System, click on Control System, and select "Hand Controller / Manual Control." With that selected the Scheduler will generate a list that you can print out. It may be time to revisit the label for that selection. Maybe I can make it more clear. "Hand Controller" and "Manual" intuitively really describe what you wan to do.

 thank you for the timely response. 

I will follow your instructions ...... I used the software recommendations on M16 last night and look forward to doing a deep dive into all the wonderful "bells & whistles" it offers.
I hand wrote the work flow with pen & paper and even jotted down some of the details on my hand ( palm pilot ) so I could look at my cheat notes while setting up the ASI Air in the backyard. 

Incredible work and effort you have put into the software...... 

Making it more clear for a "rookie" seventy one year old Astrophotographer is always helpful 

thank you again

[mike@lockwood.us.com]

Hello,

Sometimes clever and simple designs have the side effect that they aren't obvious to new users. ;-). The SkyTools Schuduler has many different modes of operation, which determine what options there are, and more importantly, what output it generates. There isn't any switch to toggle these modes on the Scheduler. Instead, it looks at the properties of the selected imaging system to determine what mode to use. In particular, it looks at the Control System.

To answer your question, if you want to create a schedule that you can print to use to set up your AIR software, open your Imaging System, click on Control System, and select "Hand Controller / Manual Control." With that selected the Scheduler will generate a list that you can print out. It may be time to revisit the label for that selection. Maybe I can make it more clear. "Hand Controller" and "Manual" intuitively really describe what you wan to do.

I " think " I followed your instructions verbatim - I was able to generate a list ( see png file attached ) with the workflow recommended for a given night in the Scheduler.
Trying to print the report to a printer or to a pdf ( see attached ) the entire list is not printed out. I tried portrait and landscape mode, same result 


Please advise - thank you again


  ST4 printout.pdf (Size: 174.6 KB / Downloads: 3)

   

[theskyhound]

Hello,

I can't explain what you're seeing. I can't explain why a schedule would skip entries when it was being printed out. It's got to be a bug. It looks like you've got everything else working. I'm looking into it now.

[theskyhound]

Hello,

Looking at your printed output, I can see that some lines have a little bit of text just past the end. What appears to be happening is that lines of text are being overwritten on top of other lines of text. So, there isn't a problem with logic writing to the printer. The problem seems to be between that and the printer itself.

This leads to a question: how are you generating this PDF file? What are you printing to?