Hi  i would like to discuss about the opturnity to set  a time limit for a single project.  cheers

i do agree

Morning all Capping imaging lengths is between you all to sort between yourselves if I am honest as its your pier to direct as a team However if I may add my pennies worth to the mix, I do believe that using the sky better would also benefit the group. I know I have mentioned this before several times but feel its still worth mentioning once again for completeness 1, The system is based on moon avoidance algorithms and works best if you add objects across the whole 180º dome (minus horizon limits) as the moon over the course of a month rises in a different section/time 2, plan more in the future not just what's up now. put winter and spring jobs in now is a good thing as the system will know when to start imaging them as the rise and take advantage of them early in the season. 3, CMOS has higher sensitivity and lower noise than CCD so the amount if hours needed for a data set is less. in most cases 15-16-20-25 hour data sets are pointless except for all but the dimmest objects (special objects excluded from this statement) All of the above will improve productivity by a massive amount Roboscope's can only do so much, you are all aware of the moon avoidance parameters that we have set but you really need to take the moon into your planning much more in my opinion If you don't utilise the system fully, you will not get the amount of data sets that the system is capable of producing We will be entering our unsettled weather periods in the next 2 months so utilising the system to it's upmost is paramount in my opinion. It will also make our job easier to keep supplying you data sets through this period. PS this applies to P1,2,3,5 and 14 I hope this helps but if you need any more pointers please let me know Steve

Morning all 3, CMOS has higher sensitivity and lower noise than CCD so the amount if hours needed for a data set is less. in most cases 15-16-20-25 hour data sets are pointless except for all but the dimmest objects (special objects excluded from this statement) Steve

hi all  that exactly what i think , i think that the limit should be around 2, 3H per filter for a single target submission . In LRGN , in make 8 to 10H and in SHO 6 to 9h project with the scope being so wide open , i think that it is enough.  Dont forget that the signal to noise ratio in sqrt ratio , so to increase the S/N you have to dramaticly increase the number of single exposure pass a certain point.  With such low noise cmos , you can can get around 20 to 30 single exposure to have a good S/N .  after it is for very very dimm target and then you have to go further 300s exposure to be sure that you collect enought photon so they cannt be cut by the converter .  I think that we can submit single project of  less than 8h , and if needed , rechesdule another batch after checking  For the planning of many job  very in advance , i confess it hurt my sensibility     . Never wanted to overwhelming the scheduler by my self.  But i ve got a very photographic atlas i can explore , specialy with a long focal scope as my own rig is limiting to 600mm i will add some target , be sure.  Also , Steve , is it possible to have a daily indicator of the usage of the pier ?  Sometime is hard to know if we are wasting time or not 

Morning all 3, CMOS has higher sensitivity and lower noise than CCD so the amount if hours needed for a data set is less. in most cases 15-16-20-25 hour data sets are pointless except for all but the dimmest objects (special objects excluded from this statement) Steve

hi all  that exactly what i think , i think that the limit should be around 2, 3H per filter for a single target submission . In LRGN , in make 8 to 10H and in SHO 6 to 9h project with the scope being so wide open , i think that it is enough.  Dont forget that the signal to noise ratio in sqrt ratio , so to increase the S/N you have to dramaticly increase the number of single exposure pass a certain point.  With such low noise cmos , you can can get around 20 to 30 single exposure to have a good S/N .  after it is for very very dimm target and then you have to go further 300s exposure to be sure that you collect enought photon so they cannt be cut by the converter .  I think that we can submit single project of  less than 8h , and if needed , rechesdule another batch after checking  For the planning of many job  very in advance , i confess it hurt my sensibility     . Never wanted to overwhelming the scheduler by my self.  But i ve got a very photographic atlas i can explore , specialy with a long focal scope as my own rig is limiting to 600mm i will add some target , be sure.  Also , Steve , is it possible to have a daily indicator of the usage of the pier ?  Sometime is hard to know if we are wasting time or not 

Please feel free to discuss future plan and add objects between you all, it does not matter if it has lots of jobs spread out over many months it will do them I agree its CMOS, so shorter subs and more of them with less overall integration time is far far better, the pier  at present is being used like its fitted with a CCD based camera which is not good at all. You already have a daily indicator of sorts, the pier queue has a % of what's been done with the targets which is updated every day Finally, Trust me when I say the pier is being underutilised, no disrespect meant to anyone on the forum but I run 14 piers so I do know a thing or three about the algorithms we use  Our wet season starts late October normally, so you need to make hay while the sun shines now and get pier working at or close to 100% Honestly, anything I can do to help please let me know, I also want you to get the best out of the pier I assure you. Steve

thanks steve , i ve got my planetary nebula atlas on my knees  

Cool, cool interesting sections are larger emission nebs are also great fun and this pier will excel at that. California small section Soul Boks in the heart nebula Small section of M45 in high Resolution Remember, do not forget it now has a HB filter fitted which was a pain to acquire as Astrodon no longer make them, so please use it  and try some different interesting stuff Basically plan ahead, fill the pier for 3/4 months and most of all have fun as its a brilliant scope with 8 filters to choose from Steve