Sunday, 05 December 2021
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There are a number of remote observatory companies in Spain apart from Roboscopes and overall we are very similar in how and what we do, one
small difference between us however is when humidity is very high we do
not close the roof. We still gather data rather than simply close the
roof. The man reason for this as UK astronomers is dew and humidity is
something we deal with 12 months a year and in the UK and if we closed
the roof for humidity we would never open the roof a single night in all
365 of them. So we firmly believe that some data is far better than no data. Others amongst you may disagree with this philosophy and that's the point of this post

This approach mind does come benefits and issues

Let’s start with issues
  • Not all subs are good[/*]
  • The user has more work to sorting through and removing below par subs[/*]
  • Overall the data is not as good as it is the rest of the year due to atmospherics[/*]
  • You get all the data warts and all so yes some manual labour is 100% required[/*]
Benefits
  • The roof is open so you get data you would never receive with a closed roof[/*]
For the staff at Roboscopes the wet seasons are far more intensive for
us work wise because we have to keep on top of High humidity, dew, high
haze, not to mention sub standard data where we simply have to just
resubmit it for the group as a whole.
Every data set get checked with blink and we monitor the weather very
closely this time of year because high haze has a tendency of slipping
past the IR based weather systems because it may only alter the sky
temperature but 1º above clear and for the most part we leave a 3º
differential so the roof is not bouncing open/closed all night like a
yoyo.

Roboscopes staff will always do our best to keep on top of things and
let you know when we have foibles etc however you must also take into
account remote diagnosis of issues takes time unlike popping out into
your backgarden/yard with mark1 eyeball.

So at present we are in a quandary, do we mirror all the other remote
observatory operators we know and close the roof when the humidity is
high or do we leave it open and keep collecting data ?

Obviously for us closing the roof is by far the easier option but in the
very beginning Roboscopes chose not to do this as in our opinion even
with the extra work involved for us and you the members, you can still
get some good data/images during the wet season.

I know some of you are long standing members and will remember last
season was very extending rain wise and the roof remained firmly shut
for long periods. This season seams to be high haze and humidity instead
so far.

However we feel the time has come to draw a line under it being our
decision to make alone and as the members we want your opinion.

So a vote from each member would be fantastic please

High humidity times

1 - Roof open and keep imaging despite it being extra work for all concerned etc etc?

Or

2 - Close the roof until the nudity and other atmospherics get to a lower level

Whichever option gets the most votes on each pier we will simply go with what you ask

Ray, Mike and other dual subscribers may we be so bold as to presume
that your vote would count on any pier you are a subscriber ?


Foot note:

I will say that this year has been the worst of 5 years I have been in
Spain, Pier 3 as well as some others we have never had to even turn the
due control on in previous years so its been a little bit of an eye
opener, Not to mention the complexities of getting extra items stuck in
Spanish customs in this wonderful post Brexit world we now live in  :(

Extra dew control was posted out weeks ago and fingers crossed it should land very soon.

However if we don’t get it right or we mess up then you have our
apologies but believe me it’s not for the want of hard work at our end
but we are only human as dedicated as we are :)

Steve and the team

Please ignore my dylexia wherever possible, just be thankful I can control my Tourettes ;)

Things to do, so little time!

Steve
Roboscopes Tea Boy


2 years ago
·
#4101
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For me to zip daily and send Syndicate jobs as they reach 100% is no issue.

Phil McCauley
Roboscopes Website Admin


2 years ago
·
#4102
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I am happy to test out supplying un-blinked raw data.

I agree with Florent. It would be great if we should see the data arriving in real-time, but if we can't (and I fully understand the reason why not), I don't see the added value of holding up the data for 3-5 days for checking, when we are going to check the data we use anyway. I am sure there are more valuable things the staff could be doing.

The only case I can see would be that an initial check showed that the data was so poor an immediate resubmission is required and would be handled without our intervention. But if the raw data was made available immediately capture was finished, one of us is just as likely to spot the problem.

old_eyes
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I'm still awaiting a response to my first post today. This laid out what I believe to be how things currently operate when any job runs over more than one night. What is described is backed up by observations. 

Waiting patiently, 

Ray 

Ray
Roboscopes Guinea Pig


2 years ago
·
#4104
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[size=100]The current process is:

[/size]
  1. [size=100]Data is input into the system by Pete.[/size][/*]
  2. [size=100]We wait until dataset shows 100% completion (This is a daily scheduled task that notifies us each day)[/size][/*]
  3. [size=100]When Pete is able he then checks the data with Blink (This could be the same day, or over a week depending how busy he is)[/size][/*]
  4. [size=100]Once Blinked if most of the data is below standard Pete will resubmit either part of, or the whole of a job. (Cases where job goes from 100% to 50% etc etc)[/size][/*]
  5. [size=100]Once Petes happy theres enough good frames he notifies me with a list and removes the datasets from the queue.[/size][/*]
  6. [size=100]I go through my list in systematic order (Pier 1-14) and zip each set up[/size][/*]
  7. [size=100]Once Zipped I transfer them to our NAS for backup purposes.[/size][/*]
  8. [size=100]I then FTP them upto the server into each individual folder.[/size][/*]
[size=100]Sometimes Pier 14 / Pier 6 sets get delayed due to the shear size of them so they usually get uploaded within a couple of days of me zipping them.[/size]

Phil McCauley
Roboscopes Website Admin


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Hi, 

Phil that's very much appreciated. Having now spoken to the boss the one remaining bit I couldn't understand has been clarified. 

To anyone interested, this is what will take place if we agree to the change. First a review of the current procedure. 

Data is normally only being checked by Peter when a job reaches 100 percent. There is an exception to this when it is suspected that the data may have been affected by an unforeseen change in the weather conditions, or a suspicion that there may have been an equipment malfunction. On these occasions the data, or more likely part of it, is checked and if found to be crap that data will be rejected. That really helps and will continue to be done. :) 

So the  change being voted on will be that as soon as each job completes the data will be made available to us. The benefit is that there won't be the current delay in delivery whilst waiting for the data to be checked, which at productive times can be quite lengthy given the number of Syndicate piers. On the down side this may occasionally result in us having to resubmit more data as a result of dropping the final check. 

Nothing you are currently able to see in the job list or how data will be delivered to you will change. 

That is what can be done. To get data back any quicker will require a major change in how we submit our jobs. This has been briefly discussed before with suggestions such as limiting the number of hours per individual submission. This quite frankly will never work as that is contrary to each members freedom to, within boundaries, do what they want. 

I'm happy to go with the majority vote on this, so put me down as a spoilt ballot paper. Something I've always wanted to do. :) 

Cheers, 

Ray 

Ray
Roboscopes Guinea Pig


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