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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Central Virginia, USA
    Posts
    745

    Default Planner auto flat questions

    Now that the observatory is working well, I'm using ACP Planner in greater depth to make my plans. I ran into a couple of minor issues I'd like to ask about.

    1. I enabled flat plans in Preferences, but did not check "Specify file name." Now when I save my plan, I get a warning, "Saving this observing plan outside your ACP Plans folder will make it non-portable. Are you sure you want to do this?" (It's referring to the flat plan, but doesn't make that clear.) If I click Yes, the flat plan is saved in my ACP Plans folder along with the observing plan, but the full path to the flat plan is included in the observing plan, making it non-portable. If I check "Specify file name" in Preferences, I don't get that warning, but I do get a filename dialog, where I must manually enter a filename.

    I expected Planner to know it's saving my flat plan in the same folder as the observing plan -- not falsely warn me that it's not and, worse, add a full path to the flat plan in my observing plan. (I can't have a full path because I create my plans on a network drive, but copy and run them on the observatory PC's C drive.)

    Question: Why does Planner create this mess? There is no problem -- the flat plan is saved right alongside the observing plan. Why the warning and screwed-up my observing plan?

    2. Often my observing plan filename contains spaces, e.g., "Crescent nebula.txt." Planner adds "-flats" to the flat plan filename (with a hyphen). No problem, but I'm curious....

    Question: Will a flat plan name containing spaces in the observing plan poe any problems for ACP? I.e., will it find the flat plan? I assume so, since that's the last thing on the #duskflats directive, but I'd like to be sure before starting an actual plan under the stars.

    Thanks.

    --- Mike

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    33,158

    Default

    Are you running ACP Planner 4.2.6? I don't have any older versions here (I'd have to revert my dev tree and build from the repository). I just tested this and I can't repro your experience. With Specify file name OFF it just saves the flat plan with the same name as the observing plan, with -flats appended, in the same folder, and with no path in the #dawnflats directive.

    Flat Plan in ACP Planner


    If this persists, I will need to see it myself.

    Will a flat plan name containing spaces in the observing plan pose any problems for ACP?
    No.
    -- Bob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Central Virginia, USA
    Posts
    745

    Default

    Yes, my Planner is v4.2.6.

    Next week, when we upgrade our Internet service from satellite to 4G wireless with 10X the monthly data, I'll be able to handle a remote connection to my PC so you can see it.

    in the meantime, here are two screen shots.

    Crescent test.jpg is the warning dialog that appears when I save my plan in Planner. It appears before the dialog to enter comments into the actual observing plan.

    Crescent test plan entry.jpg is part of the observing plan opened in my text editor showing the full path and associated warning Planner added.

    The steps I followed in Planner were;

    1. Roll time forward in TheSky Plan Capture.
    2. Find the Crescent Nebula in SkyX.
    3. Click "Add target from FOVI" in TheSky Plan Capture.
    4. In Planner, edit target name, set filters and exposures, Click "Update" button.
    5. In Planner,File->Save As. Enter plan filename, click OK.
    6. Warning message appears. Click Yes.
    7. Add comments dialog appears in Planner.

    OK, I think I might know what's going on.... I run Planner on my office PC's C drive, but create and save plans to ACP\Plans on a shared drive on my Linux server, so they can later be copied to the observatory.

    Is this what's causing the problem? I sure hope there's a way around it, because I want to store all my plans on the shared drive. Do I need to save them to my C drive, then copy to the Linux server, then copy to the observatory PC?

    --- Mike
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    33,158

    Default

    AH I GOT IT! If you read the message, Planner is expecting to save your plan in your Plans folder. Create a folder on your office system My Documents\ACP Astronomy\Plans then save there. Then copy the two wherever. This is a failure of imagination on my part.
    -- Bob

 

 

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