Laurence
08fef91b57
User decision 2026-07-18: use the full 2,638-point balance on southern imaging, then cancel the membership before the 12 Aug renewal (GBP 32). CAMPAIGN.md holds the plan: policy facts that force the order (points are non-refundable and unusable without an active subscription, per support article 142963), a three-phase allocation shaped by the moon (dark-night LRGB now and 3-10 Aug, narrowband through the bright 24 Jul - 2 Aug week), a per-session ledger to reconcile against account/history.aspx, the 10 Aug data-download-then-cancel endgame, and the rule that the cancellation POST itself is never submitted without explicit user confirmation on the day. plans/ngc6744-t59.txt is the first paid run (T59, L 15x300 Bin1 + RGB 7x300 Bin2, ~180 min imaging, ~240 pts), already uploaded to T59 and verified byte-identical. PROJECT.md and TODO.md updated to make the drain the active objective for any future session. |
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|---|---|---|
| .. | ||
| ngc104-test.txt | ||
| ngc6744-t59.txt | ||
| ngc6752.txt | ||
| README.md | ||
Observing plans and the T33 session runbook
ACP observing plans for iTelescope scopes, plus the procedure to run one on T33
(the free Siding Spring scope). Credentials are NOT in this repo: they live in
the local claudetemp itelescope folder (creds.txt, username=/password= lines).
Plan format (ACP)
See ngc104-test.txt. Directives, then a target line:
Name<TAB>RA_decimal_hours<TAB>Dec_decimal_degrees. Counts, intervals, binning
and filters are parallel comma-separated lists. #shutdown parks safely at the
end (iTelescope's own one-click plans do the same).
T33 endpoints (base http://t33.itelescope.net:8033, HTTP auth = iTelescope creds)
| Purpose | Path |
|---|---|
| Status JSON (times, obsStat, obsOwner) | /ac/SystemStatus/asystemstatus.asp |
| Console text | /ac/SystemStatus/aconsread.asp |
| Scope connect control | /ac/SystemStatus/ascopeconn.asp |
| Shutter/roof status | /ac/SystemStatus/ashutterctl.asp |
| My plan folder (list/upload/delete) | /plans/qisback/aindex.asp, aupload.asp, adelfile.asp |
| Run a plan ("Acquire Images") | POST /ac/Plans/plan.asp |
| My logs | /logs/qisback/aindex.asp |
| Finished data | data.itelescope.net |
Upload: multipart POST to /plans/qisback/aupload.asp, fields File1 (the file)
and DestPath=/plans/qisback. Verified working 2026-07-18; content round-trips
exactly.
Run: the web UI posts the plan select to /ac/Plans/plan.asp; the select's value
is the WINDOWS path C:\ProgramData\ACP\ACP Web Data\Doc Root\plans\qisback\<file>.
Field names seen: plan, optional VPhot, AutoLogoff. NOT yet exercised live
(observatory was closed, daytime); the first live session must confirm whether a
scope-connect POST (ascopeconn.asp) is required first, and capture the exact
response shape.
The 47 Tuc free-session test (ngc104-test.txt)
- Target: NGC 104 / 47 Tucanae, RA 0.4015 h, Dec -72.0814 deg (circumpolar at SSO).
- L 4x120 s, RGB 2x90 s each, Bin2: about 17 min exposure, about 24 min with overhead, inside the daily free 30 minutes.
- Uploaded to /plans/qisback/ on 2026-07-18 and verified.
When to run
47 Tuc clears T33's 20 degree minimum elevation in the second half of the SSO night. SSO local = UTC+10; the good window is roughly 14:00-19:30 UTC (UK afternoon/evening). Sunrise at SSO was 06:14 local (20:14 UTC) at recon time; stop well before dawn.
Procedure
- GET asystemstatus.asp: confirm observatory open (obsStat) and no other user (obsOwner n/a). If someone is on, wait and retry; T33 is first-come.
- Confirm the plan file is still in /plans/qisback/ (aindex.asp).
- POST plan.asp with the plan's Windows path to start acquisition.
- Poll aconsread.asp (console) every minute or two: slew, centering, filter changes, exposures. The run self-terminates via #shutdown.
- Images land in /images/qisback/ on the scope server and then on data.itelescope.net; logs in /logs/qisback/.
- Record the session outcome in state/NOTES.md.
Abort path if something looks wrong: the web UI exposes an abort on the console page; locate it live before starting exposures (not yet mapped).