laurence/itelescope
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions
itelescope/CAMPAIGN.md
Laurence 9003d672ff Reservations created for all three sessions; mechanics documented 
The Reservations Pilot app at reservations.itelescope.net is now mapped and
driven end to end: three-step WebForms flow (form GET, Refresh Plans
postback with plan+times selected which enables Confirm, then Confirm),
observatory-local times, 4-hour maximum, plan attachment causing iTelescope
to auto-start the run at reservation start, and the reschedule flag that
rebooks weather losses on the next free night. Crucial gotcha recorded: the
confirm modal returns OK even when nothing was created (first attempt
silently failed on the 4-hour rule), so verification against the grid is
mandatory.

Live reservations: 749227 (T59, NGC 6744, 00:05-03:45 SSO local 20 Jul),
749228 (T33, 47 Tuc test, 00:05-00:50 same night), 749229 (T33, NGC 6752,
00:05-00:50 following night). Ledger corrected: T59 moon discount is 0%
until 21 Jul (the earlier 25% figure came from a Utah scope's grid), so the
NGC 6744 estimate returns to ~240 pts. Monitoring crons replace the old
starter crons since the scheduler now fires the plans itself.
2026-07-18 23:04:26 +01:00

4 KiB
Raw Blame History

Drain campaign: spend 2,638 points, then close the account

Decision (2026-07-18): use the full points balance on southern imaging, then cancel the membership. Constraints and policy facts that shape the plan:

  • Balance 2,638 points; Plan-40 renews 12 Aug 2026 (GBP 32). Cancel BEFORE renewal.
  • Points cannot be refunded, and cannot be used without an active subscription (support article 142963). So: drain first, cancel last, in that order.
  • Cancellation target: 10 Aug 2026, two days before renewal. Cancellation is submitted via MyAccount/Cancel.aspx and requires explicit user confirmation on the day; Claude must not submit it unprompted.
  • Rates: see the rate card in state/NOTES.md. Billing is per minute of imaging time.
  • Moon: bright nights roughly 24 Jul - 2 Aug (full ~29 Jul); dark again 5-12 Aug. Full-moon week includes free access promotions; paid draining focuses on dark and grey nights, narrowband carries the bright week.
  • Scope availability is volatile (much of Chile offline as of 18 Jul); re-check the status line on go.itelescope.net before every session and substitute freely.

Session ledger

Update after every run: date, scope, target, imaging minutes, points charged (from account/history.aspx), cumulative spend.

Date Scope Target Plan file Imaging Est. pts Actual pts Notes
2026-07-19 T33 47 Tuc ngc104-test.txt 17 min 0 (free) first-light test; reservation 749228, 00:05-00:50 SSO local 20 Jul, auto-runs
2026-07-19 T59 NGC 6744 ngc6744-t59.txt 180 min ~240 (0% moon disc. until 21 Jul) first paid run; reservation 749227, 00:05-03:45 SSO local 20 Jul, auto-runs, reschedule flag on; astrosharp holds 03:50-04:40
2026-07-20 T33 NGC 6752 ngc6752.txt 17 min 0 (free) reservation 749229, 00:05-00:50 SSO local 21 Jul, auto-runs

Planned allocation (~2,600 points, adapt as scopes/weather allow)

Phase 1, dark nights now - 23 Jul (~1,030 pts):

  • T59 NGC 6744 LRGB, 3 h, ~240 (scheduled 19 Jul)
  • T32 Centaurus A LRGB, 2 h, ~292: early UK-afternoon window while it is high
  • T8 Corona Australis dust complex LRGB, 2 h, ~260
  • T70 (Chile) Scorpius tail / Prawn super-wide LRGB, 2 h, ~238

Phase 2, bright nights 24 Jul - 2 Aug (~440 pts, narrowband only):

  • T59 NGC 6188 in Ha/OIII/SII 5nm, 3 h total, ~240
  • T8 Ha on the Cat's Paw / War and Peace field, 1.5 h, ~195
  • Plus any full-moon free promotions for clusters (cost 0, not part of the drain)

Phase 3, dark nights 3 - 10 Aug (~1,130 pts):

  • T8 SMC + 47 Tucanae in one frame, 3 h LRGB, ~390: the signature shot, SMC well placed in the second half of the SSO night by August
  • T8 or T59 Large Magellanic Cloud attempt if it clears the elevation limits late in the window; otherwise Tarantula on T32, 2 h, ~292
  • Remainder (~450): best-of list: repeat the strongest target for more depth, or Chile scopes (T71 106/hr, T73 224/hr) if they return from maintenance: Tarantula and NGC 1313 preferred. Aim to land the balance under ~50 points.

10 Aug: verify balance is near zero, download ALL data from data.itelescope.net, then (with explicit user confirmation) cancel via MyAccount/Cancel.aspx.

Operational notes

  • Sessions are now RESERVED, not walk-in: upload the plan to the scope, then book it at reservations.itelescope.net with the plan attached (procedure in plans/README.md); iTelescope auto-starts the plan at reservation start and the reschedule flag retries weather losses. Claude sessions monitor rather than drive. T59 moon discount correction: 0% until 21 Jul, 25% from 22 Jul.
  • Cron jobs live only in an open Claude session; if a day's session has no live session to fire it, the user prompts "run today's drain session" and any session picks it up from this file plus state/TODO.md.
  • Bad-data protection: iTelescope refunds points for weather-ruined runs on request; check each session's images before marking the ledger final.
  • Final data sweep before cancellation: everything on data.itelescope.net AND the per-scope /images/qisback/ folders.