itelescope/plans
Laurence ab184a7dcc Second free-session plan: NGC 6752 (Pavo globular)
plans/ngc6752.txt mirrors the 47 Tuc test recipe (L 4x120s, RGB 2x90s, Bin2,
~24 min all-in, inside the free daily 30 minutes) on NGC 6752 at RA 19.1811h
dec -59.9844: at RA ~19h it is well placed from mid-evening at Siding Spring
through the whole run window. Uploaded to T33's /plans/qisback/ and verified
byte-identical.

Scheduled for Sunday 2026-07-20 ~15:11 UK as an adaptive follow-up: if
Saturday's 47 Tuc first-light succeeded it images NGC 6752; if Saturday was
clouded out or the scope was contended, it retries the 47 Tuc test instead.
state/TODO.md records the dependency so whichever session fires can decide
from repo state alone.
2026-07-18 22:18:26 +01:00
..
ngc104-test.txt T33 first-light prep: 47 Tuc test plan and session runbook 2026-07-18 22:09:24 +01:00
ngc6752.txt Second free-session plan: NGC 6752 (Pavo globular) 2026-07-18 22:18:26 +01:00
README.md T33 first-light prep: 47 Tuc test plan and session runbook 2026-07-18 22:09:24 +01:00

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

  1. 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.
  2. Confirm the plan file is still in /plans/qisback/ (aindex.asp).
  3. POST plan.asp with the plan's Windows path to start acquisition.
  4. Poll aconsread.asp (console) every minute or two: slew, centering, filter changes, exposures. The run self-terminates via #shutdown.
  5. Images land in /images/qisback/ on the scope server and then on data.itelescope.net; logs in /logs/qisback/.
  6. 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).