What is a good target value for sky flats with this camera? What I recall going for with the STL/STX was like 30,000 ADU.
AC4040BSI. Try about 15-30%. eg 4095 is saturation in 12-bit High gain mode, so you want to be maybe around 1000 to start.
Thanks Colin. So I'll set the ADU limit to 1000 and give it a 300 ADU target tolerance. What would you suggest for minimum exposure? I currently have it set to .1 second. This is being setup in ACP Scheduler via script for Dusk/Dawn flats.
I have no way to estimate it - too many variables with the largest scope, high QE, and unknown sky conditions. You could always try 0.01 and see what ACP typically shoots at. Keep in mind the shutter is electronic; the mechanical shutter is only for shooting darks; so the camera can do very short exposures.
OK, flats appear to be underway but how do you set gain via the flat plan? This is using ACO Scheduler to do Dusk/Dawn flats. It started as expected but was automatically set to HDR (default?) If I'm shooting via High Gain wouldn't the flats need to be High Gain as well? I guess I also need to know how to set gain for the Scheduler planned images as well. Is there a setting in MaxIm for default gain setting?
I think that's a question for @Bob Denny - the camera readout mode selected which gain mode (high,low,hdr,StackPro).
I've posted in ACP forum but was wondering because every time I open and connect in MaxIm it seems to default to HDR mode instead of last used mode which I would have expected.
So I was able to take sky flats the other evening and again, even with the camera connected and set at High Gain, when the flats started via ACP Scheduler, the setting immediately went to HDR and started taking test shots for sky brightness. When I stopped the run and set to High Gain it stayed at High Gain and took the Flats. And I was incorrect in the statement that every time I would restart MaxIm it would default to HDR, it actually was still at High Gain until it started to take the flats or for that matter any frames, it then went to HDR.
Anyone you know of using the AC4040 or I guess any SBIG CMOS cameras assuming they all have the same gain configurations in MaxIm? Any idea how to script this so it goes to a specific gain setting via a plan? If not that makes the ability to use it remotely in the setting the owner wants not so favorable.
ACP has a facility to set the Readout Mode. There's a file for defining the readout modes that you want (RoModeInfo.txt), and there are directives (commands) available for script/schedule to set the modes eg #romode or #readoutmode This has been around for a while, not just for the AC4040, but for cameras that have fast readout modes useful for pointing correction images or focusing, vs slow readout modes useful for highest quality images. Again, please contact @Bob Denny at DC3Dreams.
Colin I had hoped to do some further testing last night but had very sporadic connection to the system. Seems the solar events are having an affect on the communications/system as it was sporadic at best. I was able to shutdown the system and call it a night. And yes, I saw the reply on the ACP forum and have setup the file with all entries as High Gain so hopefully that will be resolved for now.
Maybe I miss understood the message. I set the ADU for the flats to 10,000 and the Dawn/morning flats failed. The order was L/R/G/B/Ha/O2/S3. I've attached the Scheduler Log file as well as both Dusk/Dawn plans. I have no idea what move to make next..... I've changed the max exposure to 60 seconds
Too high. ADU count has to be no more than saturation which is 3600 or so, when in High Gain Mode. Try around 1500 to 2500. It will never reach 10,000 in 12-bit mode, since that is 4095 max.
