Recent startup behavior (double autofocus?)

i will post logs in the morning, but i noticed that on 454 and the prior version that i’m seeing the following sequence of events while starting up:

  1. slew to target, switch to imaging filter
  2. autofocus (thru imaging filter)
  3. platesolve/center (switches to L before solve per settings)
  4. start guider
  5. switch to imaging filter
  6. pause guider, autofocus again
  7. start guider, begin imaging

seems like step 6 is redundant. maybe it is a setting that’s causing this (i do have refocus on filter change configured, but i’d think that doesn’t apply to the platesolve filter switch.)

thanks

rob

Rob,
One of the tick boxes in the Auto Focus Options is ‘Autofocus before sequence start (not on resume)’ - this option will turn the first autofocus run on or off. If your system is basically in focus at the start every time, then you can happily turn this off. However, it’s really useful to have this option available for set-ups that could be out of focus at the very start.
Here’s a screen shot of the screen that has that option:

Hope that helps.
Gav.

i’ve had that setting ticked forever; this behavior seems to be new. the system was not in focus prior to the first run (which if it was not clear, was initiated by SGP, not me.). obviously the system was in focus prior to the 2nd autofocus it decided to do.

for ken/jared, here is the logfile.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2BC3sk1Pg2574HvxPJxzaSkdhKLLDun/view?usp=sharing

To add to what Rob said, if the intent is to have the system in focus for the initial centering operation, why not autofocus on sequence start with the filter used for centering (typically L) instead of the first imaging filter, which could be a narrowband filter and require a lengthy focusing procedure?

This would then provide a robust starting point for the focusing run with the first imaging filter.

It’s not that it’s new, it’s that it was broken and is now fixed. In this case, it is doing exactly what is asked of it. Auto focusing before the sequence starts and then again after centering.

ok i guess i had interpreted the brokenness as intelligence - not doing the 2nd autofocus since one had just been performed minutes earlier thru the same filter.

This trigger was originally in place for rigs that require this workflow (and it was broken somewhere along the way)… really just rigs with mirrors. Auto focus to get camera ready for plate solving, run centering, auto focus again because if you breathe on a mirror you have to focus it again.

fair enough, it is true with the refractor that morning-to-night focus is close enough to center and platesolve even if the stars look like little discs. i’ll try turning it off and see how it goes tonight.