Auto start BYE an run a capture plan

[Roland.penton]

Is there a way to start BYE and auto run a capture plan using Windows task manage or a command line?

Thank you

 

[astroman133]

You could use a batch file to launch BYE, wait a few seconds and launch a custom program that would use the O'Telescope API to connect to the camera and execute a capture plan that you defined outside of BYE, like in a text file. So it is doable if you have some programming skills, but otherwise the answer is no.

[astroman133]

Of course, there is also the issue of getting an initial focus and adjusting focus during capture that you would need to solve.

[Roland.penton]

Thanks @astroman133 i was just reading a little about the API, which looks like it would accommodate my needs. Have you had any experience with it?

[astroman133]

Yes, but it has been a few years.

[Roland.penton]

@astroman133 i understand. would you happen to know how to execute a simple command?  For instance the takepicture command. is there suppose to be a file by that name?

the 

 

[astroman133]

I am a bit confused because the takepicture command does not have a filename argument.

When you run BYE interactively and you take a picture, the picture is stored wherever you have configured BYE to save it on your hard drive. That same logic is used in the API. This means that an application would send a takepicture command, then repeatedly call getispictureready until it returns true. Then call getpicturepath to get the full path to the downloaded image file.

I hope this helps.

[admin]

These is a sample application in the app download section with some api call examples.

[Roland.penton]

Thank you @admin @astroman133 , Forgive my lack of knowledge/ ignorance. i have read the document. What i am not getting / understanding is the actual command.

I am assuming i can run a command  from the command terminal an type a string like The take picture command  like in the attached screen shot.

Should i be prefacing the command with an executable name like this BinaryRivers.BackyardEOS.Start.Camera1.exe "takepicture duration:15 iso:1600"

 

Thank you.

 

[astroman133]

I believe that your understanding is incorrect.

takepicture is not a command that you can use to cause BYE to execute by passing it as a command-line parameter to the BYE program. To my knowledge BYE does not support the use of any command-line parameters to customize how it starts up.

The correct way to get BYE to take a picture is to use TCP sockets (a form of communication that occurs directly between two programs). In order for this to work, BYE must already have been launched and must be listening for another program to create a connection between the two programs. Then the client program can send request/command messages to the server (BYE) to cause it to either return the requested information or execute the requested command.

As Guylain said, a working example of a Windows Forms application written in the C# language is available for download from the O'Telescope Documentation and API download area. It requires Microsoft Visual Studio to be installed with a Windows Desktop workflow for Windows Forms to build and run. In the code for this example application are calls to several of the API command and status endpoints. Without Visual Studio installed you can only examine the code, but it may be difficult to understand because so much of the code supports the user interface interactions and it is really very little code that supports the interaction with BYE.

If my explanation does not make sense then it is likely that you don't currently have the programming skills to create such a program. However, if you are technical-minded and have lots of time you can teach yourself how to do it. You would need to learn how to install and use Visual Studio and Windows Forms, learn the C# programming language and .NET, and how to use TCP sockets from a .NET application. It is a daunting learning curve if you are starting out with no programming experience.

 

[Roland.penton]

Hi @astroman133. Yeah i may just have to blow this off.  Your explanation does make sense. just a lot of work to setup times snap shots of the sun...

 

[astroman133]

Shooting the sun, especially during an eclipse, IS a lot of work, even with a program that is purpose-built for shooting an eclipse such as Eclipse Orchestrator.

BYE was intended for long-duration deep sky imaging and so does not have some bells and whistles that would be helpful when shooting an eclipse.

Good luck with your journey.

[Roland.penton]

@astroman133 Thank you.  Working on getting the Analemma. i'll figure something out.