BYN and slow SkyX T-Point image downloads

[vbagwell]

Howdy gang!

When using BYN with the 810a and The SkyX to run a T-Point model (or just take an image), the downloads are c-razy slow.  I'm taking an 8 or 10 second exposure in T-Point but the actual time to download is just shy of 6 minutes.  Once it downloads, the plate solve occurs within a few seconds and its slewing off to the next point in the model.  The pointing samples are added fine and I'm completing the model...just very slowly.

 I'm running BYN in a Win7 VM (Parallels 13) on a rMBP.  The camera is directly connected to the MacBook with a 15' USB3 cable and I have Renesys USB 3.0 drivers.  No disconnect issues but occasionally when starting BYN, I have issues connecting to the camera that always clear with a reboot of the VM.

I'm just curious if anyone else is running BYN with SkyX and the 810a - and if the download times I describe are normal.  I have a spare Samsung laptop running Win 7 that I could add SkyX and BYN to test separately to see if this is just a wonky feature of the VM and USB on the MacBook.  I may try a shorter cable, but I kinda need a longer cable that can swing with the refractor - although I might be able shorten things with a USB3 hub directly below the Paramount on the pier.

Thanks for your time!

-Vance

[admin]

6 minutes is not normal by any stretch.

If you take and image directly in BYN how long does it take to download?

[vbagwell]

Directly in BYN, it took between 5-6 seconds after the shutter closed till the image is downloaded (you hear the sound from BYN) and the image displays.  The shutter duration is set at 5 seconds and it nails it every time.

In SkyX, it took approx. 48 seconds after the shutter closed till the you hear the "de-de" sound from BYN signaling it downloaded.  An additional 155 seconds elapses (SkyX says "downloading") till the .fits image is shown in SkyX (after which it reports ready).  

Another oddity is I have both SkyX and BYN set to a 5 sec exposure, Bulb setting, but the time between shutter open and close varies each time I click "take photo" in SkyX - it can vary from 15 seconds to 30 seconds.

[astroman133]

The exposure settings (ISO and duration) in BYN are not relevant. TSX tells BYN what exposure settings to use. Then BYN should control the shutter open and close and the image download. The fact that you are seeing a 48 second delay between the end of the exposure and the download indicates that something is causing the VM to slow way down.

The BYN log file may be revealing. For example, if it logs what time the image is available and what time TSX takes the image. It should also log the time when TSX requested the image, as well as the times of the shutter open and shutter close.

The image provided by BYN is a JPG file. If TSX is converting the JPG to FITS, that may take some time, but I would not expect it to take more that a few seconds.

Since BYN works fine by itself, it does not seem likely that you have a USB issue.

If the VM is very busy or worried about running out of memory when both TSX and BYN are running then the system could become slower as Windows starts swapping the applications in and out of memory. Antivirus software could also cause the process to slow down if it is virus checking the image files as they are moving from the camera through the Mac to Windows to BYN, to TSX, and finally to TPoint.

[vbagwell]

The zipped BYN log files are too large to attach.  (Admin - can you increase the size limit on attachments for future use?)  Thanks astroman133.  Let me move SkyX and BYN over to the Samsung Win 7 laptop and retest indoors.  The rMBP Parallels Win 7 VM could be causing this behavior as you speculated so yeah, easy thing to bench test. ?

[astroman133]

I believe that the amount Guylain pays for web hosting this content increases according to the size of the site. He discourages uploading log files by attaching them to posts.

You should delete all the log files and create a new file that contains entries that were written when you had your issue with TSX and BYN. Then take just that file, zip it up, and send it to Guylain privately.

See this post for instructions. It is also pinned near the top of the How To's Forum.

 

[vbagwell]

Astroman133, thanks for the note about Guylain's how-to for submitting log files and reason behind the limitation.  I have reimaged the spare laptop with Win10, SkyX, and BYN.  Very different results when compared to the Win7 VM on the rMBP.  On the reimaged Win10 PC, the 5 sec. test exposure was on the mark using SkyX.  The total elapsed time from shutter open until SkyX completes the download (shows the .fits image) and reports "ready" was approx. 18 seconds.  Appreciate your time and assistance.