Re: high speed photometry, long runs, and CCDSoft

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:24:46 -0400 · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Tom Krajci wrote:
> I have a problem when I take short exposures with CCDSoft.  I can only tell
> it to take 1000 images.  With a cycle time of 12-13 seconds...that means I
> need to restart the operation within about 3 - 4 hours.  Makes it tough to
> get a full night's sleep.
> 
> One person made a script for me where I can specify a large number of images
> in the iteration loop...but for some reason, it defaults to 1 minute
> exposures...nothing shorter...even though exposure time is not specified in
> the script (?!?)
> 
> How have other folks gotten around this problem with CCDSoft?

I dunno the answer to Tom's question.  However, 3-4 hours is enough to 
give a quite sensitive detection - assuming there's a signal to be had - 
for these high frequencies.  Thus, a reasonable observing strategy is to 
do the fast sampling say one night a week (and lose a little sleep that 
night), and spend the rest of the time with some more judicious choice 
that will let you sleep.

When the fast signals reappear, then it's different - then we need some 
long adjacent nights with fast sampling (and excellent timekeeping of 
course) to determine the new period, etc.  My quick analysis suggests 
they haven't reappeared yet.

joe