File names in Autorun

Andyjh54

When taking multiple Flats or Darks for different filters etc using Autorun, I type in a name in the box in the top left corner of the screen for each sequence, but whatever I type does not seem to appear anywhere in the file name, and all the sequences end up in either the Flat or Dark folder with the prefix ‘Flat’ or ‘Dark’ etc - If I type for example ‘Darks IC434’ this does not seem to do anything, and this makes sorting out all the different sequences quite difficult.
I am new to the ASIair, so am I missing something?
many thanks for any explanations that may help.
Andy H

AstroDude42

Andyjh54 if i remember correctly, you can enable/disable filename related settings in the main camera settings (like camera model, gain, binning, exposure duration which end up in the filename or not). But the target itself does not appear in the filename of flats because you usually take flats for each night and each filter used during that imaging session. And you can reuse flats for several targets during that same night.
For darks you have two options which end up without the target in the filename as well:

you generate a generic dark library – this can be during the day where you put a cap onto the camera and take a specific amount of images for several combinations of exposure duration, binning and gain, that you mostly use during your imaging sessions. For example i have darks for exposures of 10, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 seconds at unity gain (value depends on the camera model) and for 1x and 2x binning. Each set contains 30 to 60 images. This makes a total of 14 different types of darks i can reuse over several months.
the other option is to create flat darks the same way you do flats, but only with a lens cap attached to block any light. Those images have the same exposure time as the corresponding flats.

Hth
Olli

Andyjh54

AstroDude42
Hi - Thank you very much for you reply, the Darks aren't so much an issue, it was just that I shot two targets one night using different filters, and then when I did the subsequent flats and dark flats they all ended up in the folder together - I figured that If I typed a name in the box that would somehow end up distinguishing the two sequences (with different filters) apart, however they all ended up lumped together in one folder and all had exactly the same name.
I will look in the main camera settings as you suggested, and thank you again for taking the time to give such a detailed explanation, very helpful.
Regards
Andy H

AstroDude42

Andyjh54 it’s perfectly fine, that the flats end up in one folder without relation to the target. I you were to shoot two targets with the same filter you would take flats only once for both targets. Saves you from taking one more round of flats. 🙂

Olli