Program history (improvements and changes)

Date

20240617

20240313

20240219

20230807

20221117

20220422

DeltaT can be entered manually !!!

20220419

minor corrections applied

20210817

Camera support for Canon EOS R6

20210809

Camera support for Canon EOS R5

20210522

Delta-T for 2024 adjusted. 

20190521

Minor bug corrected.

20190504

20181228

20180522

20171016

20170826

20170621

20170519

20170321

20170320

20170319

20170302

20170203

20161117

20150924

20150826

Bug fixed: After a shutter release the image quality was set to another value.

20150305

20150117

20150112

20121002

20121001

20120805

Program tested with Canon EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 5D Mark II.

20100814

Bug fixed (World map image size was not exact).
Program tested with Canon EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 5D Mark II.

20100620

Program tested with Canon EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 5D Mark II.

20090831

Bugfix in SETnC:

Program tested with Canon 450D.

20090506

20090131

20080917

Bug fixed: Only in Test mode, exposure times following the total phase were sometimes not recognized.

20080714

20080604

20080603

20080601

20080530

20080529

20080526

20080524

20080519

20080514

20080511

System requirements and software installation

PC:

Windows XP on request, Windows 7/8/10/11 (Windows Vista or Windows 8 should work, but are not yet tested);

1 USB port for the camera connection.

SETnC is downloaded as a "normal" Windows installation file. If you run the downloaded file, SETnC will be installed in the program files folder or in a user specified folder.

SETnC does NOT store any data in the Windows registry.

If you exit from the program, a file SETnC.prm is created in the users AppData\Roaming\SETnC directory. This file contains the solar eclipse number and the last coordinates of the observation site. These parameters are loaded into memory, if the program is restarted at a later time.

Startup

• Power the PC and start Windows.
  Do not start any unnecessary applications.

• Power the camera and connect it via USB cable to the PC.
  After a few seconds, a form (see below) will appear indicating the camera is recognized.
  Press or close the form.

• Start the program SETnC.
  It is recommended to have the powered camera connected with the PC before starting the program SETnC.

• SETnC consists of three forms, which are explained on the next three sheets.

Main form: Solar Eclipse Selection / User Coordinates / Solar Eclipse Timer

The main form is divided in three zones or "columns". The leftmost zone is the input zone for the Solar Eclipse selection and the input of the coordinates of the observation site. In the middle column the system time and the contact times  for the selected eclipse at the given observation site are shown. In addition to these local circumstances, the global begin and end of the penumbral eclipse (P1 and P4) are shown. Upcoming events are shown in green or greenish color; passed events are shown in red or reddish color.

• Solar Eclipse Selection
  All solar eclipses of the 21. Century are available in SETnC. An eclipse is selected with the scroll bar in the top left corner. Below the scroll bar the date of the eclipse is shown (Year, Month, Day), the general type of the eclipse and the time of global greatest eclipse on the center line.

• DeltaT: automatic or user defined
  Because it is not possible to predict DeltaT over several years with sufficient precision, a value can now be entered by the user. If the checkbox "my DeltaT (sec)" is checked, further computations are based on this value, otherwise the program's own formula for DeltaT is used.
  Note: Use always the same (automatic of manual) value for the exposure tables.

• Geographic. Coordinates of Observation Site
  Latitude and longitude of the observing site can be entered in two different notations:
  a) "Normal" decimal notation
  b) ":"-separated sexagesimal notation". In this user friendly notation the first colon separates the degrees(°) from the arc minutes('), and the second colon separates the arc minutes(') from the arc seconds(").

Examples (Values in same row are equivalent):

Camera Form

On the Main form there is a menu item "Camera". This brings you to the Camera Form. Any camera activities (tests, eclipse photography) are triggered from this form. Beside the Connect and Disconnect buttons, the Camera form contains three tabbed pages:

• Interactive Camera Tests

• Advanced Camera Tests

• Eclipse Photography

By default, the Interactive Camera Control page is shown.

If the camera is powered and connected to the PC, the button "Connect Camera" enables connection. The possible settings are read from the camera and filled in the combo boxes. After successful connection the form looks like ...

Note: The Camera must be and REMAIN in AE mode M ! The grayed and inactive AE mode field should remind you NOT to change the AE mode.

You can now take your first "remote" picture by pressing the release button. Changing any settings on the form are reflected on the camera screen. Changing any settings on the camera are reflected on the camera form.

Note: The pictures are saved in the memory card of the camera. SETnC does not transfer any pictures to the computer.

The next page on the Camera Form is called "Advanced Camera Tests". This page is not for you. I use this page for test purposes.

The third (and most important) page on the Camera Form is called "Eclipse Photography". Before you press the "Test Eclipse Photography" button or the "Start Eclipse Photography" button, an Exposure Table must be created. If you have not already done, go to the Main Form, select "Exposure Tables" and press the "Create Exposure Table" button.

Hint: Keep the Exposure Table open somewhere on the desktop.

When this button is pressed, the pictures are taken according to the Exposure Table, but the date and time are ignored. With this test you can quickly check, weather your memory card has enough storage capacity.
Note: The loop during the totality is only passed once!

If you didn't already create an exposure table, a message is shown in the right text box.

When this button is pressed, the eclipse photography starts. You can press this button at any time. In the middle text box the description of the next action will be written, the time difference to the action (yellow) and the date and time of the action (gray).

The following picture shows this Real Time behavior. The "Start Eclipse Photography" was pressed on June 20, 2010, some 21 days before the beginning of the partial eclipse in French Polynesia.

During the real solar eclipse you leave now the computer untouched !!!

But for test purposes, a "Rehearsal Time" can be advanced to the next Line in the Exposure Table. If the button "Advance  Time" is pressed exactly once, you can test the complete eclipse sequence of actions without waiting for the real eclipse to begin.
If all lines in the Exposure Table are processed (and all pictures are taken), the system resets automatically to Real Time mode.

The following pictures show what happens, when the "Advance Time" button is pressed:

• Date and time are advanced to 5 seconds before the next event, and counting.

• The "System Time" indicator in the middle column on the main form changes to "Rehearsal Time" and the background changes to red color. This is a warning indicator that the system is NOT in Real Time mode.

You can press the "Back to Real Time" button at any time of the tests.

Exposure Table

On the Main form there is a menu item "Exposure Table". This opens the Exposure Table on a new form. Depending on the eclipse type at the given Location, different bullet groups for the different phases of the eclipse are shown.

The Button "Create Exposure Table" can be pressed at any time. An Exposure Table is then created from the actual settings and bulleted items.

The form contains the following items (Please choose the total solar eclipse of 2017-08-21, and set the coordinates 42.0 S / 103.0 W on the main form, then press "Create Exposure Table"):

• Camera Defaults:
  If the camera connection is established, the available settings are filled in the combo boxes. Otherwise "reasonable" default values are preset.

• Part. phases: Take pictures every...
  During the partial phase(s) pictures can be taken in intervals of 1 to 9 minutes. The default value is 5 min. By default three pictures are taken (1/1000, 1/500 and 1/250 sec).

• Near C2,C3: Baily's beads: Take ...
  By default pictures from -6.0 to +6.0 sec around second and third contact are taken. The interval is 1.0 sec.

• During totality:
  During totality the program loops through the checked exposure times.

The exposure table has a grid structure similar to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. You can set or delete the cell contents. For example, if you do not want to take pictures at 1/250 sec during the partial phases, select the corresponding cells and press the delete key. For example, if you want to take pictures in RAW format during the totality, change the corresponding "image quality" cell accordingly (see below).

Note about the Image Quality settings:
Normally, users decide to take pictures in the same format for the whole eclipse. It is possible, to change the format in each line of the exposure table. (However, I recommend not to make use of this possibility.)
In this case, it is essential that the Image quality setting is entered exactly as shown in the ImgQual. dropdown list, when the camera is connected.

Example for a modified entry: The Image quality entry is set to RAW and every second "x" from the exposure times during the totality is deleted.

Note:

• Exposure Tables can be saved to and loaded from disk. When saving, the corresponding eclipse parameters (date of the eclipse and coordinates of the observing site) are saved to the file, too.

• If an Exposure Table is loaded from disk, the corresponding eclipse parameters (date of the eclipse and coordinates of the observing site) are loaded into the main form, too.

• If you press "Create Exposure Table", the complete Exposure Table is recreated from scratch and unsaved modifications are lost.

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Exposure Table for partial eclipses
 

The proposed exposure table for a partial eclipse is built as follows: At maximum eclipse (Mx) a picture is taken.

Before and after that moment, pictures are taken at equally spaced  time intervals, until  the begin (C1) or the end of the partial eclipse (C4) is reached, or the Sun is below the horizon. One picture on both sides will be taken.

The following graph shows a partial eclipse with its maximum at Mx. User selected the option "Take a picture every 5 min".

The eclipse begins at 67 min before Mx, therefore the first picture will be taken 70 min before Mx, which is immediately before the beginning of the eclipse.

Sunset occurs 32 min after Mx, therefore the last picture is taken at 35 min after Mx.

Operating philosophy

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Depending on the location of the eclipse observer, the following "visibility matrix" describes what can be seen. The eclipse of 2008-08-01 is taken as example. If this eclipse is chosen, user can enter the location.

Note: if the eclipse is annular at the observation site, it is treated by SETnC just like a partial eclipse, as there is no need to remove the solar filter. However, around the contact times C2 and C3 more pictures are taken.

Location

(0000 m.a.s.l.)

10.0N

20.0N

20.0N

30.0N

60.0N

50.0N

34.0N

34.0N

34.0N

45.0N

70.0N

68.4N

68.0N

NEW: Windows batch files execution

To achieve batch file execution at a given time, enter the word BAT in the first column of an inserted line and the batch file name in the second column. The third column shall contain the execution time.

The batch file to be executed must be located in the application data (AppData) folder.

(In my case this is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SETnC\MyBatch.bat)

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Actual state of the project

Not yet implemented:

• Multiple Canon DSLR cameras selection.

• Help File.

Note: I'm working with the Software developer kit EDSDK+v13.17.12 (Windows 7 and 10) and EDSDK+v3.4 (Windows XP) from Canon and with Canon 400D and 5D Mark II cameras.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Canon Inc., who provided the software developer kit EDSDK+v3.4 and EDSDK+v13.17.12. This is the communication software between the computer and the camera.

My thanks go to Priyatna Harun, who provided the smart Delphi component NiceGrid 2.20.

This is the Excel-like data grid holding the Exposure Table. ( http://www.priyatna.org ).

My thanks go to all the users who help me to improve the program.

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Trade marks and copyrights

Windows XP™, Windows Vista™, Windows 7™, Windows 8™, Windows 10™ , and Windows 11™ are trade marks of Microsoft Inc.
CompactFlash^® is a registered brand of CompactFlash Association.
Extreme^®III and Extreme^®Pro are registered brands of SanDisk Corporation.
 

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