Reply To: Duplicate Upload Error for two different observatories

Forums Photometry Duplicate Upload Error for two different observatories Reply To: Duplicate Upload Error for two different observatories

#617869
Andy Wilson
Keymaster

Hi Ian,

Yes, I manage the BAA Photometry Database. You can contact me here and also at my email address.

When I created the online database I did not foresee a single observer submitting observations of the same star in the same filter made at the same time from different locations or telescopes. The previous offline database had a problem with duplicated and even multiple sets of the same observations, so it seemed a good idea to prevent duplicates being added. I have heard of this doing the job correctly in the past but this is the first time for this scenario where it creates a problem.

I will need to give this a little bit of thought and remind myself of the precise details of the database and the code that performs the checks. The location and telescope were not historically populated for all data. They were designed as descriptive fields and are not built into the checks to prevent duplicates. It may be possible to make a tweak, so one or both of these are included in future checks but I need to spend a little time checking into this before implementing any changes.

There is a simple fix, which is to provide you with two observer codes and logins. The observer logins are tied to a single observer code, and the observer code is one of the key fields used by the duplicate check. This would not be as neat a solution, as it would split your observations into two observers. So it is probably worth giving this a few days as I may be able to easily make a change to the duplicate check.

Best wishes,
Andy