It is very important to get the best possible focus with a fiber-fed instrument like Hydra. A modest error will cause a large fraction of light to miss the fiber. Hydra has the tools necessary to help the observer get a good focus, but the unwary observer can easily fool him/herself into thinking the image is well focussed when it is in fact poor.

Hydra has a camera on the gripper which shows the observer a simultaneous view of the tip of the fiber and the image of the target object. This makes it easy to determine if Hydra is positioning well and is properly focussed, right?

Wrong! Let's see how this camera works. Click here [17] to bring up a drawing of how the image is generated. The gripper camera sees the fibers by means of a "periscope", shown in this drawing. The hydra fibers come in from the side of the field, enclosed in a piece of hypodermic tubing to avoid breakage. A small prism is cemented onto the tip of each fiber. In turn each of these prisms are cemented to magnetic buttons. Hydra moves the buttons with a "gripper" which picks them up and places them at the appropriate locations on a flat steel plate. The plate is then warped into a curve which moves the tips of the fibers to the focal surface.

The periscope permits the gripper's TV camera to see both the target and the fiber simultaneously by means of a pellicle mirror. Light from the target hits the pellicle and is reflected directly onto the camera. The fiber buttons are illuminated from above with LEDs on the base of the gripper. The intensity of these LEDs can be controlled using the Hydra GUI. This light reflects off the back of the pellicle, into a collimating lens and then to a retroreflector, which passes back through the lens, through the pellicle and focusses on the TV camera.

If the light is parallel when it goes into the retroreflector and the distances are the same from the pellicle to the camera and telescope focal surface, the relative positions of the images of the target star and the fiber tip will remain unchanged wherever the images are within the camera field. Thus the observer sees star and fiber and can theoretically bring them into focus and see when light from the object is indeed going straight into the fiber.

This is what one thinks he is seeing but appearances can be deceiving. The gripper camera focusses on a plane, which is that of the unwarped plate. Warping the plate varies the position of the focal surface by up to 3mm over the field. This will increase the diameter of a star's image on the focal surface when the plate is warped by as much as the diameter of the large fibers, but someone looking at the view in the gripper camera will not see any change in the image of the target. The image of the fibers will go slight out of focus.. Additionally, as the plate warps, it pulls the fibers slightly off position. This is compensated in the positioning model which results in situations in which a fiber is well positioned, but appears to be off center or out of focus in the gripper camera.

If the telecsope focus is adjusted to make the image of a target the sharpest in the gripper camera, the telescope will be focussed on the plane of the unwarped plate. It will thus be out of focus everywhere in the field save at the very edge. The image of a fiber as seen through the periscope will only appear to be in perfect focus at the edge of the field.

Thus, though the gripper camera is very useful, it is NOT a reliable gauge of telescope focus. Telescope focus can only be judged with the FOPS fibers. These are bundles of seven fibers 100µ diameter placed on buttons and connected directly to a television camera. They are therefore in the same plane as the object fibers. One focusses by centering on one or more of the FOPS and adjusting the focus to get as much light as possible into the central fiber and minimizing the light in the peripheral fibers.

In summary, the rule is use the Gripper camera to see what is happening and to recover a lost fiber, but check focusing and positioning with the FOPS. Additionally, BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the plate is in the warped position when focussing with the FOPS. If for some reason you absolutely must focus using the camera on the gripper, do so as near to the edge of the field as possible.

 

5 June 2000
T.Ingerson

There is a television camera in the telescope chimney which allows you to see the position of the comparison lamp mirrors, the corrector and everything else in the cage. It is good practice to turn it on before using Hydra to check and see if everything appears to be in the right place. In particular, the TV camera allows you to verify that the corrector has been deployed.

This camera is turned on from the TCS operator's console by going into the "command mode" and issuing the cryptic command:

local cfadc outlet1 move on

Be sure and turn it (and its associated light) off when you are finished! Use the command:

local cfadc outlet1 move off

David James (Hydra scientist): x358

Rolando (Rolo) Cantarutti (computer software engineer): x373

Andres Montane (mechanical engineer): x309

Mountain support:

Observer Support x400 (Mauricio Rojas)

Observer Support x422 (Hernan Tirado)

Electronicos x417 (Humberto Orrego, Javier Rojas, David Rojas, Enrique Schmidt)

For setup questions prior to your run, contact Hydra scientist David James. Once on the mountain, contact Observer Support for help. ObsSup is on call from about 11am-midnight. Call them if you need to change a tilt, a filter, open the dome, etc. The telescope responsibility is handed off from ObsSup to the night assistant around sunset. If you need to do calibrations right at sunset (and you do!), you must communicate this to ObsSup in the afternoon, otherwise they may all be at dinner just at the time

LINK to hydrapro.tar file not found in the server

The best way to prepare for Hydra is to become familiar with the Hydra assignment program at home, and to come to Tololo a day in advance to see Hydra being used by the previous users.

Unlike most other instruments, Hydra requires that you come to the telescope with extremely accurate positions and a well planned program. We provide you with a simulator ("hydrasim") to do the assignments by hand or a Fortran program ("hydraassign") for a brain-dead way of doing the assignments.

See hydra software [18] for both of these programs.

While "hydraassign" works well, you may want to check the assignments with "hydrasim" and maybe tweak up the final assignment.

You need to have sky positions if you want to do sky subtraction. You can add sky positions by hand using the "hydrasim" program. In addition, I have a Fortran program that will make circles of sky positions at selected radii. Contact me (Nick) if you want the program. Knut has an IDL program that also does this. You can get it as part of a tar file of other programs from http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~olsen/IDL/hydrapro.tar [19].

The hardest part of the preparation is the measurement of astrometric positions. If your data come from Mosaic II [20], then you probably already have derived good positions for your targets. Just make sure that you've checked the accuracy of the astrometry in the header against the USNO-A2, USNO-B, or other catalog. The IRAF MSCRED package has tools to do this. If your images have no astrometry in them, then you'll have to make it from scratch. The IRAF IMCOORDS package will get you started. Frank Valdes also has a web page with nice instructions [21], which were written with Mosaic data in mind, but which are helpful for other kinds of data.

The format of the coordinate files that are input into the Hydra programs are Fortran fixed format. You must follow the formats exactly (in terms of column number) and *do not* go beyond the columns noted. Don't be creative here. Some common gotcha's during assignment:

1. Do not go beyond col=53. The space beyond this column will be used by the assignment programs to store the STATUS information. Any information written beyond col=53 will be misinterpreted by programs downstream. See the hydraassign page listed above for the *exact* format to use. Please also note that hydraassign is a Fortran program and has a maximum number of lines of data input. Presently it is 10000, which means that only 10,000 stars can be input into the program. If you exceed this, the remaining list will not be output to the *.hydra file.
    
2. Do not use the same star number twice. This is very important. The GUI assigns the colored dots as a function of object number. If you have FOPS and object with the same number, the FOPS GUI dot will not appear.
   Do not have two entries in the table with exactly the same position. I have evidence that if you, say, have two sky positions with different object numbers but the same RA and dec, this will confuse the hydra program but not the hydrasim program. The hydra program will tell you that it can't perform the transformation, but will give you no other information as to what the heck is the matter. Believe me. Do not assign different numbers to the same objects. (Why would you do this? Maybe you want the FOPS stars to also be objects, so you just copy some of the objects to FOPS).
    
3. Do not use the number 0 or negative integers.
    
4. For assignments using "hydrasim", enter the RA of the object as the "SIDEREAL TIME" parameter unless you really know what ST you will be observing at. Leaving ST=0 will cause strange things if the RA is 12hrs in the simulator.
    
5. There are 4 parts to your coordinate file (which I call a *.coo file): the field center (which may be an object of interest or a FOPS), your objects, the FOPS stars, and skies. These are denoted as "C", "F", "O", and "S".
    
6. The FOPS stars should be between 10 and 15th magnitude. However, there should not be much more than 1 mag difference between the assigned FOPS otherwise you will not see the faint FOPS along with the bright FOPS. Also note that ideally you want to have fairly bright FOPS in preference to faint ones. In case of bad conditions (seeing, thin cloud, etc.) faint FOPS may not work. Play it safe and choose 10-13 mag. FOPS if they are available.
   There is a problem with the FOPS display. The FOPS display should show 12 boxes for the 12 FOPS signals. For some reason, our tv clips off the right hand boxes (FOPS 3,7,11. FOPS 0 is the S one, and the numbers go ccw). While you can guide with these FOPS, you can't really see them. I would strongly recommend you use the other FOPS which we can see.
    
7. In the hydra and "hydraassign" program, there is a subtle difference between "move" and "assign". Move moves the active fiber to EXACTLY the xy position of the cursor, while "assign" moves the fiber to the object position you click on. If you are in doubt of what the fiber is pointing to, just look at the "Field Display Tool" (this pops up when you select SETUP on the toolbar) which tells you the name of the fiber and the object it is pointing to.
    
8. Similarly, there can be confusion in the "drag and drop" method of assigning. To active a fiber, just left-click on it. Now keep the left button down and drag the cursor to the object. While you are dragging, the cursor changes to a "circle with a dot in it." If you release the left button on the graphic symbol of the object, the fiber is assigned to the object position. However, if you drop it far enough away from the object, the fiber is assigned to a "RANDOM SKY" position. So make sure your fiber is assigned to an object and not sky. Again, by clicking on the fiber you can see the assignment in the "Field Display Tool". Or if you look real closely at the GUI under zoom, you can see the fiber is not quite on top of the object.
   You can also assign fibers by:
   1. left click on the fiber
   2. right click to get menu. Chose "Assign (move to fiber)"
   3. move the cursor to the object.
   4. left click over the object.
       
9.  GSC coords are not good enough for Hydra. They may be good enough for space data, but for the more wide-field applications like Hydra, the errors in rotation and distortion are too large for accurate astrometric positions. You should tie your system to the USNO-2.0 catalog (or the latest version). This catalog by Dave Monet is tied to the TYCHO and USNO ACT astrometric systems. Your astrometric grid should be based on this, or an equivalent (FK5 for instance) system. A convenient access to the USNO-2.0 that I use is VizieR [22].
   The USNO-2.0 is pretty complete to O=21 and E=20, so for many stellar projects, all your stars are in the USNO-2.0.
    
10. The fibers are 2.0 arcseconds, so you need coords good to 0.3 arcseconds. The measured rms error of the fiber positions is about 0.3 arcseconds.
     
11. Here is what I do to quickly assign fibers if I am not using the "hydraassign" program:
    1. Make a *.coo file with field center, fops, objects, and skies.
    2. Load the file into hydra using the "Setup" button on the toolbar and select the "Setup Field" tool
    3. Enter your *.coo file.
    4. Once it is loaded, enter a reasonable value for "How long to you plan to observe?" and "Anticipated sidereal time at midpoint" in the "Field configuration tool". This is important.
    5. Drag and drop the objects. This has been described as the world's slowest video game. Note that all fibers that are not active are marked by a black dot in the GUI. The color of the dot can only be seen at higher zoom.
    6. Assign at least 3 FOPS and ~8 skies. They should be spread evenly around the field you are actively observing. The more sky fibers you have, the better the sky subtraction. Knut recommends 20.
    7. Save the field. This gets written to the fields directory and whatever other directory you want.
    8. If you want to clear the screen of the fiber assignments, use: File: Run Script: configparkall. See the following web page for the description of the script commands [23].
        
12. The guts of the assignment is controlled by the "concentricities" file. This is defined in the ".fiborg" source file as $ECCENFILE in the $FIBINITS directory. This file tells Hydra what fibers are active, which are locked, which are FOPS, etc. From time to time we change this file if fibers become bad or get fixed. Presently we are using the file called "concentricitieslarge" which activates only the large fibers. Go the "Overview" page if you want the latest concentricities file.
     
13. Note that on the engineering night prior to each run, we update the rotation of the Hydra field. Occasionally, this means that some of your fields may not be able to configure all of the fibers. Also, bear in mind that if you are observing at a sidereal time very different from the one at which the assignment was made, the differences in atmospheric refraction may prevent you from configuring all of the fibers.
     
14. Summary of preparation.
    1. Download the "hydrasim" program and become familiar with using the Hydra interface. Make sure you are using the correct concentricities file.
    2. Measure astrometric coordinates for your objects and place them in the appropriate format for input into the Hydra program. Verify that "hydrasim" can read this object file.
    3. Make some assignment files.

You are now at the 4m observing room. Although the first two computers listed below are the ones that actually control the instrument, they should be hidden from you. We access them through virtual "VNC" windows (see "Starting VNC"), which we can run from any computer, although you are likely to run them from either ctiozm, ctioa7, or both. The benefit of doing things this way is that it allows us to see what you are doing from La Serena, and could even be used to allow collaborators to check up on you from their home institutions--please talk to us first if you would like to do this, however.

• ctioa6: A Linux PC running the Hydra software and VNC server. Your assignment files will need to be copied to this computer. Log in through ssh as "hydra", and put your assignment files in a subdirectory of "/home/hydra/fields".
• ctioa1: Sparc10/Hypersparc, SunOS 4.1.4, 128 Mb RAM, CTIO 4.0m A Sun OS workstation running the ARCON CCD controller VNC server. Your images will be stored on this computer. You can access the disks by automounting /ua1?.
• ctiozm: Dual 2.8GHz Intel, Linux, 2 Gb RAM, CTIO 4.0m. We use this computer to run the Hydra VNC windows and is your best choice for on-the-fly data reduction. Login with the "hydra" username, and try not change any of the setup files such as .cshrc, .login, README, etc.
• ctioa7: Ultra2/Dual 200Mhz, Solaris 5.5.1, 512 Mb RAM, CTIO 4.0m A Sun Solaris workstation for data reduction. Can also be used to run any of Hydra's VNC windows.

Generally one person will be the observer and operate the VNC windows. The other person will be doing assignments, bookkeeping, and totally useless web surfing (when the observer is not looking).

All the computers are auto-mounted and can see common disks. Thus, if the ctiozm or ctioa7 user has made an assignment file on the ctioa7 disk, this can be copied directly to a local disk on ctioa6. The only weirdness is that the ctioa6 disks cannot be seen by other users via automount. They can be accessed by scp, though. ctioa6 can see the disks of ctioa1, ctiozm, and ctioa7.

Logging into the computers:

The computers should be set up for you. If not, here is what you do. Log into ctiozm, username "hydra". Then type "startx" to bring up the window manager.

==> After clicking on the Hydra GUI button located along the bottom panel on ctiozm, which brings up the VNC window, type "hydractio" in one of the black NTERM windows. There is no need to source it into background (with the "&"). The Hydra GUI will come up. It will ask you if you want to reload the previous coords. Unless you left the Hydra program with the fibers at a configuration position and want to continue to use this setup, answer this "NO." You will now be told to type "coldstart" in the white Hydra control window. Hydra is now ready for use.

TO LEAVE the program:

Under file, use QUIT.

1. Do you really want to exit the application? YES
2. Do you want to move the fibers to the transport position? NO (note, though, if you have used a different concentricity file, you really need to stow the fibers first -in this case, answer YES.)
3. Do you want to turn off the drives? At this time, TURN OFF the drives. At present, we have found that the motors can burn out if left on, so the drives must be turned off.

==> Bring up the Arcon VNC window on ctiozm:

If it's not already running, right-click to bring up the menu and click on "(Re)Start Arcon". At this point it takes about 60sec for a dizzyingly large number of designer colored windows with mini-fonts to open. You will be asked a single question half-way through the process "Do you want to synchronize the parameters?" In the 6 years I have been using ARCON, I have always said "yes." I have no idea what happens if you say "no," but it probably involves pain and shouting. I think the question is there to see if you are awake.

I HATE the default fonts for the IRAF window. I edit the following line into IRAF section of the .openwin-menu:

"IRAF"     DEFAULT	exec	/local/combin/xgterm
		-title	"IRAF"	\
		-geometry	80x40	\
		-bg	mistyrose\
		-fg	blac	\
		-sl	600\
		-cr	darkred\
		+sb  \
		-fn	10x20\
		-e	cl

/local/combin/xgterm

==> You will probably want to run the Hydra simulator on ctiozm or ctioa7. If the latest version is not already installed, the user should immediately install the "hydrasim" software using the instructions at the hydra software page [24]

Load your coord and assignment files in some subdirectory in ctiozm or ctioa7 - I use "fields." Try entering one of your files into the simulator software to make sure everything is working.

THE CCD:

 

		slit 141
	|	---------------------------------------	|
	|		|
red	|		|	blue
	|		|
	|		|
	|	---------------------------------------	|
		slit 0

ccdinfo:
cl> ccdinfo

(gain =	1)	Gain setting
(xsum =	1)	pixels summed in spatial direction
(ysum =	1)	lines summed in spectral direction
(xstart =	1)	Start of ROI in X (in unbinned pixels)
(ystart =	1)	Start of ROI in Y (in unbinned pixels)
(xsize =	2048)	Size of ROI in X (in unbinned pixels)
(ysize =	4096)	Size of ROI in Y (in unbinned pixels)
(extend =	"separate")	Method of extending ROI to include overscan
(noverscan =	64)	Number of overscan pixels (binned)
(xskip1 =	10)	X pixels to skip at start of overscan (binned)
(xskip2 =	0)	X pixels to skip at end of overscan (binned)
(xtrim1 =	0)	pixels to trim at start of data
(xtrim2 =	0)	X pixels to trim at end of data
(ytrim1 =	0)	Y pixels to trim at start of data
(ytrim2 =	0)	Y pixels to trim at end of data
(preflash =	0.)	Preflash time (seconds)
(pixsize =	15.)	Pixel size in microns
(nxpixels =	2048)	Detector size in X
(nypixels =	4096)	Detector size in Y
(detname =	"SITe4096")	Detector identification
(mode =	"ql")

 

				*** Table of gain values*** SITe 2Kx4K + Arcon3.7
					Hydra Bench Spectrograph
	I n d e x	D w e l l	D e l a y	-----------------------------------------------
				1/Gain  (e-/ADU)	Read Noise (e-)	Full Well (e-)	Spurious Charge (e-)	Read Times
								2x1 (s)	1x1 (s)	2x2 (s)
	-	----	-	------------------------------------------------
1:	1	3000	3	2.36	5.2	60000	5.0	101	85	61
2:	2	8400	3	0.84	3.0	15000?	0.25	150	133	85

Spurious Charge is signal per pixel generated by clocking
the CCD. Read Noise is quoted for overscan pixels. In the image:

Noise floor = sqrt{ Read_Noise^2 + xbin * ybin *
              (Spurious_Charge + Dark_Current * Exposure_Time) }

Dark current = 0.7 e-/hr (per unbinned pixel) in Jun, 2001,
               at CCD_TEMP= 150K (pumped N2, heater off)

For gain 2, bin 2x2, total noise in 1800 sec dark = 3.5 e-

Read times are quoted for binning (spatial x spectral).
When binning 2x2 the ADC saturates before full well is reached.

NB: A peculiarity of this CCD is that full well is highly
    variable from pixel to pixel causing vertical trails to
    to appear at high signal levels. The full well figures are
    very preliminary estimates for the worst pixels.

*** Select gain setting from the first column

*** The current gain setting is 1

 

During the night, at every slew position and every configuration: (these are typical numbers) echelle: etalon, 180s; quartz, 120s rc mode: penray 10s, quartz 10s for KPGL3

Note that "penray" is actually a rack of a number of lamps, including neon, helium, argon, and xenon. It is supposed to emulate a more traditional (but much dimmer) he-ne-ar lamp. The line ratios are very different from those in the old lamps. The henear lamp is available but is dim and not very dense in lines.

During the day: (do all these with the fibers at the large circle position:
select "File->Run Script->largecircle (or configlargecircle)->Open" from the
menu bar in the Hydra GUI, or type "execfile largecircle" in the command window)

25 biases
echelle:
3 daytime skies @ 45s + etalon (with dome closed!)
3 th-ar, 600s
3 penray,henear, 300s
darks (I ususally leave darks running at the end of the night when I
go to bed)

rc mode:
10 dome flats (make sure that you tell ObsSup that you want the color
balance filters removed to do these. We have some blue color
balance filters on the flat-field lights on the ring of the telescope
for direct CCD work. These must be removed)
3 penray, 1s
3 twilight skies (right after sunset)

During the run once:
milky flats

The ObsSup will be more than happy at the chance to install the milky flat diffusing screen in the spectrograph. To do the milky flats, you have to bring in the fibers to the large cicle. Do this by selecting the "largecircle" script from the File->Run Scripts menu. Do the milk flats.

You may want to take some short exposures of the milks to get data for the mask image. The division of the short milk and the long milk is a good way of revealing the traps and bad pixels.

I STRONGLY suggest you worry about the dark frames. You should verify that the dark count is low. The CCD should have only a few e-/hr/pixel behind a dark slide. The spectrograph is wide open, and although we try as hard as possible to keep stray light out, sometimes doors aren't closed and light gets in. The dark count should be no more than 10e-/pix/hour. The Mosaic CCD chip should have less than 3e- read noise, so any dark more than ~10e-/pixel in your exposure is going to reduce the S/N of a faint object.

 

USING THE COMPARISON LAMPS:

In the Arcon parameter file "instrpars", set the "lampsys" parameter to "new" and select the comparison lamp you want to use in "complamp", using "pen" for the HeNeArXe penray. When you take a comparison lamp exposure (through "comp" or "observe"), the Arcon will automatically move the system into place and turn on the lamps. You can watch all this happening from the "Lamps" menu in the Hydra GUI. Note that Arcon will turn off the lamp but leave all the mirrors, etc. in place after the exposure is finished. If you go to a field and can't see any stars through the gripper camera, you've likely forgotten to park the comparison lamp system. Do this from the Hydra GUI by clicking the "Park" button.

MAKE SURE THAT THE GRIPPER IS OUT. IF THE SOME OF THE SPECTRA ARE MISSING, IT IS PROBABLY THE GRIPPER IN THE WAY.

FOCUSING:

It is not too difficult to focus the telescope using the FOPS. You can ask the night assistant to focus for you and he (she) will use the following procedure. Remember that the FOPS are fiber bundles of 7 1 arcsec fibers. Choose a single FOPS with a star on it near the field center. The idea is to get most of the light into the central fiber by changing the focus.

The object will move during focus and the FOPS will lose centration. I found to focus, you must do the following:

1. Move the focus about 10,000 units above nominal focus in IN direction.
   Check centration.
2. Move 2500 units in OUT direction. Check centration.
   ...etc.
3. Go through about 10 focus steps and pick one with best intensity and smallest xy movement through image.
4. When the focus is set, note the temperture of the "Serier Truss" by typing "settemp" on the IRAF command line. If you set "setfocus" to "auto" in "instrpars", then Arcon will look at the difference between "temperature" (which is updated every time you type settemp) and "reftemp" and adjusted the focus for change in temperature. Just make sure that you have entered the temperature at which you focussed the telescope in the "reftemp" parameter and the correct focus in the "basefocus" parameter. If you'd rather enter the focus value yourself for every exposure, set "setfocus" to "yes". Setting it to "no" will cause Arcon just to use the focus value in the "telfocus" parameter.
5. To modify the focus as the temperture changes by hand, note that the focus changes as df/dT = -766.2mu/deg C.

Typical values:
12.8 degrees 156200

TELLURIC OR SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC FLUX STANDARD:

If you are using echelle more or observing longward of 6000A and need high S/N spectra, you probably need a telluric standard. It is best to do it through a few fibers. You can do it one fiber and exposure at a time. Alternatively you can bring in a number of fibers sequentially. Put the fibers at the large circle or park position. Bring one fiber into the center. Start a long exposure on the CCD (3600s). Expose for say 100s and then "pause". Then:

unwarp
gripin
park 000
move 001 0 0 <== some other fiber here.
warp
gripout

and expose for 100s starting with "resume" on CCD window. Etc. (Check to see if light is leaking in from gripper light.) You can do this on about 4-6 fibers with the telescope in open loop tracking.

Alternatively, you can put a FOPS down on one guide star (and have the object in the center). After moving the a new fiber to the center and warping the plate, recenter the guide star on the FOPS. You can turn on the FOPS guider to guide, but I recommend just guiding by hand on these short exposures.

You can get the *.hydra fibers of the tertiary spectrophotometric standards of Baldwin and Stone (1984, MNRAS, 206, 241; 1983, MNRAS, 204, 347) as calibrated at CTIO by Hamuy et al. (1992, PASP, 104, 533; 1994, PASP, 106, 566). These are 11-14th mag stars. I also have *.hydra fields for the secondary spectrophotometric standards (also called Hayes standards) as give in the Hamuy reference. These have fluxes every 16A. The stars are 4-6th mag.

The coords are taken from USNO-A2.0 and have the standard in the center with FOPS stars and skies scattered around in the field. See the directory:

/uw52/nick/hydra/text/specphot/*.coo

A selected list of bright, hot stars culled from the Yale Bright Star Catalog can be found in:

/uw52/nick/hydra/text/bstar.dat

Basic CCD reductions. The idea here is to process the ALL THE SPECTRAL DATA, including the object, pflat, dflat, and sflat data, to [OTZF] before extracting.

Find the biassec and trimsize. You must trim out as much of the image as you can to make the flat fielding as easy as possible. Process the data through [OTZ].

ccdr:

(pixeltype =	"real real")	Output and calculation pixel datatypes
(verbose =	yes)	Print log information to the standard output?
(logfile =	"logfile")	Text log file
(plotfile =	"")	Log metacode plot file
(backup =	"")	Backup directory or prefix
(instrument =	"ccddb$ctio/csccd.dat")	CCD instrument file
(ssfile =	"home$/subsets")	Subset translation file
(graphics =	"stdgraph")	Interactive graphics output device
(cursor =	"")	Graphics cursor input
(version =	"2: October 1987")
(mode =	"ql")
($nargs =	0)

ccdpr: (last half of n2 and n3)

images =	"sflat*"	List of CCD images to correct
(ccdtype =	"")	CCD image type to correct
(max_cache =	0)	Maximum image caching memory (in Mbytes)
(noproc =	no)	List processing steps only?\n
(fixpix =	no)	Fix bad CCD lines and columns?
(overscan =	yes)	Apply overscan strip correction?
(trim =	yes)	Trim the image?
(zerocor =	yes)	Apply zero level correction?
(darkcor =	no)	Apply dark count correction?
(flatcor =	yes)	Apply flat field correction?
(illumcor =	no)	Apply illumination correction?
(fringecor =	no)	Apply fringe correction?
(readcor =	no)	Convert zero level image to readout correction?
(scancor =	no)	Convert flat field image to scan correction?\n
(readaxis =	"line")	Read out axis (column|line)
(fixfile =	"")	File describing the bad lines and columns
(biassec =	"[1:55,1:1004]")	Overscan strip image section
(trimsec =	"[75:3120,1:1004]")	Trim data section
(zero =	"home$n3/biasn3")	Zero level calibration image
(dark =	"")	Dark count calibration image
(flat =	"home$n3/flatn3")	Flat field images
(illum =	"")	Illumination correction images
(fringe =	"")	Fringe correction images
(minreplace =	1.)	Minimum flat field value
(scantype =	"shortscan")	Scan type (shortscan|longscan)
(nscan =	1)	Number of short scan lines\n
(interactive =	no)	Fit overscan interactively?
(function =	"legendre")	Fitting function
(order =	10)	Number of polynomial terms or spline pieces
(sample =	"*")	Sample points to fit
(naverage =	1)	Number of sample points to combine
(niterate =	3)	Number of rejection iterations
(low_reject =	2.5)	Low sigma rejection factor
(high_reject =	2.5)	High sigma rejection factor
(grow =	0.)	Rejection growing radius
(mode =	"ql")

To process milk flats, first process through [OTZ]. The idea here is to bring the milk flat to 1.0 everywhere with the pixel to pixel variation left in. If a few wiggles are left in the image, that's okay. You will be dividing by the dflats later anyway. To bring the milky flat to 1.0, you need to remove the faint ripples of the fiber images. These run along the x-axis. The trick to remove these is to create a median filtered image using a long skinny boxcar and divide this into the data.

Do something like:

imdel temp*
# combine the milky flats into a single image
comb @in1 temp1
# remove the spectral shape in the x-direction
blkavg temp1 temp2 1 2000
fit1d temp2 temp3 fit ax=1 low=2 high=2 or=20 niter=10
blkrep temp3 temp4 1 1004
imar temp4 / 2000 temp4
imar temp1 / temp4 temp5
# remove the spectral shape in the y-direction
blkavg temp5 temp6 4000 1
fit1d temp6 temp7 fit ax=2 low=2 high=2 or=3 niter=5
blkrep temp7 temp8 3021 1
imar temp8 / 2000 temp8
imar temp5 / temp8 temp9
# filter the data with a long skinny boxcar
fmed temp9 temp10 xwin=51 ywin=1
imar temp9 / temp10 flat
(you may want to process with fmed in y direction also)

Now process through [OTZF]. MAKE SURE THAT YOU PROCESS THE PFLATS, SFLATS, DFLATS, AND COMPARISONS. YOU MUST CHANGE THE "IMAGETYP" TO "OBJECT" FOR THE PFLATS AND THE SFLATS TO GET THEM TO FLATTEN.

 

WAVELENGTH CALIBRATIONS

We have four types of lamps:

For low dispersion (RC) work:

Helium-Neon-Argon (a single lamp with all 3 gases)
"Penray" which is actually 4 lamps of helium, argon, neon, and xenon.

The individual lamps in the penray "lamp" can be turned on or off on the hydra instrument (but not from the Hydra GUI). All lamps should be on. We have been having problems with the neon lamp burning out or being weak.

For high dispersion (echelle) work:

Thorium-Argon
etalon

The wavelengths are kept in the IRAF directory linelists$. Some additional notes if you want to go to the original sources:

For the Xenon lines, use the list in Striganov & Sventitski, "Tables of Spectral Lines of Neutral and Ionized Atoms", 1968, (IFI/Plenum: New York). This is a good source for all wavelenghts in the visible region and is accurate enought for all the RC setups. It is a nice table because it gives intensities also.

The best source for argon lines is: Norlen, 1973, Phys. Scrip. 8, 249.

The thorium lamp has rather weak thorium with respect to argon, and the lamp seems to have a quite different ionization than typical atlases for th-ar, such as the ESO atlas. Very accurate wavelengths are given in: Palmer, B.A., and Engleman, R. Jr. Los Alamos Sci Lab Pubs, LA-9615. In the blu, the ThAr lamp is basically all argon, with only the very brightest Th lines appearing weakly in the spectra.

In the blue, the He lines dominate in the penray lamps.

As far as I can tell, there is no neon in the he-ne-ar lamp.

 

SPECTRAL EXTRACTIONS

See Knut's reduction notes [25].

 

TAPING:

We have DDS3 and exabyte. We also have DLT 7000, but you will not be generating that much data to need a DLT. Most people write data to tape using the IRAF "wfits" command. This is not a particularly efficient way to write data, but it is tried and true. I would NOT recommend writing a large tar file. A tape error in the middle of a tar read can ruin your whole day because it is hard to force the tar past the bad data point (if this happens, turn off the parity checking in the tar command). If you do write tar, I recommend breaking the data up into tar files = say one per night of no more than 1-2 Gbyte.

Write two tapes just in case. Give one to your collaborator or sister or whoever, just in case. Data can be (painfully) recovered from the SAVE THE BITS backup tapes, so if you can't even read your sister's tape, you can ask us to recover it from the backups.

DON'T PANIC

These are common problems with simple solutions.

LOST FIBERS

You get an error while configuring where an annoying little grey box pops up and says: "Error:configure: OrderMoves Error: phys move. MoveButt couldn't pick up button xxx" where xxx is some fiber name.

What has happened is that the gripper has gone to the position of xxx and could not pick up the button. Much of the time this is because the button is slightly off from where it should be, possibly because it was placed down on a small piece of dust. Sometimes too much stress builds up in the hypodermic needle which houses the fiber and the fiber simply slides out of the gripper.

However a fiber might get lost, to recover use the gripper TV to place the gripper on top of the fiber. Then, in the command window, type "thisis". This tells the software that the gripper is on top of whichever fiber is currently lost. Note the use of small letters in this command. (The related command "ThisIs xxx" tells the software explicitly that fiber xxx is under the gripper.)

If the fiber is not visible in the gripper TV, you can use the GUI to cruise near where it should be and see if you can find it. If you find it, tell the gripper where it is using the "thisis" command. Don't go very far cruising or you may find another button and get Hydra really mixed up by identifying it incorrectly.

If you can't find the lost fiber near the nominal position, return the gripper to the "parked" position of the lost fiber. There is a good chance that the fiber will be there and was never picked up in the first place.

If the fiber is not in the parked position, you will see the hypodermic tubing enclosing the fiber crossing the field going to wherever the button actually is. Use the gripper motion controls to follow the tube out into the field until you find the button, put the gripper on top of it and then use the "ThisIs" command to tell Hydra where it is.

If the button appears tilted there is sometimes a tiny piece of ferrous material stuck to the bottom. There may be damage to the button. In either case if this happens, call Observer Support and have them inspect and retire the fiber manually.

Once the fiber is returned to the park position, you can use it again. If it keeps on getting lost, you should lock it and not use it for the rest of the run.

If the fiber is really totally lost, or this procedure doesn't work, you will have to have Observer Support come and retire the fiber manually.

 

CAN'T CONFIGURE THE FIBERS WITH THE HYDRA PROGRAM

You were able to configure the program with hydrasim, but you get an error about a transformation problem when doing the real configuration. This error happens just after you start the configuration.

What is happening here is that the hydra program is doing one extra step beyond the hydrasim program. It is taking the coords and assignments, and appplying a transformation to the appropriate zenith distance for the observations. For some reason, the transformation is producing a collision.

Possible causes:

1. you have some objects with the same names or the same postions in your file. Fix the file.
    
2. two fibers are really very close so that the atmospheric dispersion correction is causing them to collide. This happens most often if you have successfully configured a field, observed for a few hours, and you reconfigure. The new atmospheric dispersion correction is different enough that the fibers collide. Look for fibers which are very close and retire one.
    
3. one fiber is really quite bent, and the dispersion correction is trying to bend it beyond its software limits. Look for a really bent fiber on the GUI.

Hydra-CTIO GUI runs on ctioa6 and connects to the Hydra instrument through an RS-422 serial line. The ctioa6 machine is also connected to the local ethernet network allowing Hydra GUI to request status and send commands to the TCS [34] through the GWC router.

The FOPS Guider machine is also connected to the local ethernet network allowing Hydra-CTIO to send direct commands to enable/disable guiding. The FOPS Guider machine send the guiding command thorugh an RS-232 serial line to the TCS program running on ctiox0.

 

 

The TCS program running on ctiox0 doesn't have native support for the GWC libraries so an auxiliary program running on ctiot2 provides that support. The program running on ctiot2 is called tcsrouter [35] and basically routes messages from other applications, coming through the router, to the TCS.

 

AUTO	Brakes	Close	CMDERR	Cold	Drop	encCal	Fan
Fault	Ghome	Ginit	Grab	IfButt	INIT	IntrOn	IsWarpd
Led	Move	Open	OrthStp	Park	Plate	Pwr	ShutDn
Temp	where	xhome, yhome & whome			xygo	XYhome	XYinit
		zgo	Zhome	Zinit

 

AUTO

This function is called on system reset. It's a special label (Galil Firmware) to create an autostart program on power-up. Everything starts from here. One of it's main functions is to flag that nothing is initialized. Various functions read the variable "Reboot" and terminate if it is non zero. Other functions are to lock the brakes and turn the drives off.

File: main.g

Args: (none)

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code: (none)

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #Brakes
JS #DbCreat
JS #Temp

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Brakes

This function locks/unlocks the brakes on the x/y gantry.

File: xyops.g

Args:

BraARG1 -- Lock/unlock flag
0 = lock Brakes
<> 0 = un-lock Brakes

Results:

BraRSLT1
0 = No Error.
>0 = Gallil error code resulting from "OB" command.

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxBrakes set state starting"
MG "boxBrakes set mode locked"
MG "boxBrakes set mode unlocked"
MG "boxBrakes done"

(errors)

MG "boxBrakes set result error"
MG "boxBrakes set error NoBrakes"

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Close

This function closes the gripper. It then tests for button presence. It takes no arguments and set two different result variables before it exits. Result variable CloRSLT1 is set to the result of closing the gripper. Result variable CloRSLT2 is set to zero if the gripper is empty after closing the jaw. If after closing the jaw a button is present CloRSLT2 is set to one.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none )

Results:

CloRSLT1 Result of closing gripper.
0 = No error, i.e. closed
2-99 = Error. Value from galil "SC" command.

CloRSLT2 Button presence after gripper close.
0 = Gripper empty
1 = Button in gripper

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
        (normal)

MG "boxClose set state starting"
MG "boxClose set result ok"
MG "boxClose set mode closed"
MG "boxClose done"

(errors)

MG "boxClose set result error"
MG "boxClose set error NoClose"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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CMDERR

This function traps command errors and causes them to retrun an error code to whatever function happened to be running at the time. Basically this is a "I forgot to test for it" trap.

File: main.g

Args: (none)

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code: (none)

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Cold

This function starts up the system. First, the system is put in a safe state. Next the satus monitor is started up. Finally, the initialization functions (init and home) for each axis are called with safety checks along the way. The initialization will abort if there is an unexpected error.

File: coldstart.g

Args:

ColARG1 = Level of safety override
0 = No safety overrides.
1 = Initialize with a button present.

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxCold set state starting"
MG "boxCold set result ok"
MG "boxCold done"

(errors)

MG "boxCold set result error"
MG "boxCold set error ButtonOnInit"
MG "boxCold set error ButtonNotID"
MG "boxCold set error GripInit"
MG "boxCold set error NoStatMon"
MG "boxCold set error NoGripInit"
MG "boxCold set error NoZInit"
MG "boxCold set error NoXYInit"
MG "boxCold set error UnknownErrInit"
 

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #Ginit -- initializes the gripper axis
JS #Ghome -- homes the gripper axis
JS #IfButt -- see if a button is present
JS #Zinit -- initializes z axis
JS #Zhome -- homes the z axis
JS #XYinit -- initializes xy gantry system
JS #XYhome -- home the xy gantry system

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Drop

This function drops up a button on the plate using the user supplied argument to decide how much to descend on the z axis. It determines the Z distance based on current radius from the center of the plate. Set argument variable DroARG1 to zero to compute the drop height based on x/y position. Set GraARG1 to 1 to assume drop on plate. Set GraARG1 to 2 to assume drop on park circle.

File: gripops.g

Args:

DroARG1 = Plate distance. See comment block above.
0 = Compute drop height from x/y position
1 = Assume drop on plate.
2 = Assume drop on park circle.
 

Results:

DroRSLT1 = Result of attempt to drop button.
0 = No Error.
1 = button still in gripper.
2 = Motion error
3 = Bad Argument

DroRSLT2 = Z status after dropping.
0 = No Error.
>1 = Galil "SC" result for last z move

DroRSLT3 = griper status after dropping.
0 = No Error.
>1 = Galil "SC" result for last gripper move
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxDrop set state starting"
MG "boxDrop set result ok"
MG "boxDrop done"

(error)

MG "boxDrop set result error"
MG "boxDrop set error GripInop"
MG "boxDrop set error NotDropped"
MG "boxDrop set error zInop"
MG "boxDrop set error BadArg"
Embedded functions called from this one:
#Open -- opens the gripper
#Close -- closes the gripper

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encCalc

This function computes the encoder position from the distance between two reference marks. Note that this algorithm is specific to the Heidenhain Encoders. Variable names follow those in the documentation from the manufacturer.

The basic premise of this scheme is that index marks can be positioned in such a way that one only need traverse two of them and knowing the direction of travel, the absolute position of the first mark encountered can be determined.

The xhome, whome, and yhome routines all call this function as they all use the same type of encoder. This is a generic routine for any encoder of this type.

Note that this function is used internally and sends no messages back to the mid level code.

One should read the encoder documentation and the source for a complete understanding of how these routines work.

Args:

encARG1 = encoder position of 1st index mark encountered
encARG2 = encoder position of 2nd index mark encountered
encARGz = direction of travel

Results:

encRSLT1 = result of encoder formula.

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Fan

This function turns the electronic box cooling fan on/off. Set the argument variable FanARG1 to zero if you want to turn the fan off, and set it to one if you want to turn the fan on. The function use output 16 of the Galil Box to command the fan.

File: periphio.g

Args:

FanARG1
0 = Fan Goes off
1 = Fan Goes on

Results: (none, just writes an i/o bit)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxFan set state starting"
MG "boxFan set mode 0"
MG "boxFan set mode 1"
MG "boxFan set result ok"
MG "boxFan done"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Fault

This function handles the hardware "error" interrupt. This interrupt is assigned to input 5.

File: errors.g

Args: (none)

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code: (none)

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Ghome

This function homes the Gripper axis. First it checks to see if it's already into the home switch. If so, it backs out of it. Then it jogs slowly into the switch.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

GhoRSLT1 = 0 % Result code.
0 = No error

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxGhome set state starting"
MG "boxGhome set result ok"
MG "boxGhome done"

(error)

MG "boxGhome set result error"
MG "boxGhome set error NoHome"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Ginit

This function initializes the gripper axis. Every time this function is called it loads the GripPos array. Then configures the encoders and motor type for G and enable the motor.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

GinRSLT1 = Result of homing gripper.
0 = No error

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxGinit set state starting"
MG "boxGinit set result ok"
MG "boxGinit done"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Grab

This function picks up a button from the plate using the user supplied argument to decide how much to descend on the z axis. It determines the Z distance based on current radius from the center of the plate. Set argument variable GraARG1 to zero to compute the distance based on x/y position. Set GraARG1 to 1 to assume gripper is over the plate. Set GraARG1 to 2 to assume gripper is over the park/stow area.

File: gripops.g

Args:

GraARG1 = What height to use
0 = Compute z distance based on x/y position
1 = Assume gripper is over the plate
2 = Assume gripper is over the park/stow area.

Results:

GraRSLT1 = Result code.
0 = No Error.
1 = Gripper Inoperative.
2 = No button found.

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
(normal)

MG "boxGrab set state starting"
MG "boxGrab set result ok"
MG "boxGrab done"

(errors)

MG "boxGrab set result error"
MG "boxGrab set error GripInop"
MG "boxGrab set error NotFound"
MG "boxGrab set error BadArg"

Embedded functions called from this one:

#Open -- opens the gripper #Close -- closes the gripper

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IfButt

This function Determines if a button is in the gripper. It first insures that the gripper is configured such that the test is valid. Under the present design, this means closing the jaws, and returning the result of the close operation. Later, it might be possible to detect a button no matter what the state of the gripper, and this function would be modified accordingly.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

IfBRSLT1 = Result of test for button.
0 = No Button.
1 = Button in gripper.
>1 = Gripper Error ( See "Close" )

Messages sent to the Mid-Level code:
(normal)

MG "boxIfButt set state starting"
MG "boxIfButt set mode nobutton"
MG "boxIfButt set mode button"
MG "boxIfButt set result ok"
MG "boxIfButt done"

(errors)

MG "boxIfButt set result error"
MG "boxIfButt set error NoClose"

Embedded functions called by this one:

#Close -- closes the gripper

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ININT

This function is reserved by the box as the input intterupt handler. If any of the input interrupts have been enbled by the "II" command, this routine will called when the associated input bit goes low. From there, this routine will poll to see what needs service. "Reboot" and terminate if it is non zero.

File: main.g

Args: (none)

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code: (none)

Embedded functions called by this one: (none)

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IntrOn

This function allows a user to reenable interrupts after an error.

File: errors.g

Args: (none)

Results: (none)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code: (none)

Embedded functions called by this one: (none)

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IsWarpd

This function read back the vacuum sense switch on the plate. It takes no arguments. The current on/off state of the sense switch is returned in result variable IsWRSLT1. The function reads analog input 9 to check the switch out.

File: periphio.g

Args: (none)

Results:

IsWRSLT1 = sense sqitch status.
0 Plate is flat.
1 Plate is warped.

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxIsWarpd set state starting"
MG "boxIsWarpd set mode", IsWRSLT1 {F2.0}
MG "boxIsWarpd set result ok"
MG "boxIsWarpd done"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Led

This function turn the gripper LED on to the specified level (Or else off....). Set argument variable LedARG1 to the desire level of intensity. A value of zero will turn the gripper LED off. The function uses the lowest 3 bits of I/O port 0 on the Galil Box to select the desired level (mask used with "OP" is 65532 or "1111 1111 1111 1000").

File: periphio.g

Args:

LedARG1 = intensity level.
0 = Led off
1 = On, low
2 = On, medium
3 = On, high.

Results: (none, just sets IO bits)

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxLed set state starting"
MG "boxLed set result ok"
MG "boxLed done"

Embedded functions called by this one: (none)

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Move

Caution: This page is meant to be an abstract of calling conventions and function behavior and does not document the details of the code.

The #Move function moves a fiber from one location to another as specified in the arguments. This is the fundemental function of the system, and all other functions are secondary to this one.

Pre-move safety checks include making sure of no collisions, valid destination, and no button presence in the gripper. All this checkings must be made by the mid/high-level code before moving a fiber. If you are using this function directly then be very careful because no safety checks are made by this function.

Next, the gripper travels to the button (see the functions in "xyops.g"), and attempts to grab it. (documented with the file "gripops.g") If successful, the gripper relax and the button is carried to the new location, and an attempt made to drop it. If the drop fails, the button can be parked directly from the gripper.

File: buttmove.g

Args:

MovARG1 = x current location
MovARG2 = y current location
MovARG3 = x destination location
MovARG4 = y destination location
 

Results:

MovRSLT1 = Result code. Note that 0-4 are same as button status.
0 = No Error.
1 = Locked.
2 = Not found
3 = Dropped
4 = Positioner not operational
5 = Last move not yet broadcast.
6 = Could not drop
7 = X,Y Motion Failure
8 = Button present on entry
9 = Database has not been initialized since reboot
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
(normal)

MG "boxMove set state starting"
MG "boxMove set state seek"
MG "boxMove set state grab"
MG "boxMove set state carry"
MG "boxMove set state drop"
MG "boxMove set result ok"
MG "boxMove done"

(errors)

MG "boxMove set error FibLocked"
MG "boxMove set error NotFound"
MG "boxMove set error LostInTransit"
MG "boxMove set error PosNotOp"
MG "boxMove set error LastNotBroadcast"
MG "boxMove set error NotDropped"
MG "boxMove set error NoXYmove"
MG "boxMove set error GripNotEmpty"
MG "boxMove set error DbaseUndef"
 

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #IfButt -- see if a button is present.
JS #xygo -- the xy move function
JS #Grab -- pick up the button.
JS #xygo -- the xy move function
JS # IfButt -- see if a button is present.
JS #Drop -- drop the button.

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Open

This function opens the gripper. The user supplied argument is used to determine the final position. If OpeARG1 is 0 then the final position will be "closed". If set to 1 the final position will be "relaxed". If set to 2 final position will be "normal open" position. If set to 3 the final position will be "open wide" position. This are the same values used in the array GripPos.

File: gripops.g

Args:

OpeARG1 = Position to open gripper to.
0 = Closed position
1 = Relaxed position
2 = Normal open position
3 = Open wide position

Note that the values used are in the array "GripPos", defined at the top of this file. Note also that this function doesn't return any button presence and that an open with an arg of zero is NOT the same as a "close" The first option is just there for completeness.
 

Results:

OpeRSLT1 = Result of opening gripper.
0 = No error, i.e. open
2-99 = Error moving gripper jaws. Value from galil "SC" command
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxOpen set state starting"
MG "boxOpen set mode ", OpenARG1
MG "boxOpen set result ok"
MG "boxOpen done"

(errors)

MG "boxOpen set result error"
MG "boxOpen set error NoOpen"
Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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OrthStp

This function is called by the interrupt handler to see if the interrupt was caused by a stage mis-alignment.

File: errors.g

Args: (none)

Results:

OrtRSLT1
0 = No Orthoganality Problem
1 = Stages mis-aligned, System stopped.
2 = Stages mis-aligned, Couldn't stop.

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:(none)

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Park (not used)

DISCUSSION

This function parks the specified button. It is simply a shell wrapped around the Move function. It generates the appropriate destination coordinate mathematically, and adds one additional return value: "button already parked". The computations used to determine the park position are discussed below:

Compute the angle, at the center of the plate, between the "zero" fiber and the park position of the target fiber. thetaSep is the angle between adjacent parked buttons, in a polar coordinate system coincident to the center of the focal plane plate.

thetaP = thetaSep * ParARGid

Since variables are scarce, use the input variables for the move command as working storage... Then, if we actually move, they'll already be ready to go.

MovARGx = rPark * @COS[ thetaP ] MovARGy = rPark * @SIN[ thetaP ]

We always test for already being there. First, compute the x,y errors from the desired position, and then skip the rest if both are less than the prescribed value. tmp1 and tmp2 are scratch variables and my get used by other functions. Don't count on them being valid any time after this function ends.

tmp1 = @ABS[ MovARGx - ButtX[MovARGid] ] distance from "parked" in X
tmp2 = @ABS[ MovARGy - ButtY[MovARGid] ] distance from "parked" in Y

tmp1 and tmp2 then get tested against a tolerance.

File: buttmove.g

Args:

ParARGid , button to be moved.
 

Results:

ParRSLT1 , Result code. Note that the first 8 are the same as "Move" and are simply passed back from it.

0 = No Error.
1 = Locked.
2 = Not found
3 = Dropped
4 = Positioner not operational
5 = Last move not yet broadcast.
6 = Could not drop
7 = X,Y Motion Failure
8 = Button present on entry
9 = Already parked, no action.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxPark set result ok"
MG "boxPark done"

(errors)

MG "boxPark set result error"
MG "boxPark set error NotParked"
MG "boxPark set error AlreadyParked!"
 

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #Move % Call the Move Subroutine.

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Plate

This function warp or flatten the focal plane plate. Set PlaARG1 to 0 to flatten the focal plate. Set PlaARG1 to 1 to warp the focal plate. The function uses output bit 10 to open/close the vaccum valve thus warping or flattening the plate.

File: periphio.g

Args:

PlaARG1 = Warp or flatten.
0 = Flatten plate
1 = Warpe plate
 

Results:

PlaRSLT1 = Result code.
0 = NoError
1 = Plate didn't warp
2 = Plate didn't flatten
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxPlate set state starting"
MG "boxPlate set mode warp"
MG "boxPlate set mode flat"
MG "boxPlate set result ok"
MG "boxPlate done"

(errors)

MG "boxPlate set state error"
MG "boxPlate set error NoWarp"
MG "boxPlate set error NoFlat"
 

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #IsWarpd -- read back the vaccum sense switch.

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Pwr

This function returns the status of various power monitoring bits. Use this function to check the status of the power supplies and U.P.S. Bit 0 (blackbox input 11) refers to the 'on battery' U.P.S. condition. Bits 1 (blackbox input 12) refers to the 'low battery' U.P.S. condition. A value of one for bits 0 and 1 indicates that the condition is active. Bit 3 (blackbox input 14) shows the status of the 5V power suply. Bit 4 (blackbox input 15) shows the status of the 12V power supply. A value of zero for bits 3 and 4 indicates fault condition.

File: periphio.g

Args: (none)

Results:

PwrRSLT1, returns an integer with the appropriate bits
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxPwr set state starting"
MG "boxPwr set mode", PwrTmp {F3.0}
MG "boxPwr set result ok"
MG "boxPwr done"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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ShutDn

This function shut's down the system to an inert state system. Each level representents a progressively greater shutdown and includes the operations from the level below it.

File: coldstart.g

Args:

ShuARG1, how far the shut down
0 = Gripper Moves out
1 = Brakes lock and Drives power off.
2 = All switchable Optos go off.
3 = DataBase is invalidated.
 

Results:

ShuRSLT1, result of shutting down
0 = No Error.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxShutDn set state starting"
MG "boxShutDn set state GripOut"
MG "boxShutDn set state DrivesOff"
MG "boxShutDn set state OptosOff"
MG "boxShutDn set result ok"
MG "boxShutDn done"

(errors)

MG "boxShutDn set result error"
MG "boxShutDn set error NoShutDown"
 

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #xygo -- moves the xy gantry system
JS #Brakes -- lock/unlock brakes on xy gantry system

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Temp

This function choose and read back one of the temperature sensors. The temperature sensors are selected by writing the given 3 bit mask TemARG1 to the I/O port 0 on the box. The function uses bits 5-7 of this port. The mask used with "OP" is 65311 or "1111 1111 0001 1111". Once the channel is selected the function reads back analog input 5. This readout is then scaled and corrected using local constants "Tscale" and "Toofset" to get the actual temperature.

File: periphio.g

Args:

TemARG1, 3 bit mask for selection of channel
 

Results:

TemRSLT1, number respresenting temp.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:

MG "boxTemp set state starting"
MG "boxTemp set mode", TempVal {F3.2}
MG "boxTemp set result ok"
MG "boxTemp done"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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where

This function Simply returns the positions of the various axis as a TCL set.

File: xyops.g

Args: (none)

Results: Outpouts a string

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxwhere set state starting"
MG "boxwhere set mode { ", {N}
MG " ", _TPX {F7.0}, {N}
MG " ", _TPY {F7.0}, {N}
MG " ", _TPW {F7.0}, {N}
MG " ", _TPZ {F6.0}, {N}
MG "}"
MG "boxwhere done"

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xhome, yhome & whome

These functions home the various gantry axis (note that this function is essentially identical for all 3 axis and only the variable names change. The one exception to this is that the X encoder is mounted backwards and there is a bit of extra code in "xhome" to compensate for that). These homing routines are *entirely* dependent on the Heidenhein encoders and their coded referrence marks. This will not work with any other kind of encoder. The axis moves until two index pulses are found and then the positions are fed to an algorithm that determines the absolute position of the first index mark. The stage moves back to that mark and then sets the encoder value to the computed position, offset by a user supplied constant that is used to put the zero point at the convenient position.

File: xyops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

xhRSLT1
0 = No Error.
1 = Motion didn't start.
2 = No index pulses were found.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxxhome set state starting"
MG "boxxhome set result ok"
MG "boxxhome done"

(errors)

MG "boxxhome set result error"
MG "boxxhome set error NoMotion"
MG "boxxhome set error NoIndexMark"

Embedded functions called from this one:

JS #encCalc

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xygo

This function Moves the x/y gantry system to the specified coordinates.
NOTE: This is the master function for x/y motion and should be the only one used since it impliments various safety checks. Direct operation of the x,y,w axis should be avoided. Moves generated using this function will be coordinated in X and Y. This function also makes sure that all the drives are on, and sets up a non-orthognality interrupt.

File: xyops.g

Args:

xygARGx -- New X position
xygARGy -- New Y position
xygARGa -- Acceleration along the vector
xygARGv -- Velocity along the vector
 

Results:

xygRSLT1
0 = No Error.
1 = No motion
2 = Motion inhibited
3 = No Drives
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
          (normal)

MG "boxxygo set state starting"
MG "boxxygo set result ok"
MG "boxxygo done"

(errors)

MG "boxxygo set result error"
MG "boxxygo set error NoDrive"
MG "boxxygo set error NoMotion"
MG "boxxygo set error Inhibited"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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XYhome

This function homes the x/y gantry system including setting the orthoganality of x/y. If the argument is zero, it will exit upon finding a button in the gripper, without moving anything. The steps followed are:

1 Check for buttons.
2 Gear X to W.
3 Home W.
4 Gear W to X
5 Home X
6 Send X/W to the average of their positions. (This is the orthoganality correction)
7 Define the true position of X/W.
8 Home Y
9 Define the true position of Y.
10 Move the gantry to the 0,0 point (tradition)

File: xyops.g

Args:

XYhARG1 Level of safety override
0 = No safety overrides.
1 = Home with button present.
2 = Continue even if one axis fails
 

Results:

XYhRSLT10 = No Error.
1 = Called before initialization
2 = Unknown button in jaws.
3 = Individual axis failure.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxXYhome set state starting"
MG "boxXYhome set state wHome"
MG "boxXYhome set state xHome"
MG "boxXYhome set state align"
MG "boxXYhome set state yHome"
MG "boxXYhome set result ok"
MG "boxXYhome done"

(errors)

MG "boxXYhome set error NoInit"
MG "boxXYhome set state error"
MG "boxXYhome set error ButtonFound"
MG "boxXYhome set error AxisFailure"
Embedded functions called from this one:
JS #whome
JS #xhome
JS #yhome
JS #xygo

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XYinit

This function initializes the x/y gantry system to the proper modes. See the Galil DMC1500 manual and the source for an explanation of the initialization commands used. Most of the commands called have no real return code so this function tends to be dependent on working on the first pass. If this function won't run to completion, nothing else is going to.

File: xyops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

XYiRSLT1
0 = No Error.
1 = Brakes not released
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxXYinit set state starting"
MG "boxXYinit set result ok"
MG "boxXYinit done"

(errors)

MG "boxXYinit set result error"
MG "boxXYinit set error NoXYinit"
Embedded functions called from this one:
JS #Brakes

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zgo

This function moves the z gantry to the specified coordinate. The new Z position must be in encoder steps. The screw lead is 0.2 inches and the motor resolution is 2000 steps per revolution. The scale is then 2.54 microns per step.

File: gripops.g

Args:

zgoARGz = New Z position
zgoARGa = Acceleration along the vector
zgoARGv = Velocity along the vector
 

Results:

zgoRSLT1

0 = No Error.
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code
           (normal)

MG "boxzgo set state starting"
MG "boxzgo set result ok"
MG "boxzgo done"

(errors)

MG "boxzgo set result error"
MG "boxzgo set error NoDrive"
MG "boxzgo set error NoMotion"
MG "boxzgo set error Inhibited"
 

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Zhome

This function homes the Z axis. First make sure that the motor and the opto for the home switch are on. Then moves the motor until it find the edge on home switch and gets a little ways off the edge in the positive direction. Then it makes a nice and slow final aproach to the the edge.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

ZhoRSLT1 = 0 Result code.

0 = No error

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxZhome set state starting"
MG "boxZhome done"

(errors)

MG "boxZhome set result error"
MG "boxZhome set error NoHome"
 

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

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Zinit

This function initializes the Z axis. It configures the encoders and motor type for Z. It also configures the Z home switch level, make sure sure the opto is on and enable the motor.

File: gripops.g

Args: (none)

Results:

ZinRSLT1 Result of z axis initialization.

0 = No error
 

Messages sent to the Mid-level code:
           (normal)

MG "boxZinit set state starting"
MG "boxZinit set result ok"
MG "boxZinit done"

(errors)

MG "boxZinit set result error"
MG "boxZinit set error NoInit"

Embedded functions called from this one: (none)

 

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Last Modified: March 23, 2000
rcantarutti

(First byte)

Galil ID	Conn#	Function	Notes
INP1	J5-25	Index mark latch: X
INP2	J5-24	Index mark latch: Y
INP3	J5-23	Non-Orthogonal (1 degree, 1 = ok)
INP4	J5-22	Index mark latch: W
INP5	J5-21	Master Fault (1 = ok)	XA1-58
INP6	J5-20	Gripper; Closed sense switch (0 = closed)
INP7	J5-19	Gripper; Open (wide) sense switch
INP8	J5-18	Gripper; Button sense switch (0 = empty)

 

(Second byte)

INP9	JD5-25	Vac sense switch, plate (1 = warp)
INP10	JD5-24	Vac sense switch, source	-unsused
INP11	JD5-23	UPS input; /ON BATTERY
INP12	JD5-22	UPD input; /LOW BATTERY
INP13	JD5-21	Drive Power (1 = on)
INP14	JD5-20	Power Monitor +5V O.K.	XA3 U18-13 1=ok
INP15	JD5-19	Power Monitor +12V O.K.	XA3 U18-11 1=ok
INP16	JD5-18	Output of optical switch Z-axis	(HOMEZ)

(Third byte)

INP17	JD5-1	X Drive Fault
INP18	JD5-2	W (X2) Drive Fault
INP19	JD5-3	Y Drive Fault
INP20	JD5-4	Z Drive Fault
INP21	JD5-5	X1 Level 2 Safety Fault (1 = ok)
INP22	JD5-6	W (X2) Level 2 Safety Fault (1 = ok)
INP23	JD5-7	Y Level 2 Safety Fault (1 = ok)
INP24	JD5-24	(unassigned)	-unused

 

Last Modified: April 27, 2000
rcantaruttiATnoao.edu

(based on Philip Massey's "whydra")

"Hydraassign" is an useful program for assigning fibers that comes as part of the Hydra-CTIO software distribution [31]. It takes an input file containing celestial coordinates of objects and determines a "pretty good" assignment of fibers for Hydra. Phil Massey has written an instruction guide [37].

 

Basic Use:

The objects in the input file should be listed in priority order, with the most important objects at the top of the list. The coordinates of clean sky positions and field-orientation-probe stars ("fops stars") should also be included in the same file. The file must also contain the coordinates of the field center, along with a number of things that are needed to properly account for the effects of differential refraction. The output file will contain all of the input objects, assigned or not, with fiber assignments indicated with a numerical value in the "STATUS=" field. The stars with assigned fibers are rotated to the bottom of the list, but the input order is otherwise preserved; thus, one can use each output file as a new input file, with previously assigned stars dropped in priority.

The input file must begin by specifying nine keywords, one per line. Each keyword ends with a colon followed by a value. The order in which they appear is not relevant.

FIELD NAME - <= 64 character ID

INPUT EPOCH - Equinox of the input coordinates; must be 1855-2010.

CURRENT EPOCH - Epoch of the proposed observations, e.g., 1992.251, must be 1991-2010

SIDEREAL TIME - LST at mid-exposure, must be 0.00-23.999

EXPOSURE LENGTH - Decimal hours expected for exposure, 0.0-10.0

WAVELENGTH - Wavelength of spectrograph in A

CABLE - Either SMALL or LARGE

WEIGHTING - Possible answers are STRONG (default), WEAK, or NONE

GUIDEWAVE - wavelength of TV camera, defaults to 6000 A

After the keywords is the list of coordinates. Each coordinate entry consists of a single line, and includes the following. The format is fixed.

Integer ID (4 digits or less). This should be a unique number that allows you to tell the fiber positioner what star you are talking about if you wish to drive the gripper over that locale. It will also be kept as a secondary identifier when you reduce the data with IRAF. COLS1-4

Name (20 characters or less). This name is the principle object identifier; it will be kept with the individual spectrum when you reduce the data with IRAF. COLS 6-25

RA. This should be specified the usual way, e.g., "02 12 14.123". The leading zeros are not required. Since we are reading this numbers in a fixed format, you may include colons (or anything else) where the spaces go. COLS 27-38

DEC. This should be specified the usual way, e.g., "-01 12 13.21". For positive declinations the plus sign is optimal. The value of the degrees must be between -89 and 89, and the values of the minutes and seconds < 60. The SIGN goes into COL 40; the rest go in COLS 41-51.

CLASS. This is a one letter code that specifies what type of object this is. COL 53. Possible answers are:

C Center. There must be exactly one of these in the file; it is the coordinates of the plate center.

O Object. This is the default if the item is unspecified, and is a normal program object. Currently the maximum number of objects is 2000.

S Sky. Currently the maximum number of sky positions is 2000.

F Field orientation probe star (FOPS). Currently the maximum number of FOPS is 2000.

In order to provide some capability for you to document what you are doing, we interpret any line that begins with a pound sign ("#") to denote a comment field. These will be retained in the output file. Items with double pound signs will not be retained ; these are used in the output files to denote warning messages.

When running hydraassign you will be asked for the input and output file names, as well as the number of fops and skies you require. In the example below user hydra specified the name of the input file as lepusastrom.hydra and the output file name as test2.hydra. The user required 3 FOPS and 6 skies to be assigned :

hydra% hydraassign
## CTIO Concentricities file Version 2.1 12/8/98
## v2.1 FOPS, Large fibers, no small fibers
## proper slit to fiber assignments for large cable
## -----------------------------------------------
##
## Astroparams Version 3.0 10/05/98
## -----------------------------------------------
##
## Systemparams Version 3.0 12/23/98
## -----------------------------------------------
Input file name: lepusastrom.hydra [38]
Output root name: test2
test2.hydra
There are 3 fops stars found
How many fops need to be assigned to fops stars?: 3
There are 75 objects found
There are 20 skies found
How many skies are required?: 6
Would you like to tweak the center? y or n: n

Field center= 15.4505 22 22.456 -19 06 25.67 1950.00 Ag= 179.988
Assigned: 49/ 75 objs; 6/ 20 skys; 3/ 3 fops; Total wts= 4.01

Last Modified: April 27, 2000
rcantarutti

The Hydra-CTIO positioner GUI software lives in ctioa6:/home/hercules/Hydra. The structure of the source directory tree is as follows:

• Hydra
  • bin
  • data
    • coords
    • inits
    • scripts
    • status
  • doc
    • guider
    • html
    • hydraassign
    • legacy
  • galil
  • lib
    • bitmaps
    • tclhydra
  • man
    • man1
    • man7
    • mann
  • share
    • lib
      • tcl7.6
      • tk4.2
      • tix4.1
    • include
      • gwc
      • msg
      • names
  • src
    • astroLib
    • astrometry
    • fileioLib2.0
    • hydraassign
    • include
    • kaboomLib2.0
    • main
    • serialLib
    • slaLib
    • transition2.0

The Hydra positioner GUI consists of an extended TCL/TK interpreter plus a set of TCL/TK scripts that build the functionality required by the application. The extended TCL/TK interpreter lives at sub directory Hydra/src/main. Support is provided for compiling the interpreter under Linux, SunOs and Solaris. The TCL/TK scripts live at sub directory Hydra/lib/tclhydra.

 

Last Modified: May 9, 2000
rcantarutti

LINKS

1. Init Files

The init files live in directory Hydra/data/inits. There are four of them: astroparams, concentricities, limitparams and systemparams.

1.1 astroparams

This file defines several important constants and values for doing astrometry calculations. The list below shows the names and a a short description for each of the included values.

CTIO_LAT - Obserbatory Latitude : -30.16542

CTIO_ALT - Height of the observatory: 2200 m

CTIO_ATM_PRESS - Typical atmospheric pressure in milibars

LAPSE_RATE - Temperature lapse rate in the troposphere (degK/meter)

POLAR_FLAG - Activate polar misalignment corrections

ME, MA - Polar misalignment correction parameters

REFRACT_PREC - Refraction calculation precission

REFRACT_PTS - Number of refractions points.

TEMP_MONTH - Comma separated list with average nightime temperatures for each moth

FOCALLEN - Focal length in mm

D3 - Parameter d3 of the optic correction model

D5 - Parameter d5 of the optic correction model

CTIO_SCALE - Plate scale in arcsec/mm

CTIO_RADIUS - Radius of curvature (mm) of focal surface located 6 mm above mid-plate radius

CTIO_WARP_DISTANCE - Border to decide waht curve to use when applying warp model (mm)

CTIO_INNERMID_RADIUS - Radius of the mid-plate in mm (measured plate radius plus thickness devided by two) for inner warp model

CTIO_OUTERMID_RADIUS - Radius of the mid-plate in mm for outer warp model

UNWARP_A1 - First coefficient to the model for unwarping the plate

UNWARP_A2 - Second coefficient to the model for unwarping the plate

ENCODER_SCALE - Encoder steps per mm of travel: 1 step/mm

DEFAULT_WAVECAM - Default wave length: 6000 A

ROT_CORRECTION - Rotational mis-alignment correction

 

1.2 concentricities

This file contains the cable and fiber definitions. The format for a cable definition is a line containing 5 fields. The first field is the cable identifier consisting of one upper case character. The second field is the cable label. It is a character, either 'A' or 'N'. It affects references to slit position inquiries. 'A' means that fibers are identified with alpha characters (A-Z, limit of 26 fibers in cable). 'N' means that integers are used to reference them. For alpha references a slit position of 1 maps to 'A', 2 maps to 'B', etc. The third field is a character 'Y' or 'N' saying if this cable can be selected. The fourth field isthe cable name, consisting of a string with no spaces and case insensitive. Finally, the fifth field is a short description of the cable been defined.

NOTE: a cable doesn't exists if it's not listed in this file.

The format for a fiber definition is a line containing six fields. The first field is the fiber number on plate represented by an integer and beginning from zero. The second field is a positive integer representing the slit position for that fiber. The third field is a single character saying to which cable this fiber belongs to. The fourth field is a single character flag stating the status of this fiber: 'A' for active fiber, 'B' for broken fiber, 'L' for locked fiber and 'Z' for noexistant fiber. The fifth field is a floating point number in encoder units representing the concentricity offset of the fiber. The sixth field is a floating point number in radians representing the concentricity angle.

The concentricity offset and angle data can be measured at any time as described in chapter Measuring Concentricities. [39]

The latest concentricities files are available here:

• alternating_concentricities [4] --for use with the Air Schmidt camera.
• concentricities [3] --for use with the 400m Bench Schmidt camera.

 

1.3 limitparams

This file contains the data for the initialization of the data structures that are used in testing for limit conditions.

 

1.4 systemparams

This file include instrument specific parameters like the plate radii, button diameter, tube diameter,etc. It also includes the mechanical correction parameters (coefficients to the mechanical model of the positioner). The list below describes some of the constants declared in this file.

PLATE Plate radius in microns

STOW Radius of the fiducial stow position circle in microns

PARK Radius of the park position circle in microns

PIVOT Radius of the fiber pivot in microns

STOWSLOP Not used

STOWOFFSET Offset added to the stow position angle of a fiber when the x/y stow position is calculated.

MAXANGLE Is the max angle in radians for flexing a fiber without overstressing it.

ANGLE_SOFTNESS Offset in radians added to MAXANGLE before checking for overflexure.

PARKEDATRISK Not used

BUTTONHEIGHT Not used

GRABHEIGHT Not used

BUTTONDIA Diameter of a button in microns

TUBEDIA Diameter of a tube in microns

BUTTON_TUBE_MARGIN Offset for interactions between a tube and a button

BUTTON_BUTTON_MARGIN Offset for interactions between two buttons.

REQPREC Not used

CRITICALANGLE Not used

MAXFORPRECALC Constant used in fiber to button distance calculations.

THERM_COEF Thermal expansion coefficient (K^-1)

TZERO Thermal expansion zero point (Celcius degrees)

XSCALE_ADJUST, YSCALE_ADJUST, DXY_LINEAR, DYX_LINEAR,DXY_QUAD, DYY_QUAD. Stage distorsion correction constants. Units in terms of encoder steps.

FDXX_LINEAR, FDYY_LINEAR, FDXX_QUAD, FDYY_QUAD Constants used to do final tweaking of positional error; units interms of encoder steps.

XH_LINEAR, XH_QUAD, XD_LINEAR, XD_QUAD, YH_LINEAR, YH_QUAD, YD_LINEAR, YD_QUAD. Constants used in flexure calculations. X-Y Gravitational terms

COMPLAMP_TIMEOUT Timeout when waiting for comparison lamps to complete motion.

 

2. Status Files

 

3. Script Files

A set of scripts are available for doing repetitive job automatically. Things like parking all the fibers of one type or configuring the fibers in a circle type pattern are easily made by executing script files. The script files are kept at "ctioa6:/home/hercules/Hydra/data/scripts". You can either use the execfile [40] cli command or use the "File/Run Script..." menu option to source a script file.

viewlarge, viewsmall, viewfops - Use these scripts to take a look at the fibers by type. Hydra CTIO has three type of fibers installed: LARGE, SMALL and FOPS. The gripper will go fiber after fiber waiting exactly one second before moving to the next one. For example to view the FOPS fibers type at the CLI/Script Tool command line:

Fiborg3.2.0> execfile viewfops

parklarge, parksmall, parkfops - Use these scripts to park the fibers by type. For example to park the large fibers type at the CLI/Script Tool command line:

Fiborg3.2.0> execfile parklarge

configparklarge, configparksmall, configparkfops - Use these scripts to park the fibers by type. This scripts use the configure -c [41] commad to execute "parklarge", "parksmall" and "parkfops" saving time by doing an "intelligent" transition from the current configuration to park position.

largecircle, smallcircle, fopscircle - These scripts put the fiber in a circle.

configlargecircle, configsmallcircle, configfopscircle - These scripts put the fiber in a circle. This scripts use the configure -c [41] commad to execute "largecircle", "smallcircle" and "fopscircle" saving time by doing an "intelligent" transition from the current configuration to circle type pattern. Otherwise you would have to park all the fiber and then run the circle script. For example to configure a circle using the small fibers type at the CLI/Script Tool command line:

Fiborg3.2.0> execfile configsmallcircle

measlarge, meassmall, measfops - This scripts drive the user through the process of measuring the concentricities. The script will go fiber after fiber allowing the user to correct for fiber position and grab the button and fiber coordinates. For examples to measure the concentricities for the small fiber type:

Fiborg3.2.0> execfile meassmall

 

4. Coords Files

The coord files are the ouput files after doing the astrometry calculations for configuring a star field. The format is no different to the one of the input files to the hydraassign program [42] but it adds an extra field for specifying the x-y plate coordinates:

FIELD NAME - <= 64 character ID.

INPUT EPOCH - Equinox of the input coordinates; must be 1855-2010.

CURRENT EPOCH - Epoch of the proposed observations, e.g., 1992.251, must be 1991-2010

SIDEREAL TIME - LST at mid-exposure, must be 0.00-23.999.

EXPOSURE LENGTH - Seconds expected for exposure, 0.0-10.0.

WAVELENGTH - Wavelength of spectrograph in A.

CABLE - Either SMALL or LARGE.

WEIGHTING - Possible answers are STRONG (default), WEAK, or NONE.

GUIDEWAVE - wavelength of TV camera, defaults to 6000 A.

After the keywords is the list of coordinates. Each coordinate entry consists of a single line, and includes the following. The format is fixed.

Integer ID (4 digits or less). This should be a unique number that allows you to tell the fiber positioner what star you are talking about if you wish to drive the gripper over that locale. It will also be kept as a secondary identifier when you reduce the data with IRAF. COLS1-4

Name (20 characters or less). This name is the principle object identifier; it will be kept with the individual spectrum when you reduce the data with IRAF. COLS 6-25

RA. This should be specified the usual way, e.g., "02 12 14.123". The leading zeros are not required. Since we are reading this numbers in a fixed format, you may include colons (or anything else) where the spaces go. COLS 27-38

DEC. This should be specified the usual way, e.g., "-01 12 13.21". For positive declinations the plus sign is optimal. The value of the degrees must be between -89 and 89, and the values of the minutes and seconds < 60. The SIGN goes into COL 40; the rest go in COLS 41-51.

CLASS. This is a one letter code that specifies what type of object this is. COL 53. Possible answers are:

C Center. There must be exactly one of these in the file; it is the coordinates of the plate center.

O Object. This is the default if the item is unspecified, and is a normal program object. Currently the maximum number of objects is 2000.

S Sky. Currently the maximum number of sky positions is 2000.

F Field orientation probe star (FOPS). Currently the maximum number of FOPS is 2000.

STATUS. This is empty, OK or a number (0-287). Empty means that the object is outside the plate bounderies. OK means that the object is inside the plate bounderies but was not assigned to a fiber. A number means that a fiber was assigned to that object.

PLATE. This are the plate coordinates of the object after astrometry corrections.

CAMERA. This are the plate coordinates seen by the camera.

 

Last Modified: April 16, 2004

1. Starting the program

Open an xterm window and type hydractio to start the program (or hydrasim to start the simulator). This start up shell script will search your home directory for file .fiborg to set the environment before running. For example to start the program you would type.

% hydractio

No & sign is required.

2. Command Line Interface Tool

Hydra CTIO presents a terminal window to type commands and send them to the instrument. This command line interface to the Hydra-CTIO instrument gives complete control over the instrument and its functionality. Following is the list with the available commands and a short description of what they do and their arguments.

coldstart [43] - Initialize the motors, find the home positions for the X, Y, and Z axes and resets the encoder to correspond to the center of the focal plate.

home [44] axis - This procedure homes the specified axis and reset the zero point. Available axes are xy, x, w, y, z and gripper. Be aware that homing x, y or w individually *doesn't ensures orthogonality*. Also remember that if x and w are not electrically geared then the gantry can run out of the orthogonal limits.

minit [45] axis - This procedure initialize the specified axis. Available axis are xy, x, y, w, z, gripper. Although you can call x, y or w individually there's only one embedded galil function for initializing the x/y gantry system. This means that no matter you specified x, y or w you will also initialize the other two axes too.

brakes [46] option - Turn the stage brakes on or off. Multiple ways for giving the same order are allowed. To lock the brakes use lock/on/1 as argument. To unlock the brakes use unlock/off/0.

gox [47] x ?vel? ?accel? ?sys? - Move the gripper to the specified position in x leaving the y position the same. Used defaults for the one's that are not supplied in the command line.

goy [48] y ?vel? ?accel? ?sys? - Move the gripper to the specified position in y leaving the x position the same. Used defaults for the one's that are not supplied in the command line.

goxy [49] x y ?vel? ?accel? ?sys? - Move the gripper to the specified position. Used defaults for the one's that aren't supplied in the command line.

gotag [50] tagid - This procedure move the x/y gantry system to the location recorded in the specified tag.

goz [51] z - Move the Z axis to the specified position. Use defaults for missing arguments. The units for position are encoder steps.

gripin [52] - Power up and bring in the gripper.

gripout [53] - This procedure moves the gripper to its stow position. If running under real mode then check for button presence and warn if a button is in the gripper.

tag [54] id ?x? ?y? - This procedure tag the specified location for future reference. It receives as arguments a tag id and an optional coordinate. If only the id is specified by the user, then the current gripper location is taged. The coordinates are x,y sky coordinates.

view [55] name/number ?type? - This procedure let the user view the specified button/object/slit by moving the x/y gantry system to that position. If no type is specified then it will be assumed that the number correspond to a fiber number. Valid names are characters identifying FOPS. Valid type specifiers are "o" for object, "f" for fiber, "s" for slit and "P" for FOPS.

gopen [56] - Open the gripper to its normal open position.

relax [57] - Open the gripper to its relaxed position.

gclose [58] - Close the gripper.

openwide [59] - Open the gripper to its wide open position.

griptest [60] - Test the gripper functionality and return a report.

abump [61] amount direction - Nudge the gripper by the specified amount of arcseconds in the specified cardinal direction. Valid directions are "w", "e", "n" and "s".

bump [62] amount direction - Nudge the gripper by the specified amount of steps in the specified cardinal direction. Valid directions are "w", "e", "n" and "s".

offset [63] dx dy ?vel? ?accel? - Incrementally offset from the current position. Substitute default values for missing arguments.

dropit [64] - Put down a button (if there is one...) at the current location. If the fiber in trouble structure is not empty, calculate and record new information for that fiber.

mark [65] button - This procedure let the user view a button an mark it as the button to be remembered when later you decide to correct the button.

move [66] button x y ?deadzone? - Move a button to the specified location. If the difference beetwen the current location of the button and its target position is smaller than the specified deadzone then the button is assumed to be at the target position.

park [67] button - Move a button to its parked position.

thisis [68] - Handle failures to grab and drop buttons and it helps to identify unknown buttons in the gripper.

ThisIs [69] button - Bring the specified button to the current gripper location. This routine is used to tweak button positions to corrected coordinates interactively.

unstow [70] button - Move the button specified in the argument from its stow position to its park position. If the specified button happens to be the current button in troubles then its trouble condition is cleared.

aload [71]   filename - Load a star field. It first looks for it in the directories in environment variables FIBFIELDS and STDFIELDS. If this variables are not defined attempt loading the file using filename as a complete path/filename name.

assign [72] userid button - Attempt to assign the specified object to a button. If the assignment is valid then the button is moved to the object position. The userid corresponds to the id given by the user to each one of the objects of the star field.

configure [73]  filename - This procedure configure the star field in file filename.

config1 [74] id x y - This function is much like procedure "configure" except that it takes as an argument a fiber and a coordinate which it passes on to the transition program. This procedure always leave unused fibers alone.

preview [75] first last time - This procedure view the set of objects whoes internal id are beetwen the "first" and "last" specified values. It waits for "time" seconds to get to the next object.

save [76]   filename - This procedure save the currently loaded field including tweaks, unassignments, etc been made.

setup field [77] - This command step the astronomet through the field configuration process in order to simplify the instrumental configuration. For a complete description read The Setup Field Command [78].

configmode [79] boolean - This procedure turns the configuration flag on or off. correct Bring the "current" button to the current gripper location. The current button is the last one that was moved or viewed. In some cases, there may not be a current button. This routine is used to tweak button positions to corrected coordinates interactively.

concenmode [80] boolean - Turn the button concentricity correction on/off.

flexmode [81] boolean - Turn the gravitational flexure mapping on or off.

thermmode [82] boolean - Turn the thermal expansion correction on or off.

scalemode [83] boolean - Turn the stage characteristic curve mapping on or off.

lit [84] ?arg arg ...? - This procedure sends its argument list directly to the controller and return just the controller first answer.

ping [85] - This procedure performs a simple test to check communcation towards the Galil Box. It sends a TP command and shows the response. This is the procedure suggested by the vendor to test communications. With good communications you would expect to get a bunch of numbers indicating the current motor positions.

dangle [86] declination - Set the global variable that holds the declination angle. This value is used in flexure calculations.

hangle [87] hourangle - Set the global variable that holds the hour angle. This value is used in flexure calculations.

setcable [88] cable - Set the current cable to the specified cable.

thermval [89] val - Set the instrument temperature to the specified value.

hist [90] - This procedure will open an xterm terminal to show the current session log file.

listdump [91] mode - This procedure when called with argument mode set to "i" dump the iraf file for the currently loaded field and eventually tell the gwc world that it just made it. If called with argument mode set to "c" then dump the currently loaded field to disk and open an xterm running the view program displaying the file contents.

listtag [92] tagid - This procedure will print the coordinates in the tag entry for the specified tag id.

status [93] - Print a summary of the system status. This summary include the current exposure information and the correction flags that are currently working.

where [94] - Return a the encoder positions and corrections.

whereis [95] name/number ?type? - This procedure returns the location of the specified fiber, object, slit or FOPS. The first argument for this procedure can be either an alpha character or an integer. If an alpha character (A, B, C ...) the argument is supposed to be a FOP. If an integer the argument is supposed to be a fiber. A second optional argument can be added to specify what is this integer identifying. Type "f" for fiber, "o" for object and "s" for slit.

purge [96] - Close, compress, and re-open the position archive.

restore [97] - Restore the internal database of button locations from the disk file.

xparked [98] button - This procedure force the software to update a button location to be the parked position.

xstowed [99] button - This procedure force the software to update a buttons location to be the stowed position. If the specified button happens to be the current button in troubles then its trouble condition is cleared.

zdb [100] option - This procedure will zero the database to either stowed or parked position. Set argument position to "parked" to zero to park position and "stowed" to zero to stowed position.

listTI [101] - List the Galil Box Input assignments

listTS [102] - Show the current status of Galil Box switches.

inputchart [103] - Display a window showing the Galil Box inputs.

swchart [104] - Display a window showing the Galil Box switches.

execfile [105]  - Source the specified script.

complamp [106] off|tha|etalon|pen|qua|hene - Turn the complams system on/off.

led option ?arg? - This command let the user turn the bank of LEDs on/off and set the current intensity for the light of the LEDs. To turn the LEDs on set argument option to "on". To turn the LEDs off set argument option to "off". To set the current intensity set argument option to "illum" and specify the desired intensity with a number from 1 to 3.

help - Dump the current list of commands and a short description.

plate [107] boolean - Flat/warp the focal plate.

quit [108] - This command exits the application cleanly saving all what has to be saved and leaving the system in a known state.

 

3. Field Display Tool

The field display tool window is the main point of interaction between the user and the instrument. The Field Display Tool allow the user to do from basic things, like commanding the X-Y stages to move, to more high level stuff like configuring a star field using assignment files. It also provide an interface to other systems like the FOPS guider and the comparison lamps.

 The field display tool include a menu bar, a field info panel, positioner, comparison lamps and FOPS guider control pages, a status bar and a field display.

 

3.1 Menu Bar

The menu bar has six options: File, Setup, Modes, Windows, View and Help

3.1.1 File Menu

3.1.1.1 Load Field

Use the Load Field option to load a star field file. The Hydra-CTIO simulator [109] includes three files of this type that can be used as examples to create your own files. When loaded the objects in the file will be presented in the field display area as springgreen circles, the FOPS as blueviolet circles and the sky positions as lightskyblue squares. Click on the circles and squares to present the name and current assignment of the objects. The related CLI command is aload.

3.1.1.2 Save Field

Use the Save Field option to save a star field and you current fiber assignments. Fibers not assigned to objects will be saved as random sky positions. The associated CLI command is save.

3.1.1.3 Run Script

Use the Run Script option to run command scripts. The associated CLI command is execfile.

3.1.1.4 Quit

Use the Quit option to exit the application. Before actually exiting the application will prompt the user to decide if he really wants to exit the application. It will also prompt to decide if the X-Y stages have to be left at their transport position (remove from telescope). The user must answer yes to this question only if Hydra is about to be removed from telescope. Finally the user will be prompted to answer yes or no to turn the drives off. We recomend turning the drives off only if you are planning to finish the observing night.

 

3.1.2 Setup Menu

In order to simplify the instrumental configuration, we have created user commands which step the astronomer through the configuration process.

3.1.2.1 Setup Field...

Use this option to configure a star field using a assignment files. When selected a dialog box as the one showed below will come up.

Enter the name of the configuration file you are planning to use in the text entry labeled "Name of hydra file". You can use a complete path or just the name. In this last case the Configuration Tool will search for the requested file at the fields directory. You can also browse to find the configuration file by pressing the button with a folder on it. A file open dialog box will came up and let you select your configuration file.

Press the button labeled "Load Field" to load the configuration file. If the file is not designed for the currently selected fiber cable, a warning message will be given and you will have the opportunity to switch to the cable that your field is designed for. NOTE: This only changes a software flag of cable type. You must still verify that the Bench Spectrograph has the appropriate cable installed. (The cable installed on the Bench Spectrograph should be displayed in the HYDRA-GRAPHICS display.)

Here you will be given the opportunity to modify how long you plan to observe the field in this configuration and what the anticipated midpoint sidereal time will be. Both of these values will be used to fine tune the atmospheric refraction component of the astrometry. If you are rerunning a setup due to a button problem, make sure that you answer these questions in an identical manner as before or the positioner may end up tweaking each and every fiber instead of picking up where it had left off.

You have the option to either park all unused fibers or leave unused fibers where they are as long as they don't interfere with fiber placement by clicking on the check box labeled "Park unused fibers". Leaving them where they are allows such fibers to be flagged as random sky positions and also decreases the configuration overhead since the positioner doesn't have to spend time moving them.

The program will then check certain aspects of the instrument status (plate flat, comps off, rotator at zero degrees), compute the new astrometry, and proceed to move the fibers.

When all fibers have been positioned, the .iraf file will be generated and fiber information will be passed to the CCD for inclusion in the data headers.

NOTE: The instrument is not yet ready to take the observations. You MUST execute the setup observe command.

You can always abort the configuration precedure by pressing the abort button or by typing ^C at the command line. The associated CLI command is setup field.

3.1.2.2 Setup Observe...

Use this option to prepare the instrument to start observing. First the gripper LEDs will be turned off, the X-Y stages will move to the field center and the user will be prompt to see if he wants to view any fibers. Answering yes will pop up a window to view the desired fibers by fiber name, by slit position or by assigned object.

Next either you finish viewing fiber or you answer no to view any fibers, the gripper will be parked. Then you are ready to begin observing. The associated CLI command is setup observe.

3.1.2.3 Setup Comps...

Use this option to prepare the instrument to start taking comparison lamps exposures. The gripper LEDs will be turned off and the X-Y stages will be parked. The associated CLI command is setup comps.

3.1.2.4 Setup Flats...

Use this option to prepare the instrument to start taking flats. The gripper LEDs will be turned off, the comparison lamps sources will be turned off and the X-Y stages will be parked. The associated CLI command is setup flats.

3.1.2.5 (re) Connect FOPs Guider

Use this option to open a connection to the FOPS guider. Not very useful since the automatic recovery procedure was implemented.

3.1.2.6 Alarm Bell

Use this option to turn the audible alarm tone on or off.

3.1.3 Mode Menu

Use this menu to turn on/off the different types of corrections applied by the model to the x-y coordinates. The thermal expansion correction corrects for thermal expansion in the linear encoders according to vendor specifications. The concentricity correction corrects for the small offset between the center of the button and the fiber. The stage/screw distorsion correction compensate for small distorsion in the stages. The gravitational flexure corrections correct for gravitational effects over the stages.

 

3.1.4 Window Menu

Use this option to open an xterm window showing the current log file and to open an xterm window showing the currently loaded assignment file.

 

3.1.5 View Menu

Use this option to show/hide objects, fops, fibers and sky positions at the field display. The Reset option show all the object types in the field.

 

3.1.6 Help Menu

Use this option to open an xterm window with the available CLI commands.

 

3.2 Field Info Panel

The status panel consists of a set of labels that show information about the currently loaded star field. The information include header information plus assignment statistics and fiber object cross references.

When the user click over an object or a fiber in the field, the Fiber and/or the Obect entry shows the id of the object and its assigned fiber/object.

 

3.3 Positioner, Lamps and Guider Tabs

 

3.3.1 Positioner Tab

The positioner tab present a graphic interface to some common user commands to the instrument. Two buttons allow the user to park and activate the gripper. When parked the gripper is moved out of the field and the motor drives are turned off.
Another button allow the user to warp the plate. An animation let the user wait untill the plate is flat or warped before moving fibers.
Another button control the gripper LEDs state and their intensity. There are three available intensities ranging from low to high.

A paddle let the user cruise around using different step sizes. To use the paddle the user must press the button that says "Paddle Disabled". The button will turn green an its text will change to "Paddle Enabled". The arrows keys will change their disable condition to active. Click in the arrows to move the stages. The size of the step in microns can be changed by moving the scale at the right side of the paddle.

The positioner tab also include the x-y coordinates of the cursor while over the field display area and the field display scale control.

 

3.3.2 Lamps Tab

The lamps tab allow the user to turn the comparison lamps system on/off and to select the comparison lamps sources.

When no motion is sensed, the status labels are blue and white. When a mechanism is active or moving the status labels blink and the background color goes yellow to reflect the new status. If no status information is available or an error condition is sensed the status labels blink and the background goes red.

 

3.3.3 Guider Tab

The guider bab allow the user to remotely turn the FOPS guider on/off an to enable/disable specific FOPS for guiding.

 

3.4 Status Bar

The status bar present the communication links status. The Hydra-CTIO GUI communicates with the FOPS guider through a socket connection and with the TCS through the GWC router. When the communication is working the status labels are green. When the communication links is broken the status labels go red.

 

Last Modified: May 9, 2000
rcantarutti

 

 

1. Common problems

The graphical display doesn't show an object properly assigned.

This is common symptom that you gave the same number to two or more different objects in your hydra file. Check the number and make sure it is unique.

2. Hydra Error Messages

Hydra error messages start with the word ERROR followed by a sequence of collon separated list of precedure names and explanatory messages. Most of the time is the last part of the message the one that gives more information about what's wrong with the system.

ERROR: ... : already running or not initialized -

The system returns this error message when the user attempt to execute a Galil box macro while the same Galil macro is under execution. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: gripIn: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: already running or not initialized
ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxGhome: already running or not initialized
ERROR: move: unresolved: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: already running or not initialized
ERROR: tempsense: can't sense temperature: st_sequence: boxTemp: already running or not initialized

ERROR: ... : can't grab the box -

The system returns this error messages when the user attempt to execute a Galil box macro while another Galil box macro is under execution. Following are examples of reat error messages of this type.

ERROR: bump: offsetToXY: unresolved: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: can't grab the box
ERROR: coldstart: led: st_sequence: boxLed: can't grab the box
ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: gripIn: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: can't grab the box
ERROR: gripout: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: can't grab the box
ERROR: minit: InitMotors: st_sequence: boxGinit: can't grab the box
ERROR: move: unresolved: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: can't grab the box
ERROR: park: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: can't grab the box
ERROR: plate: st_sequence: boxIsWarpd: can't grab the box
ERROR: plate: st_sequence: boxPlate: can't grab the box
ERROR: view: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: can't grab the box

ERROR: ... : NoResponse -

The system returns this error message when a Galil box macro command has been succesfully written to the serial port, but no response was received in the last 25 seconds. The last under the assumption that no operation takes longer than that. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: brakes: Brakes: st_sequence: boxBrakes: NoResponse
ERROR: coldstart: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: NoResponse
ERROR: coldstart: led: st_sequence: boxLed: NoResponse
ERROR: gox: unresolved: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: NoResponse
ERROR: goz: no motion: GoToZ: can't move: st_sequence: boxzgo: NoResponse
ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: gripIn: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: NoResponse
ERROR: gripout: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: NoResponse
ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxXYhome: NoResponse
ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxZhome: NoResponse
ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxGhome: NoResponse
ERROR: minit: InitMotors: st_sequence: boxGinit: NoResponse
ERROR: minit: InitMotors: st_sequence: boxXYinit: NoResponse
ERROR: minit: InitMotors: st_sequence: boxZinit: NoResponse
ERROR: move: unresolved: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: NoResponse
ERROR: move: MoveButt: unknown error: st_sequence: boxMove: NoResponse
ERROR: openwide: OpenWide: st_sequence: boxOpen: NoResponse
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: unknown error: st_sequence: boxMove: NoResponse
ERROR: park: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: NoResponse
ERROR: plate: st_sequence: boxPlate: NoResponse
ERROR: view: buttonPresent: unable to test: st_sequence: boxIfButt: NoResponse
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: NoResponse

The error message above may indicate problems in the serial link between Hydra Instrument and its host computer.

Check that the Galil Box is up and running and that the serial link is OK. Try the ping command [85] to test the link. If it works then the Galil Box might be in error condition. Try cycling the power.

ERROR: ... : NoDrive -

This error message indicates that the drive power is off. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: gripout: gripOut: no xy motion: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: NoDrive
ERROR: minit: InitMotors: st_sequence: boxZinit: NoDrivePower
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: NoDrive

ERROR: ... : NoZInit -

This error message indicates that the Z motor was not properly initialize during a cold start sequence (i.e. coldstart [111] and gripin [52] commands). During a cold start sequence the Z motor is powered up and then initialized to its zero point. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: coldstart: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: NoZInit
ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: gripIn: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: NoZInit

To figure out what exactly caused the problem try manually initializing the motor using the minit z command [45] and the home z command [44]. Then look for the new error messages in this trouble shooting guide.

ERROR: ... : NoHome -

This error message indicates that the motor was unable to find the fiducial point. The motor is then probably at one of its limits. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: gripout: gripOut: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxZhome: NoHome
ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxZhome: NoHome

Unfortunately often this failure to find the fiducial hangs the Galil built in macro to find the zero point and prevent the box from answering to further command macro requests. Below is a crude procedure to try to clear this fault.

1. ping the Galil Box with the ping command [85]. If the Galil Box answer a bunch of numbers then you know at least the box is alive. If not then try resetting the box and start over again.
   Fiborg3.2.5> ping
   0000000 0000000 000000000 0000000 0000000\r
    
2. Then repeat the home procedure for the axis in trouble (more probably Z in the Hydra system) using the home command [44]. If the answer is ok then the motor is working again. If the answer is NoResponse is still trying to find the zero point. If the answer is NoHome go back to step 1.
   Fiborg3.2.5> home z
   ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxZhome: NoResponse
    
3. Reset the Galil Box by software using the "lit RS" command. This command will send the built in command RS to the Galil Box to reset the box. All the variable values set at program startup time will be cleared.
   Fiborg3.2.5> lit RS
   :
4. Try initializing the motor again using the minit command [45] and then the home command [44]. If the answer is ok the motor is working again. If the answer is NoResponse go back to step 3. If the answer is NoHome go back to step 1.

If the above doesn't work you might have to check hardware issues like drive power, limit switches, optical switch, etc.

ERROR: ... : FsaOrthoRFL2 -

This error message indicates that at least one of the following safety intelock signals has been activated: FSA interlocks, orthogonality switch, forward and reverse X-Y limits. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: goxy: no motion: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: FsaOrthoRFL2
ERROR: gripout: gripOut: no xy motion: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: FsaOrthoRFL2
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: FsaOrthoRFL2

Each of the interlocks mentioned above are AND gated before input to the Galil Box. So when the this error message occurs all three possible causes has to be checked, that is, check that the FSA is properly closed, check that the second forward and reverse limits are clear and check that the system is orthogonal. Read the listTI command [101] documentation since it can be of great help when dealing withi problem.

ERROR: ... : Inhibited -

This error message indicates that the stages had not been initialized. Use the coldstart command [111] to initialize the system. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: goxy: no motion: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: Inhibited
ERROR: gripout: gripOut: no xy motion: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: Inhibited
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: Inhibited

ERROR: ... : BelowHome -

This error message appears when the system has been commanded to move while the gripper is below its home position. The home position for the gripper is high enough to clear the fibers on the field as well as the fiber slots. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: dropit: releaseHere: DisposeButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: BelowHome
ERROR: park: ParkButt: DisposeButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: BelowHome
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: can't move: st_sequence: boxxygo: BelowHome

To clear this problem move the gripper up at least to its home position. In order to do that you can either home the gripper with the coldstart command [111] or move it with the goz command [51] and a positive value.

ERROR: ... : AxisFailure -

This error message indicates that an error ocurred during the initialization of the x and y motors. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: home: HomeMotors: st_sequence: boxXYhome: AxisFailure

Use the listTI command [101] to figure out which of the motors is causing the problem and why.

ERROR: ... : ButtonOnInit -

This message indicates that the system has found a button in the gripper at the moment of initialization. You may have to follow a recovery procedure to drop the button before initializing the system. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: coldstart: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: ButtonOnInit
ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: gripIn: ColdStart: st_sequence: boxCold: ButtonOnInit

The recovery procedure starts by initializing the gripper motor and the Z axis motor using the minit command [45] and then the home command [44] for each axis.

For example to initialize the axis:

Fiborg3.2.5> minit gripper
Fiborg3.2.5> home gripper
Fiborg3.2.5> minit z
Fiborg3.2.5> home z

The second step is to drop the button by using the dropit command. It may be necessary to issue the command several times before the system
drop the button. If no success open the gripper to its wide open position and try removing the button from the gripper jaws manually.

ERROR: ... : NoMotion -

This message appear when the motor is not able to finish its motion. Try the listTI command [101] for more diagnosis information. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: goz: no motion: GoToZ: can't move: st_sequence: boxzgo: NoMotion

ERROR: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate -

This message appear when a the system has been ordered to move the stages while the stages are at their park position. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: bump: offsetToXY: GoToXY: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate
ERROR: goxy: no motion: GoToXY: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate
ERROR: move: MoveButt: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate
ERROR: view: buttonview: ViewButt: GoToXY: gripper is disabled, use gripin to activate

Activate the gripper either by using the GUI button or typing the gripin command [52]

ERROR: please wait a few seconds and try again -

This message appear if the user has tried to activate the gripper too soon after parking it. For some unknown reason the motor drives have to rest a few seconds after been turned off to prevent the Galil Box to run into a fault condition. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: coldstart: ColdStart: please wait a few seconds and try again
ERROR: gripin: couldn't bring gripper in: ColdStart: please wait a few seconds and try again

ERROR: ... : target is beyond X-Y limits -

This message appear when the user tries to move the gripper to a non valid position. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: bump: offsetToXY: GoToXY: target is beyond X-Y limits

ERROR: ... : fiber <fiber number> doesn't physically exists... -

This message tell the user he has tried to move a fiber that has been marked as "non existant" in the concentricities [112] configuration file. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: fiber #102 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: fiber #2 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: configure: orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: fiber #2 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: fiber #232 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: fiber #232 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: move: MoveButt: fiber #10 doesn't physically exists...
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: fiber #102 doesn't physically exists...

Check the concentricities [112] configuration file for more information about the fiber.

ERROR: ... : button 249 is not stowed -

This error message tell the user he has tried to stowed a fiber that is not actually stowed, that is, is not at its fiducial position in the plate. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: unstow: Unstow: button 249 is not stowed

ERROR: ... : can't move with plate warped -

This message appear when the user tries to move a fiber with the plate at its warp position. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: can't move with plate warped
ERROR: move: can't move with plate warped
ERROR: park: can't move with plate warped

Use either the GUI button or the plate command [107] to unwarp the plate.

ERROR: ... : invalid move requested for button <button number> -

This message appear when the user tries to move a fiber to a non-valid position. The actual reason why the target position is not valid can be found at the xterm window from which hydractio was launched. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: invalid move requested for button #207
ERROR: configure: orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: invalid move requested for button #159
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: invalid move requested for button #88
ERROR: move: invalid move requested for button #0

ERROR: ... : it's not safe to grab button at current location -

This message tell the user that the position that the known position of the fiber is out of bounder. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: it's not safe to grab button at current location
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: it's not safe to grab button at current location

This is a very unusual error message and may be an indication that the Galil Box variables that are set the first time the application starts up has been corrupted some how or the result of incorrect use of either thisis [68] or ThisIs [69] recovery commands.

ERROR: ... : couldn't pick up button <button number> -

This message tell the user that the system failed in grabing the specified button. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 1
ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 101
ERROR: configure: orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 159
ERROR: configure: orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 247
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 0
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 7
ERROR: move: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 0
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't pick up button 84

To actually pick up the button we recommend using the thisis [68] or ThisIs [69] command to correct the known coordinates of the software. You will have to cruise around and center the gripper on top of the button and then issue one of the two commands. Then park the button.

ERROR: ... : gripper has no button to drop -

This message indicate that the button was lost during the move. This is a very dangerous situation sice is not possible to know were the button was left. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: gripper has no button to drop
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: gripper has no button to drop
ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: gripper has no button to drop
ERROR: move: MoveButt: gripper has no button to drop
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: gripper has no button to drop

You can use the gripper camera two see if you can find the button and then update its last known coordinates to its current position with the ThisIs command [69] . The other way to go is to manually stow the fiber and then tell the software with the xstowed command [99] that the fiber is now stowed.

ERROR: ... : couldn't drop button <button number> -

This message tell the user that the gripper still has the button in the gripper after trying to drop it at its target position. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't drop button 88
ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: MoveButt: couldn't drop button 174
ERROR: dropit: releaseHere: DisposeButt: DropButt: couldn't drop button!
ERROR: move: MoveButt: couldn't drop button 170
ERROR: park: ParkButt: DisposeButt: DropButt: couldn't drop button!
ERROR: park: ParkButt: MoveButt: couldn't drop button 103

Try releasing the fiber using the dropit command [64]. This command will try to cleanly release the fiber at the current gripper position. Try it several times, sometimes takes more than one try to release the offending fiber.
If the above doesn't work you can still try opening the gripper jaws to their open wide position using the openwide command [59]. This command will open the jaws more than usual hopefully releasing the button. If not then try releasing it manually.

ERROR: dropit: why drop a button that is not there -

This message tell the user that there is no button in the gripper to drop.

ERROR: The software thinks another button is already at this location -

This message tell the user that the software has a record of another fiber at the current gripper position when using the thisis command [68] . This prevents from giving a button the coordinates of another button.

ERROR: ... : fiber in jaws - this message appear when trying to park the gripper while holding a button in the gripper. Following is an example of this type of message.

ERROR: gripout: fiber in jaws

ERROR: ... : can't move button # with # in transit -

This message tell the user that te system won't move any other fiber until he resolves the problem with a lost fiber. Following is an example of this type of message.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: physmove: can't move button 0 with 168 in transit

You will have to find the lost fiber and then update its current location with the thisis [68] or ThisIs [69] command. Only then you will be able to continue moving fibers. Not knowing the lost fiber position can result in fiber collisions.

ERROR: ... : temperature is to large/small -

The read temperature value is out of range. You can override the read value by manually entering the temperature value using the themval command [89]. Following are some examples of this type of message.

ERROR: tempsense: can't set current temperature: ERROR: thermval: temperature is to large/small

ERROR: ... : unable to do the transition. Please ... -

This message tell the user that it was not possible for the software to do a transition from its current configuration to the one specified by the assignment file. The error message now includes information about the offending fiber. Following are examples of real error messages of this type.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: transition: unable to do the transition. Please check your assignment file for invalid moves.
ERROR: transition: unable to do the transition. Please check your assignment file for invalid moves.

The short way to solve this problem is to comment out the line in your assignments file containing the offending fiber assignment. The long way is to run hydraassign and get new assignments for the objects in the file.

ERROR: Attempt to load a null astrometry param file -

The init file astroparams [113] is corrupted or the environment variable that holds the path to the file is undefined. Check your environment for the ASTROPARAMS environment variable, check you read permissions to the astroparams file and check that the file actually exists.

ERROR: Attempt to load a null system param file-

The init file systemparams [114] is corrupted or the environment variable that holds the path to the file is undefined. Check your environment for the SYSTEMPARAMS environment variable, check you read permissions to the systemparams file and check that the file actually exists.

the transition program was unable to open the script containing fiber moves.
ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: transition: hydra file "parkall" not found.
ERROR: transition: hydra file "parkall" not found.

ERROR: ... : transition couldn't find file... -

The transition program was unable to find the plate coordinates file created by the astrometry program. Following are examples of this type of message.

ERROR: configure: mqu_orderMoves: ERROR: transition: transition couldn't find file: "GM.1.out1.hydra.coords"
ERROR: transition: transition couldn't find file: "GM.1.out1.hydra.coords"

Check for error messages about the astrometry program.

ERROR: ... : <file name> doesn't exists -

the scpecified file name doesn't exist. Following are examples of this type of message.

ERROR: fieldsetup2: ERROR: aload: file /home/hydra/fields/GM.out2.hydra doesn't exists

ERROR: User interrupt while sourcing <script> -

The user interrupt the script execution by typing ^C. Following are examples of this type of message.

ERROR: User interrupt while sourcing largecircle

ERROR: no socket connection to FOPS guider -

This message tell the user that no connection was opened to the FOPS guider. Check the ethernet connection and check that the FOPS guider program is actually running.

ERROR: guider: can't send command to guider -

This message tell the user that the program failed to send the command to the FOPS guider. Check the ethernet connection and check that the FOPS guider program is actually running.

ERROR: guider: can't read guider response -

This message tell the user that the program failed to read the command response coming from the FOPS guider. Check the ethernet connection and check that the FOPS guider program is actually running.

 

Last Modified: May 9, 2000
rcantarutti

This program lets you define the screen positions for the FOPS. The program runs in the same vme pizza box where the hydra guider does.

First edit the boot parameters by booting the computer and stopping the countdown sequence (to reboot type reboot at the prompt or Ctrl+X). To edit the boot parameters type c and then press enter, as follows:

[VxWorks Boot]: c

In response, the boot program prompts you for each parameter. Change the startup script field to "/tftpboot/align.cmd":

startup script (s) : /tftpboot/align.cmd

That will download the right binary and will setup things to run the alignment program.

To run the FOPS alignment program call the function AlignFops from the vxWorks shell. When the program starts you will have the X,Y,Z and Mode information at the top of the screen and a box in the center of the screen. To move the box use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. Make sure that
NUMLOCK is on.

The <tab> key will increment the step size that the box moves with each key stroke. The range is from 1 pixel per key to 20 in steps of 5. It will be clear how it works once you test it out.

Make sure you are in Mode 0. This is done with the ] key. Move the box so that the first fop you want to align is centered in it. Once you have the FOP centered in the box record the X, and Y values. These are the ROI starting coordinates for this FOP.

Now switch to mode 1, (the [ key). Again, using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad move the aligment dot to the center of each FOP fiber and record the X,Y coordinates. The Z value is displayed to aid in choosing the center of the fiber.

Now switch back to mode 0 (the ] key). Do this for each FOP.

Once you collect all of the data you need to put it into the hydra.ini file in the proper format.

It is important to collect fiber information from each FOP in the same order. I usually start with the top most fiber and proceed clockwise ending with the center fiber.

Once you have a good INI file you can check the alignment by loading the guider code and calling the function regFiber(0). This will display the alignment boxes around each fiber of
each FOP. To turn these off call regFiber(3).

Some debug information that you can display is very helpful. Once the guider code is running, in the vxWorks shell you can set nDebugLevel1, to the value '1'. This will start the debugging output. Setting it equal to 0 will turn it off.

nDebugLevel1 will give the (for each FOP)

FopID
Fiber #
Fiber Mean Intensity
Fiber Mean Intensity - Background,
Sky level,
Frame bias value,
Number of pixels in fiber ROI
Sum of the pixels in the fiber ROI

 

Last Modified: October 17, 2001

Fops Guider Start Up.

At the VxWorks prompt type "Guide". You will notice that the FOPS monitor will flash and then a bunch of messages will be printed to the terminal output:

-> Guide

Before guiding you have to activate the Fops you want to use. You can activate the FOPS by sending the command from the Hydra-CTIO gui or by typing a command at the VxWorks shell prompt.

In the first case select the fiber from the list and press the green button labeled "Enable FOPS".
In the second case just type chgFop(fop#, type, state), where:

fop#    is the fop number from 0 to 11.
type    is 1 for GUIDE, 2 for SKY and 3 for MONITOR.
state   is 1 for active and 2 for inactive.

For example to activate FOPS 6 as a monitor FOPS type:

-> chgFop(6, 3, 1)

Finally to start guiding press the green button labeled "Guider On" or type at the VxWorks shell prompt:

-> GuiderOn

To stop guiding type:

-> GuiderOff

Last Modified: March 11, 1999

for manually operating the Comparison lamps and the Bench Spectrograph:

GENERAL

Both the comparison lamp system and the bench spectrograph have a GUI which should make their operation easy. However, if for some reason the GUI doesn't work or something is suspect, both systems can be moved manually with a lower level interface which is qcryptic and primitive but is not difficult to use.

To manually control the comparison lamp system you must use the telescope control system by opening a window in the "command mode" and typing your commands in it, preceeded by the word "local". To control the bench spectrograph you have to open a tif window in the Arcon computer and type your commands in there.

If these commands don't work and things don't seem to make sense, try resetting the corresponding "SMC" (Smart Motor Controller).

Both boxes function with the same command syntax:

boxname mechanism action value

Some actions (e.g. init) do not require a value
Some actions (e.g. move) must have a value
Some actions (e.g. status) return a value

Commands must be typed EXACTLY as written when entered manually. The software is not very forgiving. If you make a mistake, type amd start over.

There are three useful General commands, applicable to all boxes.

To reset the box:

[boxname] reset

To make sure the version of software in the box is right:

[boxname] set version

This should always be done after a reset.

To manually turn the motor power on or off and leave it there:

[boxname] (on/off}

 

A. COMPARISON LAMP SYSTEM:

The name of the box which controls the comparision lamps is cfadc

cfadc is a peripheral of the tcs. Commands must be passed to the tcs or typed into a command window of the TCS as "local" commands. All manually entered commands must be prefixed by the word "local", e.g.[ local cfadc lamps mov 700 ] .

 

Mechanisms:

1. Mirrors
   There are two mirrors, spherical (sphe) and flat (flat):
   COMMAND: [local] cfadc (flat/sphe) (status/position/move/stop) (in/out)
   BOTH of these mirrors MUST be IN to use the comparison lamp system and OUT to use Hydra.
    
2. Arm which carries the Penray lamps (plamps):
   COMMAND: [local] cfadc plamps (status/position/move/stop) (in/out)
   This arm must be IN to use the PenRay lamps and OUT to use the other lamps or Hydra.
    
3. There are 5 comparison lamps

• Etalon (etalon) F-P etalon with lines st 5000A about ~.035A wide spaced at about .86A in order ~5800. Only works from ~4800-8800A. Fairly bright.
• Th-Ar (tha) Standard Th-Ar:very dim
• Quartz (qua) Very bright
• HeNeAr (hene) Standard low intensity HeNeAr lamp: dim
• PenRay (pen) A set of 4 lamps, He, Ne, Xe and Ar high intensity moved in on a special arm. The combination is designed to approximate the HeNeAr spectrum. The combination of lamps to be used can be selected by switches in the cass cage. There is a switch for each lamp. If all four are on, the "Pen" option will be a HeNeArXe lamp. Selecting HeNeAr produces a lamp with a very different spectrum from the standard HeNeAr lamp because the ionization states and relative intensities are not the same. These lamps are quite bright, especially the Ne.

The first 4 lamps are selected by putting a "lamp" mirror in a numerically identified position with:

COMMAND: [local] cfadc lamps (status/position/init/move) (value)

The best values for the lamp positions are:

etalon 64
tha 241
qua 754

hene 909

The lamps are then turned on or off with

COMMAND:

[local] cfadc lamps (etalon/tha/qua/hene/pen) (move/status) (on/off)

 4.  There is a television camera which when activated allows you to see what is going on inside the chimney.

This TV (which contains its own light source) is turned on and off with the command:

[local] cfadc outlet1 move on/off

With this camera, you can tell if the flat and spherical mirrors are in or out and if the quartz lamp is on. The other lamps aren't bright enough.

If you use this camera, be sure to turn it (and its light) off when you are through!
-----------------

Example 1:

To make a quartz lamp exposure:

Setup
[local] cfadc flat move in
[local] cfadc sphe move in
[local] cfadc lamps move 754
[local] cfadc lamps qua move on
[local] cfadc lamps qua status (check position-optional, but a good idea) (should be 754 ~+/-1)

Take exposure:

Turn off comparison system:

Turn off lights
[local] cfadc lamps qua move off
[local] cfadc flat move out
[local] cfadc sphe move out
Check status of everything, if desired
[local] cfadc lamps qua status (returns off)
[local] cfadc flat status (returns out)
[local] cfadc sphe status (returns out))

Example 2:

To make an exposure with the penray lamps:

Setup:
[local] cfadc flat move in
[local] cfadc sphe move in
[local] cfadc plamps move in
[local] cfadc lamps pen move on

Take exposure:

Turn off comparison system:
[local] cfadc plamps move out
[local] cfadc lamps pen move off
[local] cfadc flat move out
[local] cfadc sphe move out

Check status of everything, if desired
[local] cfadc plamps status (returns out)
[local] cfadc lamps pen status (returns off)
[local] cfadc flat status (returns out) [local] cfadc sphe status (returns out)

 

 

B. BENCH SPECTROGRAPH

The Bench Spectrograph SMC is called bench4m. Commands can be sent manually to the bench4m SMC from the "Terminal" window which can be opened using the spectrograph GUI.

-----------
Emergency only! If for some reason the GUI doesn't work, the SMC can also be controlled directly from a tip window. The interface is rather primitive. You must type exactly what is written. Any mistakes will cause the command to be rejected and you have to start over. No back spaces or deletes allowed

Start the tip window from an xterm on the Arcon computer with the following command:

tip ttyb
~s
le=on
------------

In the Terminal or (in an emergency only) in a"tip" window, type commands using the following syntax (remember that backspace works in the terminal window, but not using tip)

 

COMMAND: bench4m mechanism action value

1. Grating: bench4m grat (status/position/move/stop/init) (0-90[degrees])
2. Focus: bench4m focus (status/position/move/stop/init) (0-25000[microns])
3. Filter wheel: bench4m fil (status/position/move/stop/init) (1-4)
4. Inclination of line of fibers: (removes tilt in spectra)
   bench4m incli (status/position/move/stop/init) ( ~+/- 25.0 degrees)
5. Led: (Filter wheel must be in position 1 to illuminate fiber)
   bench4m led (intensity/status) (0-255)
   bench4m led move (on/off)
6. Shutter: The shutter is a disc which rotates in front of the camera. It also serves as the Newall mask. The disc has four positions (in/out/upper/lower). The Newall mask command does not actually move the mask, but sets a flag which tells the shutter how to behave during an exposure. If the Newall mask flag is set to "off", the shutter opens and closes normally. If it is set to "upper" or "lower", the shutter stops in the corresponding position during the exposure.
7. Newall Mask Flag: This is controlled via the command
   bench4m new (move/status) (upper/lower/off)

The shutter is normally under Arcon control. In this mode, it remains closed until Arcon tells it to open and then stays open (or partially open according to the state of the Newall mask flag) until the exposure has ended and then rotates back to closed. The shutter disc can also be controlled directly from the smc.

bench4m shu control arcon [transfers open/closed control to Arcon]

(The box comes up in "smc" mode so this command must be issued after any reset before any exposures can be taken.)

bench4m shu control smc [transfers control to direct mode]

To move the shutter manually in direct mode, one must send it to specific numbered positions:

open = 100
close = 20600
upper = 2400
lower = 3100

using the command

bench4m shu (move/init/stop/status) #position

e.g.

bench4m shu control smc
bench4m shu move 100

manually opens the shutter.

If you move the shutter manually it should be manually closed before returning control to Arcon. Returning control does not automatically close it.

 

T. Ingerson

Last update:
22 June 1999-tei
13 August 1999 -tei
20 May 2000 - tei
2 August 2000 - tei
27 October 2000 - tei

Given that generally our hydraassign files successfully positioned fibers further from the pole, and without any problems at the WIYN fiber instrument in more than three hundred pointings over the last four years our experience suggests that possibly the positioning troubles find their explanation in a residual telescope polar alignment error. Mr. Bremer had remarked that the Blanco Telescope has a significant residual alignment error, as do many if not all equatorially mounted telescopes.

While Wallace's pointing model and correction software does reduce telescope pointing discrepancies, canceling the error on-axis, we wonder if the field rotation correction coefficients that Wallace\'s software produces are passed to the hydra software. Were they not read by hydra, then a three arc-minute telescope misalignment could produce major problem when hydra attempts to observe near the pole.

We would be grateful if this possibility could be looked into, possibly allowing for manual keyboard entry (or its equivalent) of the pointing model generated coefficients. In particular, we should be grateful if this might be resolved on the April 16th engineering night, so that our next observer working on this project April 17th through the 19th could do the fields we had to delete from our current observing program that was, in other respects, highly successful.

 

Srs:

A Matheson's Oxygen Deficiency Monitor model #8061 was installed inside the Hydra room, the sensor is close to the refilling area and the unit is in the room next to it (upper right corner). It was adjusted at 20.9% as recommended. A pulsating alarm tone sounds if the oxygen level drops below 19.5%

Effects/Symptoms:

19.5%-21.0% no symptom
14.0%-19.5% Headache, fatigue, faulty judgment
10.0%-14.0% Rise in temperature, difficulty breathing
6.0% -10.0% Convulsions, indistinct consciousness
below 6.0% Coma and heart failure, death in minutes

The unit should be used when work is done in the room, in special while refilling the dewar.

It uses 2 AA rechargable batteries (steady sound means battery low). They last ~75 hours, when fully charged.

Sensor's lifetime: 18-24 months, starting today (July 2003). Accuracy +/- 0.3%

That's all

Danmat S.A

Buenas Noticias,

Thank Manuel Martinez and Unisite (the ETS device programmer) the brand new flash eprom and the bad one from the spare galil could be programmed. The eprom in the original Galil (the only good one we had) served as master and Manuel made a backup of its content. The original Galil and the spare Galil are functioning now. I let run a largecircle and a parklarge with each eprom. No one error happened. It seems that our Galil units aren't able to program the flash eproms or  I'm unable to get them burnt. I got the programs into the eproms but the burn in command produced a timeout error only.

We still have two virgin eproms. I'll send them to Manuel for programming. I think, it isn't worth to investigate, why our galil doesn't program the eproms, because the Unisite can do it better. It looks like the trouble with the hydra spares will be then over for the next time.

Saludos

Javier