Telescope Control System (TCS)

 checklist
 

AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES:

IN CONTROL ROOM:
Switch on hydraulics (green button labelled "Telescope Power")
Switch on mirror fans

IN DOME:
Check that CCD has been refilled: if not, call 93 37
Switch on HP monitor
Switch on alpha and delta motors
Press VME reset button
Wait for "GO" on monitor
Switch off monitor

IN CONTROL ROOM:
Log on to TCS terminal (w1d5tcs)
Click "Set-up..." button in TCS Control Panel
Click on "Telescope" in Init section of TCS Setup Panel
Wait for TCSlew in Telescope Status
Click on "Dome" in Init section
Wait for "Manual" Dome Status
Set Dome to Automatic: Dome Status changes to "OnPos"
Click on "General Adapter Init"
Wait for all "Ready" in Init Status:
Click on "Filter Wheel" if TIMEOUT status (generally twice)
Click on "Cat.Select" and select "planet06.cat"
Catalogues are located in /home/dfoscobs/catal

DOME FLATS:
Click on "FF Scr" in Fixed Presets section
Turn on FF lamp and put intensity at 100
Open sky baffle
Open mirror cover

BIASES:
Turn off FF lamp and put intensity at 0
Close sky baffle
Close mirror cover
When finished, click on Zenith in Fixed Presets section

SUNSET:
check meteomonitor

IN DOME:
Open dome (if wind and humidity OK)
Open sideports (depends on wind strength)
Open mirror cover

IN CONTROL ROOM:
Open sky baffle

BEGINNING OF NIGHT:

CORRECT COORDINATES (CORRCO)
Select a bright star (enter coordinates or from catalogue)
Click on "Preset"
Switch on Philips monitor
Click on "Center Field"
Click on "Virtual Handset..."
Increase Voltage to 120
Enter 60 as R.A. Offset Step in Telescope Constants section
Click on "Apply"
Push "OFFSET", then "-RA" 5 times: you should see the star
Focus it by pushing In or Out (first Fast then Slow)
Change Offset Step to 1 both in R.A. and Decl.
Click on "Apply"
Push "OFFSET" and center the star on the mark labelled 1050, 1050
Push "CorrCo"
Set Voltage to 0
Click on "Park Pos."
Take an image to check that the star is centered on the CCD

FOCUS:
Check that Offset Steps are 10" both in R.A. and Decl.
See BIAS checklist for how to proceed

GUIDING:
Look for a suitable star (100000 counts) on Philips terminal
Put Voltage to 254
Push Start in Guide Probe Search Auto section
Push Stop when a suitable star appears, or Record Pos. if not convinced
Put the star into the box using Manual X and Y buttons
Press "Box to Star" and wait for "ACTIVE" status to start exposure
Don't guide for short exposures when clouds prevent from a correct guiding
(up to 2 min)
To stop guiding, push Off and set Voltage to 0
It is better to always use the same guiding star for a given target:
this is quicker and allows a check in case the guiding star does not
appear at the expected position
Enter the guiding star coordinates as X and Y in Guide Probe Preset section, then

press Apply when you press Preset to next object.