Manual Instructions

MANUAL INSTRUCTIONS

OPENING THE OBSERVATORY

Before starting, I recommend opening up three xterms. Make the first a looong xterm to display the output of the observatory server tserver by typing:

show tserver

Keep this window open to monitor the status of the telescope and all the devices.
Then in a second xterm type:

openup

This script will open the slit, check that the devices have been homed, open the telescope mirror and generally prepare for observations. When this command is finished type:

keepopen maxtime=3600

or whatever number of seconds you plan to observe. Leave this program running to keep the slit open. Shrink the window to a small size.
Finally in the third command window to type your commands;

POINTING THE TELESCOPE

Before using the telescope remember to turn on the tracking by typing:

tx track on

The tracking only turns on for an hour, so this command will have to be repeated occasionally.

To point the telescope type:

tx point ra=hh:mm:sss dec=dd:mm:ss equinox=yyyy

Where the Right ascension and declination are in sexagesimal format, with no embedded blanks.

For example to point to Arcturus (in equinox 2000 so I have omitted the equinox) type:

 tx point ra=14:15:37.92 dec=19:10:10.98

If you are lazy, you can do some tricks using the script dopoint and the star finder program bright to make the same command.

bright ra=14 dec=19 faint=1 | dopoint

If you realize you have made a mistake you can stop the telescope by typing Cntrl^C (or type tx abort in another window). Be patient, it will take a few seconds to stop.

TAKING A PICTURE

Before taking a picture you should check that filter is in the proper position. If you want to use the V filter type:

pfilter V

To take a picture with a 10 second exposure time type:

image time=10

It will then write a FITS file in the current working directory with the name image.fits You can use the tv command or ds9 to display it.

ZEROING (SYNCING) THE TELESCOPE

If you find that the telescope is consistently pointing off from the center of the CCD in a consistent manner you can adjust the telescope pointing constants to make the centering better using the following:

use the tx point .. to point to known star
use the tx offset .. to center the star
type tx zero last

This will adjust the values of the additive pointing constants cra and cdec to give better pointing.

Note: ideally these constants are near zero degrees.

SOME OTHER THINGS

tx help - will list all the telescope server commands
tx xxx help - to list options of the xxx command
tx focus mm=-6.1 - will set the telescope focus position to -6.1 millimeters
tx offset dec=.01 ra=.01 cos - will move the telescope .01 degrees in dec and ra
tx dome center - will ensure the dome is still looking out the slit
tx where - will show where the telescope is pointing
lst - will print out the current local sidereal time

TROUBLE SHOOTING

If you want to look at the telescope turn on the room lights type:

tx interlocks lamp=on

I leave it as an exercise to figure out how to turn them off.

Other things to check:

Is the slit open? .. tx slit
Is the dome centered? .. tx dome center
Is the guider in the way? .. tx stage x=0 y=0
Is the telescope still tracking? .. tx track
Is the mirror open? .. tx mirror
What filter is in use? .. pfilter

CLOSING DOWN THE OBSERVATORY

When you are done observing for the night type:

closedown

Then close down your windows.

Instructions Index