Telescope Commands

NAME

rslit - controls RCT telescope slit and weather station

SYNOPSIS

rslit [port=] [debug] [dropleaf] [humidity=] [norain] [nomets] [disable] [phony] [sunalt=] [windspeed=]

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

port= changes the default listing port from the default 0x1340.

debug- adds additional debugging printout. See code for details.

nomets- puts in phony reading for the weather station.

int- takes input from the keyboard rather than the socket for debugging.

norain - disables the rain sensor.

humidity= sets the humidity limit.

sunalt= sets the sun altitude limit.

windspeed= sets the windspeed limit.

dropleaft - enables use of the dropleaf (def: not enabled)

disable - disables opening the dome.

phony - doesn't actually open the slit... just says so.

COMMANDS

The telescope commands using the BAIT protocol customized for the RCT implemented by the rslit program. In the following optional arguments are indicated in [] brackets. All commands have the help option that lists the available keywords.

METS


mets [anyage] [clear] [nomets=]

Returns the values of the Vaisala weather station. These are one minute averages reported every 10 seconds.

oat - outside air temperature in degrees C
windspeed - wind speed in m/s
winddir - wind direction in degrees from north
peak - peak wind speed (past 10 minutes) in m/s
humidity - humidity in percent RH
bar - barometric pressure in hPa or mBar
rain - 0 if no rain , 1 if raining
age - time since last reading in seconds
lastrain - time in seconds since last positive rain indication (if < 10,000)

Example:
tx mets
done mets oat=13.5 windspeed=2 winddir=242 humidity=23 bar=793 rain=0 age=4

Unless the anyage option is specified, an ERROR message will be issued if age of the data is over 20 seconds old,

The clear option will clear the "lastrain" flag. This is a kludge.

Note: the first time the command is issued there will be up to a 10 second delay.

The phony weather data can be turned on and off by the nomets= flag. nomets=1 turns phony data on, nomets=0 uses real data.

SLIT

slit [open] [close] [dropleaf=open/close]  [nosun]  
or
slit [slit=open/close] 
or
slit  keepopen
or
slit limits

This command opens the observatory dome slit. When successful, the slit command reports back something like:

Example:
tx slit
done slit slit=closed dropleaf=closed cantopen=sun,windy
or
done slit slit=open dropleaf=closed

To open the slit enter in

tx slit open
tx slit slit=open            #alternate form
tx slit dropleaf=open        #slit must already be open

The cantopen keyword is only present when the slit cannot open due to bad weather or sunlight. Possible reasons that it cannot open are:

sun - when the sun is too high
rain - when it is currently raining
drip - when it was raining a short while ago (time in seconds)
humid - R.H. too high
windy - when peak windspeed is too high
icing - when oat is 0 or below and humidity greater than 50%

Use the limits option to determine the current weather limits. It reports a string similar to:

done slit sunalt=10.0 humidity=90 windspeed=14 rain=1 drip=3600

Error messages will be issued if the dome open request is made and the weather is bad, or the dome remains stowed when an open request has been made.

tx slit
done slit slit=closed dropleaf=close

The dome slit will stay open for about 5 minutes after each slit open command.

Use the keepopen option to keep the slit open. The keepopen will not open the dome if it is closed. If the slit (and dropleaf) are open and the weather is no longer suitable, the keepopen command will cause the slit to close (strange but true) and an error message will be issued.

nosun overrides the prohibition to open the sun during the daytime. Use with caution.

TAUX

taux

taux reads the auxiliary temperature sensors and in particular the cloud sensor. The command returns a string similar to

done taux ovolts=2.667 irvolts=0.199 cvolts=2.915 cloud=0.10
where:
ovolts - the temperature sensor reading of the cloud detector
irvolts - the infrared sensor reading of the cloud detector
cvolts - the temperature sensor reading of the drive cabinet
cloud - 0 to 1.0 reading where 0 is clear and 1 overcast

The cloud conversion is very approximate.

Program Index