rtel implements the BAIT protocol for the RCT telescope.
alt= sets altitude limit (def: 10 degrees)
debug - sets generic debug level.
debug= sets specific debug level (see below for mask).
maxzero= sets the maximum shift to the zero command (def:big)
buffer= sets the minimum distance to dome edge in inches (def:10)
maxdist= sets the maximum distance in point command convergence (def:see program) This may effect ERRORs in the point program.
noratecheck - does not check for tracking rate before pointing.
state= add port for state variable.
wallace= sets the pointing correction file (def: none). This may effect ERRORs in the point program.
port= changes the default listing port from the default 0x1340.
badmirror - ignores the Cover1 readings (and makes them the same as Cover3).
stabilize= sets the servo convergence error in degrees in point command.
#define DEBUG_AXIS 1 #define DEBUG_XPC 2 #define DEBUG_COORD 4 #define DEBUG_TELESCOPE 8 // Dome too #define DEBUG_TOLERANCE 0x10 #define DEBUG_WALLACE 0x20 // Pointing corrections #define DEBUG_ADAM 0x40 #define DEBUG_PUCK 0x80 #define DEBUG_LOCK 0x100
beep [quick]
Pulses the klaxon in the dome. The quick keyword does it for a short time.
dome [center | lead | query] [force] [put=%f] [nostick]
Reports back the azimuth of the dome.
Example: tx dome done dome az=178.1
If the dome has not been homed, an ERROR message is generated. Use the home command to correct this problem.
The dome can be rotated to the azimuth set by the put= command. If the dome power is not on, the power will be turned on with a short delay before moving. Use the power command to turn off the dome power. The azimuth is in degrees from north (East is 90.0).
The motion of the dome can be stopped by the Cntrl^C or abort command.
The center option causes the dome shutter to be
centered at the proper azimuth for the telescope to look out.
The dome will only move if necessary.
If the dome actually moves it returns the keyword moved
in its reply.
The force will move to the center azimuth even if the telescope
is looking out.
The lead keyword will place the dome at the azimuth ahead of the current azimuth so that the telescope will look out for the longest time. The motion will be done only if the telescope is not looking out. The force keyword will move it anyway.
The query doesn't move the dome but will return other information about the situation. For example:
done dome az=350.0 cen=282.8 lead=274.8 movedome=1 min=-5Where az= is the current azimuth, cen= is the center azimuth, lead= is the lead azimuth, movedome=1 if the dome needs to be moved, min= is the minimum distance in inches of the telescope beam to a dome surface. If this is less than the buffer specified in the program command line, then the dome should be moved.
nostick - disables the checking that the dome is moving.
encoder [bar=795] [oat=1.7] [hum=0.25] [wave=0.55] [ut]
Reads the telescope position encoders in decimal degrees. No corrections are applied. It prints out a line like:
done encoder ha=6.3140 dec=33.0039 dha=0.0000 ddec=0.0000 bar=794.8 oat=1.7 hum=0.25 wave=0.55Where ha and dec are the values from the main encoders, The values of the pointing corrections are also printed.
The barometric and outside air temperature are also presented. These are assumptions used for refraction calculations and can be changed using the command line options.
focus [mm=-21.2 0.1] [override]
Moves the telescope secondary to the desired focus position in millimeters.
If the requested or the reported secondary position value is outside of the legal range of motion the position report will be prefaced by the word ERROR instead of done. This check is omitted if the override keyword is specified. The range of motion can be determined by using the keyword, help.
If the encoder has not been homed an ERROR message will be generated. Use the home command to home the secondary.
gws [low=0,7000] [high=0,5000] [off]
Turns on the lights for the Great White Spot (GWS). There are two levels of light, high and low. The range of the lamps is between 0 (off) and some integer value (full on). Use the help option to determine the maximum allowed values.
If no options are specified, the present values in units from 0 to 32767 are reported.
home [ha[=]] [dec[=]] [focus[=]] [dome[l|r|=] home [status]Homes the selected axes. All of the telescope encoders are incremental and need to have the absolute position determined; the home command accomplishes this.
Note: Some axes may take minutes to home. The secondary can take up to six minutes.
When an equals sign '=' appears, it will force the home value to the floating point number after the equals sign. This number will only appear as long as the program is running. This option is for testing only.
The dome option goes in direction expected from the encoders. The domel and domer make the dome seek left and right respectively.
status determines whether the axes have been homed. It returns a string simlar to:
done home ha=homed dec=homed focus=not_homed dome=not_homed
interlocks [lamp=on|off] [safemode=on|off] [airbag=on|off]
Reports back the status of the
Example: tx interlocks lamp=on done interlocks lamp=on safemode=off estop=off floor=down tilt=ok door=closed ups=ok manual=auto airbag=offThe lamp option turns the security light on. The safemode can by used to invoke or reset safemode. (This is the condition of reduced telescope slew rates which is invoked by the entrance door opening.).
The telescope will not move if the estop is on, the floor is up, or the tilts are bad.
Used without options it reports back the current lamp ,safemode, and airbag status.
The ups will report ok when running on mains power and bad when running on batteries. NOTE: THIS DOESN'T WORK.
mirror [open] [close]
Controls the mirror cover on the telescope.
Returns with done mirror xx
where xx is either open or
close depending on the status after the command is issued.
If open or close is requested and the status
disagrees, an ERROR message is issued.
It takes about 37 seconds to open or close the mirror. Ideally the mirror should be pointed near the zenith before closing. The program does not check if this is the case.
If the mirror is partially open or closed the following ERROR message will be generated.
ERROR mirror mirror in mixed state
The command cannot be interrupted by Cntrl^C.
offset [ra=%f] [dec=%f] [cos] [ha=%f] [minutes] [seconds]Offsets the telescope from its present position where the values are in decimal degrees unless the minutes or seconds are present, at which time they are in arc minutes or seconds.
The dome will not be adjusted and the current epoch will be used.
If the cos keyword is specified the motion is corrected (increased) by 1.0/cos(declination).
Note: No limit checking is done before the move.
point cstring [mode=icrs|astrometric|geocentric|topocentric|observed] [last] [nobeep] [lead] [nomove] [dome=] [raw] [dropout] [arrive=]
Positions the telescope to the specified coordinate string. For discussion of these strings see can be found here.
The telescope will respond with done when pointed
to within its tolerance.
The dome will be moved unless the nodome option is specified.
If the telescope is in manual mode or the interlocks are violated, an ERROR message will be issued.
An ERROR message will be issued if the axes are not homed. Use the home command to do this.
last points to the last coordinate pointed to (again).
The dome will usually point to center the telescope but this can overridden with some options: nodome doesn't move the dome. lead sends the dome the lead position. nodome doesn't move the dome. dome= moves to the specified azimuth.
nobeep doesn't beep the klaxon.
raw skips the pointing (Wallace) corrections.
arrive= moves the telescope at a rate to get the requested coordinate at the ISO 8601 time. If this exceeds the maximum slew rate and ERROR message will be issued. This command is used for satellite tracking.
If the telescope is not pointed close to the requested coordinates and ERROR message stating that the "not converging". This behavior can be overridden using the noconverge option. The latter option will be removed when the bug is found.
The point command can be aborted by the Cntrl^C or abort command. When stopped, the tracking is turned off.
Point reports back the telescope angular move distance and convergence distance in degrees.
Examples: point ra=14:14 dec=19:19 #points to ICRS coordinates point ha=4.856 dec=10.430 nodome #points to observed decimal degrees point alt=90.0 dome=45 #points straight up and dome at 45 degrees
power [dome=on|off] [on]
Turns on the power to the requested devices. The dome power turns off the power to azimuth and slit; commands to move them will turn it on automatically. This can be abbreviated 'on'.
preload [ha=0,3000] [dec=0,3000] [off]
Turns on the telescope drive preloads. The values can be in the range 0 and some integer value. Use the help option to determine the maximum allowed value.
The off sets both values to 0.
Used without options, it reports the current values as an integer in the range -32768 to 32767.
Example: tx tel_status done tel_status name=RCT obs=KPNO lat=31.95910 long=-111.59857 elev=2040.0 east=-78.0 west=148.0 north=90.0 south=-47.0 alt=10.0 scale=11.89 type=equat diam=1.3
Where the East Longitude, latitude and limits are in decimal degrees; the elevation is in meters above sea level. The name is the name of the telescope, while obs specifies the name of the observatory. The limits to the telescope motion are specified in degrees. The scale is in arc-seconds per mm. The type is the type of telescope mount (equatorial). The diam is the diameter of the primary in meters.
Note: The values reported by this command (not necessarily the example above) are considered the authoritative values.
The option camera=guider is ignored
track [on | off | local] [ha=] [dec=] [dra=] [ddec=] [interval=60] [high]
Sets the telescope tracking rate. When used without arguments it simply returns the current track rate in arc seconds per second. Note: the tracking is turned on for one hour and must be re-initialize by a track, offset, or point command.
on turns the tracking to the sidereal rate.
Using the ha= and dec= allow you to set the rates explicitly in arc seconds per second.
Using ra= sets the tracking above or below the sidereal rate in arc-seconds per seconds.
The local option adjusts the tracking rate to the value determined by the derivative of the pointing coefficients at the hour angle and declination that the telescope is currently pointing. It cannot be combined with the ra, ha, or dec options. (Use the dra, dha, and ddec options below).
The dra=, dha=, and ddec= options are a bit odd as they add their respective values to the track rate already established on the command line. For example:
tx track local dra=.011 ddec=-.0041 tx track on dra=.011 ddec=-.0041 tx track local `asteroid vesta rates | sed s/ra/dra/ | sed s/dec/ddec/`Will put a non-sidereal components of .011 and -.0041 arc-seconds/sec to the RA and dec respectively.
high prints out a ridiculous number of significant figures.
where [[mode=]icrs|astrometric|geocentric|topocentric|observed] [raw] [decimal] [equinox=] [high] [force]
[camera=guider]
Reports the telescope position.
Example: tx where done where ra=06:50:8.04 dec=+31:57:28 equinox=2006.4 ha=-0.016 secz=1.00 alt=90.0 az=97.2The default position are ICRS coordinates. The encoder positions have been corrected for:
The mode can be change to the values mentioned above. A discussion of these options can be found here.
The hour angle, altitude and azimuth are all reported in decimal degrees. The secant of the zenith angle is unitless.
The azimuth is that of where the telescope is pointing and is not necessarily the azimuth the dome should be pointing.
If either the HA or Dec encoder has not been homed, an ERROR message will occur. Use the home command to correct.
The decimal option causes the RA and Dec to be reported in decimal degrees rather than sexagesimal hours/degrees.
raw drops the encoder (Wallace) corretions.
high prints out a ridiculous number of significant figures.
force does something I can't remember.
camera=guider is a courtesy as the target is the same as the center.
zero [ra=hh:mm:ss.s] [dec=dd:mm:ss] zero [last] zero [cra=%f] [cdec=%f]Used in the first method the zero command tells the telescope control program that the current position is that stated on the command line. The program will then adjust the additive constants to the pointing programs so that future `point' commands will refer to this origin. The
last keyword can be used in place of specifying the
coordinates.
The additive constants can be set manually by specifying them on the command line. The values revert to 0.0 when the program is restarted.