INS-SDSUAUTO-3

Software User Manual for the

SDSU-based Autoguider/TV System

R Bassom

Issue 0.2; 17-Jun-2004

Isaac Newton Group,

Apartado 321, 38700 S/C La Palma,

Tenerife, Canary Islands

Telephone +34 922 425400

Fax +34 922 425401

Internet rab@ing.iac.es

Contents:

1. INTRODUCTION 3

1.1 Purpose 3

1.2 Scope 3

1.3 Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations 3

1.4 References 3

2. Getting Started 4

2.1 Setting up the System 4

2.2 Starting the System 4

2.3 Restarting the System in the Event of Problems 4

3. Graphical User Interface 5

3.1 Autoguider GUI 5

3.2 Typical Usage 6

3.2.1 Guide on the Brightest Star 6

3.2.2 Guide on a Specific Pixel 6

3.2.3 Guide on a Selected Object 6

4. User Commands 10

4.1 Overview 10

4.2 Command Summary 10

5. Document history 12

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

This document describes the user interface to the SDSU autoguider. It provides details of the available command set and also information on setting up and using the autoguider itself. Also described is the autoguider graphical user interface (GUI). This document should be read by all those wishing to use the SDSU autoguider.

1.2 Scope

This document describes the software of the SDSU based autoguider system.

1.3 Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations

WHT The William Herschel Telescope

SDSU San Diego State University camera controller

UltraDAS The Sun Ultra based Data Acquisition System

TCS Telescope Control System

2. Getting Started with the SDSU Autoguider

Use the ‘obssys’ or ‘obssys dev’ command to set up the system. Select the required autoguider camera to be used for TV/autoguiding. If the autoguider is to be run on the DAS machine used for the autoguider camera, then the UltraDAS camera server should be started with the ‘startobssys’ command.

If the autoguider is to be run on a different machine from the DAS computer, then ensure that the autoguider camera is running on the remote DAS machine.

2.2 Starting the System

Start the autoguider using the ‘startsdsuag <autoguider_name>’ script provided. For example to start the ag2 autoguider, then type:

startsdsuag ag2

This script will start up the following items:

SDSUAutoguider – This is the SDSU autoguider server. The message “The autoguider is starting up” should appear in the talker window.

SDSUAutoguiderGUI – This is the SDSU autoguider control GUI.

ds9 – This is the display tool used by the autoguider for displaying TV/autoguider images.

talker – This provides log, informational and alarm information on the autoguider.

2.3 Restarting the System in the Event of Problems

Shutdown the camera server on the DAS machine on which the camera is running by typing ‘shutdownobssys’, and then type ‘cleanup’ to clean up DRAMA. Restart the camera server by typing ‘startobssys’ on the DAS machine.

On the autoguider machine, type ‘startsdsuag <autoguider_name>‘ to restart the autoguider tasks. For example to restart the ag2 autoguider, then type:

startsdsuag ag2

2.4 Reverting to the original UltraDAS Autoguider

Close down the SDSUAutoguider by typing ‘murder SDSUAutoguider’. Start up the UltraDAS Autoguider with the command ‘startag <camera>’. For example:

startag ag2

3. Graphical User Interface

3.1 Autoguider GUI

Figure 1 SDSU Autoguider GUI

The graphical user interface can be run on any Solaris workstation that is part of the observing system. It provides controls to set the autoguider guiding on an object or a specified pixel, displaying TV images, and to provide a field images showing suitable guide objects. “Tooltip” help for all GUI controls is available by hovering the mouse pointer over the control.

Images are fed from the autoguider GUI control to a ds9 display tool using the Client Display Library (CDL), with various overlays marking the usable guide objects. The ds9 display tool can also used to manually select guide objects. The GUI displays statistical information about the guide object, and provides status information on the autoguider camera.

A plot of the telescope x and y guiding errors is updated in real time.

3.2 Typical Usage

Typical usage sequences are:

3.2.1 Guide on the Brightest Star

The TO selects a suitable guide object from the catalogue, and moves the probe to the guide object.
Field: The TO presses the “Field” button to identify the guide object.
TV: If the object is not immediately visible, the TO may press the “TV” button to have the display continually updating. The integration time may need to be changed in order to acquire the guide object, This can be done by typing new values into the “Integration time” control, and pressing enter.
Guide: When the guide object has been identified, the TO may press the “Guide” button to set the autoguider guiding on the brightest object in the field. This will close the guide loop with the TCS, and the autoguider will start sending guide data to the TCS.
Stop: When the TO is ready to move to the next field, they may press the “Stop” button to open the guide loop with the TCS, and to stop the autoguider sending guide data to the TCS.

3.2.2 Guide on a Specific Pixel

· The TO selects a suitable guide object from the catalogue, and moves the probe to the guide object.

· Field: The TO presses the “Field” button to identify the guide object.

· TV: If the object is not immediately visible, the TO may press the “TV” button to have the display continually updating. The integration time may need to be changed in order to acquire the guide object, This can be done by typing new values into the “Integration time” control, and pressing enter.

· Guide on pixel: The TO may now select the “Guide on pixel” radio button, and type in the co-ordinates of the pixel required for guiding.

· Guide: The TO can start guiding on the pixel by pressing the “Guide” button.

· Stop: When the TO is ready to move to the next field, they may press the “Stop” button to open the guide loop with the TCS, and to stop the autoguider sending guide data to the TCS.

3.2.3 Guide on a Selected Object

· The TO selects a suitable guide object from the catalogue, and moves the probe to the guide object.

· Field: The TO presses the “Field” button to identify the guide object.

· Guide on object: The TO may now select the “Guide on object” radio button to manually select an object in the display. This may be because the brightest object is not suitable for guiding.

· Guide: The TO presses the “Guide” button to start guiding. A dialog box will pop up asking the TO to select the required object on the display. The TO closes this dialog box, selects the display tool window, and moves the cursor to the required object. When the cursor is over the required object, the TO presses any key on the keyboard, and the autoguider starts to guide on the selected object.

· Stop: When the TO is ready to move to the next field, they may press the “Stop” button to open the guide loop with the TCS, and to stop the autoguider sending guide data to the TCS.

Figure 2 Display tool - ds9

Figure 3 Autoguider Error Plot

4. User Commands

4.1 Overview

The autoguider user commands are written as programs accessible from the UNIX shell. This means that sequences of user commands can be combined into scripts using standard shell scripts. For example a function could be written which sets the autoguider to set the acquisition window and guide on the brightest object. Alternatively, an automated pointing test could be written as a script using the autoguider commands.

A single command line client is provided which takes the name of the autoguider and the autoguider command as its parameters. The general format of an autoguider command is:

ag <autoguider_name> <command> <command_parameters>

For example to start guiding on the brightest star in the field on autoguider ag2:

ag ag2 guide

By making the autoguider commands accessible in this way, the use of C-shell scripts, Perl scripts, and Tcl/Tk user interfaces, for example, can all be used to combine the commands in order to provide higher-level control. For example, the following script sets a window [300:800,300:800] on autoguider camera AG2, then guides on the brightest object in the field.

#!/bin/csh

ag ag2 set acqwin 300 300 800 800

ag ag2 guide

#end

4.2 Command Summary

Command	Description
ag <autoguider_name> guide	Set the autoguider guiding on the brightest star in the image
ag <autoguider_name> guideonpixel x y	Set the autoguider guiding on the pixel at co-ordinates x,y
ag <autoguider_name> guideonobject at_x at_y	Set the autoguider guiding on the object at co-ordinates x,y
ag <autoguider_name> field	Perform a field to identify potential guide objects
ag <autoguider_name> tv	Set the autoguider displaying TV images
ag <autoguider_name> stop	Stop the autoguider guiding or displaying TV images
ag <autoguider_name> open loop	Open the guide loop with the TCS
ag <autoguider_name> close loop	Close the guide loop with the TCS
ag <autoguider_name> set guiwin x y	Set the position of the guide window to x,y
ag <autoguider_name> set guiwinsize size	Set the size of the guide window box in pixels
ag <autoguider_name> offset guiwin xoffset yoffset	Offset the guide window by xoffset, yoffset
ag <autoguider_name> set acqwin x1 y1 x2 y2	Set the autoguider camera acquisition window from x1, y1 to x2, y2
ag <autoguider_name> set inttime integration_time	Set the autoguider’s integration time in seconds
ag <autoguider_name> set snr SNR_threshold	Set the signal to noise ratio threshold
ag <autoguider_name> set tracking on	Set guide star tracking on
ag <autoguider_name> set tracking off	Set guide star tracking off
ag <autoguider_name> reset reference	Reset the guide star reference values
ag <autoguider_name> get state	Get the current state of the autoguider
ag <autoguider_name> get guidestar	Get the details of the current guide star
ag <autoguider_name> get inttime	Get the autoguider’s current integration time
ag <autoguider_name> get guidetarget	Get the position of the guide star target
ag <autoguider_name> get guideerror	Get the current guide error

5. Document history

V0.1 27^th May, 2004 - First draft produced