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The IDS Cookbook

  1. Starting the computer system
  2. Changing gratings
  3. Changing collimators
  4. Focusing the spectrograph
  5. Biases, lamp flats, and calibration arcs
  6. Sky flats
  7. Focusing the system telescope-spectrograph
  8. Writing data tapes
  9. Commands related to IDS control
  10. Commands related to A&G box control

This page is undergoing continual change and enhancements, if there is anything you wish to see changed or added then please mail me.

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Starting the computer system

Changing gratings

Changing collimators

Focusing the spectrograph

Should only be performed by your support astronomer

Biases, lamp flats, and calibration arcs

BIAS
You can take bias frames (dome lights off!!!) with the commands:
SYS> bias $\rightarrow$ only one bias exposure
SYS> multbias 4 $\rightarrow$ a serie of 4 bias exposures
Flats
You can take lamps flats as follow.
SYS> cenwave 5000 $\rightarrow$ Select the central wavelength
SYS> slitarc 1 $\rightarrow$ Change the slit with to 1 arcsec
SYS> compmirror in $\rightarrow$ Put a mirror on the beam path
SYS> complamps W $\rightarrow$ Turn on the tungsten lamp.
SYS> compnd 1 $\rightarrow$ Neutral density for comparison lamps equal 1 (only if lamp flats saturate without neutral density filters)
SYS> flat 4 ``lamp flat 4s nd1.0 5000A'' $\rightarrow$ Take the exposure
SYS> complamps off $\rightarrow$ Turn off the tungsten lamp.
Arcs
Follow the same procedure as for lamp flats, but turn on turn on the appropiate lamps:
SYS> complamps CuNe $\rightarrow$ Turn on Copper-neon lamp
SYS> complamps CuAr $\rightarrow$ Turn on Copper-argon lamp
SYS> complamps CuAr+CuNe $\rightarrow$ Turn on both Copper-neon and Copper-argon lamps
Don't forget to turn off lamps after your calibration frames.

Sky flats

You can take sky flats at zenith or at a `blank' field. Ask to your TO to go to a blank fild.

Focusing the system telescope-spectrograph

Writing data tapes

To write the D tape for the ING archive: You can write the C tape (for your records) in the same manner, or you can copy the data to the scratch partition, compress it, and tar it:
> cd /obsdata/inta/yyyymmdd
> cp * /scratch/inta/yyyymmdd
> gzip *
> tar -cvf /dev/rmt/0n *

Commands related to IDS control

bscf Move the below slit colour filter
bsnd Move the below slit neutral density filter
camshut Move the IDS camera shutter
cenwave Change the grating angle to give the give central wavelength
change_ids List all exchangeable optics and allow changing
collimator Move the position of the collimator
dekker Move the dekker slide
gshut Move the grating shutter
hart Move the hartmanns
slit Set the slit width in microns
slitarc Set the slit width in arcseconds

Commands related to A&G box control

ascf Move above slit colour filter
asnd Move above slit neutral density filter
autofilt Change the autoguider filter wheel
autocentre Centres the autoguider XY probe
autopark Parks the autoguider XY probe
autoxy Move the autoguider XY probe
change_agb List contents of all filter wheels and allow a change
compfilta Move comparison filter wheel A (formerly afarc)
compfiltb Move comparison filter wheel B (formerly bfarc)
complamps Control comparison lamps
compmirror Move comparison mirror - and TV shutter
compnd Move comparison filters A and B to get desired neutral density
flipmirror Move the flip mirror
tvfilt Change the TV filter
tvcentre Centres the TV XY probe
tvpark Parks the TV XY probe
tvxy Move the TV XY probe

This page is undergoing continual change and enhancements, if there is anything you wish to see changed or added then please mail me.


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Last Updated: 6 March 2001
Begoña García-Lorenzo bgarcia@ing.iac.es