The recipes below cover typical setup and observing procedures required during routine operation of NAOMI. There are separate (supplementary) observing recipes for OASIS, and for GLAS. For troubleshooting and diagnostic procedures, see the troubleshooting guide.

Links to the home pages of NAOMI and the individual science instruments are given at the head of this page.
For technical information, see the NAOMI technical-information page, which includes links to e.g. a description of NAOMI (component-by-component), a collection of useful numbers (parameter ranges and settings, conversion factors etc.), the current work plan / jobs list and the engineering documentation index.

The sections below describe basic daytime checks, and mirror-flattening, to be carried out by the ops team or by NAOMI specialists:

• Basic daytime checks
  • In GRACE
  • At the WHT control desk
  • At the WHT instrument-control screen (taurus)
  • At the NAOMI control screen (lpss42), including link to screen grabs of top gui pages.
  • That light reaches the simplex camera (includes check of PSF)
  • That light reaches the OASIS CCD
  • That light reaches INGRID
• Mirror flattening
  • Starting point for mirror flattening
  • Laser-flattening
  • White-light flattening
  • Simplexing
  • Removing staircase

The above sections are preceded by a quick-reference check-list, which may be useful for experienced users.

The duty engineers have their own daily-checks list, maintained by Olivier Martin.

The full checks should be carried out by the ops team a few days before the run (to allow time to fix any problems) and on the day of the run. Thereafter, the ops team will carry out only the first part of the checks (i.e. not including mirror-flattening), unless (1) the night-time observer requests that the mirror be flattened (e.g. because the mirror shape has seriously degraded during the night), or (2) the PSF as seen on the simplex camera is obviously degraded.

It's assumed that when the above checks are carried out by the ops team, a NAOMI specialist will be on-call at SLO to help with any unexpected problems (ops-team staff aren't expected to navigate the troubleshooting guide!).

The remaining sections deal mainly with night-time operation of NAOMI, and are aimed at NAOMI support astronomers:

• Final daytime checks by support astronomer
• Setup for observing
• Test observation of bright star
• PSF measurement
• Science observation
• Open-loop observation
• Open-loop offset sky
• SLODAR observation
• Recording open-loop WFS data
• Lucky-exposures observation
• Switching between CCD39 and L3 CCDs on WFS
• End of night
• Command glossary (incomplete)
• Appendix 1 - Filenames, machine names, usernames
• Appendix 2 - Abbreviations

Checks:

• GRACE: covers off; check surfaces, pinhole (usually 2- or 5-micron), light path; check required sub-systems are powered on.
• On the air-conditioning control panel in the control room, check that the temperature is stable.
• Run up observing system on taurus, check detectors are available.
• Check that USP/OASIS gui has come up (otherwise telnet to taurus to start it up), float the bench.
• Start top gui from lpss42 prompt with topgui (use restart if any problems), load last flat, close SG loop (C40s page), check SG gain, start WFS framing, click on 'continuous', set max to 2000 counts.
• Put simplex pinhole in beam, switch on lamp, set pickoff probe to nominal position (~ 0, 3), put in good-seeing lenslet, check spots are present on WFS.
  The simplex pinhole can be moved manually in the vertical direction. The current (9/06) position is 6.8 mm. It's rarely moved, so it's not necessary to check it.
• Run up simplex gui, put in simplex flat mirror, check that pinhole image is visible on AG7. Check appearance of PSF, to decide whether mirror-flattening required (always required on the first night of a run).
• Take simplex flat out, set OASIS to imaging mode, check that pinhole image is visible on MIT3, if required.
• Take out OASIS flat, check that pinhole image is visible on INGRID, if required.

Mirror-flattening:

• Power on fisba monitor, turn down air-conditioning to 20%, turn WHT oil pumps off, check that all segments are present, tweak in any stray DM segments.
• Laser-flatten: bring up gui, iterate. Turn air-conditioning back to 100% when satisfied. Record filename in logbook.
• White-light flatten: make sure WFS spots are bright, AutoCentre, check WFS focus, AutoWhite, check solution is acceptable. Record filename in logbook.
• Start simplex application with simplex, click on 'continuous display', make sure OASIS and simplex flats are in, set exposure time 0.015 sec, set lamp brightness, adjust window.
• Check that filter focus value is optimised, usually around 2.2 mm (see the OASIS observing recipe for latest values)
• Click on simplex, watch for improvements in MF and peak counts. Repeat simplex until acceptable MF achieved. Record filename in logbook.
• Check the PSF on AG7 and on OASIS (remember to change the filter focus).
• Laser-flatten again.
• Remove staircase with stairx 20, stairy 20 etc. Record filename in logbook.

Final checks by support astronomer:

• Final simplexing, for each dichroic to be used at night.
• Measure offsets for each simplex, and for each required WFS mode, using AutoOffsets.
• Load reconstructor, test it closed-loop (for each WFS mode).

  Basic daytime checks

  ---

  In GRACE

  GRACE is positioned at the head of the stairs when the WHT azimuth is 300 deg. While in GRACE, be careful - bear in mind that you are effectively inside the instrument!

  The photo below (from Myers et al 2002) shows the layout on the NAOMI optical bench of the deformable mirror (DM), off-axis paraboloid (OAP1, = fast-steering mirror, FSM) and wavefront-sensor (WFS). Since the photo was taken, the NCU has been upgraded, and OASIS, the ADC and the simplexing camera have been added.

  
  
  1. The covers should be removed from:
     • the first off-axis paraboloid (OAP1 or FSM, to the right of the deformable mirror (DM) when standing in front of it)
     • the large fold-flat mirror (between the DM and the edge of the bench)
     • the DM (photo of DM in lab from Myers et al):
       
       
     • the fisba return flat (right of the DM, next to the rail)
     • the small fisba mirror (with a cover marked "FISBA COVER" (above the rail) (the cover's a bit stiff, don't jerk it))
     • the second off-axis paraboloid (OAP2, at the right hand end of the rail)
     • the Nasmyth derotator (unless light leaking in from the dome is likely to hamper daytime work)
     The covers should be removed with care, to avoid disturbing the optical alignment, leaving fingerprints on an optical surface, or knocking the surface of an adjacent component.
     The DM cover should be removed with particular care. The DM is irreplaceable. Also, the DM surface cannot be cleaned. The cables going into the DM chassis should not be touched.
     The covers are usually left off during a run, and replaced between runs.
     Be careful with your fingers near the ADC (if present on the bench) - it can move suddenly into the beam (e.g. shortly after a reboot of the USP controller), with the cog slicing past the edge of the OAP1 mount.
  2. If any of the optical surfaces appear dirty, ask an expert (in optics or NAOMI) to blow off dust with the rubber bulb (kept in the cupboard behind the bench).
  3. Check that the required pinhole is installed in the NAOMI simplex position (leftmost aperture) in the Nasmyth calibration unit (left edge of the bench, when standing in front of the DM). For setup, the 2-micron pinhole is required. 5- and 10-micron pinholes (and larger) are also available. The pinholes, in screw-thread plastic mounts, are kept in small white envelopes in a box usually left on top of OASIS. If a pinhole is removed from the NCU, it should be returned to an envelope in this box.
  4. For daytime tests, the 50:50 dichroic is normally installed (NB on INGRID, this gives a ghost image, shifted 20 arcsec in the X direction).
  5. Check that the light path from the derotator to the dichroic, and from there to both the science cameras and the WFS, is unobstructed by e.g. mirror covers piled on the bench, bits of paper, screwdrivers.
  6. The laser (mounted overhead) should be on (indicator lamp lit). It's normally left powered on between AO runs. It takes ~ 20 mins to warm up. (If the fisba display appears not to be updating, it may be necessary to reboot the fisba PC, see the troubleshooting guide.)
  7. In the electronics room, check that the following are powered on / running normally:
     1. aocontrol1
     2. FSM (top crate of middle rack?).
     3. DM high voltage (red lamps in bottom-left corner at bottom of left-most rack). If it's not on, power on, top first, then bottom, as labelled.
     4. Hydraulic cooler (check occasionally there are no leaks from the unit, or from the pipes on and near the optical bench)
     5. WFS Peltier coolers (switch on the front of the second crate from the top of the middle rack)
     6. WFS camera controllers, and SDSU (bottom of middle rack)
     7. Mechanism control (middle rack, third and fourth crates from the bottom, and button at back of next rack up)
  8. Reboot the FISBA PC if necessary. Zoom display *3 when it comes up.
  9. Check that all lights and screen displays are off before leaving GRACE.
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  At the WHT control desk

  1. Check that the air-conditioning is running (left-hand end of main control desk). Instructions for changing the fan speed can be found under the 'start point for mirror-flattening' section of this document. (Go through menu "optics - knobs")
  2. Temperature should be maintained at 10 degrees, and this is done automatically by the air conditioning. Humidity should ideally be between ~ 30 to 45 per cent (values under "optics - analogue inputs"). Large changes in temperature and humidity can invalidate any mirror flattening solution already obtained. Control humidity using the dehumidifier and humidifier in GRACE.
  3. Switch off the lights in the dome (not usually critical for setup).

  At the WHT instrument-control screen (taurus)

  1. The observing system should be running, with at least AG7 (the simplex camera) available. INGRID and MIT3 may also be needed. AG3 (the acquisition camera) is needed at night. Check that the OASIS/USP control gui came up. If you want to carry out daytime tests without being interrupted by other work on taurus (e.g. the daytime checks of other instruments), telnet to lpss94 from the right-hand lpss42 screen, login as whtobs, type obssys, answer 1 to each of next two questions, then startobssys. This will give you a copy of the OASIS-control and other guis. Note that if there are then two guis running (e.g. one on taurus, one on lpss94), whichever started first will have control of the dichroic changer and of oasis.
  2. If OSCA is to be used, check that the OSCA-control page on the NAOMI observer interface (on taurus) is present. If the NAOMI observer interface is missing, type naomiInterface & at the SYS> prompt.

  At the NAOMI control screen (lpss42)

  1. Login to lpss42 (labelled AODISPLAY - SCREEN 1) as naomi. It's also useful to login to the right-hand screen. The central screen can display the naomi guis which include image displays (topgui, fisba, simplex), the right hand screen will not. [Tip for experts: if you login as root, the system will create files that then prevent further logins as naomi.]
  2. On the right-hand screen, telnet to taurus as whtobs, type obsyss , respond with 1, then 1, to bring up the TO prompt. If the OASIS server is not already started on TAURUS then type startoasisserver. Then type startoasisgui, to bring up the NCU/OASIS gui.
  3. Click on the button at the top left of the USP gui to float the bench. NB the bench flexes slightly on floating or de-floating, causing the WFS spots to move in the y direction, by about 0.5 arcsec. After about 3 mins (floating or de-floating) the spots are within 0.1 arcsec of their final position. There is no further movement after 6 mins.
  4. Check on the USP gui that the ADC (if present on the bench) is out of the beam. Check that nobody is physically near the ADC when it is being moved (finger safety).
  5. If OASIS is to be used, check that the mechanism labels on the OASIS engineering page of this gui are in green (none in red). Try moving a mechanism e.g. the grism wheel (unless the previous night's observer has advised against this), particularly if OASIS hasn't been used for some time.
  6. Unless the naomi top gui already appears to be up and running, type restart (or NaomiRestart) at the lpss42 prompt. (We believe that a restart is needed every 7 days or so because the SG frame count has a limit ~ 2000M, use SG Status to check it.) Type topgui & at the lpss42 prompt, to bring up the main NAOMI gui, topgui, illustrated below [fig to be annotated]:
     

     The 10 icons at top left:

     

     bring up the following pages: fisba, mechs, wfs, sdsu, c40s, light-path, simplex, diagnostics, real-time, DM. To see the layout of these (and other) top gui pages in more detail, click here.

  7. If the light-path page is not already displayed on the right hand side of the gui, click on the light-path icon at the top of the gui.
  8. If the scripts menu is not already displayed type AutoLauncher & at the lpss42 prompt, to bring up the scripts menu (for AutoCentre, AutoOffsets and mode configuration):
     
  9. Check in the NAOMI logbook (A4, usually somewhere on the control desk) the name of the last mirror-flat file, and load it, using the link two thirds of the way up the right-hand page of topgui. If it's old (weeks), it's probable better to start with the DM mid-ranged (the mid-range button is again about two thirds of the way up the light-path page of topgui).
  10. On the right-hand page, click to open the NGS WFS shutter.
  11. On the SDSUs page, check that the WFS CCD is reading in fast mode (slow is never used, too slow).
  12. Click on the green ring icon in the menu bar at the top of top gui to bring up the C40s page. The left ring of C40s refers to the WFS, the right ring to the SG (strain-gauge) loop for the DM.
  13. Switch on the TV above the AODISPLAYs to see the FISBA screen.
  14. Click on the button below the SG ring to close the SG loop. Check (two thirds of the way up the light path page) that the SG gain is set at 0.8. If not, type setgain 0.8 at the lpss42 prompt.
  15. The temperature of the DM can be checked with SG GetTemperature
  16. Click on the start button under the WFS ring on the C40s page, to start the WFS framing. Click on the tick box labelled 'continuous', below the bottom-left corner of the WFS display on the left-hand page, to start the display. Set the 'max' value in the window below the bottom-right corner of the display to 50. You should see WFS readout noise on the display (usually 8 counts rms), confirming that the WFS is reading out OK.
  17. Check the noise on the WFS by grabbing an image (top gui WFS page), save as fits file and displaying with iraf. Rms ~7 is OK; ~15 is not. To get to the image on disk use the alias 'cdgrab' and enter the subdirectory 'WFS' and display your image.
  18. On the USP gui, move the NCU slide to the NAOMI simplex position. Switch on the NAOMI simplex lamp, set the simplex iris to about -150 (0 is effectively the brightest, larger values don't help, ~ -320 is faintest). Select 'edit value' if required.
  19. Check in the NAOMI logbook the on-axis position last measured for the WFS pickoff mirror (usually about 0 3, in arcsec). Set the mirror to this position, by entering the values in the pickoff x and y boxes on the right hand page of the gui, and hitting ? (alternatively, type e.g. pickoff 1 3 at the lpss42 prompt).
  20. Check on the light-path page that the lenslet wheel is set to 'good-seeing lenslet', that the WFS mode is set to 1, and that the tip-tilt mirror is mid-ranged (4096, 4096).
  21. Spots should now be visible in each of the boxes on the WFS display. If not, check:
      1. NCU slide is in the simplex position
      2. simplex lamp is on, with the iris (brightness) set to -150
      3. WFS shutter is open
      4. WFS exposure time is between 10 and 50 msec
      If the spots are visible but not well-centred, tweak the position of the pickoff mirror. Once the spots fall within their individual boxes, they can be centred accurately by clicking the AutoCentre button on the scripts menu (this iteratively adjusts the position of the pickoff mirror).
  At this point, calibration light from the pinhole is going through the system, and is being detected by the WFS. Now check that light is being detected on the simplex camera and on the science detectors.

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  Check that light reaches the simplex camera AG7, inspect PSF

  1. On topgui click on 'Simplex AG7' under 'Flattening' on the left hand side. This starts the simplex gui.
  2. On the OASIS/USP gui, check that the OASIS flat and simplex flat are both in, so that after being reflected from the dichroic, the light is reflected from a fold flat in front of INGRID, then from another fold flat in front of OASIS, into the AG7 simplex camera. The simplest way to do this is from the OBSTOOL page of the gui - select observing mode = simplex (AG), and click on configure.
  3. Click on 'continuous' on the simplex gui.
  4. Check that the image of the pinhole is visible on the simplex display gui. The default window position is usually OK. If not, unclip it, and reset start x and y (increasing x moves the star left, increasing y moves the star up). Often the image has moved a few pixels in the vertical direction only, e.g. after floating or unfloating the bench. Use a window size ~ 30 * 30 pixels. It's usually most convenient to work with display-gui settings zoom *6, rainbow lookup table, and maximum set to the peak value (< 30000) indicated on the simplex control gui.
  5. Check the quality of the PSF (not needed on the first night of a run because you have to flatten the DM anyway):
     • From the USP gui, set the focus to the correct value for the simplex camera, usually about 2.2 mm (see the OASIS observing recipe for latest values)
     • On the simplex gui, click 'continuous' off.
     • At the observing-system prompt, type glance ag7 0.1 .
     • Inspect the image using iraf imexam (see the section 'Check the PSF') under Simplexing , checking that:
       • The image is single-peaked, not e.g. double.
       • The FWHM is < 4 pixels, i.e there is a resonable core.
       • Most of the light falls within an area < 10 pixels across (0.3 arcsec on-sky).
       • There are less than 6 satellite spots. There should be only 4, from the central 4 segments of the DM, which are fixed.
     • If these conditions are not satisfied, or if these are pre-run or first-night checks, or if the previous night's observer has requested it, the DM must be flattened.
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  Check that light reaches OASIS MIT3 (if required)

  1. Go to the OBSTOOL page on the USP/OASIS gui, select observing mode = imaging, and spectral config = e.g. MR516. This put the OASIS flat in, takes the simplex flat out, and sets:
     1. Focal plane = clear
     2. Enlarger = clear
     3. Filter = MR516 (or whatever is requested)
     4. Imager = 62 mm
     5. Sampler = imaging lens
     6. Beam-steerer = out
     7. Grism = out
     8. Camera = -3.33 mm (never moved)
     If a wheel fails to move, with a 'duck error', repeat the request on the engineering page. The grism wheel is particularly troublesome.
  2. Set the filter focus corrector value to 2.2 mm (see OASIS observing recipe for latest values)
  3. At the taurus prompt, set up the standard CCD window, with window oasis 1 "[1:2059,1035:3140]" . The CCD can now be binned, to improve readout speed during tests.
  4. Type glance oasis 1 at the taurus prompt, display the image, check that an image of the pinhole is visible. If there's no light, check that the 50:50 dichroic is installed. If there's not enough light, or the image is saturated, change the exposure time or the simplex iris setting.

  Check that light reaches INGRID (if required)

  1. On the USP gui, set the oasis flat to INGRID.
  2. Datum the wheels, select H, clear, clear, glance INGRID 1 etc. [recipe to be added here...]
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  Mirror-flattening

  ---

  The aim of the mirror-flattening procedure is to ensure that the system delivers to the science detector a diffraction-limited image of a pinhole in the focal plane.

  The procedure usually involves several stages, outlined below:

  • Select a suitable starting point, usually the previous night's best simplex, or a mid-ranged DM. The segments will have random tip, tilt and piston errors, as indicated schematically below (graphic by Paul Behrens):
  • Laser-flatten to remove the x,y tip-tilt of individual segments using the fisba interferometer:
  • White-light flatten to remove the piston offsets (z) between the segments:
  • Laser-flatten again to remove any tip-tilts introduced by the white-light flattening.
  • Simplex to optimise the sharpness of the PSF. Removal of non-common-path errors introduces small deviations from physical flatness:
  • Laser-flatten again to remove any tip-tilts introduced by the simplexing.
  • Remove 'staircase' (similar small tilt on each segment introduced by Fisba view of DM, not shown on graphics above).
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  Start point for mirror-flattening

  1. Power on the fisba monitor above the lpss42 display, select button A on the monitor. You should now have a view of the DM segments, usually vignetted upper right by the ADC. If the optical bench is down, the interference fringes on the individual segments will probably be washed out, and moving about a lot.
     The concentric rings arise in the interferometer itself, and are nothing to do with the DM.
     If the image is static, the fisba PC in GRACE probably needs rebooting.
  2. From the USP gui, float the optical bench. It takes a few minutes to come up. When the bench is floating, interference fringes should be clear on at least some segments.
  3. If the telescope is not moving, and nobody is walking on the observing or Nasmyth platforms, the fringes should be fairly stable. If they are moving about a lot due to air currents within GRACE, e.g. more than ~ 1 fringe per sec on many segments, turn the the air-conditioning down to 20%, from the GRACE control panel on the left end of the control desk. Use the rightmost button ('escape') to get back to the top-level menu, select optics (second button from left selects), select knobs, select optics fan speed, set to 20% (use the double down arrow), select. Don't forget the final press of the `select' button. It takes about 1 min for air currents to settle in GRACE.
  4. From the topgui light-path page, load the last good mirror flat recorded in the NAOMI logbook (when you hit the LOAD button, it lists the recent files), OR, mid-range the DM from the (bottom of the) topgui mirror control page, whichever looks better (visible fringes on the most segments on the fisba monitor).
  5. If there are fringes visible on all segments, go to laser-flattening. If not, then:
     1. Open the SG loop from the topgui C40s page
     2. Go to the topgui mirror-control page, click on hysteresis (you should see on the fisba display the DM segments jiggle for a few sec), wait for the procedure to finish. Repeat this twice.
     3. Close the SG loop on the C40s page (NB *not* the AO loop, which is controlled using the open/close button on the left-hand page of topgui).
     4. Mid-range the DM from the topgui mirror-control page
  6. Finally, tweak the individual mirror segments individually in tip-tilt until fringes are visible on each one (on the fisba display):
     • Check that spots are visible on the WFS, i.e. that light from the pinhole is reaching the WFS CCD (see above). Each spot corresponds to one DM segment. Spots which are not centred in their boxes correspond to DM segments with large tip-tilt, i.e. fringes washed out. [Tip for experts: if a segment is a long way off and hard to find, use INGRID in movie mode, or AG7 unclipped, to locate it.]
     • On the topgui mirror-control page, click on the x-y-piston button. Then for each stray spot:
       1. Click on the corresponding segment on the DM map to select it (click on 'labels' under the WFS display to see the segment numbering).
       2. Centre the stray spot in its box, using the x and y arrow buttons on the topgui mirror-control page. Each spot should be well-enough centred that fringes are visible on the corresponding DM segment.
  7. Save the current configuration of the DM by clicking on the DM 'save' button on the topgui light-path page, record it in the logbook.
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  Laser-flattening

  1. Bring up the fisba control and display guis (one control window, one display window) by clicking on the left-most icon at the top of top gui:
     
     
     In the above xv-captured copy of the fisba display, the image itself is not well reproduced, due to the 8-bit display used by the NAOMI applications. After work ~ end 2005 to install the dichroic changer, it was necessary to fold the fisba light path. The housing protecting the new fold mirror slightly vignettes the outer segments, and the boundary of the vignetted area is not quite circular - it has a scalloped appearance (why?).
  2. After work in GRACE which may have affected the optical path to the fisba, it's worth checking that the image is where the software expects it. Click on 'continuous display', check that the red crosses lie at the top left corners of each segment. If not, use the positioning buttons on the gui to adjust the crosses.
  3. The Z gain will be set to zero. Don't change it, otherwise the flattening procedure will move the segments in piston as well as tip-tilt.
  4. On the same gui, click on the 'iterate' button. The fisba analysis software now iterates (4 cycles of 4 phases) to minimise the number of fringes on each segment. If no iteration takes place, you probably need to reboot the fisba pc:
     • Go to the GRACE electronics room. On one of the shelves behind the door is the fisba PC display.
     • Restart the FISBA PC from the button bottom left of screen. It takes ~ 5 minutes. If it won't reoot satisfactorily, delete all windows, remove sessions on bar at the bottom of the display, double click on microshape icon. If it won't shut down, close from file button. If still no response, power-cycle the cpu.
     • Zoom display *3 when it comes up (menu button top-left of display).
     When the countdown reaches cycle = 0, phase = 0, the procedure has completed. The DM should now look flat on the fisba display, i.e. less than one fringe across each segment. If not, either tweak in bad segments by hand (see above), or repeat the laser-flattening.
  5. Save the current configuration of the DM (the 'laser flat') by clicking on the DM 'save' button on the topgui light-path page.
  6. Reset the GRACE air-conditioning to 100%, on the GRACE control panel at the left end of the control desk.
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  White-light flattening

  The white-light-flattening procedure removes piston shifts between the segments, and leaves the mirror close to physically flat.
  1. On the OBSTOOL gui, select observing mode = white light flat, and click on the configure button.
  2. The optical bench should be floated (it's OK if it's 'fixed', but you might need to raise it again if another laser-flattening is needed).
  3. The 2-micron pinhole should be in the simplex aperture in the NCU.
  4. On the USP gui, switch on the simplex lamps, set the NAOMI simplex iris to -150.
  5. Load the last laser flat on the DM.
  6. Either the 50:50 (default) or IR dichroic can be used. The wavelength range (spectral diversity) of the other dichroics isn't sufficient for white-light interferometry [Tip for experts: dichroic 4 is probably OK].
  7. On the topgui light-path page, set the WFS exposure time to 50 msec. Spots should now be visible on the WFS display. With the WFS display max set to 2000, the spots should appear bright. The peak intensity should not exceed ~ 30000 (you can judge by ramping up the 'max' level set in the box bottom right of the display) to avoid saturation during the procedure.
  8. Check the focus at the WFS:
     • Autocentre (button on the scripts menu)
     • Click on the WFS icon on the top bar of topgui, to bring up the WFS page.
     • Click on the alignment button to bring up the alignment tool.
     • Calculate the mean separation D of the spots in X and Y by taking the mean of 'Sep X' and 'Sep Y'.
     • Calculate dD = 8.0 - D. If |dD| is more than 0.03 pixels, change the WFS fore-optics focus by DF = -10 * dD:
       • Click on mechanisms icon at the top of topgui, left click, WFS, click with right button on WFS components and select Pickoff mechanisms.
       • Change the foreoptics position (demand position = left-most box) to the calculated new value, hit return, click on move, click on start. If it says 'focussed', this means the position is 0.0.
       • Check the separation, repeat the procedure if needed.
  9. At the lpss42 prompt, type AutoWhite which automatically:
     • Requests integration time (select option 0 to use current integration time.
     • Puts in the y-shift lenslet. Each WFS spot now includes light from halves of two DM segments.
     • Steps alternate rows of the DM in 2 sequences of 120 steps, and records the brightness of each spot at each step. The step size is 50 DAC, and ranges from 1000 to 7000 DAC.
     • Puts in the x-shift and does the same. If using AutoWhiteRoy (*not* currently needed), you need to adjust slightly the rotation of the lenslet wheel after it reaches the nominal x-shift position:
       • Click on the Eng Guis button at the top of top gui, select Mechanisms DM.
       • Right click on 'NAOMI Systems' on the window that just appeared.
       • Right click on 'WFS components' on the window that just appeared.
       • Reset the camera stage value in the first column to be similar to the value in the last column, click on move, click on start.
       • Reset the lenslet-wheel value in the first column to 3.25, click on move, click on start.
       • Continue the AutoWhiteRoy procedure, by typing 'yes'.
     • Identifies the peak position in the 120-step white-light interferogram for each DM-segment pair, and solves for the relative piston positions of all segments.
     • Moves the DM segments in piston so that the mirror is physically flat.
     • Saves the flat with a name similar to that of the laser flat but ending in `.white'.
     • Loads this flat on the mirror.
     • Outputs to the screen several useful diagnostics, including the gradients and the number of successful measurements. Records these results in e.g. /home/naomi/WhiteLight/20051220/20051220-101010.result (type cdpeak to reach this directory).
  10. The number of measurements is typically 130. If it's less than the number of unknowns (typically ~ 70, the number of segment piston values to find), the white-light flat is useless, probably because of one of the following:
      1. The spots weren't bright enough.
      2. The wrong dichroic was used (not enough wavelength range).
      
      [Tip for experts: Type cdpeak to go to the current directory for the white-light results (NB the cdpeak alias is set up on opening a window, so the date used for the sub-directory is sometimes wrong). Type out the .peakH and .peakV files. If more than a few lines start with #, the interferometry has failed.]
  11. If the gradients measured by the wlflat procedure are > 200, the fisba flat mirror probably needs adjusting (contact an expert).
      [Tip for experts: alternatively, add tip or tilt using e.g. AddZernike tip -1 at the prompt, save flat, cdflat, plotflathist to view it, and iterate until the DM looks ~ flat. If the gradients are +100, +100, you need to add tip -1, tilt -1.]
      If the white-light flattening fails, reload the laser flat and start again.
  12. Plot out the piston values of the segments:

      naomi@lpss42> plotflathist 20050512-122625.white
      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                                                                                    
                  #                     #                # ####       #      ## # # 
                  #                 ### #       ###  ##  ######## #######  # ## ### 
                  #  ##  #    ##    #####    #  #### ## ######### ############# ####
      --          ####################### ############# ############################
         #   ## ####################################### ############################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        ############################################################################
        0         1         2         3         4         5         6         7
        1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
      
      

      
      Check for large slopes (more than a few rows) in x or y.
  13. If there are two or more fringes on several segments, repeat the laser-flattening (with Z gain = 0).
  Back to top of page

  Simplexing

  1. On the OBSTOOL gui, select observing mode = simplex (AG), and click on the configure button, which puts in the OASIS and simplex flats, checks the 50/50 dichroic is in.
  2. Load the last white-light flat (e.g. as created above).
  3. If the simplex lamp isn't already on, switch it on from the USP gui.
  4. At the lpss42 prompt (but not on the right-hand screen), type simplex (short for mirroralign.py --camera AG7 &) to bring up the simplex control gui and display:
     
     
     NB in the above xv-captured copy of the simplex display, the image itself is not well reproduced, due to the 8-bit display used by the NAOMI applications.
  5. On the simplex gui, click on continuous, with clip images on. An image of the pinhole should be visible in the display. If not, the move the box by tweaking x and y, until the image of the pinhole appears. If it's difficult to find, unclip the image (not working 13/5/05 for AG7), to display the whole CCD. The top-left two pixels in the window are always 'bright', ~ 1500 counts. In practice, this probably doesn't affect the simplexing.
  6. From the simplex gui, adjust the window to be ~ 30 x 30 pixels in size, centred on the image of the star.
  7. Adjust the simplex lamp iris setting (typically ~ -290) on the USP gui, and the simplex exposure time (typically 0.02 sec) on the simplex gui so that the maximum counts (as displayed on the simplex control gui) are ~ 10000 - 25000, ideally ~ 18000. NB it's not possible to delete all the characters in the exposure-time window before entering a new value. You have to position the cursor somewhere in the string of digits, and insert new digits.
  8. On the simplex display gui, set zoom = 6, colour = rainbow, and display maximum to ~ the maximum value displayed by the simplex gui.
     
  9. [Tip for experts: any of INGRID, TEK1, MAR2, EEV13, AG5 or AG7 can be used with mirroralign.]
  10. Find best-focus value of OASIS filter focus (changed on USP gui), usually around 2.2 (see OASIS observing recipe for latest values), by maximising peak counts reported on simplex gui (and roundness of displayed image - typically it's elongated if the focus is off by more than 0.5 mm).
  11. Hit the simplex button, to start the procedure, which automatically:
      • Samples 228 random configurations of the DM, measuring the merit function (MF, a measure of the quality of the PSF, for each).
      • Iterates to improve the configuration. It should start to improve after ~ 800 cycles. There's not usually much improvement after 2000 cycles. Watch for improvements in the MF and the peak count.
  12. Aim for MF = -0.015 in the optical (30 * 30 window), -0.03 in H. The merit function MF = sum(intensity²) / (sum intensity)², and the acceptable value depends on wavelength, background level and window size. A good simplex in H band (INGRID) has PSF FWHM <~ 2 pixels, and the blobs in the PSF (typically out to radius ~ 12 pixels) should not exceed ~ 2%.
  13. If necessary, stop and resimplex to avoid getting stuck in a local minimum. Before restarting the simplex, check that there isn't a risk of saturation (as the PSF improves, the intensity of the central peak rises).
      If the MF remains poor, and repeated simplexing doesn't help, then:
      • If a long time (many hours) has elapsed since laser-flattening, a new laser-flattening may be needed before continuing with the simplex.
      • If the image is not single-peaked, it may be that the white-light flattening failed. Repeat it.
      • If neither of the above apply, and you're working with AG7, try halving the tip-tilt and piston gains (from the simplex control gui). The default values (96, 354) were designed for simplexing in the IR, on INGRID, and several users have noticed that reducing them sometimes helps when simplexing in the optical.
  14. When satisfied, hit the stop button.
  15. Save the flat, using the button on the top gui light-path page.
  16. Check the PSF:
      • Type run ag7 0.1 at the taurus prompt
      • If an iraf window isn't open:
        • Type xgterm & at any unix prompt (including lpss42).
        • Type cl to start iraf
        • cd to the data directory
      • Issue the following at the iraf prompt:
        • !ds9 & to start the display tool, if not already open
        • display s1[1] 1; imexa to display the image
        • move the cursor over the image of the pinhole and hit r for a radial profile, e for a contour plot, s for a surface plot, z for a 10*10 pixel dump.
        • Check the image is not saturated (i.e. < 40000 counts).
        The FWHM (the last number on the line below the image, after hitting r) should be ~ 2 pixels, the contour plot should look clean (all contours circular), and the the profile plotted with the imexam 'r' option should be a close approximation to that fitted to the core. If the PSF is very good, it will look like this:
        

        In particular, there should be very little extra flux in the wings of the profile, compared to that fitted,, i.e. the dots should follow the fitted curve. This is more important than the value of the FWHM itself. If many points lie well above the curve, the PSF is not diffraction-limited, i.e. the DM is not well-flattened [*** be more quantitative here ***].

      • If the image is not saturated, and looks OK, record the FWHM in the NAOMI logbook.
  17. If desired, the strehl of the PSF can be measured with Roy's Strehlometer.
  18. Repeat the laser-flattening with z gain = 0, save the flat using the button on the top-gui light-path page.
• Re-simplex for each dichroic being used at night.
• If there is no AO observing scheduled for this night, go to the 'End of night' section for advice on closing down the system. Back to top of page

  Removing staircase

  There may be significant flux in spots at regular intervals along horizontal or vertical axes passing through the peak, due to a staircasing of the DM. To remove it:
  1. At the lpss42 prompt, type e.g. stairx 40, or stairy -40. Positive stairx removes a spot left of the main image. Positive stairy removes a spot below the main image.
  2. Inspect the image, and repeat as appropriate, varying the sign and magnitude. NB the values are additive, not absolute i.e. stairx 20 then stairx -20 has no net effect.
  3. Save the flat.
  Back to top of page

  Final daytime checks by support astronomer

  ---

  1. Record images of the pinhole in each band, check PSF good in all bands. Record x,y position of pinhole on science detector (useful for target acquisition).
  2. Check focus on WFS.
  3. AutoOffsets to measure the offsets of the centroids on the WFS, for each lenslet/CCD mode. It allows one to select which modes are tested. The procedure will prompt for a name for this set of offsets e.g. `test' or `ir' or `dichroic4'. Type poff (alias for PrintOffsets) to print the offsets to check that none of modes are flagged as having large offsets (if so, repeat AutoOffsets). poff ingrid prints the offsets in the file `ingrid'.
  4. Load the reconstructor from the real-time page (second button from right at the top of top gui. Available reconstructors are: Electra (pre-2003), NAOMI (like Electram but better edge performance), Sor4 (equiv to NAOMI, but generated by new system), Sor8 (new 4*4 version of Sor4, maintains planarity of each 2*2 segment in 4*4 mode, should be better for modes 8, 9). The electra and naomi reconstructors both work well, sor4 doesn't, sor8 has not yet been tested. We usually use the Electra reconstructor (with the default gains, which I believe are 105, 109), pending on-sky tests of the naomi reconstructor.
  5. Test the reconstructor closed-loop:
     • Select the required mode from the scripts menu bar.
     • Start the simplex gui, for a real-time display of the spot maximum, position and shape.
     • Arrange the windows on the screen so that you can see the spot maximum value in the simplex control gui, the simplex display and the topgui close-loop button.
     • Close the loop, check that the spot doesn't move more than ~ 1 pixel. The maximum probably *will* decrease, because the spot is no longer centred exactly on a pixel (but we believe the total flux and FWHM are unchanged).
     • Watch also what happens to the spots on the WFS. If the outer ring of spots doesn't move back to its original position, this may bea hint that the TT mirror is not working (e.g. it may be powered off).
     • Move the NCU by + 0.1 mm (0.5 arcsec), check that when the spot comes back, it is unchanged in brightness and position.
     • Select the simplex position on the NCU, which removes the 0.1-mm shift, but with a +ve jump first (hysteresis), i.e. this is a more demanding test of the loop. Check that when the spot comes back, it is unchanged in brightness and position.
     • Repeat with other modes, if desired.
     • If the outer ring of spots on the WFS shifts relative to the inner spots, check that the FSM is powered on.
     Note that after work on the software that controls the DM and FSM, the AutoTest script for testing the reconstructor for each lenslet/CCD mode no longer works.
  6. The TO needs to fill the cryostats (MIT3 + 2 on INGRID takes about 20 mins). NB during the 7/03 run we noticed temperature spikes ~ 1 deg (cooling) each time the cryostats were filled, probably associated with cold N2 gas flowing across the bench, but possibly sometimes associated with opening GRACE's double doors and letting dome air in. This may be enough to make the mirror lose shape (but then slowly recover it??).
  7. To start Craige's DM SG monitor (which shouldn't be left running during observing), click on eng guis then SG monitor. See tech info pages for documentation. Summary: Each strip represents a, b or c actuator on the segment, colour-coded according to the SG (not requested) DAC values: black = mid-range 4096, grey = elsewhere (lighter = further from 4096), red = outside specified limit. Limit is specified in bottom-right box as fraction of 4096 beyond which display goes red for that actuator. Sample interval is in sec. Temperatures always read zero (disabled, because of risk of crashing c40s).
     Snapshot = display last sampling of SG.
     FIFO = display average of last 100 samples.
     Tidemark = display greatest deviation from mid-range, since the application was started, or since the reset button was pressed.
  8. If this is the start of a NAOMI run, check the INGRID naomi-obs pupil alignment by putting in the pupil imager, with INGRID focus set to -1200.
  9. If tip-tilt mode (10) is to be used, check that mode 10 can be loaded (there are often problems switching to and from mode 10).
  Back to top of page

  Setup for observing

  ---

  1. The Nasmyth flat should be switched to GRACE, and the TCS should be started up with the GRACE configuration, and with the autoguider switch on the control desk set to GRACE. The telescope-focus position found for the previous AO run (default 98.35, but 98.45 (12/05?) may be better) should be used.
  2. Unfloat the optical bench.
  3. Remove the cover from the GRACE derotator.
  4. Insert the required dichroic.
  5. Load the best flat found during daytime setup for the dichroic in use.
  6. If observing with OASIS, put the cap on the fisba lens, and check that the position of the OASIS focus corrector is appropriate for the filter in use (and in particular, that it's not left at the simplex value).
  7. Load the good-seeing mode 1 from the scripts menu bar. NB at 18/4/03, this states that it is loading the reconstructor, but it doesn't. The reconstructor has to have been loaded explicitly from the realtime page.
  8. AutoCheck to check parameters set correctly. E.g. decimates should be 10, 10, FSM gains should be 20, DM gain should be 0.3 for the good-seeing lenslet, 0.15 for the poor-seeing lenslet.
  9. In xterm window, NaomiAutoguider (don't type `&') to bring up the autoguider. No prompt is returned.
  Back to top of page

  Test observation of bright star

  ---

  1. Slew telescope to star V ~ 9 (even better, a binary).
  2. Acquire at rotator centre on TV.
  3. Tweak position to acquire on WFS (check pickoff mirror is in correct position, as given by PrintOffsets). If the star can't easily be found, try a spiral search with the WFS pickoff mirror e.g.:
     ~naomi/bin/pickoffspiral -startx 1.3 -starty 2.4 -stepsize 1 -nospirals 4
  4. Tweak the telescope focus so that the separation of the spots is the same (8.0 pixels) as the separation of cells on the overplotted grid. Light from a star will then be focussed at the position occupied by the pinhole during simplexing. The WFS alignment tool (use described in white-light-flattening section above) is useful here, if the seeing is good and the images stable (NB the 'centroids' box below the WFS display must be ticked). For AO work, the focus doesn't have to be exactly right, the DM will correct for a small amount of defocus.
     For non-AO observations, the DM will be inactive, so it's important to focus accurately on the science detector.
  5. Make an open-loop image with a science detector or the simplex camera, exposure time > 7 sec (or e.g. coave ingrid 5, run ingrid 1 if too bright for single exposure).
  6. Start autoguiding at the TCS, with AUTO ON 50 50. If this isn't started before closing the AO loop, the autoguiding may misbehave.
  7. Set WFS exposure to 5 msec and close loop.
  8. Check in the autoguider window that packets are being sent, and check with the TO that they are being received at the TCS. Each autoguider packet is a 12-digit number. The first 4 digits are x, next 4 are y, next 4 are a flag? Check the plots of FSM x,y position vs time by clicking on the button on the diagnostics page.
  9. Switch off INGRID grab if still running, expose (from INGRID SYS> prompt), measure image FWHM at INGRID, check correction is reasonable for given natural seeing and band.
  10. If the seeing is poor, try closing loop with poor-seeng lenslet.
  Back to top of page

  PSF measurement

  ---

  The quickest way to assess the PSF is with iraf imexam. For details, see the latter part of the section on simplexing.

  Roy's strehlometer can be run with: :

  1. ~roy/bin/niit
  at the unix (not lpss42) prompt. It should run equally fast at ING or SLO.

  Anthony Brown's PSF tool (courtesy of Richard McDermid) can be run up with:

  1. IDL (user = oasis)
  2. .r psf_analysis
  3. psf_analysis,'file_path/file.fit',pix_scale,/plt where pix_scale is in marcsec
  4. ??? useful directories under /home/oasis/Idl/: Oasis, Psf/psf_analysis.pro (edit box size and bias level), utils
  Back to top of page

  Science observation

  ---

  The instructions below refer to INGRID, but a similar procedure is required for any science detector. See the observing recipe for OASIS.
  1. Acquire guide star for science object as above. If too faint for the acquisition TV, acquire by blind offset from bright star, or put INGRID into movie mode with e.g. multglance ingrid 40 1, and acquire onto position on INGRID at which the pinhole image appeared. Make sure the NCU lamps are off. If left on, the light scattering from dust on the optical surfaces can look like a field of faint stars.
  2. Check position of science target on INGRID. If required, change position on chip by moving telescope. If telescope is moved RA" E, Dec" N, the pickoff mirror must be moved by +RA" in X, +Dec" in Y to reacquire the guide star.
  3. If required, use 'Record WFS data' button on the AutoLauncher menu, to record open-loop (not closed-loop) WFS data for Juan Carlos.
  4. Close loop as above, check autoguider signal. Tweak WFS exposure time and mode to optimise correction at science detector. E.g. if star is bright, acquire in mode 1, guide in mode 2 (quad cell) exposure time as short as 2.0 msec (as of Sep 2005). NB it's only possible to get WFS exp time = 1250 microsec if the decimate values are raised first. If star is faint, use mode 8 (4*4), integration time e.g. 50 msec. AutoCheck to check system parameters. Check correct offsets are loaded. It might be necessary to tweak the segment TT limit (up to 0.3 is OK, more than that may make the spot wander into next cell).
     There is no evidence that it takes any time for the AO correction to settle down, i.e. that it continues to improve after closing the loop.
     Spots just visible to the eye on the WFS have S:N ~ 5. NB the decimate values do *not* affect performance, just sampling for display and diagnostics.
  5. If using mode 10 (tip-tilt), the WFS display will show only 4 pixels. To check the counts, bring up the WFS page in TopGui, click on 'cursor' at the top of the page, position the cursor over displayed pixels to check their values. (NB TTdisp 0 no longer works.) The pixel values should be more than a few hundred (for reasonable S:N), but less than ~ 5000? (to avoid saturation). While the loop is closed, differences between the counts in the 4 pixels should not exceed ~ 10%. NaomiAutoguider is required, as for the other modes. For a visual check that guiding hasn't been lost, it's helpful to have the FSM X and Y traces displayed. TT mode seems to be as stable as the other modes.
  6. Take required exposures at INGRID. E.g. if dithered observation required:
  7. Closed-loop seeing is displayed just below WFS display. Integration time (in no. of samples) can be changed, see TopGui manual section 6.6.4.1.3. Int time varies with decimation.
     dither -intcount 2 -secs 30 -skypa 0 -title "Fred" -5point 5 5
     to execute a 5-point dither, with offsets +-5 arcsec from the central position in x and y, starting from telescope nominal position with offset -3.0, 3.0 arcsec, with 2 integrations of 30 sec at each dither point. If the command e.g. coave ingrid 4 is issued, then each of the 2 integrations will be a coaverage of 4 readouts of the INGRID chip. The dither command only works for sky PA = 0. NB don't type '&' at the end of the dither command.
     To break into script at a prompt, type ctrl/c then y.
     By default, the script doesn't wait at each dither point for user confirmation that the loop has closed OK. To make it wait, use switch -waitforloop on the command line.
     dither -h for help
  Back to top of page

  Open-loop observation

  ---

  1. For an observation with the loop fully open, open the loop, which reloads flat if button on C40s page is set appropriately, take an exposure.
  2. To measure the quality of the image with static correction plus tip-tilt i.e. fast-guiding ('ukirt mode'), close loop, progressively (~ 4 steps) lower SG gain to 0.00001 (and also set seg TT limit v low?) (Technique tried 9/02 was to close loop, open loop, set DM TT limit to 0.01, close loop, but this seems to suppress FSM activity rather than heighten it, reasons unknown.) To measure static correction only, i.e. no fast guiding, try setting FSM gain to zero?
  3. Reset SG TT limit.
  4. Technique for guiding only (flat mirror loaded)??
  Back to top of page

  Open-loop offset sky

  ---

  An open-loop offset sky is required e.g. if target large compared to dither size:
  1. WFS gui, open loop.
  2. Load last mirror flat (otherwise the DM is in the shape last demanded by the AO loop, making seeing worse, and thus exaggerating the difference between open- and closed-loop seeing).
  3. Offset telescope > 30 arcsec.
  4. Expose at INGRID.
  Back to top of page

  SLODAR observation

  ---

  Any time of night. SLODAR samples the Cn^2 contributions up to 15 km, and estimates the total contribution from higher altitudes.
  1. Login to PC, username slodar
  2. Move pickoff mirror out of the way e.g. with pickoff 60 60.
  3. Acquire binary star, ideal separation ~ 60 arcsec. Field of view is > 1 arcmin. 12*12 spots each star, so some will be on DM boundaries. Follow the SLODAR instructions. For more information, see the SLODAR page.
  Back to top of page

  Recording open-loop WFS data

  ---

  To record open-loop data from the WFS (for RM/JCG's study of AO system performance), click on 'Record WFS data' on the AutoLauncher menu, ~ 10 seconds after acquisition of the guide star. A window will pop up. When it says 'done' (a few seconds later), the process is completed. The data are saved in /data/downloads on aocontrol1. NB currently only open-loop data are useful, not closed-loop. Back to top of page

  Lucky-exposures observation

  ---

  Instructions from SMT 29/4/05:
  first setup your window as normal. Then type at the SYS prompt : 'rsrun AG7 X Y' where X= number of expsoures required, Y= expsoure time required. Since the chip is not cleared between exposures (true FT operation) the actual exposure time is the demanded time+readout time. You therefore need to set Y to zero for the quoted speeds. X has a max value of 127 although it could be easily extended by Richard Bassom. I have tested it up to 3000 frames with QUCAM1 but the cycle time gradually slows down as the memory of the sparc fills up. With smaller windows it may not be such a problem but you would need to test it. The file format is that each rsrun frame is stored as a fits extension [1]..[127] in the same file.

  Switching between CCD39 and L3 CCDs on WFS

  ---

  1. In GRACE, move the metal slide below the front of the WFS camera. It has 4 positions (see label on top of WFS box). The slide is fairly stiff. It seems to click firmly into place, but if the WFS display looks odd, try moving it out and back in again.
  2. In the electronics room, switch off the FSM controller.
  3. In GRACE, open the door giving access to the back of the electronic racks. Switch from CCD39 to L3 or vice versa (well-labelled switch on small box close to the FSM control rack).
  4. In the electronics room, switch on the FSM controller.
  5. Noise from the either controller can cause noise (e.g. horizontal banding on the other) so if the L3 is in use, switch off the CCD39 controller, and vice versa.
  6. Change the WFS camera-stage focus to 165 for the L3 camera, or 210 for the CCD39.

  End of night

  ---

  1. Switch of all lamps in the NCU, from the USP gui.
  2. Make sure the AO loop is open (button on the default top-gui page).
  3. Unfloat ('fix') the table, from the button on the USP gui.
  4. Park the dichroic, (1) to protect from dust and (2) because if it's left clamped for a long period, some tilt can build up (drop in pneumatic pressure).
  5. Stop framing of WFS and simplex cameras.
  6. Check that air-conditioning was reset to 100% after setup!
  7. Blank filter in INGRID
  8. Turn focal-plane wheel in OASIS to 'shutter', to protect the optics from dust.
  9. Mid-range DM to minimise strain, open SG loop, or SG SetGain 0.00001 and leave closed.
  10. ctrl/c to stop autoguider signal.
  11. Close WFS shutter (as of 12/06, seems to be working OK)
  12. In GRACE, put caps on OAP1, OAP2, DM, main fold flat, laser and laser flat, put pinhole in ready for next day (if flat-fields not required during day). Make sure the doors in GRACE are closed properly. Tape a piece of paper over the NCU aperture facing the derotator (below AG3), to keep dust off the AG3 field lens.
  13. Fisba should be switched off if their is a long interval (more than a few days?) before the next run.
  Back to top of page

  Command glossary

  ---

  *** IN PREPARATION ***

  Commands to issue at any unix prompt:

  • aoperf or ~roy/bin/niit? (to run Roy's strehl meter)
  • xgterm &, then cd, then cl within the xgterm window, to start iraf

  Commands to issue at the WHT instrument control SYS prompt:

  • coave ingrid 5 (each exposure read to disk is average of 5 exposures)
  • dither -intcount 2 -secs 30 -skypa 0 -title "Fred" -5point 5 5 (or -9point)
  • mimic (starts Craige's NAOMI mimic)
  • obssys - start observing system (useful to run up oasisgui)
  • run mit3 7 "NGC 1234" & (MIT3 exposure)
  • run ingrid 7 "NGC 1234" & (INGRID exposure) (alternatives to run: glance, scratch, flat, sky, arc, pupil)
  • setoasis - sets up MIT3 with standard windows, speed and binning
  • startobssys
  • startoasisserver, then startoasisgui - bring up the USP/OASIS gui
  • window oasis 1 "[1:2059,1035:3140]" - set standard window on MIT3

  Commands given at the lpss42 prompt (the aliases are listed in .aliases):

  • AutoCheck - check the parameters have been set correctly for this configuration
  • AutoLauncher & - launch Auto menu
  • AutoRectifyFlat - tries to cure mirror after a slopes event, by tilting each segment to put the WFS spot at correct offset (pinhole in, flat on, tries to autocentre, zeroes reconstructor, closes loop, opens loop, grabs DACs...
  • AutoUpdateOffests - update offsets for a particular configuration e.g. g1, without having to do all the configurations (same as AutoOffsetsNew edit?)
  • AutoWhite - do white-light flat
  • cdflat - change to flats directory
  • cdgrab - change to grabs directory
  • cdpeak - change to current directory for wlflat results
  • IngrdiAlign.py --camera AG7 & - bring up simplex gui
  • mplot - run crb's mplot program to plot mirror flats
  • NaomiAutoguider - start autoguider (don't type '&')
  • pickoff 0.0 3.0 - moves the pickoff mirror to x = 0.0", y = 3.0"
  • pickoffspiral -startx 1.3 -starty 2.4 -stepsize 1 -nospirals 4
  • plotflathist 20050512-122625.white - plot out the flat
  • poff (= PrintOffsets) - list current offsets
  • restart (= NaomiRestart) - resarts everything.
  • setgain 0.8 - sets SG gain to the default value
  • stairx 40, stairy 40 - add staircase to DM
  • topgui & (= TopGui &) - starts the top-level eng gui)
  • TTdisp 0 - start the continuous display of pixel values for mode 10
  • ? to run off DM temperature log

  Commands given at the aocontrol1 prompt:

  Commands given at the iraf prompt:

  • !ds9 - start ds9 image display
  • display s1[1] 1 fil+; imexa - display glance image, start imexam
  • imexa - start imexam analysis tool

  Commands given at the TCS prompt:

  • AUTO ON 50 50 - required prior to starting autoguiding

  From Richard Myers (20/7/03):
  
  >Temporary Documention for WFS Offset Configurations
  >
  >WFS "configs" (configurations) are a means of managing multiple
  >sets of flat plus WFS offset combinations. For example,
  >different dichroics may need a different simplex, hence
  >a different flat file, and therefre a different set of offsets.
  >Configs allow one to associate a config name with each
  >such set of offsets. The config name may then be used to retrieve
  >them.
  >
  >NOTE: the configuration system is implemented in the NAOMI
  >"Auto" script system. This whole system is temporary and has
  >been integrated into TopGui (along with offset management). It will be
  >commissioned at the next major release.
  >
  >Modified Commands:
  >
  >AutoConfig WFSmode [config]
  >	   now has a new optional config parameter allowing one
  >	   to specify a particular set of of offsets to retrieve
  >	   the requested WFSmode settings from. 
  >
  >	   e.g. AutoConfig g1 oasis1
  >
  >	   this will retrieve the g1 settings assoicated with the
  >	   oasis1 config.
  >
  >	   You can still use the default (e.g., Autoconfig g1)
  >	   and get the g1 settings from the latest set of offsets
  >	   taken.
  > 
  >AutoOffsets [noedit]
  >	   now defaults to edit mode and subsumes all features
  >	   of AutoOffsetsVeryNewSelect (selectable integration times
  >	   and g11, g12 modes). The edit parameter no longer has
  >	   any meaning and should NOT be used.
  >
  >	   AutoOffsets now asks the user if the new offsets should
  >	   be merged with an existing config. If merging
  >	   is required then the user is a given a list of configs
  >	   to chose from. If merging is not required then the
  >	   user is prompted for a name for the new config. (e.g.
  >           oasis2).
  >	   IF AN EXISTING NAME IS GIVEN THEN THE EXISTING CONFIG IS
  >	   OVERRIDEN (this is assumed to be the most convenient
  >	   behaviour for working with dichroic simplexes).	
  >
  >AutoRectifyFlat [config]
  >           can now attempt to restore the segment tilts associated
  >           with the g1 mode of a given config rather than
  >	   the g1 mode of the last set of offsets (the default).
  >
  >PrintOffsets [config]
  >	   can now print a summary of offset settings associated
  >	   with the specifed config rather than the last set of 
  >           offsets (default).
  >
  >
  >NEW COMMANDS: 
  >
  >PrintConfigs
  >	   print the configs and associated schedule (index) files.   
  >           Schedule files contain pointers to the flat and offset 
  >           files for each WFSmode (g1, etc) (for which offsets have 
  >           been taken).
  >
  >AssignSchedule [schedule [config]]
  >	   allows you to associate a config with an old schedule
  >	   (.index) file which did not have one, or to reinstate a 
  >           schedule whose previously associated config has been 
  >           overridden.
  >
  >
  >OTHER NOTES
  >
  >PrintSchedule [schedule] 
  >	   still works at the schedule (index) file level and ignores 
  >           configs
  >
  >MergeSchedule [schedule1] [schedule2]
             Merges old and new offset files?
  >	   still works at the schedule (index) file level but
  >	   prompts the user for a config name for the merged 
  >           schedule.
  >
  
  

  Appendix 1 - Filenames, machine names, usernames

  ---

  Filenames:

  Data	Example
  Mirror flats	$flats = /software/Electra/save/flat/20010630-1033
  WFS offsets	/software/Electra/save/WFScentroidOffsets/20000917-032706.wcnof
  Grabs	/software/Electra/save/Grabs/WFS/20000908-113032.fits
  Inteferometry	~naomi/WhiteLight/20010830/20010830.131527.scanH .scanV .peakH .peakV

  The interferometry files are recorded in the current (usually home) directory.

  Machine names:

  Name	Address	Function
  lpss42.ing.iac.es	161.72.6.126	NAOMI control (NAomi VISualisation)
  aocontrol1	161.72.6.127	WFS data-processing, DM control
  naomiomc.ing.iac.es	161.72.6.129	Mechanism control, via vxWorks
  naomisdsu.ing.iac.es	161.72.6.128	SDSU control, via vxWorks
  fisba.ing.iac.es	161.72.6.133	Fisba-interferometer control
  scorpio	161.72.6.22	commonly-used machine in main unix cluster
  ra1	161.72.6.56	only unix-cluster machine permitting external access

  Usernames:

  Machine	Username
  lpss42	naomi (this account doesn't work on the main unix cluster)
  SBIGPC1/2	sbig

  Appendix 2 - Abbreviations

  ---

  C40s	Processors running the WFS and SG loops
  DAC	Digital-to-analogue converter units
  DM	Deformable mirror
  FISBA	FISBA double-pass interferometer
  FSM	Fast-steering mirror (= tip-tilt mirror = OAP1)
  NCU	Nasmyth calibration unit (lamps, acquisition camera)
  OAP1	Off-axis paraboloid 1 (= FSM)
  OAP2	Off-axis paraboloid 2
  OMC	Opto-mechanical chassis
  SG	Strain gauge (for DM hysteresis correction)
  TCS	Telescope-control system
  USP	Universal science port - actually a collection of mechanisms added to allow use of OASIS.
  WFS	Wavefront sensor

  NAOMI · WHT · Astronomy · ING

  ---

  Last Updated: 2007 Jun 27 Chris Benn crb@ing.iac.es