Capabilities
and limits of UltraDAS
This page is part of the ING manual INS-DAS-29
Operations
manual for UltraDAS.
These are the major operational parameters of UltraDAS:
-
UltraDAS is available at the INT and WHT.
-
UltraDAS drives cryogenic CCD-cameras and the IR cameras INGRID and LIRIS. In the
current system, it does not drive IPCS-lookalikes or exotica like STJ detectors. Support for other types
of camera might be added in later versions.
UltraDAS allows binning or windowing of CCDs, or both at once. Up
to four readout windows may be used. UltraDAS allows windowing but not
binning on IR detectors. Most cameras support two readout speeds.
Here is an indication of the speed of UltraDAS with the current cameras:
Camera |
Readout time (s) |
Cycle time (s) (single) |
Cycle time (s) (multiple) |
EEV10 |
34 |
|
|
INT WFC |
34 |
36 |
36 |
WHT WFC |
|
|
46 |
INGRID |
0.7 |
2
|
|
The readout time is the actual time taken to extract charge from all
pixels of the detector, at the better of the two readout speeds. The single-cycle
time is the time taken to complete a single observation of zero seconds
integration, including all overheads. The multiple-cycle time is the time
between the starting of sucessive observations in a series; in such a set
of observations, some of the overhead can be hidden by running data-saving
tasks of one cycle in parallel with the integration and readout the next.
Here are some other limits in the current version:
-
Greatest number of cameras worked from one DAS computer: 1.
This limit is set by a deficiency in the driver for the camera-interface
board of the DAS computer.
-
Greatest number of readout channels in one camera: 8.
This is arbitrary and can be changed very easily in later versions.
-
Greatest number of detector controllers used on one camera: 1.
Removing this limits requires significant recoding.
-
Greatest number of data partitions used: 10.
This number is arbitrary and easily changed.
At the time of writing, UltraDAS has no known faults that cause loss of
image-data.