CCD Commands

Mark Jeffries

December 17, 1996

Contents

• General
  • Starting up
  • Updating status
• The mimic display
• CCD commands
  • Starting an exposure
  • Stopping an exposure
  • Aborting an exposure
  • Pausing an exposure
  • Restarting an exposure
  • Setting monitor mode

General

Starting up

Format:
CCDINIT
Description:
Starts support of the VAX CCD mimic display, updates all the instrument status in the d-task and on the mimic display and logs the d-task on to monitor mode.

Updating status

Format:
CCDUPDATE
Description:
Brings the current status of all the mechanisms in the CCD mimic up to date.

The mimic display

In general, mechanisms and/or values appear in blue on the display when they are moving or changing, in red when they are in an error condition, and in white when they are inactive and healthy. Green can also be used to represent a mechanism that is in use and yellow a light path. The CCD mimic screen is selected by entering the command SCREEN CCD.

CCD commands

Starting an exposure

Format:
CCDRUN run_number exposure_time
Description:
Sets the exposure time and run number then does an exposure of the appropriate length. The CCD is automatically cleared at the start and read out at the end of the exposure.
run_number:
The run number.
exposure_time
The exposure time, between 0 and 16000 seconds.

Stopping an exposure

Format:
CCDFINISH
Description:
Stops an exposure and reads out the chip.

Aborting an exposure

Format:
CCDABORT
Description:
Stops an exposure without reading out the chip.

Pausing an exposure

Format:
CCDPAUSE
Description:
Pauses an exposure by closing the shutter until the restart command is given.

Restarting an exposure

Format:
CCDRESTART
Description:
Restarts an exposure that has been paused.

Setting monitor mode

Format:
CCDMONITOR mode
Description:
Turns monitor mode on or off.
mode
ON or OFF.