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chara:trouble_shooting [2021/07/08 11:48] gail_stargazer |
chara:trouble_shooting [2023/11/21 01:23] charaobs [Can't find the star] |
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This is a list of simple things to check if you can't find fringes: | This is a list of simple things to check if you can't find fringes: | ||
- | * Were the clocks synced? Make sure the [SYNC CLOCKS] button on Cosmic Debris has been pushed to start the night. If the OPLE server does not display the correct CHARA time and the errors don't read (0) or (1), the clocks were not synced. As the VME runs on its own clock and does not use the NTP server, it can drift over the course of the night and cause problems with finding fringes, even if it was synced at the start of the night. Syncing the clocks multiple time during the night may help to avoid this hidden clock problem. | + | * Were the clocks synced? Make sure the [SYNC CLOCKS] button on Cosmic Debris has been pushed to start the night. If the OPLE server does not display the correct CHARA time and the errors don't read (0) or (1), the clocks were not synced. |
- | * Did the Astrolib update on OPLE? If the job queue is stopped too soon after slewing on Cosmic Debris, the correct calculations for the carts will not be done by OPLE and you may be searching for fringes with the wrong star data. Hit STAR ACQUIRED on CD to update | + | * Did the Astrolib update on OPLE? If the job queue is stopped too soon after slewing on Cosmic Debris, the correct calculations for the carts will not be done by OPLE and you may be searching for fringes with the wrong star data. The star identifier will be displayed in the server window. If it is not correct, hit STAR ACQUIRED on CD to update |
- | * Are the PoP's correct? After a PoP change, the PoP's are sometimes not updated in CD or ople. | + | * Are the PoP's correct? After a PoP change, the PoP's are sometimes not updated in CD or ople. Compare the PoP's in the configuration tab of CD or OPLE with the PoP Overview or Popperi gtk. |
- | * Are the carts behaving or are there vibrations or jumps of 100 or more microns every 3-6 seconds? | + | * Are the carts behaving or are there vibrations or jumps of 100 or more microns every 3-6 seconds? |
- | * Is the target a high proper motion star? Red dwarfs are close stars and can have high proper motions. Scan a wider range to see if it is outside of the usual calculated scan range. Binaries can also have very high offsets from the expected position due to mistakenly using astromod calculations from the companion star. | + | * Is the target a high proper motion star? Red dwarfs are close stars and can have high proper motions. Scan a wider range to see if it is outside of the usual calculated scan range. Binaries can also have very high offsets from the expected position due to mistakenly using astromod calculations from the companion star. Make sure you are on the right star with an image from SIMBAD or Vizier. |
- | * Do you have enough flux from each telescope or on each baseline? | + | * Do you have enough flux from each telescope or on each baseline? |
* Did you get the same star in each telescope? Sometimes a busy star field and poor pointing of the telescopes can lead to the wrong star being acquired and locked by tiptilt. View the stars in the finder window to see if all the stars match. | * Did you get the same star in each telescope? Sometimes a busy star field and poor pointing of the telescopes can lead to the wrong star being acquired and locked by tiptilt. View the stars in the finder window to see if all the stars match. | ||
* Check the CHARA time on the GPS server. The " | * Check the CHARA time on the GPS server. The " | ||
* Check the time on the OPLE server. If the time is off or there are any lost ticks/ | * Check the time on the OPLE server. If the time is off or there are any lost ticks/ | ||
- | * Are the [MAN] buttons pressed (gray) for the moving carts on the OPLE Control gui? (The reference cart will remain green.) | + | * Are the [MAN] or [FT] buttons pressed (gray) for the moving carts on the OPLE Control gui? (The reference cart will remain green.) |
- | * Check that the carts are within delay line range (-1 to 44 meters) and errors are small. Were the carts homed before the first slew of the night? Did any carts go to the front switch after slewing? This can cause them to lose their position. | + | * Check that the carts are within delay line range (-1.3 to 44.25 meters) and errors are small. Were the carts homed and checked |
- | * Are the LDC's working? | + | * See section on homing carts in __OPLE and Metrology__ |
- | * Is the glass position within allowable range (-10mm to 49mm) on all beams? | + | * For the visible programs, are the LDC's working? |
+ | * Is the glass position | ||
* Have the commands " | * Have the commands " | ||
- | * Look out for " | + | * Look out for errors on ople server. If the LDC glass goes out of range, the LDC will need to be homed. To home the glass, stop astromod by clicking [STOP] on the OPLE gui. Make sure the LDC velocities are non-zero (~ 50… must click [vel] button to update velocity) and click [HOME] on the LDCs in use. The LDC position number should go to 0.000 or very close to zero. After the LDCs have been homed, turn astromod on by clicking [START] on the ople gui. Then click [REF] on cosmic debris to send the LDCs to the correct positions. |
* If LDCs are working correctly, the LDC positions (in mm) should roughly match up with the reference cart positions (in meters). | * If LDCs are working correctly, the LDC positions (in mm) should roughly match up with the reference cart positions (in meters). | ||
- | * Check the instrument alignment. Is flux getting through to the detector? How long has it been since the last NIRO camera alignment? Classic and CLIMB programs can run for about an hour before the light will drift from the central pixel. Use the Classic or CLIMB gui to view the light on the pixels by clicking the PICTURE tab and then the PIXEL AREA button. Turn the camera off after a few seconds to avoid crashing NIRO. Is the right dither power turned on? CLIMB 1 and Classic use different dithers. If Classic or CLIMB fringes are found in a scan, but not when in recording mode, the dither powers are likely not on. Are the camera settings correct for the seeing conditions and flux levels? | + | * Check the instrument alignment. Is flux getting through to the detector? How long has it been since the last NIRO camera alignment? Classic and CLIMB programs can run for about an hour before the light will drift from the central pixel. Use the Classic or CLIMB gui to view the light on the pixels by clicking the PICTURE tab and then the PIXEL AREA button. Turn the camera off with the STOP button. Is the right dither power turned on? CLIMB 1 and Classic use different dithers. If Classic or CLIMB fringes are found in a scan, but not when in recording mode, the dither powers are likely not on. Are the camera settings correct for the seeing conditions and flux levels? |
+ | * There is a script that will display offsets for all scopes against Hour Angle to help find offsets when using MIRCX and MYSTIC. You'll need to log into the MIRCX spooler computer with the command ssh spooler@mircx, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Can't find the star ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sometimes the star does not appear on the ACQ camera and there are many reasons why this can happen. Here are some of those reasons. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Did the telescope actually slew? If the powers are off or the scope is disabled, it will not slew. | ||
+ | * Did the telescope disable after slewing? Check the dome gui to see if it says it has disabled. Enable to get it going again. | ||
+ | * Are the M1 and M3 covers open? Check with the Telescope monitor or spycam 2 to see if the covers opened. | ||
+ | * Did the dome rotate with the scope? Check with Spycam 1 to see if it is blocking the telescope. Use Autodome On to get it in line with the telescope. | ||
+ | * Is the ACQ camera showing a live view. Hit ACQ or reopen to see a live view. If the server has quit, bootlaunch on the appropriate computer to restart the ACQ server. Sockman will tell which computer the server runs on. Should be wfs computer at each scope. | ||
+ | * Is the ACQ exposure appropriate for the star magnitude? Turn it up as needed to show the star. | ||
+ | * Has the default flat or last flat been loaded after a slew? A bad DM will distort dim stars and they will not be visible. | ||
+ | * Is the star too low or obstructed by a tree or dome? W1 and S2 have trees nearby that can obscure the star below 40 degrees. Refer to the horizon maps to see if they are the cause. | ||
+ | * E1 does not track past 218 degrees azimuth. The finder camera may be needed to find the star again. It will be off in azimuth, but should still show in the finder. | ||
+ | * If a telescope is lost and star does not appear in the finder either, such as after a dome server crash and restart, a bright star, the moon or Jupiter can be used to get the scope pointing correctly. Anything brighter than Vmag 1 will show on the Spycam 1 view and can be used to get the scope close enough to find it in the finder, then ACQ. It should be placed just below the top bar of the telescope, centered left to right using the telescope paddle. You may have to pan up and down to see it move through the finder view. Use the obsgtk ADJUST tab scope paddle and set a step of 3000 and go up and down after centering it in the SPY 1 view below the top telescope bar. When you get it centered in the finder, manually init the scope to the AZ and EL on the MANUAL tab of the dome gui to one decimal place. Use Stellarium online or any resource to get the current position. You should then be able to slew to a star and center it in the finder, then ACQ and init on the obsgtk to get the scope back to usual. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The new OPLE system ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | With the implementation of the new ople system which replaced the VME in Fall of 2021, new troubleshooting issues have arisen. Since there are now 6 new ople computers to run the carts for each scope individually, | ||
+ | |||
+ | The traditional ople server will still be used to communicate with each new ople computer, identified as OPLE 1 to OPLE 6. When the communications are good, each active cart will be displayed in the ople server or ople gui status tab as before. At times, an ople computer can lose communications or a server can crash and the server or comms needs to be restarted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | If a cart cannot be started, stopped or otherwise commanded, look to the OPLESystem gui to see if a green indicator has turned red. A message will also often pop up on the ople gui saying the command could not be sent. This may require a simple start command to restart the server or a reboot of the computer to get it back to yellow and then a start to get it back to green. Do either of these steps with a right click of the red button and then select start or reboot. After a reboot, select start to load the servers after the indicator has turned yellow. When this is done, the ople server will need to be connected to the newly restarted server. Type " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Some times a cart is stopped and cannot be commanded. If the cart has gone to the front hard or back hard switch, it will not be usable until it is moved from the switch and the Ople Controller box is reset. There are 6 silver boxes for these controllers with two green LED's for the front and back switches and two red LED's for the back hard and front hard switches. If a red LED is lit, there will be an error displayed on the message window and the cart is disabled. The cart will need to be moved off the switch and then the box can be reset with the RESET button on the front. The error display will go away and the red LED will be off. The cart is now controllable. | ||
===== Restarting Servers ===== | ===== Restarting Servers ===== | ||
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If a server is not running or Socket Manager reports that a server is dead, then look at the socket manager list to find out what computer the server runs on ([[: | If a server is not running or Socket Manager reports that a server is dead, then look at the socket manager list to find out what computer the server runs on ([[: | ||
- | To restart a server, log on to the machine that runs the server and type " | + | To restart a server, log on to the machine that runs the server and type " |
- | * bootlaunch_beamsamp – Starts | + | ==== Restarting Servers using the rc.local file (likely outdated) ==== |
- | * bootlaunch_zaber – Starts the ZABER_2 server. | + | |
- | | + | |
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Log on to the relevant computer by typing the computer name (ctrscrut, ople, s1, …). If the shortcut doesn' | ||
- | * bootlaunch_hut – Starts the E1_HUT, E2_HUT, S1_HUT, S2_HUT, W1_HUT, or W2_HUT server, depending on the machine it's launched from. | + | Shutters Server |
- | * bootlaunch_rpc – Starts the RPC_E1, RPC_E2, RPC_S1, RPC_S2, RPC_W1, or RPC_W2 server, depending on the machine it's launched from. | + | |
- | * bootlaunch_weather – Starts the E1_WEATHER, E2_WEATHER, S1_WEATHER, S2_WEATHER, W1_WEATHER, or W2_WEATHER server, depending on the machine it's launched from. | + | |
- | * bootlaunch_lower – Starts the E1_Lower, E2_Lower, S1_Lower, S2_Lower, W1_Lower, or W2_Lower cylinder server, depending on the machine it's launched from. | + | |
- | * bootlaunch_upper – Starts the E1_Upper, E2_Upper, S1_Upper, S2_Upper, W1_Upper, or W2_Upper server, depending on the machine it's launched from. | + | |
- | | + | \\ The Shutters server can become unresponsive or disconnected from the Socket Manager. This server must be restarted from the lab and not from the Control Room. Follow these instructions to restart it. Note that Shutters runs on gps, not ctrscrut. \\ \\ To start the shutter |
- | ==== Restarting | + | ==== Restarting |
- | \\ This procedure is applicable to servers that have not switched over to the bootlaunch paradigm. \\ \\ If a server is not running or Socket Manager reports that a server is dead, then look at the socket manager | + | In very rare circumstances, the socket manager |
- | \\ | + | |
- | Log on to the relevant computer by typing the computer name (ctrscrut, ople, s1, …). If the shortcut doesn' | + | Follow these instructions |
+ | |||
+ | ssh -X observe@ctrscrut | ||
- | ==== Shutters Server ==== | + | killall socket_manager |
- | \\ The Shutters server can become unresponsive or disconnected from the Socket Manager. This server must be restarted from the lab and not from the Control Room. Follow these instructions to restart it. Note that Shutters runs on ople, not ctrscrut. \\ \\ To start the shutter server on ople: \\ \\ Log into the ople computer and kill the process labeled shutters with the PID as described in **Restarting Servers** | + | socket_manager |
==== MIRC-X CredoneImAcq Server ==== | ==== MIRC-X CredoneImAcq Server ==== | ||
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Kill all credone processes (including the ones for the error messages) using "kill -9 PID" where PID is the process number. Note that credone can't be restarted if there are any error processes in the list. Check "ps aux | grep credone" | Kill all credone processes (including the ones for the error messages) using "kill -9 PID" where PID is the process number. Note that credone can't be restarted if there are any error processes in the list. Check "ps aux | grep credone" | ||
- | Then restart credone using the desktop icon or by issuing the following command on spooler@mircx: | + | Then restart credone using the desktop icon or by issuing the following command on spooler@mircx: |
+ | |||
+ | (the first " | ||
===== Telescopes and Dome Servers ===== | ===== Telescopes and Dome Servers ===== | ||
- | |||
- | \\ Here we discuss things that can go wrong with the telescopes. | ||
==== The Telescope won't move or stopped moving ==== | ==== The Telescope won't move or stopped moving ==== | ||
- | | + | Have the powers been turned on to the drives? Are the scopes disabled? The usual state of the telescopes is disabled until enabled. This is due to the stall function of the scopes which eventually disables the scopes when they are stowed. Enable the scopes by hitting [ENABLE] on the dome gui, the telescope gui control tab, or the bottom of the obsgtk. If a scope disables itself during a slew, it may be just an overcautious stall function |
+ | |||
+ | Sometimes the dome guis get hung up and can cause erratic motion or no motion of the scopes. Check them for current times and continuous updates of numbers. If they are not updating, try to REOPEN them first. If that does not work, close the gui and open a new one. If a new one does not open, the dome server may be dead or Sockman lost track of it. See **Dome Server Restart** | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | 1. On the domegui MANUAL tab, click STOP so pulses won't be sent to the drive by the control software. \\ | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | 2. Make sure you understand why the limit was hit which may require a trip to the telescope. If the azimuth positions on all telescope servers and dome guis match, it is likely the limit switch incorrectly causing the stall and not that the scope is actually in a wrong position.</ | ||
+ | 4. Click ENABLE then you can move the telescope back to its normal range of operation. \\ \\ | ||
+ | 5. After the telescope is back in it normal range, click OVERRIDE OFF which makes the hardware aware of the limits again and then hit AUTO on the AUTO tab to resume normal operation.</ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
+ | 2.</ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <font 14px/ | ||
==== The Telescope won't track ==== | ==== The Telescope won't track ==== | ||
- | | + | If a bright star is manually found and not slewed to by number, (usually after the scope has gotten lost), the telescope will not track as it does not know it has gone to a star. When you init the EL and AZ position of the scope to the star's position, you must enable the tracking by going to the dome gui, selecting the RA/DEC tab and hitting the [GO RA/DEC] button. The scope will track, but the pointing model may still be off. Try slewing to the same star and initing on it after it is locked in Tiptilt. This can be done in the dome with the computer at the telescope. |
+ | |||
+ | ==== The Telescope won't track ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | If a bright star is manually found and not slewed to by number, (usually after the scope has gotten lost), the telescope will not track as it does not know it has gone to a star. When you init the EL and AZ position of the scope to the star's position, you must enable the tracking by going to the dome gui, selecting the RA/DEC tab and hitting the [GO RA/DEC] button. The scope will track, but the pointing model may still be off. Try slewing to the same star and initing on it after it is locked in Tiptilt. This can be done in the dome with the computer at the telescope. | ||
==== The Telescope won't stop moving or moves beyond the commanded position ==== | ==== The Telescope won't stop moving or moves beyond the commanded position ==== | ||
- | | + | Disable the scope whenever its motion is outside of what it is supposed to do. Turn the powers off to the axes as well on the Power gui. The dome server is usually to blame and will need to be restarted. |
+ | |||
+ | Sometimes, the gains can be too low and the scope will overshoot the star position. Disable the scope, adjust the Slewing gain up one increment and enable the scope. It should return to the star. | ||
==== Dome Server Restart ==== | ==== Dome Server Restart ==== | ||
- | \\ To manually start the dome server: \\ \\ 1. Make sure the power to the drives is OFF. \\ 2. Login to the relevant computer as root. For example, type " | + | Dome servers are now started using the bootlaunch_master command. The manual |
- | ==== Telescope clock is not correct ==== | + | To restart the dome server: |
- | \\ The NTP server has obsoleted this problem and fix as of 2014. | + | 1. Make sure the power to the drives is OFF. Disable the scopes. |
- | ==== Telescope is not receiving | + | 2. Login to the relevant computer as observe. For example, type " |
- | \\ Sometimes it happens that a telescope receives the wrong position for a target or does not receive the commanded position at all. The commanded position is listed on the telescope server in the first column under TCS Az/El; the second column lists the actual position of the telescope. Try entering the star designation directly into the telescope server, ie. hd 123456. If it does not accept | + | 3. Work out the process ID number |
- | * Turn off the power for the telescope (both AZ/EL). | + | 4. Use kill -2 PID to kill the server. |
- | * First shutdown the telescope server | + | |
- | * Then use SOCKMAN | + | |
- | * The dome server will need to be restarted from the command | + | |
- | * Open a terminal window and log on to the telescope computer by typing | + | |
- | * Look for instruction in the /etc/rc.local file by typing "more / | + | |
- | * Locate instruction listed under "#Run the dome server" | + | |
- | * / | + | |
- | * / | + | |
- | * (Replace S1 with commands for appropriate telescope) | + | |
- | * After the dome server is running, re-open the telescope server and click [REOPEN} on the dome and telescope GUIs and on Cosmic Debris. | + | |
- | * ENABLE the telescope using the telescope or dome GUI. Check to see if the command and telescope positions are correct. If they are, then turn on the power for the telescope drives. Re-enter the star information by entering the HD number in the telescope server and click [GO NEXT] to send the telescope to the star. Make sure that the telescope | + | |
- | * Restart commands for the dome servers are also listed on the desktop in a text file. | + | |
- | < | + | |
- | \ | + | 5. Type bootlaunch_master again to restart the server. |
- | ==== Telescope is tracking poorly, overshooting in slew, oscillating. ==== | + | |
- | </ | + | 6. Turn the power to the drives back on. |
- | < | + | 7. Hit REOPEN |
- | This might mean that the gain for the tracking servo is wrong. Note that changing this gain can be dangerous, especially if you set it too high as that can cause the telescope to oscillated | + | |
- | </ | + | You may have to reinitialize the scope on a bright star. If the powers were turned off quickly when the problem was noticed, the position of the scope should be retained and slewing to a bright star will get it in the finder. If not, you may need to go out to the telescope to find the bright star to reacquire the scope' |
- | | |Gain|Fn|Gain|Fn|Gain|Fn|Gain|Fn| | | + | Be aware that when restarting a dome server, the telescopes position may not be retained and the dome gui may display Az: 0.0. El: 0.0. The gui will scroll messages that say Az: 0.0. El: 0.0 with an error in scope position. If the scope is known to be at STOW position, you can manually enter the scope' |
- | |S1|7|4|4|3|16|4|10|7|10-26-2017| | + | |
- | |S2|7| |7| |10| |10| |10-22-2016| | + | |
- | |E1|7| |7| |13| |10| |10-22-2016| | + | |
- | |E2|7| |7| |13| |10| |10-22-2016| | + | |
- | |W1|13| |10| |13| |10| |10-22-2016| | + | |
- | |W2|7| |7| |13| |13| |10-22-2016| | + | |
- | | + | Also be aware that the gains do not always return to the normal values of Slew 4-7 and Tracking 7-10 when a dome server has crashed and is restarted. They may come up as Gain 22 for all axes and modes and they will need to be turned down or the scopes will oscillate badly. |
+ | |||
+ | ==== Telescope is not receiving the commanded position for a target. ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sometimes it happens that a telescope receives the wrong position for a target or does not receive the commanded position at all. The commanded position is listed on the telescope server in the first column under TCS Az/El; the second column lists the actual position of the telescope. Try entering the star designation directly into the telescope server, ie. hd 123456. If it does not accept the number, try closing and restarting the telescope server and hitting repoen on Cosmic Debris and the telescope gui. Try entering the star into the server again. If that does not work, it is possible that something is wrong with the dome server. To restart the dome server follow these steps above. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Telescope is tracking poorly, overshooting in slew, oscillating. ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | This might mean that the gain for the tracking servo is wrong. Note that changing this gain can be dangerous, especially if you set it too high as that can cause the telescope to oscillated and damage the drives. Please only do this if you are very very sure that it is necessary. Symptoms of bad gain are: The scope over shoots the position while slewing. The star will be seen to move out of the window and may come back after a few seconds. This means the slewing gain is too low. The scope oscillates when tracking or after a slew. The star will be tracing an ellipse, figure eight or other looping shape. This means the tracking gain is too low. You can damp this out with the telescope or dome gui by disabling the scope, then re-enabling it. Adjust the gain upward and watch it on the next slew. In all cases if either gain is too high the scope will go into "Fog Horn" mode, which is bad. This can be seen during slews on the twfs or labao as vibrating spots, usually in one axis. | ||
+ | |||
+ | You always want to use the lowest gain that still allows the scope to work as best as possible. If the tiptilt tells you the scope is oscillating slowly, the gain may be too low. If it is oscillating quickly it may be too high. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The usual values for slewing gains are 4-7 and tracking gains are 7-10. Note that these values may change as the temperatures change rapidly. | ||
==== How to Adjust CPUMotor Gains ==== | ==== How to Adjust CPUMotor Gains ==== | ||
- | \\ The GAIN controls the gain of the feedback between the encoder and the drive velocity. A high gain means a " | + | \\ |
+ | The GAIN controls the gain of the feedback between the encoder and the drive velocity. A high gain means a " | ||
+ | The Fn controls the maximum frequency of the servo response. A high Fn means higher frequencies are allowed through, which can mean correcting for faster problems but if too high can also lead to oscillations or fog-horning. \\ \\ | ||
+ | The software will not make changes to either of these quickly as that is a dangerous thing to do. There is NO POINT to clicking the up or down buttons more than once every few seconds. Indeed it is bad to do so as you will confuse the software. The change between slewing and tracking is also slow for similar reasons. This is why sometimes the " | ||
+ | Slew and tracking mode work differently, | ||
+ | IN SLEWING MODE \\ \\ | ||
+ | - If the gain is too low you will overshoot the target. \\ \\ | ||
+ | - If the gain is too high it will fog-horn. \\ \\ | ||
+ | - If the Fn is too high it will also fog-horn, even at low gains. \\ \\ | ||
+ | You need to have the lowest possible gain and Fn in slew mode that doesn' | ||
+ | IN TRACKING MODE \\ \\ | ||
+ | - If the gain is too low it will keep moving between slewing and tracking. \\ \\ | ||
+ | - If the gain is too high it will fog-horn. \\ \\ | ||
+ | - The same goes for Fn. \\ \\ | ||
+ | In tracking mode you want the highest gain and Fn that allows the telescope to track well without fog-horning. If it " | ||
+ | Some final remarks: \\ \\ | ||
+ | - The gain is temperature dependent, so when the temperature changes these things will change, but more so for tracking. \\ \\ | ||
+ | - The tiptilt system almost never causes oscillations, | ||
+ | - If a drive gets disabled at the end of a slew, the gain is too low. At low gain and low velocity the encoder signal changes very slowly or doesn' | ||
- | ====== Dome issues ====== | + | ==== E2 AOB Dichroic Recovery |
- | \\ At times the domes do not rotate, open or close, or otherwise behave. Some problems are simple and others are more complex. | + | {{: |
- | ==== Dome does not rotate | + | ==== E1 Hut and Cooler Communications Recovery |
- | \\ Sometimes when observing, the dome will not follow the telescope during a slew. This can happen when the Autodome feature is not turned on. Click the ON button on the MAIN tab of the telescope gui to enable it. This may happen after a server restart so always check the dome position with the spycam during a slew after a server restart. Also make sure the target position of the dome matches the telescope' | + | {{: |
- | ==== Dome does not open ==== | + | ==== S2 Acquisition Server Restart |
- | \\ If the dome won't open, try hitting the SLIT CLOSE button | + | S2's acquisition server resides |
- | ==== Dome does not close ==== | + | ==== Focusing the Telescope |
- | \\ If a dome will not close after observing, it may need to be closed manually at the bunker. Turn the power to the dome off at the switch, disconnect the cable from the computer control box and connect it to the manual control switches above. Turn on the power to the dome after connecting | + | - Fully align beacon to labao and TWFS, especially making sure the focus terms between the two agree very well. |
+ | - Open a secondary gui: mergurygtk W2_SECONDARY. | ||
+ | - Note the current M2 actuator positions and send them to Nic for the log. | ||
+ | - Turn off the beacons | ||
+ | - Turn the servo on in the mercurygtk gui. | ||
+ | - On the align tab of the wfsgtk there is a button for FOCUS SCOPE. | ||
+ | - Press the button. | ||
+ | - When done the focus term of starlight on the TWFS should | ||
+ | - Turn off the servo on the mercury_gtk gui. | ||
- | ====== HUT servers ====== | + | A couple of notes: |
- | ==== I can' | + | * If large moves of M2 are made, tiptilt tracking may be lost. Pay careful attention so that M2 doesn' |
+ | * If it takes too long to start the autofocus procedure, the mercury_gtk servo will automatically turn off and nothing will happen. So just make sure the servo is on right before hitting | ||
- | \\ The HUT servers control functions such as finder and acq exposure times and gains, heater and dehumidifier usage, and various AO functions. An observer may find that the camera settings do not display or are not adjustable. The HUT server may be the cause if it has quit. To see if it is the server, open the HUT gui for the desired telescope from the CHARA menu. If the camera settings are displayed and the settings can be changed from the gui, then the HUT server is ok. Restart the telescope server to reopen the connection to the HUT server and hit reopen on Cosmic Debris as well. If the gui is not functioning, | + | ===== Dome issue ===== |
- | ===== Tiptilt Server ===== | + | At times the domes do not rotate, open or close, or otherwise behave. Some problems are simple and others are more complex. |
- | \\ The tiptilt server controls the CCD based tiptilt detection system. \\ \\ Before you start the tiptilt server, you must ensure that the power to the cooling system and the CCD iteslf is on. It is extremely important that the cooler be running before you turn on the CCD and is only turned off if you are sure the CCD is NOT running. You can start the server from the X windows menu or with the command xtiptilt. \\ \\ Note that there are background counts and read noise to deal with. Whenever you change the frame rate, please ensure that the bias frame is OK. The server will attempt to load an old bias frame that should work, but if things are not working, try making a new bias frame by ensuring that the detector is in the dark and typing " | + | ==== Dome does not rotate ==== |
- | ==== Tiptilt | + | Sometimes when observing, the dome will not follow the telescope during a slew. This can happen when the Autodome feature is not turned on. Click the ON button on the MAIN tab of the telescope gui to enable it. This may happen after a server |
+ | If the dome does not turn at all, even with the manual controls on the telescope or dome guis, the control may be set to manual on the control box instead of computer. This can happen if there was work done at the dome during the day. If the dome opens, but does not turn, check the controller box just inside the door of the bunker. Sometimes the drive wheel jumps in the track and cannot turn the dome, even when the motor works. This will need to be fixed during the day. A fuse can also blow out in the dome control box and leave the dome stuck. | ||
- | \\ Is the CCD turned on? When the tiptilt server starts up it tries no more than five times to communicate with the CCD. If they all fail, it will give up. If this happens, try cycling the power to the CCD and try again. If this fails, connect to the tiptilt machine and type the command rtccdAPIDemo, | + | ==== Dome does not open ==== |
- | ==== Tiptilt doesn' | + | Is the SPYCAM on and updating? An old image may show the dome is closed, but it has actually started to open. If the dome won' |
- | \\ Sometimes | + | Also look to see if the power cable is connected to the computer box. If it's connected up high to the manual dome controls, the cable needs to be brought back to the computer box connector. __Turn the power off first, |
+ | |||
+ | ==== Dome does not close ==== | ||
- | ==== Tiptilt server says the clock isn't running ==== | + | If a dome will not close after observing, it may need to be closed manually at the bunker. Turn the power to the dome off at the switch, disconnect the cable from the computer control box and connect it to the manual control switches above. Turn on the power to the dome after connecting the cable and use the two controls to close the dropout first, then the slit. The dropout must be fully closed and the slit closed over it to be shut properly. Inform the staff that the dome did not function properly so someone can look at it in the morning. |
- | \\ First check whether the clock itself is running and the other machines receive the clock signal. Look at the clock cards at the back of other computers in the rack. The clock cards have three LEDs, one yellow and two greens. If the computer is receiving the clock signal properly all three LEDs should blink, but at a different rate. If the LEDs on all the clock cards are solid then reboot the GPS computer. When the GPS computer is down, it is best to cycle the power also on the box right above the GPS computer. \\ \\ If the clock appears to be working properly on other machines and not on the tiptilt now it is time to reboot tiptilt. \\ \\ [There is a bug in the real time part of the CCD code. It is caused by the clock in the tiptilt system either not running at all or having been set to a time very different from the last time the CCD ran.] \\ \\ For the time being the only solution is to reboot tiptilt, but do so from the lab. Power OFF the CCD, then reboot the tiptilt machine and go into the BIOS. Make sure that interrupt 11 has been set to ISA legacy, save the BIOS and reboot. When the clock card LEDs in the tiptilt machine indicate proper clock signal, turn the CCD back on and start the tiptilt server. \\ \\ Also, sometimes Serial Port 3 grabs IRQ 11 which stops the clock from running. Since there is no serial port 2 it's safe to disable this in the BIOS. This problem normally comes up when there has been a power outage. \\ \\ Sometimes syncing the clock can also cause this problem, but that should be fixed soon. If it does, exit the tiptilt server, log in as root, and reload the tiptilt model using the following commands: \\ /sbin/rmmod tiptilt_rt \\ / | + | ===== HUT servers ===== |
- | ==== Tiptilt | + | The HUT servers control functions such as beacon and dichroic movements, heater and dehumidifier usage, and various AO functions. An observer may find that the obsgtk |
- | * Are all the mirror covers open? [Note: W1 M7 cover sometimes needs two clicks to open, despite Scope-monitor indicates open.] | + | If the server won't restart, a reboot of the power supply in the telescope bunker might be necessary. The power supply that controls the acquisition and finder cameras as well as their controllers is located |
- | * Has TIPTILT COMM been run from Cosmic Debris? | + | |
- | * Check the ACQ alignment to make sure the tick marks are centered | + | |
- | * If there is plenty | + | |
- | * If there are a large number of background counts on TT, then close the M5 cover on the telescope, and click [DBIAS] | + | |
- | * If a star drifts even with TT locked, there could be a bright sky or light from other beams getting into the affected | + | |
- | * If TT unlocks and the star drifts, the TT servo may not have engaged. This is engaged | + | |
- | * Are the TIPTILT buttons turned on from the POWER GUI? | + | |
- | ==== Tiptilt | + | ===== Tiptilt |
- | You will see the oscillation in the green dots of the tiptilt GUI windows. Sometimes you can also see the oscillation in the white starlight dots or as an elongation of the star when looking at the ACQ field while tiptilt is locked. Some scopes have an oscillation that has not yet been diagnosed. W2 is one that usually oscillates. A diagonal motion in the tiptilt box indicates an oscillation in one axis only, while a vertical/ | + | [[: |
- | * Type " | + | ===== LabAO ===== |
- | * Type " | + | |
- | * Read section on adjusting the Telescope Tracking Gain using the Dome Server GUI (ref). | + | |
- | ==== Tiptilt is saturating | + | ==== LabAO Shutters Not Working |
- | * Tiptilt saturates at ~ 200,000 counts. If you are near this limit, you can reduce | + | <font 10.5pt font-family:/ |
- | * Set the TT exposure time on Cosmic Debris in the box for " | + | |
- | * To change the exposure when already at a target, then click the [EXP] button | + | |
- | * Frame rates for given exposure times: | + | |
- | * ExpTime = 5 msec, Frame Rate = 157 Hz | + | |
- | * ExpTime = 2 msec, Frame Rate = 299 Hz | + | |
- | * ExpTime = 1 msec, Frame Rate = 427 Hz | + | |
- | ==== Tiptilt counts | + | <font 10.5pt font-family:/ |
- | Try using a slower frame rate or increasing | + | <font 10.5pt font-family:/ |
- | ==== Tiptilt counts are negative | + | ==== LabAO DM Electronics |
- | The bias frame is bad. Get a new one or turn it off. | + | If a labao server complains that it failed to find the EDAC40 device, try unplugging the power and ethernet cables for DM and then replugging in again. The boxes for these are under the respective tables. |
===== OPLE and Metrology ===== | ===== OPLE and Metrology ===== | ||
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* This will install run_ople. Try opening the ople server again. | * This will install run_ople. Try opening the ople server again. | ||
- | ==== Metrology and Homing carts ==== | + | ==== Homing carts ==== |
- | * Good metrology signals are important to the proper positioning of the carts. Monitor the signal strength by running [RUN MULTIPLE] on the Metrology Monitor. Place the windows above the TV windows for each scope you are using. They should show white sine waves that are around the height of the window. Erratic, fluctuating waves indicate self-interference or a weak signal. This may cause the carts to lose their place as the signal strength falls too low. Red waves indicate that some displayed signal has gone too low and the carts will all need to be homed. A careful adjustment of the MET2 mirror can sometimes bring the signal back. Do not adjust the MET1 mirror. | + | |
- | | + | |
+ | ==== Metrology ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | |||
+ | Steps for adjusting MET2: | ||
+ | |||
+ | | ||
+ | - Peak so that the beam is aligned as well as possible. Does not need to be perfect but not loose. | ||
+ | - All beams have a signal between 1-2 volts while at the back. Sometimes | ||
+ | - Using steps of 50, try moving 3 times in one direction. After each step, wait 5 seconds or so for things to update. If nothing then try the other way. | ||
+ | - Return | ||
+ | - Repeat for the other axis. | ||
===== Beam Samplers ===== | ===== Beam Samplers ===== | ||
- | ==== Beam Samplers are not moving ==== | + | ==== Beam Samplers are not moving |
This happens most frequently with the E1 beam sampler. If you are doing alignments and are using E1, try to move it forward first to see if it dies. If it does, follow this procedure. | This happens most frequently with the E1 beam sampler. If you are doing alignments and are using E1, try to move it forward first to see if it dies. If it does, follow this procedure. | ||
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==== Restarting the Beam Sampler Server ==== | ==== Restarting the Beam Sampler Server ==== | ||
- | The most common cause for getting multiple copies of a server is using the socket manage RESTART button, which is flaky at best. Don't do this. If you need to restart a server you should do it manually. | + | The most common cause for getting multiple copies of a server is using the socket manage RESTART button, which is flaky at best. Don't do this. If you need to restart a server you should do it manually. |
+ | |||
+ | 1. Make sure you are logged into the right machine: ssh ctrscrut | ||
+ | |||
+ | 2. If you are not sure see if the socket manager will tell you. If it doesn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | 3. See if there are any ghosts running | ||
+ | |||
+ | ps aux | grep esp_server | ||
+ | |||
+ | Yes, it's hard to know which one it is with the esp servers. You can work out which ones are ghosts by typing the command | ||
+ | |||
+ | tsockman |grep ctrscrut | ||
+ | |||
+ | which will give you a list of the servers running on the machine you are interested in. Checking for non-matching PIDs will tell you which processes you need to stop. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 4. Stop those processes: | ||
+ | |||
+ | kill -9 PID1 PID2 …. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 5. Make sure there is no sign of it in the socket manager | ||
+ | |||
+ | tsockman rm BS | ||
+ | |||
+ | 6. Restart the beam sampler servers (this starts both beam sampler servers BS1 and BS2): | ||
+ | |||
+ | bootlaunch_beamsamp | ||
==== " | ==== " | ||
- | | + | Cosmic Debris reports " |
+ | The beam sample server runs on ctrscrut. The ople server tries to open a connection to the beam sampler when it starts. If the beam sampler is not there, or dies, \\ | ||
+ | you need to restart the ople server as there is no command to reopen that connection. | ||
===== Remote Observing ===== | ===== Remote Observing ===== | ||
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* If either Phase 1 or Phase 2 states say IDLE for a given VPN, then you need to re-establish the connection. To do this, click on the " | * If either Phase 1 or Phase 2 states say IDLE for a given VPN, then you need to re-establish the connection. To do this, click on the " | ||
* Make sure to close Firefox by using CTRL-Q to quit the program and not just close the window. | * Make sure to close Firefox by using CTRL-Q to quit the program and not just close the window. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Network Problems ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== User accounts not recognized ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | The gps computer does the user authentication for the control side while ctrscrut provides the home directories. Yellowpages is gone, the new paradigm is LDAP (local directory access protocol). If you can't log on to computers on the control network, then make sure both ctscrut (michelson) and gps computers are running. If the login screen screen on ctrscrut says " | ||
+ | |||
+ | If gps computer does not start, check the power distribution unit (PDU) at the top of that rack. If any units show both " " and " | ||
===== General Problems ===== | ===== General Problems ===== | ||
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==== GUIs are frozen ==== | ==== GUIs are frozen ==== | ||
- | Check to see if Sockman is working. Click the [LIST] button on sockman. If the list doesn' | + | Check to see if Sockman is working. Click the [LIST] button on sockman. If the list doesn' |
+ | |||
+ | Hit [REOPEN] on the gui to see if it reconnects with its server. if that does not fix it, the server may be dead. From the LIST on Sockman, select the server suspected of being frozen. Ping it and if it reports back as being dead, see [[: | ||
Telescope guis often freeze. Hit reopen on the gui to bring it back to life. Hitting [MOVE] on the telescope gui before the star has stopped moving can cause the gui to freeze. Avoid doing this. Close the dead one and open a new one to fix the problem. | Telescope guis often freeze. Hit reopen on the gui to bring it back to life. Hitting [MOVE] on the telescope gui before the star has stopped moving can cause the gui to freeze. Avoid doing this. Close the dead one and open a new one to fix the problem. | ||
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* If the top of a server goes blank, try typing " | * If the top of a server goes blank, try typing " | ||
- | * If the server screen fills with jibberish, try hitting CTRL-l in the server to clear it. | + | * If the server screen fills with jibberish, try hitting CTRL-L in the server to clear it. |
+ | * If a server freezes, sometimes hitting CTRL-C and then N, for NO, will unfreeze | ||
==== Server is frozen ==== | ==== Server is frozen ==== | ||
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* Click [REOPEN] on Cosmic Debris and relevant GUIs to re-initialize communication with the server after it is restarted. | * Click [REOPEN] on Cosmic Debris and relevant GUIs to re-initialize communication with the server after it is restarted. | ||
* A folder is on the desktop that has the restart commands for CTRSCRUT servers and the Shutters server restart command running on OPLE. Use it to restart servers that will not reopen from the menu. | * A folder is on the desktop that has the restart commands for CTRSCRUT servers and the Shutters server restart command running on OPLE. Use it to restart servers that will not reopen from the menu. | ||
+ | * if a telescope server does not close after using CTRL-C when restarting them after UT midnight and the Send ON button is green on the obsgtk, turn the Send ON to OFF and the server will close. Turn the Send ON button back on to resume the setup for the night. | ||
==== PAVO Server - Error communicating with IFW ==== | ==== PAVO Server - Error communicating with IFW ==== | ||
- | The following error message sometimes appears when starting the PAVO server: | + | The following error message sometimes appears when starting the PAVO server: "Error communicating with IFW. Could not read from IFW. Is the filter wheel plugged in and on?" Most of the time, restarting the PAVO server will clear this error message and allow PAVO to communicate with the filter wheel. If restarting the server doesn' |
==== Adding or Finding a Star in the CHARA Database ==== | ==== Adding or Finding a Star in the CHARA Database ==== | ||
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The command " | The command " | ||
- | You can also look up different identifiers for the star by using the SIMBAD database: [[http:// | + | You can also look up different identifiers for the star by using the SIMBAD database: [[http:// |
- | \\ | + | |
- | DBADD uses SIMBAD to look up the coordinates of the star and then searches to see if the star is already in the CHARA database. If the star is in the database, it will return the CHARA number. If the star is not in the CHARA database, it will ask if you want to add it and assign a CHARA number if you answer yes. | + | DBADD uses SIMBAD to look up the coordinates of the star and then searches to see if the star is already in the CHARA database. If the star is in the database, it will return the CHARA number. If the star is not in the CHARA database, it will ask if you want to add it and will assign a CHARA number if you answer yes. |
If an object is not in SIMBAD (such as a recently discovered nova), then you must enter the object manually using the instructions below. | If an object is not in SIMBAD (such as a recently discovered nova), then you must enter the object manually using the instructions below. | ||
- | \\ __Finding | + | **Finding |
Here is an example of how to find the CHARA number of a star, nova, or AGN that is already in the CHARA database: | Here is an example of how to find the CHARA number of a star, nova, or AGN that is already in the CHARA database: | ||
- | [ctrscrut: | + | [ctrscrut: |
+ | Object "NGC 4151" found as CHARA number: 320263 | ||
Note: If the target information stored in the CHARA database does not match SIMBAD, then dbadd will provide the coordinates and magnitudes listed in SIMBAD, and it will also list the CHARA numbers of objects in the database located within 10 arcsec. Please check these nearby entries before adding a new star to the database. | Note: If the target information stored in the CHARA database does not match SIMBAD, then dbadd will provide the coordinates and magnitudes listed in SIMBAD, and it will also list the CHARA numbers of objects in the database located within 10 arcsec. Please check these nearby entries before adding a new star to the database. | ||
- | \\ __Targets | + | **Targets |
+ | |||
+ | If an object is not in the CHARA database, then you can use dbadd to query SIMBAD and add the star to the CHARA database. This might need to be done for faint stars, novae, and AGN. If the object is found in SIMBAD, then dbadd will return the target' | ||
Here is an example of how to add an object to the CHARA database: | Here is an example of how to add an object to the CHARA database: | ||
- | [ctrscrut: | + | [ctrscrut: |
- | ID 2MASS_J20340850+4136592 \\ CHARA 320414 \\ 2000.0 \\ CAT8 2MASS_J20340850+4136592 \\ RA 20 34 08.5148 \\ DEC +41 36 59.408 \\ PMRA -2.32 \\ PMDEC -3.87 \\ PAR 0.58 \\ RVEL -27.50 \\ VMAG 10.03 \\ HMAG 6.23 \\ KMAG 5.99 \\ SP O5.5Ifc \\ END | + | SIMBAD found this for " |
- | Is the above the object you are looking for? [y/n] y \\ Added "BD+41 3807" to the database. | + | ID 2MASS_J20340850 4136592 |
+ | CHARA 320414 \\ | ||
+ | 2000.0 \\ | ||
+ | CAT8 2MASS_J20340850 4136592 \\ | ||
+ | RA 20 34 08.5148 \\ | ||
+ | DEC 41 36 59.408 \\ | ||
+ | PMRA -2.32 \\ | ||
+ | PMDEC -3.87 \\ | ||
+ | PAR 0.58 \\ | ||
+ | RVEL -27.50 | ||
- | In the example above, the object "BD+41 3807" has been added to the database as CHARA number 320414. | + | VMAG 10.03 \\ |
+ | HMAG 6.23 \\ | ||
+ | KMAG 5.99 \\ | ||
+ | SP O5.5Ifc \\ | ||
+ | END | ||
- | \\ __Targets that are not in SIMBAD__ | + | Is the above the object you are looking for? [y/n] y \\ |
+ | Added "BD 41 3807" to the database. | ||
- | When a recognized identifier is entered, the HD number with A or B will usually display. Confirm that the coordinates, | + | In the example above, the object "BD 41 3807" has been added to the database as CHARA number 320414. |
+ | |||
+ | **Targets that are not in SIMBAD** | ||
+ | |||
+ | Some objects like recently discovered novae are not in SIMBAD. Entering dbadd <star designation> | ||
+ | |||
+ | The command dbadd -m is used by entering the star name and coordinates in this format: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Usage: dbadd -m < | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | <RA> : XXhXXmXX.X or XXhXX.X (no spaces) \\ \\ | ||
+ | <Dec> : XXdXXmXX.X or XXdXX.X (no spaces) \\ \\ | ||
+ | There are cases where an object is not in SIMBAD and doesn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Binary stars** | ||
+ | |||
+ | Some binary stars have a common HD number with an A or B after them. These can cause problems as Cosmic Debris does not accept non numerical entries when filling in star designation. These stars are likely in CHARA' | ||
+ | |||
+ | When a recognized identifier is entered, the HD number with A or B will usually display. Confirm that the coordinates, | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Editing | ||
==== Adding an anchor to the wiki page ==== | ==== Adding an anchor to the wiki page ==== | ||
- | To add an anchor to the wikipage, type the following where you want the anchor inserted (without the spaces between the symbols): \\ [ [ #AnchorName ] ] \\ \\ Highlight the text you want to be a link to the anchor, click the link symbol above and select anchor. Select a page(such as Trouble Shooting) where the anchor is located and give the same name for the anchor. | + | To add an anchor to the wikipage, type the following where you want the anchor inserted (without the spaces between the symbols): \\ |
+ | [ [ #AnchorName ] ] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Highlight the text you want to be a link to the anchor, click the link symbol above and select anchor. Select a page(such as Trouble Shooting) where the anchor is located and give the same name for the anchor. | ||
==== Displays for the MIRC-X wolverine2 monitors ==== | ==== Displays for the MIRC-X wolverine2 monitors ==== | ||
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Follow instructions in the [[: | Follow instructions in the [[: | ||
- | \\ Last updated | + | ==== No Power for Aperture Wheels ==== |
+ | |||
+ | To minimize heat sources in the lab, the power for the apwheels is turned off. If you need to use aperture wheels during the night, the operator will need to plug the power into the outlet next to the metrology table (see photo below). If there are any communication issues after plugging in the power, try restarting the server using bootlaunch on ctrscrut. It's probably a good idea to home the apwheels after turning on the power. | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Last updated | ||