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NATIONAL MAJOR INSTRUMENTATION GROUP OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

950 N. Cherry Ave. P. O. Box 26732

Tucson, Arizona 85726-6732 (520) 318-8000 FAX: (520) 318-8303

MONSOON Operating Instructions

QUOTA

NOAO Document MNSN-AD-08-0011 Revision: 0

Authored by: David Mills and David Sawyer

Please send comments: [email protected]

Doc. File: MNSN-AD-08-0011 R 0.doc Created on 6/11/2008 Doc. Number: MNSN-AD-08-0011

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Revision History Version Date Approved Sections Affected Remarks

0 6/11/2008 All Initial draft release - aro


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Table of Contents

Revision History.................................................................................................................2 1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................5 2.0 Starting the System..................................................................................................5

2.1 Powering the System .......................................................................................5 2.2 Starting the Software ......................................................................................5

3.0 MOP GUI Interface .................................................................................................9 3.1 Monsoon Camera Control – quota (MCC) ...................................................9 3.2. Configuration of Exposure Parameters.......................................................11 3.3 Taking a Static Image ...................................................................................12 3.4 Guide Star Selection ......................................................................................14 3.5 Guide Star Configuration .............................................................................18 3.6 Enabling Guide Corrections.........................................................................20 3.7 Taking a Guided Image.................................................................................22

4.0 Manual Shutter Control ........................................................................................22 5.0 Using the OTA Listener (Optional)......................................................................24 6.0 Using the Focus Sensor..........................................................................................27 5.0 Shutting Down the Software .................................................................................27

5.1 Normal Operation .........................................................................................27 5.2 Power Off System – Lightning or Maintenance Shutdown.......................27


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List of Figures Figure 1 – Typical Desktop Icons .......................................................................................5 Figure 2 – Start Quota Pan ..................................................................................................6 Figure 3 – PAN Not Active ................................................................................................7 Figure 4 – Initializing Camera.............................................................................................7 Figure 5 – MOP Startup ......................................................................................................8 Figure 6 - MONSOON Observing Platform GUI ...............................................................9 Figure7 – Image Progress..................................................................................................12 Figure 8 - DS9 Window with Static Image .......................................................................13 Figure 9 – Select Guide Stars ............................................................................................14 Figure 10 – DS9 with Guide Boxes...................................................................................15 Figure 11 - Correct Star Position in Guide Box ................................................................16 Figure 12 - Incorrect Star Position in Guide Box..............................................................17 Figure 13 – Edit Region ....................................................................................................18 Figure 14 – OTA Guide Star Configuration......................................................................18 Figure 15 – Guide Mode....................................................................................................20 Figure 16 – OTA Guiding Status.......................................................................................21 Figure 17 - Manual Shutter Control ..................................................................................22 Figure 18 - Manual Control of Shutter ..............................................................................23 Figure 19 - Shutter Control in Exposure Control Mode....................................................23 Figure 20 – Starting the OTA Listener..............................................................................24 Figure 21 – OTA Monitor .................................................................................................25 Figure 22 – OTA Monitor with Guide Stars .....................................................................26

1.0 Introduction This document sets forth instructions for operating the MONSOON Observing Platform (MOP) as it applies to the QUOTA system. The QUOTA system includes the dewar assembly, MONSOON detector head electronics (DHE) and power supply, pixel acquisition node (PAN) computer and the user interface computer (science workstation.) Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) are represented throughout this manual and serve to clarify many of the operational features of the MOP.

2.0 Starting the System Starting the QUOTA system requires powering up the electronic equipment and starting the software in a precise order.

2.1 Powering the System Apply power to the DHE by switching on the power supply and boot the PAN computer (“quotapan”) and the science workstation (currently “Mogul”.)

Log in as “observer” on the QUOTA science worstation.

2.2 Starting the Software The Monsoon Observing Platform software has one major prerequisite. The MONSOON data acquisition software on the Pixel Acquisition Node (PAN) machine must be up and running.

1. Start the PAN software

Start the QUOTA PAN by left clicking on the Start QuotaPAN icon on the desktop.

Start Quota PAN

Typical Desktop Icons Figure 1


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The Start QuotaPAN window will open along with panCapture and panSaver windows. Two other windows will open at the same time but minimized. They are PANProcAlg and PANDaemon. All of these windows can be minimized to save desktop space. See Figure 2.

Start Quota PAN Figure 2

2. Start the MOP Software

To start the MOP, left click the Start MOP-Quota icon on the desktop.

NOTE: Notice that there is an additional icon on the desktop, Start MOP-Quota-no DS9. This startup method can be used if the default DS9 display is not desired.


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NOTE: If the PAN software is not running, a small dialog box will also appear indicating the problem. See Figure 3.

PAN Not Active Figure 3

Restart the PAN using the method described in Section 2.2 and left click OK. The window will no longer be displayed if PAN start was successful.

Several new windows will open:

• MONSOON Camera Control window

• MOP Debug Log Viewer

• A DS9 Image Viewer (if selected)

• Shell – Start MOP - QUOTA

NOTE: If the MOP was started with DS9, the DS9 window opens but is minimized.

• “Initializing camera” appears briefly, as shown in Figure 4, then disappears leaving the monitor screen as depicted in Figure 5.

Initializing Camera Figure 4


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Once the Initializing Camera window closes, the Monsoon Camera Control - Quota window is displayed. See Figure 5.

MOP Startup Figure 5

NOTE: Minimize the Start MOP – Quota window if desired but it is recommended that the MOP debug log be left open to monitor the health of the software.

The Monsoon Camera Control – Quota (MCC) window is the primary user interface and its operation is described in the following section.


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3.0 MOP GUI Interface

3.1 Monsoon Camera Control – quota (MCC) The Monsoon Camera Control – quota screen allows system configuration by means of pull-down menus across the top of the screen and several text entry areas. See Figure 6.

MONSOON Observing Platform GUI

Figure 6


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The MOP pull-down menus are:

• File

The File menu has two options:

Exit – closes the MOP interface.

Exit and shutdown PAN – closes the MOP interface and shuts down PAN operation.

• OTA Guiding

The OTA Guiding menu has two options:

Configure guiding – launches OTA Guide star configuration window. See Section 3.3.

Select guide stars – launches the guide star selection grid in a DS9/ximtool window with a current star field displayed. See Section 3.3.

• Tools

The Tools menus has seven options:

Engineering GUI – For engineering use only.

Debug Log – launches a MOP debug log window. (automatic at start-up)

Reset MOP – resets MOP to a default configuration.

Manual Shutter Control – launches a window to allow manual control of the shutter. See Section 3.5.

Enable OTA voltages – connects the clock and bias signals to the OTA devices. (automatic at start-up)

Disable OTA voltages – disconnects the clock and bias signals from the OTA devices. This is used before powering down the DHE.

Reset PAN – resets the PAN processes and synchronizes communications.


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• Help

The Help menu has two options:

Users Guide – provides a link to this document.

Quick Start – not yet available for QUOTA.

3.2 Configuration of Exposure Parameters Configure fields as desired:

• Exposure time – enter numeric values using either the arrows or the keyboard.

• Number of frames in sequence -

• Exposure type – Object, Focus, Test, Flat, Dark, Zero or Comp.

• Pixel binning (not activated) – selection will affect raedout time and will be updated and displayed in the Mode Summary area of the Monsoon Camera Control screen.

• Data directories – the user can select a directory in which to save data, a FITS file name prefix and a file number.

• Image file number –

• Image number – a sequence number automatically added to theimage file name.

• Auto overscan subtraction -

• Automatic display -

• Auto clear – default setting that clears the Comments arae after each new exposure.

• Comments – may be added up to the time of readout.

• Image title – a short, descriptive word or phrase describing the image being taken.

• Observer – identifies the observer taking the image.


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3.3 Taking a Static Image Press “Start” on the MCC to take a static image. Progress will be indicated at the bottom of the Monsoon Camera Control – Quota window as shown in Figure 7. When the exposure is complete the image will be displayed in the image viewer (DS9 or ximtool). An example static OTA image is shown in Figure 8.

During the exposure the MCC changes as follows:

Start becomes Working.

Abort is enabled.

Status field appears – displays exposure status such as exposure time countdown, readtime countdown, Data I/O, and so forth.

Data Directory

Guiding Status of Four OTA Devices (Red indicates guiding is NOT active)

Image Number

Exposure Status Field: This appears after exposure is started and shows exposure time countdown, readout countdown and data transfer status.


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Image Progress Figure 7

Simulated Star

OTA Cell

OTA

DS9 Window with Static Image Figure 8


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3.4 Guide Star Selection Guide stars can be selected by doing one of the following:

1. On the Monsoon Camera Cotrol – quota window, pull down the OTA Guding menu and left click on Select Guide Stars.

-or- 2. In the OTA Guide star configuration window, left click on the Select guide stars button. See

Figure 9.

Click to select guide stars

Select Guide Stars Figure 9

If “New” is selected, the selection grid will be displayed as shown in Figure 10.


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3. Select up to eight stars in each OTA to be used as guide stars. Accomplish this by left clicking and dragging a green box in the bottom of each quadrant and dropping it on the appropriate star. After droppin gthe box, the arrow keys can be sued to adjust the positionof the box. Do not select stars that are touching the grid lines in the DS9 window. Use the “Zoom” button on the DS9 toolbar to check star positions in the guide boxes.

NOTE: The green boxes can be more finely positioned over the stars by using the UP (↑) DOWN (↓) LEFT (←) RIGHT (→) arrow keys on the keyboard.

Use the green boxes to select guide stars.

DS9 with Guide Boxes Figure 10


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The guide box must be within the boundaries of a cell. See Figures 11 and 12 for correct and incorrect examples.

Guide Box

Correct Star Position in Guide Box Figure 11


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Guide Box (outside cell boundary is an invalid position)

Incorrect Star Position in Guide Box Figure 12


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Once guide stars have been selected, left click on “OK” in the Edit region pop-up as shown in Figure 13.

Edit Region Figure 13

3.5 Guide Star Configuration On the Monsoon Camera Control window, pull down the OTA Guiding menu and select “Configure guiding.” The OTA Guide star configuration window will be dispayed as shown in Figure 14. This window furnishes the operator with various options for configuring guide star setup.

OTA Guide Star Configuration Figure 14


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Configuration items include:

• Guide box binning - provides a selection of row/column binning options. Binning selection will affect the readout time.

Binning Summary:

• 1x1 – no binning

• 2x2 – two-pixel binning for columns and rows

• 4x4 – Four-pixel binning for columns, four-pixel binning for rows

Summary of functions on the OTA Guuide star configuration window:

• Guide box size – the size of the guide box regions in unbinned pixels. All guide boxes will be the same size.

• Guide Time – exposure time in milliseconds for the guide star integrations. All guide stars will have the same integration time.

• Maximum Guide Shift – the upper limit of the number of unbinned pixels that can be shifted during each guide integration. The maximum allowed setting is fifteen pixels but in practice, values in the 2 to 5 pixels range should be used because this is more typical for actual guide star motions. This parameter acts as rejection criteria for spurious star motions.

• Sky width – the sky background, used in guide centroid calculations, is measured in strips along the edges of the guide region away from the guide star. This parameter defines the width, in binned pixels, of the strip used for sky measurements.

• Edge skip – the number of binned pixels (strips) along the edge of the guide region that is not used for centroid measurements. The sky region will start just inside the skipped pixels. This allows edge effects from reading out the OTA, such as charge injection, to be rejected from the centroid calculations.

• Rejection Threshold - used for setting the threshold of when a guide star signal is too faint (loss of signal) for accurate centroid calculations. The rejection threshold is the ratio of the guide star peak signal level to the sky noise (variance). Guide stars that do not meet the rejection threshold criteria, for a given guide iteration, are not used in the OT shift calculation for that iteration.

3.6 Enabling Guide Corrections In the OTA Guide star configuration window, select Guide Mode (Local or Coherent) to enable guiding. The OTA guding status will be displayed as shown in Figure 16.

Guide Modes:

• Local – each OTA is independently shifted based on its guide stars.

• Coherent – all guide stars from all OTAs are averaged to determine a shift common to all OTAs.

Click to enable/disable shift correction

Shift Calc Algorithm

Guide Mode

Guide Mode Figure 15


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There are two options for the type of al;gorithm used to calculate shift corrections.

(Description TBD by Steve Howell)

Guide shift correctiosn will be applied to all “active” OTAs. Left click the “Shifts active” buttons to enable or disable. Status will change on the MCC screen.

Status blocks turn green when Guide Mode is enabled.

OTA Guiding Status Figure 16


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3.7 Taking a Guided Image Once guiding is enabled, left clicking the “sart” button on the MCC will start a guided exposure.

NOTE: It is unneccessary to close the OTA Guide star configuration window to load guiding parameters.

NOTE: The data directory must be located on /data1 because this is cross- mounted with the PAN computer to allow the files associated with guide images to be transferred. The files associated with a guided image are:

• filename.fits - the QUOTA science image

• filename.guide.fits - the guide star image file

• filename.shft - a text file with the guide shift information

• filename.phot - a text file with the guide photometry information

4.0 Manual Shutter Control Select “Manual Shutter Control” from the Tools pull-down menu on the Monsoon Camera Control – Quota window. The Shutter control window will be displayed as in Figure 17.

Select

Manual Shutter Control Figure 17

There are two modes for manually controlling the shutter:

1. Manual open/close – Left click on “Open” to open the shutter. It will remain open until “Close” is selected. See Figure 18.


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Push to Close

Push to Open

Manual Control of Shutter Figure 18

2. Shuttered Exposure – Enter desired exposure time in seconds in the field provided and left click on “Exposure”. The shutter will open immediately and and automatically close when the exposure time expires. See Figure 19.


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Shutter Control in Exposure Control Mode Figure 19

Green while shutter is open

Push to start exposure

Select exposure time

5.0 Using the OTA Listener (Optional) The OTA Listener is an optional feature of the QUOTA MOP software that offers a real-time information stream of guide star images and displays this information in a viewer window. It also produces image quality data and determines a guide signal for telescope tracking corrections.

To start the OTA Listener open an xterm window, change to the “bin” diredctory (cd bin) and enter a command as shown in Figure 20.

Starting the OTA Listener Figure 20

The OTA Listener windows will now be displayed as depicted in Figure 21.

NOTE: The Listener is also referred to as the OTA Monitor.

During the exposure, the real time guide information is displayed as shown in Figure 22.


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OTA Monitor Figure 21


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OTA Monitor with Guide Stars Figure 22


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6.0 Using the Focus Sensor TBD

7.0 Shutting Down the Software

7.1 Normal Operation To shut down the software, pull down the File menu on the Monsoon Camera Control – Quota window and select “Exit.” This will close the MOP interface but will leave the PAN running and leave the detector running in its current state, which is “idle.”

7.2 Power Off System – Lightning or Maintenance Shutdown When power must be shut off to the DHE and other equipment, follow the steps below:

1. Pull down the Tools menu on the Monsoon Camera Control – Quota window and select Disable OTA Voltages.

2. Pull down the File menu on the Monsoon Camera Control – Quota window and select Exit and shutdown PAN.

3. Power off DHE.

4. Power off computers.

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