Swope GUI Software Documentation

Allow to run the GUI without the filter wheels connected. This is necessary to mount Henrietta's rotator at the location of the filter wheel package.: This is necessary to mount Henrietta's rotator at the location of the filter wheel package.

Note about Scripting: Please set the exptype before any other exposure parameter (eg. exptime, loops) because setting the exposure type may affect other exposure parameters.

Release Notes

Screen Shots and GUI Documentation

Startup, Menu and Preferences: Configuration; Main Menu; Preferences
Data Acquisition: Camera; Focus Sequences; QuickLook Tool; Dewar Status; Filter Hardhat
Telescope and Guiders: Telescope; SkyMap; Object List; Airmass Display; Guider Control
Galil Hardhat
TCP/IP Interface

Startup, Menu and Preferences

Configuration -- Main Menu -- Preferences

Configuration

The images below show the standard setup for normal operations:

Hosts: the computers the Swope-GUI talks to: the CCD-Host, the Acromag (vacuum), the Galil (guider and filter wheels), the TCS and Meteo, the weather server of the Telescope window. The picture is older: it shows a Focus row, which is gone, where Meteo now is.: The hosts are kept in the shared preferences. Startup saves them (an empty field keeps the saved one), and they are used from then on; to change one, quit and start the GUI again. Reset To Defaults fills in the standard hosts: ccd12, swope-vacuum, swope-imb, 10.8.80.53 and env-api.lco.cl.; Meteo takes a host name or address, with a port if needed (127.0.0.1:8080), which the GUI asks over http://, or a full address starting with http:// or https://. It has no Online menu: when the server cannot be reached, the Weather light is hollow and the line beside it reads no data: and the reason. Plain http works for env-api.lco.cl, an IP address or a short host name; for any other name use https:// (macOS refuses plain http to it).

Main Menu

Swope -- File -- Telescope -- Camera -- Guider -- Help

About Swope: displays a window that shows the version of the Swope-GUI.
Preferences: opens the preferences window.

Open ObjectList: opens a file-selector dialog that allows to load an object list into the ObjectList window.
Save As..: saves the current object list.
Load FITS: load FITS file(s) into the QuickLook Tool.: Select all (4) files of the run-number that you want to load.
Show Logfile(s): opens the Swope-GUI logfile in the Console.
Show DataFolder: open the current data path(s) in a Finder window.
Show AppSupport: opens the "Application Support" folder in a Finder window.: This folder contains the Objects, Scripts and Subrasters directories.

Telescope Window: opens the Telescope window again after it has been closed.
SkyMap: opens the SkyMap window.
Clear Savepos: removes the green squares that mark previous exposures from the SkyMap.
ObjectList: opens the Object List window.
Airmass: opens the Airmass window.
Modify CSET…: sets the TCS's CSET to typed values (Engineering Mode only; see Commands).
STOP Telescope and Dome (⌘.): the same as the red STOP button under the Status box of the Telescope window; it also works while a dialog is open.

DataPaths: opens a dialog that allows the user to set the path for writing the FITS files.
QuickLook Tool: opens the QuickLook Tool.
Dewar Status: opens the Dewar Status window.
CCD Voltages: opens a dialog that allows to set the CCD voltages (requires password).
CCD Hardhat: opens a dialog that reloads the DSP code.
File Number: enables (temporarily) the File number edit on the Camera GUI: Note: Existing files will be overwritten without warning.
Filter Hardhat: opens a dialog that defines the list of available filters.

Guider: opens the Guider Control windows.
GalilHardhat: opens the Galil Hardhat window.

User Manual (LCO Web): opens a web-browser with the Swope CCD user manual:: "http://www.lco.cl/Members/fdimille/swope/c40-ccd-manual"
User Manual (PDF): opens a PDF-reader with a local version of the user manual.
Software Documentation: opens a web-browser with this document:: "https://carnegie-observatories.github.io/swope/Swope"

Preferences

The Swope-GUI will be used from multiple accounts and it is desireable that certain settings are maintained between account resets. I therefore keep these settings outside the current user account in

/Users/Shared/Library/Preferencs/edu.carnegiescience.obs.Swope.plist

General -- Camera -- QuickLook -- Weather

Observer: FITS header keyword OBSERVER.
Engineering Mode: certain features (CCD-Voltages, Galil-Hardhat) of the Swope-GUI are potentially harmful to the instrument and require the GUI to run in engineering mode (password protected).

Shutter Closed: sound after the shutter closes (before readout).
Exposure Done: sound after the readout is done.
Script Done: sound after a script has finished.: If the the text in the edit-box is enclosed in single quotes ('), it will be spoken using the default system voice; otherwise the string will be interpreted as a sound file name and be played.; Unless an absoulte path is given, the file is expected to reside in the "/Users/Shared/Library/Application Support/Swope" directory.

Saturation Level: pixels above this level will be shown in red.
Default Subraster: subraster geometry when adding a subraster using the 'a' key on the display.
Clear Display Before Redaout: clears (black) the display before a new exposure is read out.
Trim bias section from loaded FITS files: This allows to display the bias sections (overscan and biaslines): in the QuickLook tool for FITS files loaded from disk (not for data directly read from the array).

Weather: the limits of the weather advisory in the Telescope window: humidity (%), wind and gusts (mph), the dew margin (°C), rain (mm/h) and the data age (minutes), each with a Warning and a Close value (rain: Close only), and the env-api Station (the server is the Meteo host of the startup panel).: A row turns the light amber at its Warning value and red at its Close value; the dew margin does so below its values. Data older than the age Warning turn it amber, older than the age Close value hollow (not known).; The fields can be changed in Engineering Mode only (open the preferences again after turning it on). LCO defaults fills in the defaults; Apply saves the values, and the Swope log records each change. Use a point, not a comma, for decimals. A value that is not valid shows weather limits not saved, and the panel stays open.; The defaults are placeholders from LCO's weather rules, until the Swope staff confirm them: humidity 70/80 %, wind 30/35 mph, gusts 40/45 mph, dew margin 5/2 °C, rain 0.1 mm/h, data age 4/10 minutes.

Data Acquisition

Camera -- Focus Sequences -- DataPaths -- Dewar Status -- CCD Voltages -- CCD Hardhat -- Filter Hardhat -- QuickLook Tool

Camera

ExpTime: sets the exposure time (1..8200 seconds)
Loops: number of exposures per sequence.
ExpType: sets the exposure type: { Object, Focus, Bias, Dark, Flat, Focus (auto) }; Focus and Focus (auto) take a focus sequence.
Readout: sets the readout mode: { Full, Subraster }
Binning: set the binning: { 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x2, 4x4 }
Speed: sets the readout speed/gain combination: fixed to Turbo
Filter: moves the filter wheel(s) to the selected filter combination: There are 2 filter wheels with each 5 positions
Q: selects which quadrants should be saved to disk
Object: OBJECT value in the FITS header.: This field will be sampled at the beginning of the readout.
Comment: COMMENT value in the FITS header.: This field will be sampled at the beginning of the readout.; The FITS record will be truncated to the first 26 characters.
Start: starts a loop sequence of Loops exposures.
Snap: takes a single exposure in 4x4 binning.: After the exposure the previous settings are automatically restored.
File: next file name number (ccdNNNN.fits): The number may be set using the Camera--FileNumber menu.
Pause: close the shutter and stop the exposure timer.: Resume: open the shutter and re-start the exposure timer.
Abort: aborts the current readout (frame will be lost).: Stop: stops the current exposure, the shutter closes and the readout will start immediately.
Execute: executes the script file in the edit-box to the right of the button.
Disk(s): disk status

Focus Sequences

A focus sequence takes Loops exposures of ExpTime on one frame. Between exposures the charge is shifted on the chip (twice as far after the first exposure), so every star appears once per focus position. The frame is read out once, at the end. An ExpTime above 30 seconds asks for confirmation (not in Engineering Mode).

Focus: between exposures a dialog asks you to change the telescope focus.: OK continues; cancel ends the sequence and the frame is read out.
Focus (auto): the focus is stepped automatically.: Start asks for Center and Step, in whole encoder counts. Center defaults to the current focus, Step to the last step used (initially the focusAutoStep preference, 50).; The focus is stepped upward, to take up backlash: the first exposure is at Center − n×Step, with n = (Loops−1)/2 rounded down, and the focus moves up one Step before each following exposure. E.g. 7 Loops cover Center−3×Step .. Center+3×Step. Each move waits until the focuser has settled (at least 4 seconds).; The whole sweep must lie within the focus limits (minFocus, maxFocus preferences, default 20000..28000), in Engineering Mode too. Fewer than 5 Loops asks for confirmation: the focus analysis needs at least 5 points.; Needs the Telescope window connected and the TCS switched on. If a focus move fails, an alert names the step and the TCS's reason (e.g. TCS is switched off), and the sequence stops as with Stop: the exposures taken so far are read out (none if the first move fails).; Also available in scripts and over TCP/IP as focus_auto.
Stop: ends the sequence (a running focus move finishes first); the frame is read out with the exposures taken so far.
FITS header:: TELFOCSQ: the focus encoder value of each exposure, in order, comma separated. It has room for 10 positions: more Loops ask for confirmation at Start, and then only the first 10 positions are recorded.; TELFOCUS: the focus of the last exposure, i.e. of the star image that was not shifted.

DataPath

The FITS files will be written to both paths simultaneously.

Default: fills in both paths for the current night.: The first path is on the local disk ($HOME/Data/Swope/utYYMMD1_D2), the second one is on the external data volume (/Volumes/DATA_SWOPE/utYYMMD1_D2), e.g. ut260929_30 for the night of 2026-09-29/30. The directory name changes at 09:00 UT.; The primary copy is written to the local disk so that an unmounted or slow DATA_SWOPE volume cannot hold up the night; that volume keeps the second (mirror) copy.; The same defaults are used by the Simulator builds.
Browse: choose the second path in a file dialog.
Apply: checks and stores both paths.: A directory that does not exist yet can be created from the confirmation dialog. A path that cannot be created or written to is not stored.; If the second path is empty, or identical to the first one, each frame is written once.; If neither path is usable a no data path warning is shown.

Dewar Status

Displays the temperatures, heater currents and setpoints of the DSP control loop.

VacGauge: pressure reading from the GP-375 vacuum gauge.
IonPump: pressure reading from the ion pump.: { Off, On, Auto }; The Auto mode turns the ion-pump ON if; pressure below 1.2e-4 (from the GP375 vaccum gauge) and; CCD temperature (2nd highest) below -100 [C]; The Auto mode turns the ion-pump OFF if; pressure above 1.8e-4 (from the GP375 vaccum gauge or ion-pump sensor) or; CCD temperature (2nd highest) above -95 [C]

CCD Voltages

Engineering Mode only (password protected).

CCD Hardhat

Reset DSP/CCD-Server: reloads the DSP code.

Filter Hardhat

This window allows to define the filter name in each of the 5 positions of the 2 filter wheels.
The Swope-GUI automatically updates the Filter menu on the Camera window.

QuickLook Tool

Left mouse button: moves the Magnifier window.
Right mouse button: adjusts the contrast and level of the color map (SAOimage, DS9).
Cursor keys: moves the Magnifier window by 1 pixel.: If the 'shift', 'option' or 'command' keys are held down, then the Magnifier moves by 5 (25, 125) pixels at a time.

Color: sets color lookup table: { Gray, BBdy, Rain, InvG }
Stretch: sets the dynamic range of the scaling algorithm: cuts: manual data range (edit-boxes at the top and bottom); med3: -3..+3 sigma around the background (median of frame); med5: -5..+3 sigma around the background; 3/10: -3..+10 sigma around the background; mima: full data range
Scale: sets the scaling scope: { Global, Chip }
Pixel: The current cursor pixel coordinate (center of the aperture and magnifier) and pixel value at the cursor position.
Min/Max: Minimum and maxium pixel value within the aperture.
Ave/Sig: Average and standard deviation within the aperture.
FWHM/Flux: FWHM and flux estimate: Press the 'space' key while centered on a star to calculate an estimated FWHM and flux.
Magnification: Magnification factor of the Magnifier window (2 at startup).
Radius: Sets the radius for the aperture statistics (MinMax, AveSig above).

Telescope and Guiders

Telescope -- SkyMap -- Object List -- Airmass Display -- Guider Control

Telescope

The left column holds the controls (Time, Coordinates, Offsets, Keyboard Cursor Guiding, Focus) and the Telescope sensors and Sky and weather boxes. The right column shows the state of the TCS (telescope control system), read about once a second while the window is open (every 10 seconds while it is minimised): the Telescope, Target, Dome and enclosure and Status boxes, with STOP under them. Their buttons and check boxes command the TCS: tracking, the presets, CSET, the dome, the shutter, the windscreen, the lights and the fans (see Commands below). Drive power is not in the window: the drives are powered from the switch box (the TCS and Console Enable key and the Console Power ON switch), and the TCS initialises them by itself; the window shows it on the Power, Drives and Gear lights. Otherwise TPS is needed only to watch, and to take the drives out of stand-by (see Commands). The window's messages go to the Swope Messages window (see Messages below). The picture shows the window at launch, before the first reading.

Lights: green: on or fine; grey: off; amber: a warning; red: a fault; hollow: not known. Readouts: grey text: the last value, not current (the TCS has not answered for 3 seconds); amber: a warning; white on red: an alarm. Controls: greyed while they cannot be used. Hold the pointer over a light, a readout or a greyed control for its details.

Get: Reads the telescope coordinates (J2000), airmass, focus and temperatures from the TCS's next reading (it waits at most 5 seconds). It runs in the background, so the window (and STOP) stay usable.
Send: Slews the telescope to the R.A./Dec. in the edit fields, after checks and a confirmation.: The app first asks the TCS for its state and refuses the slew, with the reason, if the TCS would refuse it: drives without power (key switch or E-stop), drives in stand-by or not initialised, a hard fault, a hard limit or E-stop, the platform not down, the telescope past the pole, below 15° or beyond ±7 h, the telescope changing gear, a target below 15°, below Dec -89° or outside the hour angles -6 h … +7 h. What to do is listed below.; Otherwise a dialog shows the target's coordinates, altitude, azimuth, airmass and hour angle, how long until it reaches +7 h (where the TCS stops tracking) or 15°, the Moon distance and how far the telescope has to go, with warnings (target below 20°, dome tracking off or dome in local control, the telescope already moving, a script or an exposure running), and asks Slew or Cancel.; The target is sent with a name, shown by the TCS and TPS: the Preview object if the fields still hold it, otherwise its coordinates (typed coordinates or a SkyMap star).; The app then checks that the telescope starts moving and that it ends within 60" of the target, and reports otherwise. A slew that does not end within 10 minutes is stopped as with STOP.; In the Simulator the target checks use the Mac's clock and nothing is sent.
STOP (the red button under the Status box, also Telescope → STOP Telescope and Dome, ⌘.): stops a slew, a preset or an offset, tracking and the dome rotation (also a Go to az…), and turns dome tracking off (TCS SLEWSTOP + DOME STOP), like STOP Dome Telescope in TPS. It never asks. While a dialog of the app is open the red button cannot be clicked, but ⌘. still works. If the telescope keeps moving after STOP, press STOP again. Turn tracking and dome tracking back on afterwards with the Tracking and Auto check boxes. STOP does not stop the shutter or the windscreen: they have their own Stop.
NE,N,NW,E,W,SE,S,SW: Moves the offsets from the N/S and E/W windows.: The app refuses an offset, and says why, if the telescope is not tracking, still moving or not in slow gear, or if the offset is larger than the TCS moves: 3600" in Dec, and 1800" of hour angle in R.A. (1800"×cos(Dec) on the sky). It waits until the telescope has finished the offset (the TCS does not report R.A. offsets as moving) and checks that it moved.; With T+G the guide corrections are paused (TCS GUIDING) 1.5 s before the offset and resumed afterwards; the guider probes move once the telescope has finished the offset (not if it fails or is stopped). T+G always turns the guide corrections back on, also if they were off in TPS. T+G offsets are limited to 600", also in scripts.
0,0: Moves the negative offset from the Sum(dx),Sum(dy) windows (above the Zero button).
Zero: Resets the offset-sums in the Sum(dx),Sum(dy) windows to zero.
Keyboard Cursor Guiding: allows to "drag" the telescope by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.
Focus: Move the telescope focus (secondary mirror).: Edit the number in the (left) edit control and press the enter (return) key to move the focus to that number.; The [+] and [-] button move the telescope by the number in the (left) edit control.
Greyed buttons: the compass buttons, 0,0 and Send are greyed while a move of the app runs (a slew, also while its dialog is open, an offset, a preset, or a tracking or CSET command) and while the TCS reading is not current; the compass buttons and 0,0 also while the TCS would refuse an offset (not tracking, moving, not in slow gear). Their tooltip says why. Get and Zero always work.
Telescope: R.A. and Dec. (J2000), airmass, hour angle, altitude, azimuth, parallactic angle, sidereal time and the TCS's UT. Amber: below 20° (the tooltip says when it is also below the TCS's limit of 15°), beyond ±7 h, or past the pole.
Target: the TCS's current target, also one set by TPS or another program: its name, R.A. and Dec. (J2000), distance from the telescope, hour angle, altitude, airmass, and target minus telescope (ΔHA, ΔDec). Amber below 20° or outside -6 h … +7 h. — when there is no target since the TCS started. Park…, Flat…, Cover…: the presets. CSET HA, Dec.: the TCS's CSET offsets (arcsec), with CSET… and Reset….
Dome and enclosure:: Dome az. and req. (where the dome should be); amber while the dome moves. In sync: green within 2° of where it should be, amber when farther, grey while the telescope moves or dome tracking is off. Auto: the dome tracking check box.; Shutter: Open or Not open (the TCS does not report closed or moving), with Open…, Close… and Stop. Windscreen: its position in % (about 2 down, 95 up; — when the dome PLC gives none), with Up, Down and Stop. The Lights and Tube fans check boxes, and an azimuth field with Go to az….
Status:: Link: the connection to the TCS; its tooltip gives the TCS version. Red, with the cause, when the TCS does not answer.; Power: the drives are powered (amber: in stand-by). Drives: green when ready, amber while they initialise, red with the first fault (a hard fault, a hard limit, or no 24 V: key switch or E-stop). Gear: slow, fast, changing or not ready.; Remote: amber when the dome is in local control. Platform: red when the observing platform is not down. Limits: red when a hard limit or an E-stop is set; its tooltip names it. Fault: red when the TCS reports a hard fault.; Tracking: the tracking check box; Slewing: amber while the telescope slews or offsets. Ready: whether a slew would be sent: red with the reasons it would be refused, amber with the warnings of the slew dialog, both in its tooltip; red also while the TCS reading is not current (the other lights are then hollow). Age: since the TCS last answered; amber when late, red when the link is lost.; TCS: the TCS version and its clock against the Mac's; in white on red Pointing model OFF or TCS clock off by … s. Its tooltip gives the version, the connection number and any value the TCS does not report.
Telescope sensors: the Tube and Top (ring) temperatures, written to the FITS header as TELTEMP1/2; — when both read 0.0.
Sky and weather:: Sun: its altitude, amber above -18° (the tooltip names the twilight). Moon: its altitude (the tooltip gives the illuminated fraction) and Dist. from the telescope.; The weather, from LCO's env-api (station swope; the server is the Meteo host of the startup panel), once a minute: Air (the temperature, °C), Dew (the dew point, computed by the app) and Δ (the dew margin: air minus dew point; its tooltip gives both); Wind (average) and Gust in mph (m/s in the tooltip) and Dir., where the wind comes from, as a point of the compass (the degrees in the tooltip); RH, Rain (mm/h) and the Age of the sample. A value at its limit is amber. Air, Dew and Dir. have no limits; the dew limits act on Δ. A value the sample lacks shows —.; Weather light: green within the limits; amber at a warning limit, or data older than 4 minutes; red at a close limit; hollow without data, or data older than 10 minutes. The line beside it names the reason. The limits are in the Preferences. This is advice only: the app never acts on it, and LCO's weather rules still apply.
Messages: the window has no message pane of its own. The telescope's events go to the Swope Messages window and the Swope log (/Users/Shared/Library/Logs/Swope/swope<YYYY>_<WW>.log), with the camera's and the guiders': each slew, offset, STOP, Preview and command, the changes the TCS reports (link, drives, platform, local control, tracking, target, CSET), and the changes of the Weather light. Each event is shown once in the window, as its notice if it opens one, otherwise as a line, and written once to the log file as a line; for a failed slew or offset that line also names the target or the offset (slew to 'M31' failed: …). The log file also gets a line of TCS telemetry every minute, which the window does not show. Of the changes the TCS reports, only six open a notice: TCS link lost, hard limit, a hard fault, the pointing model off, the TCS clock (see below) and dome lights on with the shutter open (see Lights).
Window title: Telescope (Simulator) when the TCS is offline in the preferences, Telescope (TCS Simulator build) when the TCS is the simulator build, and (engineering mode) in Engineering Mode.
FITS header: at the start of each exposure sequence (and each focus step) the app reads the TCS, waiting at most 2 seconds, and writes its values. Two keywords say how good they are:: TCSSTAT: OK (current), LOST (the TCS did not answer: the values are the last ones the window read), NONE (no TCS reading since the app started), SIM (Simulator).; TCSAGE: the age of the values in seconds; -1: none. The later frames of a sequence keep the first reading, so their TCSAGE grows.

Commands: the right column's buttons and check boxes. They are for observers; only Modify CSET… needs Engineering Mode.

How they work:

A control is greyed while it cannot be used, and its tooltip says why: the TCS would refuse it (e.g. the shutter is open, the dome is in local control), a command of its kind is running (a move is running, a shutter command is running, …), or the TCS reading is not current. The presets, tracking and CSET count as moves, with the slews and the offsets: one at a time. The two Stop buttons are never greyed.

The check boxes (Tracking, Auto, Lights, Tube fans) show the TCS's last reading, also while they are greyed (Tracking during a slew or a preset). After a click they keep the new state until the command has ended, then show the reading again, so they go back if it failed.

The app reads the TCS when a control is clicked, and again just before it sends the command (a dialog may have been open a while). If the TCS would refuse it, nothing is sent and a notice … not sent gives the reason (see below).

Then the app watches the TCS until the command has done what it should, and writes one line, e.g. dome to 180° done: at 180.0° (tracking and CSET have none: their change is logged already). Otherwise a notice … failed gives the cause; what to do is in the control's entry. A command stopped by its Stop or by STOP gives a line only.

In the Simulator nothing is sent: Simulator: … not sent.

Power: not in the app. The drives are powered from the switch box (the TCS and Console Enable key and the Console Power ON switch): with its 24 V present the TCS initialises them by itself, and the Power, Drives and Gear lights of the Status box show the result. TPS's Settings → Telescope Power only puts them in stand-by (Power amber) and back; the staff use it.

With the console key, wait at least 15 s between off and on: a faster cycle trips the dome drive (GS3, "momentary power loss"), and the dome then does not turn until the staff reset it.

Tracking (the check box in the Status box): tracking on or off (TCS TRACK); it does not ask. Greyed while the drives are not initialised, while the telescope moves and out of slow gear; ticking also below 15° or beyond ±7 h, where the TCS turns tracking off.

tracking on failed, still off after 3 s: the TCS turned it off again; the Status and Telescope boxes show why (drives, altitude, hour angle).

Park…, Flat…, Cover… (the Target box): the presets. Each turns the dome to its azimuth (TCS DOME STOP, then DOME SET), points the telescope there with a coarse slew (NEXTOBJ_APPARENT, SLEW with Coarse 1), and turns tracking off (TRACK false). Dome tracking is off afterwards. If the telescope's part fails, the app stops the dome too. They ask first: the dialog gives the position, and warns when the shutter is open (Park, Cover), when dome tracking goes off, and when the dome is in local control (it then does not move; the telescope still goes). Greyed while the telescope moves, and when the TCS would refuse a slew (the drives, a limit, the platform, the telescope's position, as for Send). STOP stops them.

Preset	Name at the TCS	HA	Dec.	Altitude	Dome
Park	Park	0	-29° (the latitude)	90°	180°
Flat	Dome Flat	-3h07m	-25°	48.4°	282°
Cover	Cover position	-1h30m	-88°	30.9°	180°

These are TPS's positions.

The coarse slew stops about 0.3° short. Press the preset again to get closer; tracking is turned off again. The line and the sound target reached come when both the telescope and the dome are there. It says how far it ended from the position and where the dome is: Park done: 0.3° from the target, dome at 180.0°.

Park failed (or Flat, Cover), with: the telescope did not start moving: as for Send, below. …° from the target (more than 1°): press the preset again. tracking is still on: untick Tracking. the drives have no power: an E-stop or a limit stopped the telescope (the Limits light names it); see below. dome: …: the dome did not get there, see Go to az….

CSET… (the Target box): makes the telescope position the TCS's target position, which sets the pointing zero point (TCS CSET). Slew to a star with Send, centre it with the offsets, then press CSET…. The dialog names the target and gives the CSET HA and Dec. before and after. The CSET readouts then show the new values, the Swope Messages window logs them, and the TCS keeps them over a restart.

Greyed, with the reason: the TCS has no target or the TCS target is the Park position (slew to a star first; a CSET on a preset would add the coarse slew's 0.3° to the zero point); the telescope is moving; the telescope is not tracking (tick Tracking); the telescope is 1.2° from 'HR5501' (more than 1°: it is not on that target; Send to it again).

Reset… sets CSET HA and Dec. to 0 (TCS RESETCSET), after a dialog; greyed when both are 0. With TCS 1.1.11, which does not report the CSET, Reset… and Modify CSET… are refused.

Modify CSET… (Telescope menu, Engineering Mode only): sets CSET HA and Dec. to typed values in arcsec (TCS MODCSET), e.g. to restore values written down. The dialog is filled with the current values; Modify sends them, Cancel sends nothing. Greyed while a dialog is open or a move of the app runs. Refused when a value is not a number (use a point for decimals) or changes by more than 1°.

Auto (the Dome and enclosure box): dome tracking. Ticked, the dome follows the telescope (TCS DOME AUTO); unticked, it stops (DOME STOP). It does not ask. Ticking is greyed while the dome is in local control; unticking is not.

dome tracking on failed, still off after 3 s: the TCS turns dome tracking off while it reports a hard fault.

In sync stays amber with Auto ticked: the dome stopped short, and the TCS does not turn it again (unticking and ticking Auto does not help). Type the req. value in the azimuth field, press Go to az…, then tick Auto.

Go to az…: turns the dome to the azimuth typed in the field beside it, from 0 to below 360° (TCS DOME STOP, then DOME SET); dome tracking is then off. It asks first. Greyed while the dome is in local control and during a preset. STOP stops it.

dome to an azimuth not sent, not an azimuth from 0° to below 360°: type a number in that range, with a point for decimals.

dome to …° failed, with: did not move: the dome drive (GS3) has tripped, e.g. after the console key was switched off and on faster than 15 s; the staff reset it on its keypad. stopped at …°: it stopped short; press Go to az… again, and if it repeats, the staff check the LPLC screen (Dome stuck, a drive fault). at …° after 300 s: it was too slow; the app has stopped it; call the staff.

Open…, Close…, Stop (the Shutter row): TCS SHUTTER. Open… and Close… ask first; Open… warns when the weather advisory is red and when the telescope is near the zenith (above 80°). Stop stops the shutter at once and never asks. Open… is greyed while the shutter is open; both while the dome is in local control and while one of them runs. Stop is never greyed, but cannot be clicked while a dialog of the window is open: cancel the dialog first.

The TCS reports only the open limit. So Open… is done at Open, and Close… is judged after 35 s: shutter close done: not open (the TCS reports no closed limit). A shutter stuck part-way also reads Not open: look if in doubt.

shutter open failed, not open after 35 s: the dome PLC stops the shutter after 30 s, or when its motor draws too much (a jam); the app has sent Stop. Look at the LPLC screen for shutter timeout or overcurrent, and call the staff; do not keep trying.

shutter close failed, still open after 35 s: the shutter did not leave the open limit; the app has sent Stop. Check Remote (local control) and the LPLC screen, and call the staff, who can close it from the LPLC panel.

Up, Down, Stop (the Windscreen row): raise or lower the windscreen to its end (TCS SCREENPOS), or stop it at once. None asks. To leave it part-way (against the wind), press Stop where you want it. Up and Down are greyed while one of them runs, until the windscreen has stopped (a coasting motor must not be reversed), at their end (Up above 90 %, Down below 5 %: its ends are about 95 and 2 %), while the dome is in local control, and while the PLC gives no position. An Up that stops above 90 % and a Down that stops below 5 % are done.

windscreen up failed (or down), with: did not move: try again; if it repeats, call the staff. stopped at … %: the PLC stopped it short of 90 % (up) or 5 % (down): stuck, or its timeout (67 s up, 68 s down); look at the LPLC screen and call the staff. not up after 75 s: the app has stopped it; call the staff.

Lights: the dome lights (TCS DOMELIGHT), on while ticked: ticked when either row is on. They also work while the dome is in local control, as in TPS: the dome PLC obeys the lights in Local too.

dome lights on failed, still off after 3 s: check the LPLC panel, then call the staff.

The notice dome lights on with the shutter open: turn them off unless you need them; they spoil sky frames.

Tube fans: the telescope tube fans (TCS TUBEFANS), on while ticked. The TCS cannot tell whether they turn: the check box shows what it was last told.

Target reached: after a slew (Send, the object list) or a preset that is done, the Mac says target reached. To change it (the same rules as the camera's sounds): defaults write edu.carnegiescience.obs.Swope dbe_sound_arrived "'…'"; there is no field in the Preferences.

Exposure warning: when an exposure starts (its time × loops; not a bias or a dark) and would outlast tracking, a notice says exposure outlasts tracking, the TCS stops tracking in … min. The TCS stops tracking at hour angle +7 h or below 15°. The exposure still starts: stop it and shorten it, or pick another target.

When the app refuses, a move fails or the TCS needs attention: the notice gives the cause; this is what to do. A command's own failures are in its entry under Commands.

TCS link lost (no reply from the TCS, cannot connect to the TCS, the TCS answers STATUS with an error): the app keeps trying and writes TCS link back in the Swope Messages window when the TCS answers again. Meanwhile the window shows the last values in grey, and frames get TCSSTAT = LOST. If the link does not come back within a minute or two, check in TPS whether the TCS answers there; if it does not, the staff restart SwopeTCS on the TCS computer. The telio log lists the requests and replies.
hard limit, hard limit active: the Limits light's tooltip names it.: inclination limit, ±HA limit, ±Dec limit: the staff recover the telescope.; HA holder not engaged: engage the HA "pull to balance" handle. Dec holder not engaged: engage the Dec handle.; dome E-stop, control-room E-stop: release the E-stop, then press E-stop Reset.
the drives have no power: turn the TCS and Console Enable key on and set the Console Power ON switch to ON; if the yellow E-Stop lamp is on, release the E-stop, then press E-stop Reset.
the drives are in stand-by: they were switched off in TPS (Settings → Telescope Power); ask the staff to switch them on there.
the TCS reports a hard fault: the Fault light is red. After a power cut, or when SwopeTCS was started twice, only a restart of SwopeTCS by the staff clears it.
the TCS pointing model is off: the telescope points less accurately. Turn the model on in TPS (Pointing → Tpoint model), or ask the staff. The TCS line shows Pointing model OFF until it is on.
TCS clock off by … s: the date or time of the TCS computer is wrong; the TCS computes where the sky is from it, so pointing and the limits are wrong too. Report it to the staff, who set the TCS computer's clock. The Swope Messages window says TCS clock within 10 s again once it is right.
The telescope past the pole, below 15° or beyond ±7 h: move it back with the hand paddle.
changing gear, not in slow gear: wait a few seconds and try again.
not tracking (offsets): tick Tracking (the Status box).
the dome is in local control (a dome, shutter or windscreen command not sent): the LPLC panel is in Local, and the dome PLC ignores the TCS's dome, shutter and windscreen commands. Ask the staff to put it back in Remote ("Go Remote"). Unticking Auto, the Stop buttons and Lights still work.
a move is running, a … command is running, the telescope is moving: wait until it ends, or stop it (STOP, or the shutter's or windscreen's Stop).
A Stop of the shutter or the windscreen cannot be clicked: a dialog of the window is open; cancel it. Meanwhile STOP (⌘.) stops the telescope and the dome, not the shutter or the windscreen.
no windscreen position from the PLC: the TCS cannot read the dome PLC; call the staff.
this TCS does not report the CSET: TCS 1.1.11; use TPS for Reset and Modify.
offset not sent, T+G offsets are limited to 600": for a larger offset use Tonly, then find the guide stars again.
the TCS refused SLEW: its target was not ready yet, the platform is up or the drives are not initialised; try again.
the telescope did not start moving: the TCS did not start the slew, usually because of a limit check it runs after accepting it; the TCS log names the reason.
the telescope stopped …" from the target: read the position with Get and Send again; another program may have changed the target.
the telescope moved only …" of …" (offsets): the TCS drops an offset while a guide correction runs; use T+G, or try again.: … in Dec (an offset with a Dec. part of 1" or more): the TCS dropped its Dec. part. If it happens again, the TCS is dropping every Dec. move, also the guider's, until the next slew or STOP: press Send to slew to the target again, then repeat the offset.
the slew did not end within 600 s: the app has stopped the telescope. Report it to the staff: the cause needs to be investigated.
STOP failed: stop the telescope from TPS or with the E-stop.
resuming the guide corrections failed: the TCS ignores the guider until they are on; turn them on in TPS.
no reply from the TCS, cannot connect to the TCS: check that the TCS is running and reachable; the telio log lists every request and reply. After an offset the telescope may have moved all the same: press Get to see where it is (the Sum(dx),Sum(dy) windows were not updated, and with T+G the guider probes did not move).
weather limits not saved (Preferences): the notice names the value. Each Warning must be below its Close value (for the dew margin, above it), rain's Close above 0, and a station given; use a point, not a comma, for decimals.

Skymap

Displays the selected Star Catalog {SAO, GSC, USNO, 2MASS } with an overlay of

CCD array (red square)

previous exposures (green squares)

guider accessible field (blue rectangles)

area where the guider probe vignettes the CCD (dashed blue rectangle)

If you click on a star its name will be displayed in the edit-field in the lower left corner of the SkyMap window.: Additionally, the relative star position will be transferred into the guider window's Goto fields. The guider may then be moved to that star by pressing the Goto button on the respective guider's GUI.
An Option-click transfers the star's offset to the TeleGUI (Swope) window.
: The telescope may then be moved to this star by pressing the 0,0 button on the TeleGUI, if the offset does not exceed the maximum allowed offset (?).
A Control-click transfers the star's coordinates to the TeleGUI (Swope) window: The telescope does not move; press Send in the Telescope window to slew there (with checks and a confirmation). The SkyMap keeps showing the telescope position.

Object List

The picture is from an older version: its Send To TCS button is now Preview and Slew….

The object lists are ASCII files, formatted as one object per line; each data field is seprarated by a '|' (pipe) character:

Name | 10:50:10.0 | -12:00:15.0 | 2000.0 | 0,0 | Comment

The default location for object lists is

/Users/Shared/Library/Application Support/Swope/Objects/

Preview: copies the selected object (with proper motion applied) into the Telescope window's R.A./Dec. fields; Send then slews there under the object's name. The telescope does not move, and the SkyMap and Airmass windows keep showing the telescope position. The next reading of the telescope (Get, or the start of an exposure) puts the telescope position back into the fields.
Slew…: slews to the selected object, with the same checks and confirmation as Send; after a successful slew it also fills the camera's Object and Comment fields.

Airmass Display

Shows a graph of the change in airmass at the current telescope position.

Guider Control

Init: initializes both probe axes (x,y) and the focus stage.: When the Swope-GUI is started after a power-cyle all controls execpt the Init button will be disabled and an initialization is required before any guider may move.
Park: moves the probe close to the Home position.
CenterField: moves the probe to the position marked by the SetCenter button.
Position: current X,Y position of the probe [arcsec].
SetCenter: marks the current position for future quick access by the CenterField button.
Offset: moves the amount in the dX,dY fields [arcsec].
Goto: moves to the absolute position in the X,Y fields [arcsec].
Keypad: { Disabled, Slow, Medium, Fast, Turbo }, Turbo at startup.: The guider probe may be moved by holding down the N,E,S,W buttons.; Since the field-of-view of the guider cameras is not square to the cardinal directions on the sky, the probes may be moved in two modes { Move Probe , Move FoV }, Move FoV at startup, whose buttons read U, D, L, R and their diagonals.
Shack-Hartman Mode: { Imaging, SH, SH+LED }: The Shack-Hartman control of the telescope focus is not yet available, because the current TCS does not allow for external focus control.
Focus: moves the guider-probe focus to the entered position.: The slider moves the focus in a velocity controlled way; ie. the further one moves the slider, the faster the focus motion becomes. If the mouse-button is released the focus motion stops immediately.; The focus units are calibrated to be equivalent to the telescope focus (ie. 1 unit ~ 3.5 um at the probe stage).
Foff: current focus offset applied due to the Filter selected on the Camera-GUI.

Galil Hardhat

Engineering Mode only (password protected).

TCP/IP Interface

The GUI accepts one-line commands on TCP port 51911, e.g. from an observing sequencer. Each command gets a one-line answer; errors start with -E, and unknown commands are answered with unknown command. Commands and answers are written to the log file.

version: version and build of the running GUI.
exptime [seconds]: sets the exposure time; without a value it only reports it. The answer is the exposure time in effect (an invalid value leaves it unchanged).
imagetype object | bias | dark | flat | focus | focus_auto: sets the exposure type.
object text: sets the Object field; text may contain spaces.
move_filter name: moves the filter wheels to the named filter; the wheels are still moving when the answer arrives (see status).
get_wheels: the current filter and whether the wheels are moving, e.g. V,0.
start [loops]: starts an exposure sequence like the Start button, optionally setting Loops first. Answers right away; poll status until the sequence has ended. With Focus (auto) selected this opens the Center/Step dialog on the observing Mac: use focus_auto instead.
focus_auto [center [step]]: runs a Focus (auto) sequence without the dialog, using the current ExpTime and Loops. Without center (or 0) the current focus is used, without step (or 0) the focusAutoStep preference. Answers right away, -Efailed if the sweep is refused (e.g. outside the focus limits); poll status until it has ended. Fewer than 5 or more than 10 Loops, or an ExpTime above 30 seconds outside Engineering Mode, still ask for confirmation on the observing Mac.
status: two numbers: 1 while an exposure sequence is running, and 1 while the filter wheels are moving (0 otherwise), e.g. 1 0.

News

Troubleshooting

HowTo(s)

Instrument Software Documentation Index

2014-06-13, Christoph C. Birk, Carnegie Observatories