RC80 robotic telescope operation: step-by-step instructions
Date: 2021-12-20
Live view of the telescope and sky: https://archive.konkoly.hu/tao/
A plethora of additional info: https://ccdsh.konkoly.hu/wiki/TAO:Main_Page
FULL AUTOMATIC OPERATION
1. Preparation:
- login to m51.konkoly.hu with your account (<user> hereafter)
- create working directory:
cd /data/<user>
mkdir rc80
cd rc80
mkdir <YYYYMMDD> (use current date in YYYYMMDD format)
cd <YYYYMMDD>
2. Start a 'screen' session in your terminal
screen -S rc80 (rc80 is optional, use your favourite screen session name)
Always run the telescope within a screen session!
3. Run the scheduler, based on the active target list (available at https://ccdsh.konkoly.hu/supernovae )
TCS80_generate.sh --start now --sequential
The output is a ccdsh control file named rc80_<YYYY-MM-DD>.ccdsh
4. Start ccdsh and run the observing sequence
ccdsh
asa status
If ccdsh complains about not finding the telesopce, try
source /usr/local/ccdsh/scripts/load-asa.ccdsh
source rc80_<YYYY_MM_DD>.ccdsh
5. Sit back and enjoy your flight! :)
Data will be collected in /data/<user>/rc80/<YYYYMMDD> and also in the rc80 archive:
https://ccdsh.konkoly.hu/log/rc80
6. Terminate screen when finished:
exit
MANUAL OPERATION
1. Start ccdsh and get telescope status:
ccdsh
asa status
If ccdsh complains about not finding the telesopce, try
source /usr/local/ccdsh/scripts/load-asa.ccdsh
If still sucks, email/call apal@szofi.net :)
2. Open the mirror covers:
asa cover upper open (ALWAYS start with the upper cover!)
asa status
... wait until the upper cover is opened
asa cover lower open
asa status
... wait until the lower cover is opened
3. Open the dome:
set dome slit open
4. Switch off IR light on the webcam
set dome light 2 off
5. Set field derotator to automatic
asa rotator auto
6. Set dome rotation to automatic
set dome auto on
7. Start observing either using the scheduler (see above) or your own ccdsh script.
Don't forget to make bias and dark frames!
If heavy clouds come by, Ctrl-c the observing session and close the telescope (see below).
If anything fails or gets frozen during the observation, try to collect and save the output of 'asa status'.
After that, exit or kill ccdsh, then start it up again.
If you get back the control over the telescope, then you may start feeling lucky.
If not, write/call apal@szofi.net.
8. Park the telescope, close up and shutdown:
set dome light 2 on
asa slew taudec 0,10
asa cover lower close (ALWAYS close the lower cover first!)
asa cover upper close
set dome slit close
set dome auto off
9. Exit ccdsh (to be kind to other observers)
exit
Automatic dome closing
An automatic dome slit closing script can be found at m51:/home/apal/close-rc80.sh. After starting the observations in a screen session, this can be run in a separate session (after the user copied it to their home or working dir). The script closes the dome slit if the sky quality decresases below the sqi limit or the Sun rises above the sun elevation limit specifed at the beginning of the script:
QUAL_LIMIT=0.30 SUN_LIMIT=-6 AGE_LIMIT=120
It also closes if the MQTT-broadcasts are unreachable for more than two minutes (which should never happen if there are no network malfunctions). Since it is a separate script, the telescope will continue to carry the observing program out, but removing the unusable frames from the database is rather easy.
NOTE: leaving this script running during the day prevents anybody from opening the slit before the night. It will not cause any serious problems, but it should not be kept running for days.
Sky flat-fielding
An automatic sky flat-fielding script is now available on the M51 server. To use it, make sure you have an automatic startup file for the CCDSH in your home directory. If not, you can easily create one:
1. Navigate to your home directory.
2. Create a new file called '.ccdsh_startup', which will automatically load the telescope module after the ccdsh startup.
echo "source /usr/local/ccdsh/scripts/load-asa.ccdsh" > .ccdsh_startup
It is recommended that you make new skyflat frames every 3 months. To do this properly, the sky must be completely clear, with no clouds. It is recommended that you start the script at least one and a half hours before sunset, because it will automatically take the bias and dark frames before taking the flat-fielding frames. You don't need to take the calibration frames after finishing the observing script at the end of the night, though. To run the script, just follow the next steps.
cd /data/<user>
mkdir rc80
cd rc80
mkdir YYYYMMDD (use the current date in YYYYMMDD format).
cd YYYYMMDD;
ds9 &
2. Start a 'screen' session in your terminal.
screen -S rc80 (rc80 is optional; use your preferred screen session name).
Always run the telescope within a screen session!
3. /data/ahorti/rc80/skyflat.sh
And that's all! For safety reasons, check the telescope with the dome webcam during and after the sky flat-fielding to ensure it has successfully returned to the home position. You can then start observing.
Known issues and troubleshooting
1. Power outage: after a power outage (or manual power down), it is usually necessary to connect to the telescope via the GUI, which can be run from the VM running on M51. Otherwise, the telescope will slew to erroneous altitudes. IMPORTANT: after power outage, do not attempt to move the telescope via ccdsh. Instead, see the message at the end of this section!
2. From time to time, the derotator seizes to rotate (you can notice this when images start to rotate, or when after slewing the wait command doesn't give the prompt back after a long while). When this occurs, the status command shows the Mount as busy:rot. A manual power down -- power up usually helps.
2.1.) Try to restart the derotator from ccdsh:
asa rotator stop
asa rotator auto
2.2.) If this doesn't help (likely won't), do a manual power down/power up of everything. Exit ccdsh, and from m51 do:
rc80 test (everything should be green, except the last yellow)
rc80 powercontrol 1 off (turns off power to the Mount)
rc80 powercontrol 2 off (turns off power to CAN devices)
rc80 powercontrol 8 off (turns off power to PC)
wait a bit, then start to power it up again
rc80 powercontrol 1 on
rc80 powercontrol 2 on
rc80 powercontrol 8 on
rc80 test (wait for everything to come back to green)
2.3.) Open the ASA GUI (same as when updating the EOP file):
ssh -X asascope@172.31.80.100 (psw=...!a, ask the support astronomer, if you dont know)
cd bin/ASA2.0
./AStroAutoguide.sh (this will open the GUI)
click on Mount in the left upper corner -> TcpConnect, Connect
click Start Motors
Check on the webcam if the telecope is now moving well, when you move it on the AZ/EL tab
Click TcpDisconnect, exit the GUI, logout of the machine
Open ccdsh, and move the telescope, check with slew, status, asa status, asa rotator, if the derotator is now ok.
3. It is a somewhat common issue that the mirror covering lids do not open do to erroneous lid position readings. The temporary solution is that the observer should open the covers (see above) and check their status before running the script for the night as usual. Lower cover currently shows -15 degrees when closed, and ~60-70 degrees when fully open instead of the 0 and 90 degrees, which is shown correctly for the upper cover. 3.1. Recently: The lower lid occasionally does not close, and gets stuck around 27 degrees. It will give you an error message that says you should close the lower cover before closing the upper one. Giving the "asa lower cover close" command again manually solves the issue.
4. In case that there is a suspicion that something is wrong with the scheduler or the schedule, please run the TCS80_generate.sh script in debug mode, e.g.:
TCS80_generate.sh --start now --sequential --debug
then notify Róbert Szakáts and/or L. Kriskovics.
In case of 1., 2. or anything unusual, notifiy A. Pál, J. Vinkó or L. Kriskovics.