Telescope Commands

Telescope Slit Commands

The telescope commands using the BAIT protocol customized for the MDM implemented by the rslit program. In the following optional arguments are indicated in [] brackets. All commands have the help option that lists the available keywords.

DROPLEAF


dropleaf [open] [close] [time=] | [limits]

WARNING The dropleaf must be opened and closed only when the main shutter is fully open it will overlap. The slit must open before the dropleaf can be opened. The dropleaf must close before the slit can close. There is NO software checking for this condition.

The open option turns on the motor for approximately 25 seconds and opens the dropleaf shutter. The program delays while the motion is in progress. The close option turns it on in the opposite direction for 27 seconds, hanging till done. There is NO readback whether the dropleaf is either open or closed. This is a serious deficiency of the hardware design.

The time= sets the motor times manually for that invocation only.

Opening during inclement weather is prohibited by sofware see slit command below for details.

METS


mets

Returns the values of the Vaisala weather station and the precipitation sensor.

oat - outside air temperature in degrees C
windspeed - wind speed in m/s
winddir - wind direction in degrees from north
peak - peak wind speed (past 10 minutes) in m/s
humidity - humidity in percent RH
bar - barometric pressure in hPa or mBar
rainintensity - rate of rainfall in mm/hr
rain - is 0 if not raining, 1 if it is as determined via the precipitation sensor

Example:
tx mets
done mets windir=285 windspeed=8.0 peak=8.5 oat=6.3 humidity=85.8 pressure=806.8 rainintensity=0.0 rain=0

SLIT


slit [stop] [open] [close] | [limits]

This command commands the observatory main shutter. The slit command reports back something like:

Example:
done slit busy 
done slit cantopen=sun,windy
done slit manual estop cantopen=sun,rain

Unfortunately, the software is unable to report back the current state of the slit.

To open the slit enter: tx slit open

At which time the slit will begin to open and report back immediately tx slit busy The slit motion will continue for about ?? seconds reporting busy if still in motion.

You can use the command tx slit stop to stop the motion of the slit, the red STOP button on the manual paddle also can stop the motion (even in Auto Mode).

The software checks for inclement weather and prohibits opening when these are violated; closing is allowed in all conditions. The cantopen keyword is only present when the slit cannot open. Possible reasons that it cannot open are:

sun - when the sun is too high
rain - when it is currently raining
humid - R.H. too high
windy - when peak windspeed is too high

Use the limits option to determine the current weather limits. It reports a string similar to:

done slit sunalt=10.0 humidity=90 windspeed=14 rain=1

Error messages will be issued if the dome open request is made and the weather is bad.

TAUX

taux

taux reads the auxiliary temperature sensors and in particular the cloud sensor. The command returns a string similar to

done taux ovolts=6.309 irvolts=1.919 cloud=0.01 dew=3.01

where: ovolts - the temperature sensor reading of the cloud detector irvolts - the infrared sensor reading of the cloud detector cvolts - the temperature sensor reading of the drive cabinet cloud - 0 to 1.0 reading where 0 is clear and 1 overcast dew - the analog output of the rain sensor 3 volts is dry lower is wetter The cloud conversion is very approximate.

Program Index