Swope + e2v CCD Observing Manual

Started on October 22, 2013 (Carlos)
Updated on November 21, 2013 (Eric)
Updated on December 29, 2013 (Eric)
Started on February 25, 2015 (Carlos)

Update UT on TCS

Check UT date & time on TCS. (USNO)
If UT time is off, enter the correct time in TCS:
```
UT hh mm ss
```

Check UT date & time in PUMA

Open a UT time web page, as: this one
Compare with PUMA UT time (or PUMA Local Time, which should be UT-3)
If the difference is bigger than 10 seconds, please report to the staff, and add it to the LCO & CSP night reports.

CCD control

Do not close CCD control software. If a restart is necessary, consult a technician.
Create a new directory in a terminal:
```
cd DATA
mkdir SWO_NC_20250102_03
```
Update the data path from the "Options" menu in CCD control.

IRAF and ds9

Open IRAF and ds9 by pressing the red IRAF button on the bottom menu.
Change to the newly created directory.
```
cd ../DATA/SWO_NC_20250102_03
```
Check the display size in IRAF:
```
show stdimage
set stdimage=imt2048
```

To list the headers:

hsel ccd*c3.fits $I,ut-time,filter,airmass,exptime,object yes

To orient image N up E left: zoom -> rotate 90 degrees in ds9

Activate Telescope

Turn console ON (rotate key).
Turn Power ON.
Turn dome light ON.
Check that platform is clear.
On TCS, enter
```
COVER
```
Raise platform, remove the telescope cover, lower platform.

Shutter and Linearity Tests

Shutter and linearity tests need to be taken at least once a week.
Slew telescope to the approximate domeflat position. On TCS:
```
DOMEFLAT
```
Adjust the position to HA= 03:07:00 E, DEC= -25:00:00 using hand paddle on the console.
Turn OFF platform lights from console.
Turn ON quartz lamp from grey box on top of lightblue rack (do not exceed 950).
Goto platform, use the hand paddle to adjust the dome position, such that the arrows on the wall match up.
Check that the lamp is pointing to the screen and illuminating evenly without reflection.
Adjust lamp voltage (~790 Nov, 2013), such that a test image has on quadrant 3 (c3) 2000 counts in a 3 sec exposure in V.
Follow the instructions linked here.
Turn OFF quartz lamp, when tests are complete.

Opening dome before sunset

Turn ON fans in adjacent room, turn ON switch and turn to ~100.
Open shutter by pushing on OBTURADOR on console (preferably while in the domeflat position).
Turn ON tracking by pushing ASENCION RECTA on console.
Lower wind screen by using the small silver box on the side of the pillar of the telescope.
Active dome by entering in TCS:
```
DOME AUTO
```
Check if pointing model is activated (TP highlighted in TCS). Enter "TP" if not.

Skyflats

Alternate sky flat sets, take ugr one night and uBVi another.
Slew telescope 1 to 1.5 h East.
In TCS, enter
```
DBB 20
```
In CCD control, set ExpType to Flat, Exptime to 5 sec and Object to sflat.
As soon as sun sets below horizon, you should begin taking u band sflat, B band a few minutes later.
After completing each exposure, dither telescope. In TCS, enter
```
SS
```
Take 5 to 7 frames per filter with a minimum exptime of 5 sec and counts in c3 never exceeding 50,000 adu.

Telescope Pointing

Find a bright star near the zenith from the CSET object list in TeleGUI. [verify]
Slew to the bright star. In TCS, enter the coordinates in the following format:
```
 MP 2000
 RA hh mm ss.ss
 DEC dd mm ss
 SLEW
 
```
Take a 3 sec exposure.
determine the XY offsets in pixels to place the star at the center of the array.
Convert the XY offsets in pixels to offsets in arcsec, using the pixel scale 0.435 arcsec/pixel.
Note that RBB is inverted in sign, thus to move the telescope E, for example, you need to type W
Enter the offsets in TCS. For example, an offset of 50 pixels SE is required:
```
RBB 22
DBB 22
SW
```
Take another 3 sec exposure to check that the star is at the center of the array.
Write down the current roff/doff values.
To zero point the telescope, in TCS, enter
```
CSET
```
The roff/doff values should not change drastically (roff/doff ~ -24/227 Nov, 2013)

Starting the guider screen

Go to the TCS console, switch the screen to the camera to be used (1 o 2).
Enter the command: TEC 1.5
Enter the command: SPAN 500
Now you should see the sky in the guider screen. The SPAN values can be changed between 300 and 1000
as it suits better for you, but remember to do 'SPAN 999999999' and 'TEC 0.0' at the end of the night.
You can switch to the TCS screen and point some object now.

Focusing the Telescope

A focus sequence can be completed by stepping through 7 10-sec exposures in 0.5 focus steps.
--OR-- to save time:
Start the night with a standard star.
Use the focus value from last night (u-g-r-i ~ 29.9 Nov, 2013).
Take an image and check the contour in IRAF/ds9:
```
imexam ccd0080 1
```
Adjust the focus according to the focus diagrams.
Focus value varies with temp, aproximately +0.05 units with +1 degree of temp change.

Current focus offset (Nov, 2013):

u -0.45
g -0.45
r -0.45
i -0.45
V 0.00
B +0.12

Observing

Set ExpType to Object; set filter, object name.
Slew to target:
```
RA hh mm ss.ss
DEC dd mm ss.ss
SLEW
```
Offset to c3:
```
RBB 300
DBB 300
NE
```
Take a test image (ExpTime ~ 20 sec) to check field and focus.
Adjust offset and focus. Repeat previous step if necessary.
Acquiring a guide star:
- Click on "Get" on the "Swope" GUI to get the coordinates from TCS.
- Find a guide star in the allowable zone (narrow rectangle on the top) on SkyMap.
- If guide star is not on the screen, it is likely in the SW corner.
- Adjust the position of the guide star with keypad.
- Move white box in guide camera screen with arrows. (If the box does not move, type 'xy5'.)
- Turn ON guider by typing F3 in guide camera screen.
Start exposure.
Ensure peak counts of target, local sequence is < 40,000 adu, and sky counts is < 5,000 adu.
For very faint objects, consider breaking up a long exposure into 3 shorter exposures of equal ExpTime.
Use focus offsets when switching between ugri-B-V filters.
Check focus of each image to make fine adjustment for the next.
Turn OFF guider before moving on; type F1 in guide camera screen.

WARNING: Sometimes it may happen that a slew gets aborted, with a "Slew correction too large! Slew aborted!" message issued to the TCS screen. A new SLEW will send the telescope to the desired position, but you must type also DOME AUTO in order to reset the dome motion, otherwise it will get stucked at MAN status.

Transferring data

Check that the headers are correct and have the standard names like these:
```
bias
sflat
SN2014??
SN2014??_bad
CSF??
CSF??_bad
```
Transfer the data to csp2. You can run this several times throughout the night.
```
cd ~/DATA/
rsync -avzP SWO_NC_20250101_02 username@csp2:/raw/
```

Place your pdf log in the same folder:

rsync -avzP e2v_20250101_02.pdf username@csp2:/raw/SWO_NC_20250101_02/

Enter SN log and night report in the logs page.
Make sure data transfer is complete before starting reduction pipeline.

Set permission and turn on the reduction pipeline:

ssh -Y username@csp2
chmod a+w /raw/SWO_NC_20250101_02 
chmod a+w /raw/SWO_NC_20250101_02/*
OBS_QUICK_SWO_NC_RED SWO_NC_20250101_02 3 ; exit

where 3 specifies the quadrant (amplifier) used.

Closing the Telescope

Close shutter by pushing OBTURADOR on console.
Turn off tracking by pushing ASENCION RECTA on console.
Park dome to the south. In TCS, type
```
DOME IDLE
DOME PARK
```
Replace cover. In TCS, type
```
COVER
```
raise platform, put on the telescope cover, lower platform.
Raise windscreen.
Turn off fans in adjacent room.
Park telescope. In TCS, type
```
ZENITH
```
Power off on console. Rotate key.
Turn off dome light, monitors, lights in control room.
Park guider.
In the guider console enter the commands:
```
SPAN 9999999999
TEC 0.0
```
Fill out Night Report.

Failures that can be solved by the observer.

Dewar Status GUI's error message, ION PUMP value in red color and mode in OFF: Press accepting the button appearing in the screen, then press ON in the Dewar Status, press accepting the button appearing in the screen, wait some few seconds, then press AUTO in the Dewar Status GUI, and press accepting the last button appearing in the screen. Then continue observing.
Error 3007: Accept. Go to CAMERA menu and press CCD Hardhat, then press on RESET DSP/CCD-Server, accept on button in the screen. Then try a couple of test images before continue observing. If the last image is lost, you will need to take the last image again.
Error 7: Sometimes after a DSP/CCD-Server reset is done, a new error message (Error 7) shows up. In such case try DSP/CCD-server reset again.
SLEW doesn't work: If SLEW command in TCS doesn't move the telescope, you probably need to reset the TCS. To perfom this, please sit in front of the TCS's console and follow these instructions:
- First take note of ROFF and DOFF values.
- To turn off the TCS interface enter the command: Q
- You will see now a DOS typical screen, enter the command: date
- You will be asked to enter the date in this format: mm-dd-yyyy. Do it.
- Enter the command: c40
- You will see again the typical TCS interface. Check the date is right.
- Enter the ROFF and DOFF values you noted in the first step, in this way:
```
ROFF xxxx
DOFF yyyy
```
- Enter the command: TP
- Enter: MP 2000
- Check the UT time, if it needs to be corrected, run:
```
UT hh mm ss.ss
```
- Now you can continue observing. Try a new zero point if needed.
Guider screen freezing. In this case you need to reset the guider screen. Go to the TCS's console. Switch the screen to the guider. Then enter the command:
- then wait few seconds and enter:
```
TEC 1.5
SPAN 500
```
- Now you can continue observing.

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Swope + e2v CCD Observing Manual