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INT/IDS Troubleshooter

  1. Starting the system
  2. Shutting down the system
  3. Bad Pointing
  4. Closing down fast
  5. Faults - In General
  6. Autoguider window disappears
  7. Guide camera in the lightpath?
  8. No available guide stars
  9. Observing at low elevation
  10. Data acquisition problems
  11. Problems with IDS control
  12. Problems with Acquistions Guidance Box (AGB) control
  13. Restarting inttv
  14. Starting up the data reduction PC
  15. Restarting the meteorological data screen
  16. Power cuts
  17. TCS Screens Hang
  18. Cenwave value fluctuating in the IDS mimic
  19. Acknowledgements

    1. Starting the system

Note: The following operations should be done in the order as indicated below
    Start TCS

  • Login to the TCS system using the username and password written on the top of the monitor.
  • Upon logging in 2 windows appear: the DAS (orange) and the TCS on LPAS2 (white). If the TCS window disappears. You can bring back the TCS window again by double clicking on the INT TCS icon.
  • If this icon is not present you will need to open a terminal window and type >telnet inttcs and log in using the int_login account.
    .

            On the LPAS2 window (white):

  • Logon using the int_login account.
  • To start the TCS, type
          > start

       This brings up the TCS Display and the User interface. Note: In case there is no 'start' in the menu, then press 'stop' followed by 'start'.

    Start TV acquisition camera            

    On the DAS window (orange):
  • Type:
            inttv@miranda> obssys
  • From the available options choose:
       1 - manual camera selection

       1 - manual camera selection.
  • Ensure the camera server is not running by executing
       DAS6@miranda> shutdownobssys
  • Start the camera server using
       DAS6@miranda> startobssys
  • Start the TV acquisition system:
       DAS6@miranda> startag AG0

          Choose option:

             station: 4 - Cassegrain Focus

    Set-up ds9
  • When asked to start ds9 respond y.
  • Still in the DAS terminal  execute > bin 3 3.
  • Acquire an image with the Acquisition camera by pressing Field. It will be just noise but it's not important. It's only so that you can load regions on ds9 by going to Region -> Load Regions and select the most recent "IDS_centres_bin3" file (for 3x3 binning).
  • This should result in the green and blue overlays being displayed on the ds9 screen.
  • Flip the ds9 image in Y by doing Zoom -> Invert y.


    • Start the Observing System

    On the intics machine (lpss7): 

  • Log in with the intobs account (within the OpenWindows desktop)
  • Start the detector and instrument control systems.
    In the orange IDS window (intobs@proteo):

    •   DAS5@proteo> obssys      (refer to the whiteboard for the option number)

      DAS5@proteo>  startobssys

  • In the pink Observing System window:

    •   lpss7> obssys               (same option number as before)

      SYS> startobssys


    2. Shutting down the system

Note: The TCS and ICS systems are independent, but if you need to restart the system, you should first shut down the ICS *then* the TCS. Then restart the TCS followed by the ICS. Doing otherwise might cause you to lose the apertures for the acquisition camera.

    On the lpss7 computer:

    • Exit detector and instrument control systems:

      • SYS> shutdownobssys

      DAS5@proteo> shutdownobssys

      and then y.
    •  log out (logout) from gss window
    •  log out from intics machine

    On the inttv computer:

    • Exit TCS:

      • USER> eng
      USER> tcsexit

    • Shut down acquisition camera.

      In the orange DAS window:

      DAS6@miranda> shutdownobssys + "y"
      DAS6@miranda> exit

    • Exit from ds9 and autoguider windows
    • Log out from machine
    Note: If the TCS is restarted at any point, the zeroset of the telescope must be redone.

    3. Bad Pointing

    If stars are not visible on the TV or appear way off centre, repeat the ZEROSET procedure at zenith. If the pointing still seems poor, follow this procedure to recalculate the pointing model:
    1. Make sure the TV is test on the slit (SYS> tvcenter)
    2. Select the default pointing model using the command: USER> cal default
    3. When the HANDSET menu appears, center the star on the slit using the cursor keys. Once centered, hit the HANDSET button again to proceed to next star.
    4. Once all seven stars have been centered, a prompt appears asking if all stars have been centered - answer Y.
    5. The rms is typically between 2 and 5, answer Y to accept the result.
    6. Reacquire the stars with new corrections using the command: USER> next

    4. Closing down fast

    1. Stop the exposure by typing SYS> finish. If doing a multrun then it's SYS> abort.
    2. Switch the TCS to engineering mode: USER> eng
    3. Close the primary mirror cover.
    4. At the same time, the dome can also start to be closed. If the lower shutter is up, bring it down first: press "LOWER MICRO" while in MAIN OVER TRAVEL, otherwise "LOWER MAIN". Then "LOWER MICRO" again until it is fully closed.
    5. Bring the upper shutter down using the same technique.
    6. If later you find you will not be opening again, do not forget to park the telescope. Switch back to computer mode first.
    (It's possible to close the dome while in computer mode, by pressing the DOME SHUTTERS button on the Engineering Console. But remember later to release it otherwise the dome will not track with the telescope.)

    5. Faults - In General

    Most of the faults can be cleared by typing:

    SYS> shutdownobssys
    SYS> startobssys

    If a sub-system (DAS, TCS or Autoguider) is corrupted 'shutdownobssys' wont help. First the sub-system has to be brought back, then:

    SYS> shutdownobssys (if not already done)
    SYS> startobssys

    -- will re-establish contact between the observing system and the sub-systems.

    6. Autoguider window disappears

    If the autoguider window disappears, it can be recovered by typing:

    SYS> agstart cass

    7. Guide camera in the lightpath?

    If the light does not go to the CCD (for example while taking an arc), check that the guide camera does not obturate the lightpath:

    SYS> autopark

    SYS> tvpark

    8. No available guide stars

    Sometimes it's not possible to find guide stars near the target position and for the required Position Angle (PA). When this happens, the first step one should take is to search with the opposite slit PA (PA - 180). If this does not resolve the problem and in the case of long exposures where an average PA (e.g. average parallactic angle) is usually chosen, small PA changes can be tried (5-10º). If this also fails, the alternative is to guide manually by opening the HANDSET tool (F6 on the TCS keyboard) and applying the necessary corrections to maintain the target over the blue cross inside the slit. If the target is not visible and there are other stars in the FOV, then one of them can be used for manual guiding by creating a region around it and keeping it inside that region during the exposure.

    9. Observing at low elevation

    If you want to observe at a zenith distance (ZD) between 57 and 70 degrees (33-20 degrees elevation) then you need to raise the lower shutter. There will not be any warnings given from the telescope control, so you will have to check the ZD from time to time.

    1. Push the yellow button under SELECT MANUAL CONTROL, labelled "DOME SHUTRS" to get the control of the shutters.
    2. On the engineering rack, under LOWER SHUTTER, push the "RAISE MICRO" button until the MAIN OVER TRAVEL light underneath goes off.
    3. Follow by pushing the "RAISE MAIN" button; while raising, you will hear two bangs caused by the segments of the shutter catching the next one. Keep the button pressed until you hear the motor stop. This takes approximately 30 seconds.
    4. Depress the "DOME SHUTRS" button, otherwise the dome will no longer track the object.

    You can now observe below 33 degrees elevation.

    Remember to bring the lower shutter down again when you go to a new source above 33 degrees elevation. To do this:

    1. Select manual control as before with the "DOME SHUTRS" button.
    2. Push the "LOWER MAIN" button to bring the shutter down as far as it goes.
    3. Push the "LOWER MICRO" button to fully lower the shutter. Keep the button pressed for approximately 10 seconds to be sure.
    4. Depress the "DOME SHUTRS" button.
    Note: If the bottom shutter is not fully lowered, then the upper shutter will not completely seal the dome at the top and rain/wind will penetrate into the dome.

    10. Data acquisition problems

    'Data acquisition' refers to the management of an exposure, reading of data from the CCDs and saving to disk. This may fail in one of several stages, for example:

    • Run, Finish, Abort or Re-time commands are not successful
    • Run process stops after CCD clearing
    • Run spontaneously aborts during readout or transfer to disk
    • Transfer to disk does not complete to 100%
    • Data on disk is corrupted (e.g. torn frames)
    These may or may not be accompanied by a pop-up error box/alarm. If the error pop-up mentions the (ultra)DAS or "reset the camera", and you cannot continue observing, then the following procedure is recommended (pink window):

    SYS> dasreset IDS            (i.e. startobssys is unnecessary)

    When this completes, try a new run and see if the above fault reoccurs. If it does, then a lower-level reset of the CCD controller may be necessary and you need to park the telescope at zenith:

    1. Power cycle the unit labeled SDSU CCD controller, located to the left of the cryostat, followed by:

      SYS> dasreset IDS

    2. If this does not resolve the problem, follow the instructions to shut down the ICS and DAS on the intics screen and then restart.

    11. Problems with IDS control

    If the right-hand side of the mimic shows IDS mechanisms in red, this infers that attempted movements have either failed or are incomplete. If this occurs the MMS controller or IDS MMS may need to be power cycled. To do so contact the WHT TO or your SA. Only they can access the Power Distribution Unit.

    12. Problems with Acquisition Guidance Box (AGB) control

    If the left-hand side of the mimic shows AGB mechanisms in red, this infers that attempted movements have either failed or are incomplete. If this occurs and the AGB MMS needs to be power cycled contact the WHT TO or your SA. Only they can access the Power Distribution Unit to do it.

    13. Restarting inttv

    If the TV system fails to readout/update, then in the pink window on inttv:

    DAS6@miranda> dasreset AG0

    When this completes, try a new TV or 'field' operation. If there are still problems power cycle the TV CCD controller, followed by

    DAS6@miranda> dasreset AG0

    If this still does not resolve the problem, try the following:

    DAS6@miranda> shutdownag
    DAS6@miranda> shutdownobssys
    DAS6@miranda> startobssys
    DAS6@miranda> startag AG0
    DAS6@miranda> bin 3 3

    14. Starting up the data reduction PC

    1. Log on to the INT Data Reduction PC (INTDRPC1)
      2.   Username: intguest
        Password: ******** (as shown on monitor)

    2. Start iraf:

        From any terminal window, open an xgterm window ( > xgterm & ) and type:

        > iraf

        (Alternatively, go to the home directory, and type:

        > ds9 &        [to start the image display tool]
        > ecl             [to start Iraf] )

    3. In IRAF, move into the "date" directory where the images are stored. The current date is entered in the format 'yyyymmdd' e.g. 
      ecl> cd /obsdata/inte/20010225/

    15. Restarting the meteorological data screen

    Occasionally the measurements from one, two or all three of the meteorological stations will fail to reach the meteorological data screen, leaving all the windows red. If this continues for more than a few minutes the program can be restated. To close it type Alt+F4 on the attached keyboard, and reopen by double clicking on the Meteorological Data Screen icon near the middle of the screen. After a minute this should update and work as normal.

    16. Power cuts

    In the case of a power cut, the systems will go on batteries and moments later the generators will start.
    If this happens the exposure will be interrupted and two alarms will sound which will have to be acknowledged by pressing a button. One in the control room, on the Engineering Console, marked with an ACCEPT sticker. Wait until you're on generator power to do this otherwise the alarm won't stop. The other is on the ground floor, by the entrance, opposite to the door and will be flashing red.
    Call the WHT TO to know what has happened. After the generators start it may possible to resume observations.
    If you notice the alarm when coming in the afternoon, please let someone from the Operations Team, INT SA or WHT TO know that the INT is running on generators.
    If later returning to power grid, the control room alarm will sound again.

17. TCS Communication Issues

In the case of loss of communication between the TCS and the user interface, i.e. if either the TCS USER window stops responding, or the TCS DISPLAY window stops updating, clearing the communications may recover the system:   
	In the blue band at top of the window, click on
            	Commands -->  Clear Communications

18. Cenwave value fluctuating in the IDS mimic

Fluctuations of the central wavelength value at the IDS mimic can be caused by a temporal malfunctioning of the grating encoder. The fluctuating values in the mimic do not mean that the grating actually moves. In case you find this problem, please report the failure to the WHT TO (and at the ING Fault Management System) and continue with your observations.

19. Acknowledgements

Credits should be given to the ING students (2011-2012) who contributed recently to improve this manual.



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Contact:  (IDS Instrument Specialist)
Last modified: 31 January 2013