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TCS SEQUENCER Script Reference

Note that the optional -e flag invokes "do-nothing" mode, which only displays the to-be-executed TCS commands on the terminal.
  • tcs.setup-tel-alfosc [-e]
    Sets up the telescope for observing with ALFOSC.
    Currently equivalent to the commands:
      tcs.ag-off
      tcs.tcs-command idle
      tcs.tcs-command adc-arm-out
      tcs.auto-positioning-full
      tcs.camera-probe-park
      tcs.offset-size 10 10
      tcs.probe-step-size 5 5
      tcs.box-at-center
      tcs.background-box-position 400 400
      tcs.instrument-name ALFOSC
      tcs.field-rotation 90
      tcs.guide-star-automatic
      tcs.instrument-parallactic-angle 0
      tcs.focus-position 26630
      tcs.tv-focus 510
  • Note that the last command prepares the telescope to put horizontal slits onto the parallactic angle.
    To prepare the telescope for vertical slits please execute the command

      tcs.instrument-parallactic-angle 90
    in a sequencer terminal, after running tcs.setup-tel-alfosc .

  • tcs.setup-tel-fies [-e]
    Sets up the telescope for observing with FIES.
    Currently equivalent to the commands:
      tcs.ag-off
      tcs.tcs-command idle
      tcs.tcs-command adc-arm-out
      tcs.auto-positioning-full
      tcs.ccd-filter 2                     (STANCAM B-filter)
      tcs.camera-probe-stancam       (for full-frame STANCAM target-acquisition image)
      tcs.offset-size 3 3
      tcs.probe-step-size 0.3 0.3
      tcs.box-at-center
      tcs.background-box-position 400 400
      tcs.instrument-name FIES
      tcs.field-rotation 0
      tcs.guide-star-automatic
      tcs.instrument-parallactic-angle 90
      tcs.focus-position 26880
      tcs.tv-focus 510
  • tcs.setup-tel-mosca [-e]
    Sets up the telescope for for observing with MOSCA.
    Currently equivalent to the commands:
      tcs.ag-off
      tcs.tcs-command idle
      tcs.tcs-command adc-arm-out
      tcs.auto-positioning-full
      tcs.camera-probe-park      
      tcs.instrument-name MOSCA
      tcs.field-rotation -90
      tcs.offset-size 10 10
      tcs.probe-step-size 5 5
      tcs.box-at-center
      tcs.background-box-position 400 400
      tcs.focus-position 27160
      tcs.tv-focus 450
      tcs.guide-star-automatic
  • tcs.setup-tel-notcam [-e]
    Sets up the telescope for observing with NOTCam.
    Currently equivalent to the commands:
      tcs.ag-off
      tcs.tel-idle
      tcs.tcs-command adc-arm-out
      tcs.auto-positioning-full
      tcs.camera-probe-park
      tcs.offset-size 10 10
      tcs.probe-step-size 5 5
      tcs.box-at-center
      tcs.background-box-position 400 400
      tcs.instrument-name NOTCAM
      tcs.field-rotation -90
      tcs.guide-star-automatic
      tcs.instrument-parallactic-angle -90
      tcs.focus-position 26750 -->                (default value for imaging with the WF-camera, check!)
      tcs.tv-focus 500
  • tcs.setup-tel-stancam [-e]
    Sets up the telescope for normal imaging with STANCAM.
    Currently equivalent to the commands:
      tcs.ag-off
      tcs.tcs-command idle
      tcs.tcs-command adc-arm-out
      tcs.auto-positioning-full
      tcs.ccd-filter 0                 (STANCAM no filter)
      tcs.camera-probe-stancam      
      tcs.instrument-name STANCAM
      tcs.field-rotation 0
      tcs.offset-size 10 10
      tcs.probe-step-size 5 5
      tcs.box-at-center
      tcs.background-box-position 400 400
      tcs.focus-position 26330
      tcs.tv-focus 500
      tcs.guide-star-automatic
  • tcs.guide-object [-f fieldrotation] objectname
  • A modified version of 'goto-object'. Waits for the guidestar to have settled in the center of the guidebox before returning the prompt to the user.
    Optionally, the required telescope field rotation can be specified. (Note that this is different from the position angle).

  • tcs.guide-object-with-parallactic objectname
  • A modified version of 'preset-with-parallactic-angle-to-selected'. Waits for the guidestar to have settled in the center of the guidebox before returning the prompt to the user.

  • tcs.guide-object-with-fixed objectname
  • A modified version of 'preset-with-fixed-rotator-to-selected'. Waits for the guidestar to have settled in the center of the guidebox before returning the prompt to the user.

  • tcs.store-tel <filename>
    Saves current TCS settings, to be restored later with tcs.restore-tel .
    The data file will be stored in the current working directory. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten.

  • tcs.restore-tel [-e] [-noconfirm] <filename>
    Restores saved TCS settings, stored by tcs.store-tel .

    The data will be read from file <filename> in the current working directory.
    If the store file is more than 10 hours old, a warning will be issued, but the script will continue.

    Interactive confirmation is prompted for, except when the -noconfirm flag is given on the command line.

    If a stored value is different from the current DB value, then the appropriate restoring TCS command will be issued from the Sequencer.

    In order for the TCS to accept changes for certain parameters, this script switches off autoguiding, and leaves it off.

    Note that several restored parameters will be reset by the TCS at the next preset:
    - tv-focus
    - equatorial-offset
    - horizontal-offset
    - guide-probe-position
    which implies that this script has to be rerun after presetting if these parameters need to be restored properly.

    Currently uses the following commands to restore the settings:
    - tcs.tcs-command "Rotator-Manual"
    - tcs.tcs-command "Rotator-Automatic"
    - tcs.field-rotation
    - tcs.tcs-command "Equatorial-Offset"
    - tcs.tcs-command "Horizontal-Offset"
    - tcs.focus-position
    - tcs.focus-delta
    - tcs.auto-positioning-off
    - tcs.tcs-command "Auto-Positioning-Semi"
    - tcs.auto-positioning-full
    - tcs.guide-probe-position
    - tcs.tv-focus
    - tcs.tv-filter
    - tcs.tcs-command "Star-Box-Quadrant-Size"
    - tcs.star-box-position
    - tcs.tcs-command "Background-Box-Quadrant-Size"
    - tcs.background-box-position
    - tcs.instrument-parallactic-angle
    - tcs.tcs-command "Instrument-Name"
    - tcs.offset-size
    - tcs.probe-step-size
    - tcs.camera-probe-park
    - tcs.camera-probe-fies
    - tcs.camera-probe-stancam

  • tcs.reposition-guide-probe [-e] ra-rate dec-rate
    Wrapper script to start differential tracking/guiding or to re-start differential guiding when the star-box has reached the limit. This is for fast-moving targets observed with differential tracking and guiding, with the star-box moving across the guide-TV screen.

    - tcs.ag-off
    - tcs.box-motion-stop
    - tcs.optimal-box-position-for-moving-objects ra-rate dec-rate
    - tcs.box-motion-start ra-rate dec-rate
    - tcs.tcs-command "Move-Guide-Probe-To-Put-Star-In-Box"

    If/when the star-box approaches the edge of the screen before your observation has finished, you can re-position the guide probe to its optimal starting position by running this script in another sequencer window than your observing script. Note that the input parameters ra-rate and dec-rate must be given as dRA/dt and dDEC/dt in the units "/hour.

    The re-positioning of the guide probe typically takes 4 seconds and should not affect the position of the telescope, which will continue with the differential tracking on the target (i.e. the set-rate is given when box-motion-start is applied, but not reset with box-motion-stop). There is a limit to how many times you can re-position depending on the starting position of the guide probe, the rotator position and the ra-rate/dec-rate of the target.

  • tcs.diff-tracking-rates [-e] ra-rate dec-rate
    Wrapper script to set differential tracking without autoguiding, using the following commands:

    - tcs.ag-off
    - tcs.tcs-command "set-rate ra-rate dec-rate"


  • tcs.differential-to-sidereal-guiding [-e] (to be tested)
    Wrapper script to switch from differential tracking/guiding to sidereal tracking/guiding on the same target, using the following commands:

    - tcs.ag-off
    - tcs.tcs-command "set-rate 0 0"
    - tcs.box-motion-stop
    - tcs.ag-relaxed-on

    NB! Will only work if you are already autoguiding!

  • tcs.asteph [-e] [-t asteroid|comet|planet] [-m ima|para|along-slit|optimal-ll|optimal-lr] [-r full|half] -n object_name

    Interactive Asteroid Ephemeris script that connects to the JPL Horizons database and searches for coordinates and tracking rates of the given object_name for the current UT time at the La Palma observatory. Note that the RA-rate output by Horizons in the form (cos(DEC))*dRA/dt is translated to the simple dRA/dt (''/h) required by the NOT TCS, which applies the cosine(DEC) correction internally.

          The input parameters in [] are optional.
          
           -t default type is "asteroid"
              option "planet" selects for instance the Jovian satellite Europa instead of the asteroid Europa
              option "comet" 
           -m default mode is "ima" using the default field rotation for imaging 
              option "para" for spectroscopy orients the slit along the parallactic angle
              option "along-slit" orients the slit along the tracking direction of the target
              option "optimal-ll" orients the field to  maximize the number of guide-probe repositions
              option "optimal-lr" 180 degrees rotatated to above, both recommended for fast targets or long observations
           -r default tracking rate is "full"         
              option "half" gives the half-rates of the differential tracking (sometimes requested)
           -n \"target name\" is mandatory (if it contains a space, use escape double quotes)
    
    Currently, the result is output on the screen in the form of the NOT sequencer commands needed in order to point to this target (now!) and set up the telescope for differential tracking and guiding, for instance:
           tcs.append-object 2017_TC1-xxxx 20 02 53.11 +27 52 40.6 2000.0 0.0 0.0 20.06
           tcs.ag-off
           tcs.guide-object 2017_TC1-xxxx
           tcs.reposition-guide-probe -750.856 -353.934
    
    Note that you can alternatively use guide-object -f field-rotation or guide-object-with-parallactic etc. Depending on the modes chosen in asteph, the output will adjust the guide-object commands.

    Note also that if the target is super fast and you can not guide, use tcs.diff-tracking-rates with the same input differential rates as output from the tcs.asteph command.

  • tcs.pointing108 [-e] (staff only)
    Records pointing accuracy from 108 stars, chosen from the GSC catalog in steps of az=30,alt=8, forming an equidistant grid.
    The script is fully automatic, and takes around 1.5 hour to complete.
    The pointing data recorded are used to compute a new pointing model (not included in the script).

  • tcs.pointing216 [-e] (staff only)
    Records pointing accuracy from 216 stars, chosen from the GSC catalog in steps of az=15,alt=8, forming an equidistant grid.
    The script is fully automatic, and takes around 3 hours to complete.
    The pointing data recorded are used to compute a new pointing model (not included in the script).
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