Never bump, move by hand, or otherwise disturb the telescope. It has a mind of it’s own, and that mind is a computer! The telescope is not designed to be moved by hand under any circumstances.
1. Remove the cover from the Telescope.2. Turn On Power to the CCD Camera.
3. Start the CCD Camera Control Software and Start the Camera Cooling
4. Check the time on the Telescope Control Computer.
5. Turn On the Telescope Drive Controller.
6. Start the Telescope Control Software.
8. Select several bright stars.
13. Acquire Data.
1. Remove the cover from the Telescope.
Be careful not to move the telescope.
The telescope should be at the stowed position. The telescope should appear in a horizontal position pointing toward the southern horizon on the celestial meridian.
2. Turn On Power to the CCD Camera.
The camera power supply is plugged in at the base of the old telescope pier.
[ top of page ]
3. Start the CCD Camera Control Software and Start the Camera Cooling.
The camera control computer is on the south wall of the observatory near the east corner. Check the date and time on this computer to insure that the correct date and time is associated with each saved image. The camera is controlled using the CCDOPS software. A shortcut to this software will be found in the Observatory folder on the computer desktop.
To start the camera cooling select the Camera menu and then select Camera Setup. Specify a Setpoint temperature that is approximately 30 degrees below the ambient temperature in the observatory. The characteristics of the CCD detector can vary dramatically depending on the temperature of the CCD. The noise characteristics and overall performance improve at lower temperatures. However, once the chip temperature has initially reached equilibrium (15-20 minutes), the power applied to the cooling system should be in the range of 75% to 95% of maximum power. For scientific measurements it is essential that the temperature of the CCD chip remain as constant as possible. Select Activate when you are ready to start the cooling system.
[ top of page ]
4. Check the time on the Telescope Control Computer.
This computer is on the east wall of the observatory. This is the computer that controls the telescope. Since the control software takes the time from the system clock, this time and date must be correct. If the time and date are not correct, the telescope will not be able to point to the correct locations in the sky.
Quit any software systems and at the DOS prompt type ‘date’ to verify the date and type ‘time’ to verify the time.
5. Turn On the Telescope Drive Controller.
There is a rocker switch on the top of the base of the telescope. Do not turn on the telescope drive until you are ready to start the telescope control software. While the drive in on, the telescope will be driven away from the registration point at the stowed position. The control software assumes that the telescope is at the stowed position at startup.
6. Start the Telescope Control Software.
The telescope control computer is on the east wall of the observatory. This is the computer that controls the telescope. This is the software that controls the telescope.
At the DOS prompt type servo. This starts the ServoStar telescope control software package. This package may be controlled by using the cursor keys, the <Return> (or <Enter>) key, and <ESC> (Escape).
Never terminate this program or turn off this computer without exiting the control software properly. If you fail to exit properly, the telescope may be misalligned for the next user.
[ top of page ]
This forces the telescope to locate the mechanical registration marks for the right ascension and the declination aixes. The roof must be open for this operation since the telescope will move through more than 90 degrees in both right ascension and declination. The telescope will move nearly to the zenith and to a point that is actually far below the southern horizon. After the large motions the telescope will perform small motions to precisely locate the registration marks. The entire process can take as long as a minute. You should accept any updated parameters that the software recommends.
[ top of page ]
8. Select several bright stars.
These will be used to make sure that the scope is properly aligned. Within the telescope control software move to the ‘Scan’ menu and choose ‘All’ (use the arrow keys, [return], and [Esc] to operate the Telescope-Control software). Next, move to the ‘Select’ menu and choose ‘By Pick’. Then select several bright stars, by using the arrow keys to move through the list, and pressing [return] on the stars you wish to select. The name of each star you choose will appear in the Select window on the right side of the screen.
You can also select some nonstellar objects or other objects from the database at this time. However, you can add additional objects to the Select list at any time during the observing session.
When finished press [Esc].
[ top of page ]
Move to the ‘Move’ menu and select ‘By Pick’. Use the arrow key to select the star you wish to observe and press [return]. The telescope will automatically slew to this star. It is advisable that you have the CCD camera running and have configured the camera control software for autofocus mode. Specify Auto for resolution, Full Frame mode, and exposure times no longer than one second. (The bright stars used for setting the telescope will normally saturate the CCD even for one second exposures.) As the telescope comes to a stop you should see the bright star move through the field and stop somewhere on the screen, or just off the field of view. Move to the ‘Options’ menu and choose ‘Resync’. Now use the arrow keys to move the star to the center of the monitor. (The Up and Down arrow keys will move the star in similar directions on the monitor, and the Left and Right arrow keys will move the star in the opposite directions on the monitor). If the star is not on the screen after the slew, use the telescope control paddle to position and center the star on the monitor. When centered, press [return] or the ‘fire’ button on the paddle.
When the telescope is moving, be careful that the cord to the camera is not being wrapped around the scope or impeding its motion. The telescope control software is not programmed to consider the effects of any cables. As a general rule it is strongly advised that you stay away from the vicinity of the celestial pole. It is possible for the control software to become lost in the vicinity of the pole. If the cables appear to be wrapping around the telescope, or if the scope is out of control, or is about to hit something, Press the Space Bar Once.
[ top of page ]
Move to the ‘Move’ menu and select ‘By Pick’. Use the arrow keys to select another bright star and press [return]. The telescope should now move to this star and the image should appear on the monitor. If the star is not centered, move to the ‘Options’ menu and choose ‘Resync’. Now use the arrow keys to center the star in the monitor and press [return] when finished. (If this star is less bright than the first, then you may notice that the focus can be improved a bit. If so, then tweak the focus knob until the best focus is reached).
Choose the filter (if any) that will be used with your first target field. Use a Focus Number if one is available. Otherwise, adjust the focus. Start by making bright stars appear as "small" as possible. Then use the camera control software to adjust the focus for the maximum data value for a selected focus star. Finally, for the most critical focus, examine short exposure images for "faint" stars. If the focus is not set perfectly, the faintest stars will be washed out.
[ top of page ]
If your target fields are not contained in the internal database, you will need to enter the coordinates for these fields when you wish to move to these locations.
Move to the ‘Move’ menu and select ‘By Value’. Make sure that the num-lock key is off (light is not illuminated). Use the [delete] key on the number pad to remove all of the zeroes from the right ascension window. Input the right ascension coordinates of the target field, using the number keys along the top of the keyboard. Coordinates should be in hours, minutes, seconds, of epoch J2000. For example, 12h, 3m, 54s would be entered as:
12.035400
Move to the window for declination coordinates and use the [delete] key on the number pad to remove all of the zeroes from this window. Input the declination coordinates, using the number keys along the top of the keyboard. Coordinates should be in degrees, minutes, seconds, of epoch J2000. For example, 30d, 5’, 24" would be entered as:
30.052400
Press [Esc] and move to the ‘Accept’ window using arrow keys and press [return]. The telescope will now slew to the target field. By now, the camera should be at the proper temperature for data acquisition.
[ top of page ]
The target field can be centered/repositioned by moving to the ‘Options’ menu and choosing ‘Guiding’. Use the arrow keys to center and press [return] when completed. The Up arrow will move objects in the image up, and the Down arrow will move objects in the image down. The Left and Right arrows behave in the opposite manner. The Left arrow will move image objects toward the right, and the Right arrow will move image objects toward the left.
To move to another target field, follow the above step #12. If the next field is not close to the bright stars you used to resync, you may need to resync the telescope again using bright stars that are near the target field (steps #9 and #10).
[ top of page ]
When you have finished observing for the evening you must return the telescope to the stowed position. This is accomplished by exiting the camera control software. Before the control software terminates, it will return the telescope to the stowed position. The telescope should end up in a horizontal position pointing toward the southern horizon on the celestial meridian. As soon as the software has terminated, turn off the telescope drive controller by using the rocker switch on the base of the telescope. The drive should not be "on" unless the control software is running because the telescope will be driven away from the registration point. At startup, the control software assumes that the telescope is located at the registration point.
15. Turn Off Power to the CCD Camera.
Power must be turned off to the camera so the camera will not over heat during the day. This is especially important since the camera and telescope remain covered during the day time hours.
This will minimize the accumulation of dust on the telescope optics. Be careful not to move the telescope.
[ top of page ]
hj 1990
last updated by ggs
April 2000