Summary
This page describes the procedure observers should use to
perform pre-run checkout of mainland observing video and
computer facilities prior to runs involving mainland observing.
These steps are only to be followed after the observer has
submitted a request for use of
the mainland observing facility and had it approved by the WMKO
mainland observing coordinator.
Procedure
- Schedule checkout. Arrange a time with the site
manager at your mainland site to perform the checkout. If
you're not sure who that person is, please contact your
Support Astronomer to find out. The test can be completed any
time within 5 calendar days of the run, but we strongly
recommend doing it at least one business day prior to the run
in order to provide adquate time for troubleshooting the
connections. The VNC sessions are not typically started until
5 calendar days before your run, so if you need to perform the
test further than 5 days before your run, please contact your
support astronomer to have the VNC sessions launched early.
- Determine account. Consult the online
Keck telescope schedule to determine what your assigned
observing account is.
- Obtain passwords. Your local site manager can
provide you with the required passwords for local hosts, Keck
firewall, and Keck observing accounts.
- Test video. Make a test video connection to the
appropriate Keck Remote Ops polycom unit (Remote Ops 1 at
128.171.99.71 or Remote Ops 2 at 128.171.99.72) to verify
operation at the appointed time, and with assistance from the
mainland site manager (if needed). This is best done before
2pm Hawaiian Standard Time (corresponding to 5pm PDT or 4pm
PST) to avoid interfering with observers performing afternoon
setup.
- Test VNC. Log in to the appropriate remote
observing computers at your site. Bring up the necessary VNC
viewers using the appropriate local commands (typically
kvncinst/kvnctel or kvncall) and verify
that the sessions are “live” (i.e., you can access
the background menu). Note: It is not appropriate
to bring up the instrument user interface and perform any
additional testing at this time, since this may interfere with
summit operations.
When you are finished, terminate the VNC viewers by performing
Ctrl-C in the xterm window in which you
typed the kvncinst/kvnctel/kvncall command.
- Report problems. In case any problems crop up,
please immediately contact your assigned support astronomer
(obtain name of SA from from the online
Keck Observing schedule; corresponding telephone numbers
should be posted in your observing area).
Go to:
Instruments Home Page -
Keck Home Page
Last modified: Mon Aug 15 16:04:57 HST 2011
