NIRSPEC
Running the User Interface

The NIRSPEC is operated through a set of graphical user interfaces that display on a multi-headed workstation. Extensive details on the GUI functionality can be found in the NIRSPEC Operations Manual. This document will describe start up procedures for this operational software.

The NIRSPEC control software operates at two levels: the server, which handles communication between the instrument electronics and the workstation host waimea; and the GUI's . The GUI's are referred to as clients, which include 4 parts:

The operating workstation is hanauma in the Keck-2 remote ops room. The operating account is nirspec: 
 Login: nirspec
 Password: 		(ask your support IS).
The NIRSPEC Control Menu is a submenu of the workspace; hold down the right mouse button, select the entry NIRSPEC Control Menu, and release the button after selecting Start NIRSPEC Control SW. A yellow-on-black terminal window will open on the left screen, and a script will run, posing a series of questions to the operator. Before running NIRSPEC, or any time after the server is re-started, the user must:
  1. Select day or night-time operation.
  2. Enter values or reload stored values for observer, data directory, and file names.
  3. Initialize the motors.
    Start up script session example.

Day-time operation is defined as any non-observing period. In day-time mode, the NIRSPEC server will communicate with a DCS simulator. The script will start up XNIRSPEC, Quick Look, and the EFSgui. The Image Rotator control GUI can not be run in day-time mode.

Night-time operation is defined as on-sky observing. If the user is already operating NIRSPEC in day-time mode, then night-time mode can be enabled simply by selecting Enable Night-time Mode from the NIRSPEC Control Menu. If the user is starting the software from scratch, then he/she selects night-time mode in the Start NIRSPEC Control SW script, which will re-start the server, prompt to execute all of the essential start up functions including items 1-3 above, and start up XNIRSPEC, Quick Look, EFSgui, and the Image Rotator GUI.

Note that there is an entry in the NIRSPEC Control Menu for NIRSPEC Control Options. These options allow the user to start up the server and client (GUI) software processes separately, if desired.

NIRSPEC Control Menu

Start up script session example

Here is an example of the script output, and the choices posed. 

Welcome to the NIRSPEC startup script.  This script should be run 
every time that NIRSPEC operations are started or re-started.

Do you want to continue running the startup script? (y/n) [y]: 

Enter  for daytime or offline operation, 
   or  for nightime on-sky operation [d]:

 Re-Starting NIRSPEC server processes...
[1] 29181

Enter s to set new observer and data directory keyword values, 
   or c to reload values set previously today [c]: 
setting observer = Keck Instrument Group (KIG) (wait)
setting outdir = /sdata602/nirspec/6Dec1999/spec/ (wait)
setting outdir2 = /sdata602/nirspec/6Dec1999/scam/ (wait)
setting rootname = 06des (wait)
setting rootname2 = 06dei (wait)

 Starting XNIRSPEC, SPEC/SCAM Displays, EFS GUI, and Rotator GUI (night only)...

 Checking motor initializations...

 irot NOT initialized (0).

 slit NOT initialized (0).

 echl NOT initialized (0).

 disp NOT initialized (0).

 calm NOT initialized (0).

 calp NOT initialized (0).

 calc NOT initialized (0).

 fil1 NOT initialized (0).

 fil2 NOT initialized (0).

Enter y to initialize stages, or anything else to exit:

NIRSPEC stage initialization complete.


NIRSPEC startup is complete!  Press  to exit.

NIRSPEC Control Options

After logging in, the user uses the workspace menu to select and start the server, followed by the clients. Before the telescope is initialized at about 5pm, or when using NIRSPEC offline at night, both the server and the clients should be run without communication to the DCS (telescope drive and control system). Before observing starts, all the software should be shut down, and restarted with full-up DCS communication.

So, before 5pm or at other non-observing times, the instrument is run by selecting in order:

  1. "Start NIRSPEC Server (daytime)
  2. "Start NIRSPEC Clients (daytime)".
After telescope initialization, select in order:
  1. "Stop Server and Clients"
  2. "Start NIRSPEC Server"
  3. "Start All NIRSPEC Clients"
  4. In XNIRSPEC Instrument Control, select IROT, then Tracking On to enable the rotator.
If for any reason any of the clients are lost, these can be restarted as listed in the menu. Only 1 copy of each can be running at one time, except for EFSgui, of which multiple copies can exist but should be avoided.

Note that if the server has been restarted, the following needs to be done:

  1. Init the motors, in XNIRSPEC Instrument Control, Engineer, Motors, Init.
  2. Reset the output directory, user name, and root file name (the latter defaults to the current HST date, so change only if necessary); in XNIRSPEC SPEC Camera, Setup, then Obs Setup.

At the end of the night, select in order:

  1. "Close Down NIRSPEC"
  2. "Stop Server and Clients".
Go to: NIRSPEC Home Page - Instruments Home Page - Keck Home Page
Last modified: Sun Mar 12 22:26:12 HST 2000