DEIMOS
Afternoon Checklist

The following afternoon routine is recommended to prepare for the night's observing.

Summary

Check Account

  1. Consult the on-line Keck II observing schedule. Find the listing for today's date (note that the dates are HST, not UT dates).
  2. The eighth column of the table will indicate the account you have been assigned. For example, if it reads DEIMOS(1), your account is deimos1. Use this account name (in lowercase) when logging in to Keck computers.

Log in

  1. Log in.
    Log into the 3-headed data-taking computer (hanauma in Remote Ops II) using the account name (deimosNN) and password provided by your Instrument Specialist. Note: when asked to select a window option, choose OpenWindows instead of CDE. Two windows should appear on your leftmost screen:
    • Console window
    • polo window
  2. Start Firefox.
    • Click with the right mouse button on the blue background to get the options menu.
    • Click on the item labeled Firefox -- DEIMOS Home Page. After a few seconds, the Firefox window should appear.
  3. Read the DEIMOS News.
    • Click on the Home button (house icon) in Firefox, bringing up the DEIMOS Home Page.
    • Click on the link labeled DEIMOS News to bring up the DEIMOS News page. Read the first several entries on the News page to familiarize yourself with recent changes to the instrument and software.
  4. Check instrument availability.
    • Return to the DEIMOS Home Page by clicking the Home button in the Firefox window.
    • Click on the link labeled Instrument Status to access today's instrument information.
    • Use the spacebar to advance to the bottom of the page. If the message K2 INSTRUMENT READY appears, then the instrument is available and you may proceed to the next step and start up the DEIMOS software. If the message is K2 INSTRUMENT NOT READY, then DEIMOS has not been released for your use. If it is after the nominal release time (2:00pm weekdays, 3:00pm weekends) then contact your Instrument Specialist for assistance.
  5. Prepare logsheets. If you will need logsheets for note-taking, now would be a good time to prepare them. You can preview and print out copies of logsheets from the computer.
    • From the DEIMOS background menu, click the item labeled Instrument Utilities and release on Print Logsheets. The Xlogsheets widget window will appear.
    • Click on the name of a logsheet, and then click Preview to review the logsheet.
    • When you've decided on one, enter the number of copies and click Print to print them out.
    • Click QUIT to quit.

Start up DEIMOS

  1. Start up the DEIMOS software.
    • Click the DEIMOS Worksapce Menu
    • Select DEIMOS Control Menu.
    • Select Start All DEIMOS GUIs
  2. Verify windows.
    Check that the following windows appear:
    • On the leftmost screen:
      • DEIMOS Intrcon
      • FCS GUI window
      • FCS FIGDISP and Tk control windows
    • On the center screen:
      • Dashboard GUI
      • Xbeeper
    • On the right screen:
      • SAOimage ds9 image display window
      • ds9relay widget
      • Instrument compass rose
  3. Re-arrange windows.
    • To resize and arrange the windows in the preferred locations, click the DEIMOS background menu and select DEIMOS Utilities > Auto-arrange GUIs.
    • Wait about 20 seconds for the operation to complete.
  4. Configure user settings.
    • On the left side of the Dashboard is a small yellow button labeled Start Here!. Click this button to bring up the Setup/Options window.
    • Click on on the Retrieve button at the top right to load the current settings. If you need to reset all parameters, click on Clear All.
    • The Data directory box displays the name of the directory which has been selected and created for you. Write this down in the space provided at the top left of your logsheet.
    • The Filename root box shows the prefix to be applies to your images. The default is dMMDD_, where MM is the month number and DD is the day number. You are free to change this to something more to your liking, such as deimos.
    • The Frame number box shows the number of the next image to be taken. If you want to continue the numbering sequence from your previous night, enter the next number in the sequence into this box.
    • The Observer box can be used to record the names of observing team members in the image headers. Fill in names as desired.
    • Click Commit to the right of the Observer box to update your changes.
    • De-select the Audible Alerts: Exposure Ended option.

Verify configurable elements

  1. Verify slitmasks.
    On the Dashboard GUI, double-click in the Slitmask box, bringing up the Slitmask Panel. Read through the list of available slitmasks and ensure that all of the slitmasks you will need tonight are listed. If not, get help.
  2. Verify gratings.
    On the Dashboard GUI, double-click in the Grating box, bringing up the Grating Panel. Check the available gratings and ensure that all of the gratings you will need tonight are listed. If not, get help.
  3. Verify filters.
    On the Dashboard GUI, double-click in the Filter box, bringing up the Filter Panel. Read through the list of available filters and ensure that all of the filters you will need tonight are listed. If not, get help.

Turn on sounds

  1. Select sounds.
    Xbeeper will make user-selectable noises when images are done exposing and reading out. Click on the available menus (labeled default) to select the sounds of your choice. The default sounds are verbal messages. Others can be selected for your late-night entertainment.
  2. Play samples.
    Click the Start button to play the sample message. If needed, adjust the volume level and/or select different sounds. Click the Apply button to effect the changes. Click Quit to quit the tool entirely (kill sounds).

Reset stages

At the beginning of each afternoon, you should ask DEIMOS to reset all stages.
  1. Click the Initialize button at the left side of the Dashboard to view the initialize panel.
  2. If this is the first day that DEIMOS is on the telescope, click the Recalibrate All button on this panel to re-home all of the stages. Note that the buttons for the stages will turn yellow to indicate that they are being recalibrated. Wait until all stage labels turn green, indicating that they have been initialized properly.
  3. On each day of your run, click the Default DEIMOS Configuration button on this panel to send all stages to their nominal positions. Wait until this operation completes before continuing.

Take a test bias exposure

  1. Close hatch.
    If the Dashboard GUI indicates that the hatch is open, then close it by double-clicking on the hatch graphic to bring up the Hatch Panel. Click on the CLOSED option to effect the change.
  2. Turn off lamps.
    If the GUI indicates that any lamps are on, click the OFF button in the Lamps box.
  3. Set exposure parameters.
    In the CCD box on the GUI, set:
    • ReadOut to Spectral
    • Object to Bias
    • ExpTime to 1 second
    Click on UpdateCCD to commit these changes.
  4. Start bias exposure.
    Click the Expose button to start the exposure.
  5. Verify exposure sequence.
    After you start the exposure, the brown CCD box will turn:
    • grey to indicate that the detector is erasing;
    • black to indicate that the detector is exposing a DARK (green if taking a shutter-open exposure);
    • red to indicate that the detector is reading out.
  6. Wait for readout.
    In about 45 seconds, the image should be read out and be displayed on the ds9 window.

Inspect the bias frame

Use the ds9 image display tool to make a vector cut across your image, graphing pixel values as a function of position.

Calibrate slitmask alignment software

If you will be using xbox to align custom slitmasks, please complete the suggested afternoon calibrations to set up the IRAF software.

Determine instrument focus

Follow the procedure described in the accompanying document.

Create instrument setup files (optional)

Setup files can ease observing by storing instrument and detector settings for easy recall later. If you wish to create setup files for use with DEIMOS, follow these steps:
  1. Configure the instrument and detector to your liking.
  2. Click on the Save... button at the top of the dashboard, then select Named setup. Enter the desired name for your setup file in the popup window. The parameters are written to a file in the directory ~/setups on polo.
  3. To use these setups later, click on Load... and select Named setup... to get a popup window showing the available setup files (some of which come predewfined with your account. Click the name of the setup file(s) you want to load into the Dashboard's memory. Then use the Setups... menu to access these parameter sets.

Perform FCS calibrations

The flexure compensation system must be set up for each combination of grating and central wavelength that you will be using. Different slitmasks may use the same FCS setup, however. Follow the FCS Setup Checklist to configure FCS for your various configurations.

Verify FCS tracking on new gratings

If either grating has been installed today, verify that it has been installed properly by attempting to track FCS. Any reasonable combination of wavelength/filter may be used.

Acquire arcs and flats

With FCS configured, now is a good time to take afternoon arcs and flats. You may do so manually, or use the handy Slitmask Calibration Widget script to acquire the desired number of arcs and flats for a series of masks. To do so:
  1. Close the DEIMOS hatch to block dome light.
  2. Set the grating, central wavelength, filter, and dewar focus appropriately.
  3. Start FCS tracking (if desired) and wait for it to lock.
  4. If needed, take a test 1 second Qz internal flat (use the goibuf command) and determine the appropriate exposure time for your flats (goal is about 30,000 DN maximum).
  5. Launch the widget from the DEIMOS background menu via DEIMOS Utilities > Slitmask Calibration Tool.
  6. Select the masks to be calibrated using the current grating/wavelength/filter combination, the number of arcs and flats to acquire, the exposure times to use, and the arcs lamps to use.
  7. Click GO to begin data acquisition. It should take about 5 minutes per mask to complete.

Generate guider finder charts

A plot which shows the DEIMOS guider field of view for each of your slitmasks is an essential tool for completing slitmask alignment. Create them automatically using the deimos_guider_dss script:
  1. Log into a machine at Keck Headquarters using your DEIMOS numbered account.
  2. Transfer (via ftp or scp) your DSIMULATOR output files from your home institution to Keck.
  3. Run the software via 
    	deimos_guider_dss file1 file2 .. fileN
    where fileN are the names of your DSIMUALTOR files.
  4. Wait a few minutes for the software to create the finder charts. When completed, the software will respond with 
    	Point your browser to -> address
  5. Use your browser to open this URL, which serves as an index to your finder charts and to the starlist file.
  6. Use the browser to access and print out each of the finder charts.
  7. Important sanity check: verify that the finder chart shows stars in the locations of the markers where guide stars are expected. If not, then the mask may have an astrometry problem!
  8. Optional: copy the starlist file into your directory in /kroot/starlists.

Create and verify target list

  1. Create and format your target list (``starlist'') as described here. Note that if you ran the deimos_guider_dss script, it generates a starlist containing your slitmasks.
  2. Validate and install your starlist by selecting the item Instrument Utilities > Install Starlist from the DEIMOS background menu. This script will check the syntax of your starlist and copy it into the appropriate directory.
  3. If the accuracy of your coordinates is suspect, use SKY to display the Digital Sky Survey image of your DEIMOS field as described here.

Coordinate with the OA

Observing Assistants cutomarily arrive at the summit (or HQ, if remote controlling) around 5:30pm. Once they arrive, you can do the following:
  1. Greet the OA.
    Check whether your PictureTel link is muted, as indicated by a mute symbol labeled NEAR on the TV. If muted, press the MUTE button on the PictureTel control to un-mute. Introduce yourself to the OA and alert them to any immediate needs that you will have, such as wanting to take dome flats.
  2. Wait for the OA to get settled.
    Setting up computers and bringing up all of the telescope control systems requires some time, and things go wrong much more often than we would prefer. Be patient while the OA prepares the telescope for operation.
  3. Take calibrations.
    When the OA gives you permission to proceed, begin taking dome flats.
  4. Inform the OA about your starlist.
    Now would be a good time to let the OA know where your starlist is, so they can verify that they have access to it.

Get dinner

You're tired and hungry and there's a long night ahead. Better get out the folder labeled Restaurant Dining Guide and select one of our fine local eateries to provide you with sustenance.

Proceed with evening setup

Sunset is getting close; continue with the procedures listed on the Evening Startup Checklist.

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Last modified: Sun Nov 23 20:26:25 HST 2008