W. M. Keck Observatory
HIRES VNC Startup Procedure

Background

This document describes the steps involved in bringing up the HIRES software in a VNC environment to be shared with a team of observers at a mainland site. The Waimea steps are meant to be performed by a support astronomer.

Procedures for Waimea Personnel

  1. Contact summit staff and ask for permission to run the guider and HIRES.
  2. Log in. Log into haleiwa and pupukea using assigned HIRES numbered account (hiresNN).
  3. Check VNC servers. From the pulldown menu (or InstrMenu widget), select 
     VNC > VNC Status
    If the servers are running, this should return a display a list showing 8 servers: 
    # Display    Desktop                  User         PID          
# -------    -------                  ----         ---          
:1           hires-hires16-telstatus  hires16      25539        
:2           hires-hires16-control0   hires16      25611        
:3           hires-hires16-control1   hires16      25823        
:4           hires-hires16-control2   hires16      25895        
:5           hires-hires16-analysis0  hires16      25969        
:6           hires-hires16-telanalys  hires16      26045        
:7           hires-hires16-analysis1  hires16      26117        
:8           hires-hires16-analysis2  hires16      26189
  4. If no servers are listed, then restart the servers as follows:
    • In a local window, enter the command 
      kixrsh k1vncserver
      to obtain a window on the Keck II VNC server.
    • In this winwo, enter the command: 
      kvnc start servers
      and wait for this command to complete; it will take a couple of minutes.
    • Check the VNC status again to verify that 8 servers are running.
  5. Launch primary VNC viewers. From the pulldown menu on haleiwa, select 
    	VNC > Start VNC PRIMARY viewers
    This should cause two xterm window to appear on all 3 screens of haleiwa, prompting for a password. Note that these windows will appear in the upper left window of the Virtual Desktop. Type the standard VNC password into each of the xterm windows. You should then get two VNC windows on each screen on haleiwa:
    • haleiwa:0 should show a PSEUDOCOLOR workspace with a tan background called hires-hiresNN-control0.
    • haleiwa:0 should show a TRUECOLOR workspace with a red background called hires-hiresNN-analysis0.
    • haleiwa:1 should show a PSEUDOCOLOR workspace with a tan background called hires-hiresNN-control1.
    • haleiwa:1 should show a TRUECOLOR workspace with a red background called hires-hiresNN-analysis1.
    • haleiwa:2 should show a PSEUDOCOLOR workspace with a tan background called hires-hiresNN-control2.
    • haleiwa:2 should show a TRUECOLOR workspace with a red background called hires-hiresNN-analysis2.
  6. Launch instrument applications.
    • In the control0 workspace (left-hand monitor, tan VNC window), use the OpenWindows pulldown menu to select: 
      	HIRES Control Menu > Start all HIRES GUIs
    • Follow typical HIRES startup procedure.
  7. Launch telescope VNC viewer. From the pulldown menu on pupukea, select: VNC > Start VNC SECONDARY viewers Two xterm windows will appear, prompting for a password. Type the standard VNC password into the xterm windows. You should then get two VNC windows:
    • pupukea:0 should show a PSEUDOCOLOR workspace with a tan background called hires-hiresNN-telstatus.
    • pupukea:0 should show a TRUECOLOR workspace with a red background called hires-hiresNN-telanalys.
  8. Launch telescope applications. In the telstatus VNC viewer window, launch tools using the background menu within the VNC window:
    • Launch guider eavesdrop window via: 
      	Guider eavesdropping > Start eavesdrop
    • Launch FACSUM window via: 
      	K1 telescope status > FACSUM
    • Launch Xmet via: 
      	K1 telescope status > Xmet
At this point, all should be set up properly and mainland observing team can connect using their scripts.

Procedures for Mainland Personnel

  1. Establish video link. Open polycom connection to Keck II remote ops.
  2. Launch VNC software. Verify with Keck personnel that VNC servers and up and running, then launch VNC viewers per instructions from Bob Kibrick.

Operational tests

  1. Acquire a science bias. Using the Dashboard GUI:
    • set the CCD ObsType to Bias
    • click the Expose button to initiate data taking
    • use the ds9 display window to verify that an image was acquired.
  2. Verify that the guider is updating with images. You will need to run the guider software to make the test. You should have gotten permission from the summit staff to make this test.

See Also

Go to: Mainland Observing Home Page - Instruments Home Page - Keck Home Page
Last modified: Tue Sep 19 14:09:09 HST