- Symptom
- Images taken using a grating (spectral or zeroth order
image) look like darks.
- Problem
- The grating is at the wrong tilt, or the grating cover
was not removed when the grating was installed.
- Solution
-
- Re-home both grating tilts with the following
commands on polo:
unstick_grating 3
unstick_grating 4
- Have summit support personnel check for and, if
necessary, remove the cover from the grating.
- Symptom
- Images show excess red light
- Problem
- A red LED inside or outside of the instrument has been
left on.
- Solution
- Send someone up to locate the source of the illumination.
One likely place is a red LED on the DEIMOS handpaddle which
is lit when the paddle is left in MANUAL mode.
Switch it to COMPUTER mode in order to disable the
LED. Another thing to check is the plastic housing enclosing
the optical encoders on the grating tilt stages, which can be
deformed and thus leak light.
- Symptom
- Spectra and/or direct images taken on the grating appear
to be shifted vertically on the CCD images relative to their
customary position.
- Problem
- The grating tilt encoder has lost its positional
reference, most likely due to momentary loss of power to the
tilt ensoder.
- Solution
- Re-home both tilt encoders by running the following
commands on polo:
unstick_grating 3
unstick_grating 4
- Symptom
- Images show a significant jump or drop in the bias level in one
or more amplifier.
- Problem
- The CCD readout electronics may be too warm.
- Solution
-
- Check DEIMOS temperatures by issuing the
temps command on polo.
- If electronics temps are too high, then have summit
staff remove covers on the electronics as needed to
improve airflow.
- Symptom
- DEIMOS images show data values as NaN.
- Problem
- The CCD readout electronics are malfunctioning, perhaps
because they are too warm.
- Solution
-
- Check DEIMOS temperatures by issuing the
temps command on polo.
- If electronics temps are too high, then have summit
staff remove covers on the electronics as needed to
improve airflow.
- If data values are bad in only one amplifier, it may
be a malfunction on the Leach board. Try increasing the
bias level by decreasing the value of the
VIDOFFn keyword for the affected amplifier.
- Symptom
- DEIMOS images show data values as NaN or zeros (depending
on which version of DS9 is used to open the images). The
section of the image affected corresponds only to amplifier
A or B.
- Problem
- The CCD readout electronics are malfunctioning.
- Solution
-
-
Change the default readout mode. If, for instance, the
problem appears in A amplifiers in Direct mode when the
default amplifier mode was set to DUAL:A+B, then
change the default amplifier mode to SINGLE:B by
selecting the corresponding Amp mode
on the Detector control panel of the DEIMOS
instrument control GUI
-
Take an image in Direct mode by either hitting
the Expose button on the DEIMOS instrument
control GUI, or by using the command goi on
a polo or deimos terminal to
check that the amplifier mode has actually changed.
- Symptom
- Stray light detected in images
- Problem
- It may be that a light source was left on in DEIMOS. An
example is when a grating system errors and the error is not
cleared because it is not the primary grating in use.
- Solution
-
- use checkLamps to see if any of the
lamps is currently on.
- If a lamp is on, turn it off.
-
Note that the keywords in the output from
checkLamps shows what keywords to modify to turn
the lamps off.
- Symptom
- Focus images show very low counts during
the focusloop (R+dome) script.
- Problem
- The tertiary mirror in not facing the correct
Nasmyth focus.
- Solution
- Contact your Support Astronomer, who will take the proper
actions to ensure the tertiary mirror is rotated to face
DEIMOS Nasmyth focus.
- Symptom
- Compass roses display the wrong orientation. FACSUM
reports incorrect drive angle on the rotator. The DCS
keywords ROTPDEST (demanded position) and
ROTPPOSN (actual position) differ by many degrees.
- Problem
- The DEIMOS rotator control computer (roto) has lost its
DCS connection.
- Solution
- See corrective actions described
below.
- Symptom
- Newly acquired images do not appear on the the
Ginga display GUI
- Problem
- The Ginga display GUI failed to gather the information to
create the DEIMOS mosaic. This can be caused by a temporary
communication glitch with keyword services such as dcs.
- Solution
-
Use the ds9_mosaic script to diplay the image:
- Display the image on a polo
or deimos terminal as follows:
cdata
ds9_mosaic image-name
If the problem persists over multiple images, then there might
be an issue with the Ginga display GUI, in which case it is
recommended to restart it:
-
Exit the Ginga display GUI by selecting File
→ Exit
- Restart the Ginga display GUI on the VNC background
menu: DEIMOS Control Menu → Subcomponents... →
Start Ginga display GUI.
If there are missing dcs keywords in multiple images, then it is
possible that there is a serious communication issue. In this
case it is recommended to call SWOC, although observing can
continue as soon as images displayed with
the ds9_mosaic script look fine.
- Symptom
-
An output directory is defined (outdir
commands returns valid result) but images are not going
there.
- Problem
- The output directory does not exist.
- Solution
- Create the output directory using the command newday
-test.
- Symptom
- Images are saved with strange filenames (e.g.,
d0217_0001.fits.old.PdGWS5) and
FRAMENO keyword does not increment between
frames.
- Problem
- Either the ADDFRAME keyword is set incorrectly or the
DEIMOS daemons are in a bad state.
- Solution
-
- Check the value of the ADDFRAME keyword
with gshow -s deiccd addframe.
- If the keyword value is false, then set it
to true with modify -s deiccd addframe=1
- Symptom
- Keywords such as RA, Dec,
ROTPPOSN, etc., are not found in the image
headers. These keywords can still be obtained from the
polo command line via gshow -s dcs
commands.
- Problem
- The watch_ccd process has lost its connection
to DCS and needs to be restarted.
- Solution
-
- Wait for the exposure to end; do not begin
another.
- On a polo terminal:
deimos status watch_ccd
deimos restart watch_ccd
-
Newly-acquired images should now have these keywords in the
image header. You can verify this by using the command:
fitsheader -e 0 -k rotposn image.fits
If a ROTPOSN value is shown, that's good news.
If no output is received, then the keyword is missing from the
header and the problem has not been fixed.
- Symptom
- Keywords are found (or reported) to be missing from image
headers.
- Problem
- Communication with a keyword service is interrupted.
- Solution
-
- View logfile.
In general, if there is a problem with keywords missing
from a DEIMOS FITS header, the best place to start is to
look at the appropriate watch_ccd log file in
/kroot/var/log on polo:
- If it is a FCS image that is missing one or more
keywords in its FITS header, look at the
logfile df_watch_ccdlog by selecting the VNC
menu item DEIMOS Engineering → Log
files... → Log view... → FCS watch_ccd log
- If it is a science CCD image, look at the logfile
ds_watch_ccdlog by selecting the VNC menu
item DEIMOS Engineering → Log files... →
Log view... → Science watch_ccd log
- Locate errors.
Use the timestamp of the FITS file
to key to the appropriate timestamped messages in the log
file. In such cases where keywords are missing from a FITS
file, the corresponding watch_ccdlog file should
have error messages about either
- reading the missing keyword, or
- reading some other keyword from the same service.
- If the former:
then try to show the
missing keyword; e.g., type the following at a
polo prompt:
gshow -s deimot tmirrval
If that fails, then there is probably a problem either
with the dispatcher that serves that keyword or the
underlying hardware that that dispatcher controls.
- In the latter case: when the FITS file is
missing keyword X from service Y but the
watch_ccdlog file instead reports an error
reading keyword Y from service Y, then
the problem may be more indirect. Recall that once
watch_ccd gets an error reading any keyword
from service Y, it will not attempt to read any
more keywords from that service for that image. Thus, an
error reading keyword Z will not only cause
keyword Z (from service Y) to be missing
from that FITS file but any other keywords from that same
service which have not yet been collected by watch_ccd for
this image will also be missing. In such cases, you
should then check the dispatcher that serves keyword
Z along with its underlying hardware.
- Symptom
- CCD crate is unresponsive. Attempts to reboot via RESET
button or power cycling the unit do not succeed (see
the CCD powerup
procedure). Connecting via telnet to the crate shows the
following message printed out every few seconds:
Timeout waiting for ARP/RARP packet
- Problem
- The crate is asking for an IP address and is not being
given one because the YP service does not know about it.
- Solution
-
- Ensure that the appropriate entry for the VME crate
appears in the master YP database from which the 'ethers'
database is pushed. For the FCS crate, that entry is:
00:80:42:0b:4e:8c fcsvmep.keck.hawaii.edu
- Change the nsswitch.conf file on
keamano so that it resolves hardware ethernet
addresses directly from the /etc/ethers file.
- Symptom
- The eventsounds utility does not echo event
sounds.
- Problem
- The soundplay/aplay utility may not be running on
your machine, the eventsounds may not be up and
running or the deisoundboard process running
in deimos. Of course, it might also be the case
that your computer's volume is too low.
- Solution
-
-
Check if the deisoundboard process is running and
restart it if needed. On the deimos
machine:
deimos status deisoundboard
deimos restart deisoundboard
- Kill the eventsounds GUI and restart it with the VNC
background menu DEIMOS Control Menu →
Subcomponents... → Start EventSounds GUI
-
If the process soundplay is not running in the
local machine, open a terminal in the local machine and
restart the process with the command soundplay.
-
- Symptom
- Mechanism move fails with error message "Error code -1:
Someone needs to define an error message for this condition"
- Problem
- A motor move timed out or otherwise failed in a probably
innocuous manner.
- Solution
- Re-try the move.
- Symptom
- Spectrum appears to be a dark image, although the shutter
appeared to open.
- Problem
- Grating tilt encoder controller lost power thus sending
grating to the wrong tilt for imaging, or technician forgot to
remove the grating cover when inserting the grating into the
instrument.
- Solution
-
- Re-home both grating tilts with the following
commands on either polo
or deimos:
unstick_grating 3
unstick_grating 4
- Have summit support personnel check for and, if
necessary, remove the cover from the grating.
- Symptom
- Attempts to change the dewar filter wheel to another position
fail. The filter wheel is stuck between two positions and cannot
reach either of them.
- Problem
- A filter has not been loaded properly, and the filter
holder is protruding from the wheel.
- Solution
- Have technician remove and inspect the offending filter,
then re-install it properly.
- Symptom
- The tent mirror does not position reliably; the piezo
controller may not appear to be functioning; FCS may not be
tracking well.
- Problem
- The piezo dispatcher and/or controller operating the tent
tent mirror may be in a bad state, possibly due to a power glitch.
- Solution
- First, restart the piezo dispatcher following the
instructions obtained from the intrcon GUI:
- Log into keamano as kics
- Issue the command
deimos restart dispatcher.piezo
If this fails to fix the problem, have summit technician
cycle power on the piezo controller as follows:
- The tent mirror actuator is driven by a Physik
Instrument P-845 Piezo controller. This controller is
located in DEIMOS
barrel electronics bay #2.
- The piezo controller is located in the outboard
position (i.e., farthest from the center of the rotation
axis) of this bay while the DEIMOS PXL camera electronics
unit is located in the inboard position.
- To access the piezo controller, rotate DEIMOS so that
bay #2 is accessible, then remove the panel from the rear
of the bay (i.e., the panel on the side of the electronics
ring that faces away from the telescope).
- The main power button is the square red pushbutton
located in the lower right corner of the piezo
controller's front panel. Switch the controller's power
off for 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
Note that you can watch the output of the tent mirror
control software (dispatcher.piezo) using the following
command from the VNC background menu DEIMOS Engineering
→ Log files... → Log tail... &rarr tmirr.log
- Symptom
- Following a filter move, the filter name turns to
Unknown. Inspecting the filter wheel position on
the DWFIL detail panel shows that the wheel appears to be
at the proper position.
- Problem
- The filter wheel is unbalanced and thus when the filter
rotation motor is depowered at the end of the move, the
wheel turns enough that its raw encoder position no longer
matches the defined position within the tolerance of 1000 units.
- Solution
- Possible solutions are:
- Have summit staff exchange filters in an attempt to
balance the wheel.
- Have Lick software personnel modify the configuration
file to increase the tolerance to an acceptable level.
- Symptom
-
- Problem
- The pneumatic system on DEIMOS lost pressure, and
pressure may still be out.
- Solution
-
- If an exposure is in progress, abort it
immediately. The loss of air pressure has likely
caused the grating to unclamp, and if the exposure
continues it will be ruined. If air pressure remains
off, the CCD shutter will not close and the exposure will be
ruined anyway. But if you are near the end of a long
exposure, it is worth trying to salvage it.
- On the main Dashboard, open the Tricorder panel and
check the barrel and cradle air pressure indicators at
OKAY, then a problem exists. Have summit
staff investigate the loss of air pressure.
Note that the air pressure is interrupted momentarily
once per day around 8:30am by the air water trap purge
system. Occasionally, this system may trigger one or more
additional purges following at 30 minute intervals if the
original purge did not clear the trap.
- See also
- Notes on air purge
- Symptom
- Attempts to change tilt of a grating stage fail. Trying
to home the stage using the modify -s deimot
G3TLTCAL=1 command yields a timeout error.
- Problem
- The motor control process for this stage is hung, or the
drive belt has snapped.
- Solution
-
- Type the command unstick_grating n,
where n is the number of the misbehaing grating (3
or 4), in a polo window to return the grating to
normal operation.
- If this times out, then suspect that the drive belt on
the titl stage is broken.
- Symptom
- Attempts to change tilt of a grating stage fail. Trying
to home the stage using the modify -s deimot
G3TLTCAL=1 command yields a timeout error.
- Problem
- The motor control process for this stage is hung.
- Solution
-
- Type the command unstick_grating n,
where n is the number of the misbehaing grating (3
or 4), in a polo window to return the grating to
normal operation.
- If this fails several times, then you can try
the Galil controller reset
procedure.
- Symptom
- Attempts to change tilt of a grating stage to zeroth
order imaging position fail. Issuing the gozero
command results in an error indicating that the move would
exceed the allowable software range.
- Problem
- Accumulated tilt corrections are too large.
- Solution
-
- Check the value of the grating tilt offsets by issuing
the command
smot gXtltoff
where X is the grating numger (3 or 4).
Typically these parameters are 100 or less.
- If the offset is large, (i.e., absolute value greater
than 100), then reset the tilt offset
and recalibrate the tilt on the stage by issuing the command;
gratecal
- Re-try the To Zero operation.
- Symptom
- Attempts to move the grating fail. Both gratings will not
tilt. A review of the grating detail panel on the DEIMOS control
GUI reveals that there is an "ERROR: Controller CTRL2 is in
MANUAL control mode."
The rotator control
GUI shows a message indicating that a panel is open.
- Problem
- The grating sub system is lock out because the grating
hatch is open. It may have popped open when the instrument
was rotated.
- Solution
- Have the summit crew rotate deimos to the grating load
position and inspect the hatch. They may need to open and
close the hatch again to get it to properly seat with the
switches set. Then retry the grating moves.
- Symptom
- Attempts to move the grating tilt stage fail. The
deimot.G3TLTLIM or deimot.G4TLTLIM
keywords indicate motor in secondary limit.
The deimot.G3TLTMSG or deimot.G4TLTMSG
keywords indicate that one of the grating tilt stages is at a
limit.
- Problem
- The tilt stage has exceeded the allowed range of travel
and has hit the secondary limit switch. This cuts power
to the motor and prevents further motor moves.
- Solution
- It is necessary for summit personnel to assist in
moving the stage out of a limit. This
operation presents a physical hazard to the operator because the
stage could move suddenly when it is backed off the
limit switch. Accordingly, this task should only be
performed by a qualified instrument technician!
- Send the grating to the unload position, either by
opening the grating access hatch and pressing the
appropriate button, or by issuing the command
unload_grating 3
to send slider 3 to the unload position, or
unload_grating 4
to send slider 4 to the unload position. The
technician can then access the stage through the
grating changeout hatch.
- Open the grating changeout
hatch. De-power the motor by unplugging
the black plastic connector carrying DC power to the
motor.
- Manually rotate the wheel on the friction drive
mechanism to move the stage in the appropriate
direction. An indication of the positive direction
should be written on the wheel. If the grating tilt
stage is in the negative secondary limit, you
will need to move in the positive direction,
and vice versa. You can monitor the current position
using the G3TLTRAW or G4TLTRAW
keywords to verify that the stage is moved in the proper
direction. The technician may be able to detect the
"click" of the mechanical limit switch when the stage
moves off the limit.
-
With hands clear of the tilt
stage, restore power the motor by plugging in
the black plastic connector carrying DC power to the
motor. BEWARE! The stage may begin a tilt move
when power is restored.
- When the stage is returned to a working state, re-home
the tilt stage by clicking on either G3 tilt or G4
tilt on the Init/Stow
panel on the DEIMOS control
GUI.
- Symptom
- Grating stage(s) fails to move, reporting a secondary tilt
limit. However, the grating detail panel on
the DEIMOS control GUI indicates
that the stage is not close to a tilt limit.
- Problem
- The secondary limit switch is falsely triggered.
- Solution
- Ensure via visual inspection that the stage is not in a
limit. If needed, manually tilt the stage via the drive wheel
to move the tilt for verification. This can be done by sending
the affected grating to the unload position (e.g., modify
-s deimot gratepos=-3 for the grating 3 unload position)
and accessing it through the grating access hatch at the side of
the instrument. If the limit switch is giving a bogus error,
you can jumper out the secondary limit switch as follows:
- Pull back DEIMOS from the science position.
- Remove front cladding to access the grating slide
area.
- Locate the slider in question.
- Locate the wiring interconnect panel on teh grating
slider.
- Disconnect the appropriate wires (detailed
description TBD.
- Symptom
- Repeated attempts to unclamp the current DEIMOS grating fail.
- Problem
- The pneumatic clamps holding the grating will not release.
- Solution
-
-
Try using the unclamp_grating command to
unclamp the grating. By default, this will try 25 times
to unclamp. If no success after 25 tries, go to next
step.
-
Have summit personnel disconect the air supply line
at the rear of the instrument via
this procedure. This
should remove the air pressure and allow the clamps to
release.
-
- Symptom
- Repeated attempts to unclamp the current DEIMOS grating fail.
- Problem
- The grating pin remains in even after all clamps are released.
- Solution
-
This is a tricky condition, since with the pin in you
can't clamp up, nor can you unclamp. Here's one thing that
has worked.
- Rotate DEIMOS to ROTATVAL=-90°.
- Follow the instructions on the
grating clamps page to
do the following:
- close clamps 1, 2, 4, and 5
- open clamps 5, 4, 2, and 1
then re-start the motor control software.
This should release the pin.
- Symptom
- The grating will not move to the unload position, because the
select stage hits a limit and the tilt move does not
execute. The keyword deimot.GRSELORD=-3 as desired,
but deimot.GRSELLIM shows a primary limit.
- Problem
- The move cannot complete due to the limit switch striker
being out of position.
-
Solution
- Use keyword-level commands to move
the tilt to the unload position as described in
this procedure.
- Symptom
- The grating fails to move into position. In the grating
detail panel on the DEIMOS control GUI, the message reads:
Can't set GRATEPOS=4, grating locating pin not in
And the pin is out on the grating clamps status panel.
- Problem
- We are at an unfavorable rotator postion where the
gravity load prevents the grating from moving into position.
- Solution
- If you are trying to move to slider
4, execute the command
clampup_slider4 to attempt
to clamp up. Otherwise, simply re-try the move from the
dashboard GUI. If the pin will not engage, then rotate to a
PA that is 90 degrees away from this location and retry the
grating move. If this fails, rotate another 90 and try
again. If it is still failing, there may be additional
problems.
- Symptom
- Grating move fails with error:
Can't set GRATEPOS=3, motor shut off - positioning error.
- Problem
-
The move failed, most likely due to excessive vibration
in the lead screw generating an overtorque condition in the
controller. This can happen in the vicinity of the slider
3 load position at certain DEIMOS position angles.
- Solution
-
- Rotate DEIMOS to the position at which the grating system
is horizontal. This corresponds to a Rotator angle
(deirotg.ROTATVAL) of -90 or +90 on
the DEIMOS rotator
GUI.
-
Home the grating select stage using the command
modify -d deimot GRSELCAL=1 or alternatively
use the Initialize panel on the dashboard GUI
and click the Grating selectbutton.
-
If the calibration succeeds, then re-try the original
move. If it fails, suspect a mechanical problem.
- If the calibration does not succed,
try to reset the Galil
controller.
- Symptom
- Grating move fails.
- Problem
- The Galil controller may need a reset.
- Solution
-
Try the Galil controller reset
procedure.
- Symptom
- The button Recalibrate All on
the Init/Stow control GUI
fails to home most of the mechanisms.
- Problem
-
The mechanisms recalibration procedure failed most likely
because too much air pressure was built in the DEIMOS
pneumatic system.
- Solution
- Cycle the shutter mechanism several times to ensure that some
of the air pressure is released. To do this bring up an xterm
on polo as user and run the
command cycle_shutter -100. This will keep trying to
cycle the shutter until it finally opens and closes.
See Motor troubleshooting
- Symptom
- Slitmask move fails; SLMSKMSG and/or
SLSELMSG keywords report that move failed and motor
is powered off.
-
- Problem
- The motor move has failed due to a bad reading on a
switch, usually either the one on the slitmask arm or on the
door comb.
- Solution
- Based on one successful recovery from this error, the
following procedure is suggested:
- Rotate DEIMOS to the slitmask unload position (ROTATVAL=-90) and try
the move again. If this works, then quit.
- Attempt to calibrate (home) the stage (mmot slselcal=1). This may
succeed, in which case you can quit.
- Have summit support attempt to move the slitmask
selector motor manually.
- Attempt to calibrate the stage.
- Symptom
- The following are symptoms of a comb missalgnment:
- slitmask moves fail
- Slitmask sub-panel gui shows a red box for
"missaligned"
- When you attempt to move, the "comb" box on the
grating sub-panel flashes red.
- The slitmask status reads "UNKNOWN" after trying to select a slitmask
- Slitmask detail panel on DEIMOS dashboard
indicates comb error when attempting to move a
mask.
- Problem
- Two possibilities exist.
- A slitmask is sticking on the mask pusher mechanism,
triggering the comb sensor. The slitmask system cannot be
moved until the mask is freed from the pusher bar.
- The comb was bumped in the process of moving a
slitmask into beam. The comb needs to be re-aligned.
- Solution
-
- Automated recovery. Attempt to free the mask
and/or reposition the comb by rotating DEIMOS as follows:
You can rotate manually and test slitmask moves or
execute the following.
- From the DEIMOS workspace menu, select DEIMOS
Troubleshooting > DEIMOS Trouble Recovery > Fix
Slitmask Comb Error.
This will launch a script that will rotate DEIMOS in
45 degree increments until the mask is freed.
- If this script fails to free the mask within one
full revolution (8 iterations), then type CTRL-C in
the xterm window to interrupt the script and proceed
with the manual recovery process described below.
-
Manual recovery. If the automated recovery
fails, then follow these steps to fix the problem manually:
- Have summit staff send rotate the telescope to a
position allowing access to the Keck II right Nasmyth
platform.
- On the Dashboard's rotator subpanel, set allow
DCS control to no to permit local
control.
- On this same panel, click the Unlock
button to allow the rotator to move.
- Using the deimos rotator sub-dashboard, enter a
rotator position of -80 (or 280) to allow summit staff
to access the slitmask hatch, or have the OA rotate to
stationary position 0 deg.
- Have summit staff open the access hatch using the
screwdriver at the instrument.
- Have summit staff inspect the slitmasks for
- signs of a mask stuck on the comb.
- comb missalignment.
- Check for a comb missalgnment.
Gently push the brass comb left and right to see if
the comb missalignment error will clear.

|
Example of comb misalignment.
|
|
Example of comb misalignment.
|
|
Image of the comb properly aligned. The edges
of the brass comb are flush with the bracket.
|
Notes: During one error on May 13, 2015, the brass
comb overlapped the black anodized support bracket on
the left side of the comb by 1/32. A visual
inspection suggested the comb was aligned but when
the brass comb was flush with the bracket, the
missalignment cleared.
- If a mask is sticking, have summit staff remove this
mask by undoing the 2 thumbscrews on the slitmask door,
flipping down the door, and pulling out the mask. You
can run without that mask installed the rest of the
night.
- Close the slitmask door and shut the access hatch.
- Verify that the slitmask select stage will now
operate freely by by selecting mask 2 and mask 12, thus
running the system from end to end.
- Allow DCS control of the rotator.
- Have the OA run a stand-by init on the rotator.
- Resume observing.
- Symptom
- Attempting a slitmask move fails.
- Problem
- Slitmask may be jammed.
- Solution
- See procedure for dealing
with jammed slitmask.
- Symptom
- Attempting a slitmask move fails, but inspection of the
masks shows that the masks are not jammed.
- Problem
- A slitmask may be missing its fiducial hole.
- Solution
-
- Remove slitmask and check to verify that all of them
include a square hole on the bottom about 12 inches in
from the end with the hot dog cutout.
- If any such bad masks are found, remove them from the
instrument.
- Symptom
- Attempting a slitmask move fails, error says that slitmask
position is detected both at beginning and end)
- Problem
- Slitmask selector might be jammed, or might have lost its
calibration.
- Solution
-
- Enable fiducial optical source to force re-read of
slitmask position (mmot SLMSKFOP=1; mmot SLMSKFOP=0)
- While the FOP is on, try to determine position of the
slitmask arm, or slitmask.
- Check that the arm is retracted, or retract it via
mmot SLARMPOS=retracted
- Force a recalibration of the stage via
mmot slselcal=1
- Symptom
- Attempting a slitmask move fails and you have already
checked that no mask is jammed
- Attemps to recalibrate the mechanism fail.
- Problem
- The Galil controller may be failing and needs to be
reset.
- Solution
- Please, follow the Galil
controller reset procedure.
- Symptom
- The testAll script reports that the clock on one
of the motor controllers has failed, or that the
Bekins/Uhaul/Monitor processes on one of the DEIMOS
motor controllers are not running.
- Problem
- The motor controller has faulted.
- Solution
- Attempt to reset the motor controller using
the Galil controller reset
procedure.
- Symptom
-
The testAll script reports that the clock on one
of the motor controllers has failed, or that the
Bekins/Uhaul/Monitor processes on one of the DEIMOS
motor controllers are not running.
- Problem
- The motor controller has hung.
- Solution
- Attempt to reset the motor controller using
the Galil controller reset
procedure
If this fails, proceed to the next item.
- Symptom
- Although the Lantronix terminal server is pingable,
attempts to communicate with the Galil controller fail with
this error:
[1009] kics@keamano% telnet 192.168.6.4 3005
Trying 192.168.6.4...
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection
refused
Additionally, the command ctx (executed on
polo) shows an error message in the dispatcher2
prcesses listed under "Current KEAMANO tasks". If there is
a dispatcher2 process running, then the connection error
message shown by the telnet command is normal, because the
dispatcher is already communicating to the Galil controller
through the same port you are trying to use.
- Problem
- The port on the Lantronix unit connected to the Galil
controller is hung.
- Solution
- Follow the Lantronix port
reset procedure.
- Symptom
- Motor moves fail. Running testAll indicates a problem
communicating to the Lantronix one of the Lantronix units
(deits2 or deits3).
- Problem
- The most likely problems are:
- The Lantronix unit is hung and need to be reset.
- The AUI (10Base-2 transceiver) which connects the Ethernet
coax cable to the multi-pin port on the Lantronix unit is
loose or broken.
- The Ethernet coax cable is damaged.
- Solution
-
-
Follow the procedure for
power cycling the Lantronix unit.
-
Check cabling for loose conections or damaged cable.
- Try swapping the AUIs on the two Lantronix terminal
servers, then run TestAll to check whether the
problem follows the AUI. If so, replace bad AUI.
-
Try running alternate Ethernet cable between the units
to check for bad cable.
-
Try replacing the Lantronix unit with spare.
- Symptom
- The testAll command reports that one or both of
the ion pumps is off. This is very likely to happen after a
power glitch or power outage at the summit.
- Problem
- The ion pumps need to be turned on.
- Solution
- State the solution to the problem here, numbering the steps
to be taken:
- Go to the DEIMOS control
GUI, click the Tricorder label followed by
the Details... button to launch
the Tricorder GUI.
- Verify that the status of the LN2 can ion pump #1
power (deipower.OUTLET_A1) and/or Detector
vessel ion pump #2 power (deipower.OUTLET_A2)
is Off. Also check the dewar temp; if the dewar
temp is well above -100 C then you may not be able to start
the ion pump.
- Click the Restart button under the
appropriate ion pump to attempt to restart the ion pump.
The status should change from Off to
On.
- If the startup is successful then the status will
eventually change to On. If the startup fails,
the status will return to Off, and you should
try again to start the ion pump. Note that ion pumps are
restarted at the first attempt since we upgraded the
controllers on March 28, 2022.
Alternatively you can also try to restart any of the
ion pumps by modifying the keywords deipower.OUTLET_A1
(LN2 can) and/or deipower.OUTLET_A2 (detector vessel):
Double check the pump status for a few minutes after restarting
to make sure that both are on.
- Symptom
- Rotator will not go into DCS control mode when hitting
the Enable DCS button on the Sky mode panel on
the rotator control GUI.
- Problem
-
DEIMOS is not the selected instrument on the TCS GUI and/on the
telescope tertiary mirror is on at RNAS
- Solution
-
Ask the observing assistant to reselect DEIMOS on the TCS GUI
- Symptom
- Compass roses display the wrong orientation. FACSUM
reports incorrect drive angle on the rotator. The DCS
keywords ROTPDEST (demanded position) and
ROTPPOSN (actual position) differ by many degrees.
- Problem
-
The DEIMOS rotator control computer (roto) has
lost its DCS connection, probably due to a communication issue
with the DCS gateway.
- Solution
-
Ask the OA to follow these steps:
- Check the updates on the DCS gateway terminal. Odds are
that there are no DCS updates.
- Restart all gateways.
- Init the rotator on the TCS GUI. IMPORTANT: No need
to Shutdown/Init, only Init is needed.
- Symptom
-
The rotator stops following the pointing demands from DCS.
FACSUM reports incorrect drive angle on the rotator.
- Problem
-
The timestamp and demand keywords are not always in the
correct order
(rotdets-->rotpdsts-->rotdets2).
- Solution
-
Ask the OA to:
- Restart the Linux DCS gateway.
- Initialize the rotator on the TCS GUI.
- Symptom
-
At the beginning of the night, pointing appears to be way
off; stars not visible in guider.
- Problem
-
Either the rotator has not been initialized and placed
into DCS mode, or the TCS does not know the rotator position.
- Solution
-
-
Run testAll to verify that the instrument and
telescope settings are correct (e.g., selected instrument
is DEIMOS).
-
If the rotator was not initialized at the start of
the night, then follow these
instructions to do so.
-
If you have not yet commanded a rotator move, have
the OA send the rotator to any angle (e.g., 0°).
-
Verify on FACSUM that the rotator is in position
angle mode.
- Symptom
- When sending a rotator move, the rotator unexpectedly
executes a large slew to the home position. (Need to check if
this would be the actual behavior with the new Galil
controller.)
- Problem
-
The rotator software determined that the discrepancy
between the readings on its two absolute encoders was too
large and decided to home itself in order to reset the
encoders before proceeding.
- Solution
-
Allow the move to complete, then proceed with observing.
Note that properly initializing the rotator (Shutdown/Init on
the TCS GUI) at the start of each night should generally prevent
this from happening.
- Symptom
-
At the start of the night, the OA cannot perform the
Shutdown/Init operation on the rotator.
- Problem
-
The rotator software on roto is not
communicating properly with DCS.
- Solution
-
-
Apply the same solution as above
-
If the above does not fix it, restart the rotator
dispatcher as follows:
- Open a roto terminal (DEIMOS
Engineering → xterm@roto)
-
On the roto terminal type:
deimos restart deirotg
- Symptom
-
When the OA attempts to send a rotator move, SKY
complains that the requested angle is out of range for the
DEIMOS rotator although it is clearly a legal request.
- Problem
-
The rotator limits are not properly defined.
- Solution
-
- Verify the problem by displaying the keyword values:
show -s dcs rotccwlm rotcwlm
The correct values are:
rotccwlm = -330.00 deg
rotcwlm = 402.00 deg
-
If you get zero values back, have the OA re-load
DEIMOS as the current instrument.
- Symptom
-
-
There is a long-term (longer than ~1 min) discrepancy
between the deirotg.ROTATSTA
and dcs2.ROTSTAT keywords while DEIMOS is
tracking on a target. For instance, one keyword may be
tracking and the other on slewing. You
can monitor these keywords by launching DEIMOS Utilities
→ Monitor ROT and DCS status.
-
There is an inconsistency on the Rotator status
flag on FACSUM when you are tracking. For instance, you may
be tracking on a target (at an elevation lower than
86°), and FACSUM keeps reporting acquiring on
the Rotator status. Sometimes, the Rotator
status on FACSUM toggles from tracking
to slewing or acquiring even
when the elevation is lower than 86°
-
The DEIMOS rotator log, which you can monitor by launching
DEIMOS Engineering → Log files... → Log tail...
→ deirotg log, will start showing errors such as
Have to restart keyword monitor for dcs2... can't read dcs2
keyword ROTXXXX... Virtual circuit disconnect.
- Problem
-
The rotator computer (roto) has lost communications
with the DCS gateway.
- Solution
-
Ask the OA to follow these steps:
- Check the updates on the DCS gateway terminal. Odds are
that there are no DCS updates.
- Restart all gateways.
- Init the rotator on the TCS GUI. IMPORTANT: No need
to Shutdown/Init, only Init is needed.
This will send the rotator back to where it was. It will be a
good idea to do an alignment check if the telescope was aligned
on a mask when this issue happened.
- Symptom
-
- Problem
-
The DCS gateway has died. This is a different manifestation of
the issue described on discrepancy between
the rotator status reported by DEIMOS and TCS.
- Solution
-
Apply the same solution as on the entry
on discrepancy between the rotator status
reported by DEIMOS and TCS.
- Symptom
-
Rotator will not move or initialize. The yellow message at the
bottom of the DEIMOS
rotator GUI indicates ESTOP from DCS.
- Problem
-
The rotator is disabled because the Keck II facility
ESTOP circuit was de-activated, either because someone
pressed a facility ESTOP button or because of a power
outage.
- Solution
-
- Follow the DEIMOS rotator
controller reset procedure.
- Verify that the ESTOP from DCS message on
the DEIMOS rotator
GUI is gone.
- Symptom
- The Rotator control
GUI shows a yellow message indicating Computer/Manual
bypass activated.
- Problem
-
The rotator toggle bypass switch is in the BYPASSED
position.
- Solution
-
Have the summit crew change the toggle bypass switch
to NORMAL (see Figure 2 in
manual rotation procedure).
- Symptom
-
- Problem
-
The rotator controller is in a bad state, probably after having
been power cycled.
- Solution
-
The rotator controller needs to be reset. This can be done
remotely as follows:
-
As any DEIMOS numbered account on roto: deimos
stop deirotg.
-
As any DEIMOS numbered account
on roto, keamano,
or polo: telnet 192.168.6.20
-
Hit Enter a couple times until the controller echoes
back a : (colon) prompt.
-
Type RS and hit Enter. The controller will
echo back a : colon prompt after resetting.
-
Terminate the telnet connection (ctrl + ]
followed by quit).
-
As any DEIMOS numbered account at roto: deimos
start deirotg
-
The rotator will require homing due to the controller reset.
- Symptom
- No light is visible in an FCS exposure
- Problem
-
Probably one of the following:
- CCD shutter is not open
- I or Z-band filter is in use
- CuAr lamp burned out
- Grating cover left on
- Grating is tilted side-to-side
- Solution
-
Follow these steps to recover:
- Verify that the CCD shutter is open.
- If the I or Z band filter is in use, ensure that the CuAr
lamp is turned on; the LED does not emit at these wavelengths.
- If still no light, try switching to the LED lamp
on the FCS GUI.
-
If still no light, acquire a spectrum with the
science array and check whether any light is received. If
not, send someone up to check whether the grating cover
has mistakenly been left in place.
-
If still no light, check whether the science spectra
appear shifted to the left or right relative to the
expected positions based on the slit layout. If so, the
grating may not be properly seated.
- Symptom
-
FCS image shows light but software cannot lock on to
image and complains that the offset is too large.
- Problem
-
The grating tilt is not correct and the image is shifted.
- Solution
-
-
Verify that central wavelength and filter are set to
exactly the correct values for FCS. If they are not, then
the FCS GUI will show Lockout status.
-
Execute the FCS fix
procedure. The FCS fix GUI can be launched from
the Actions menu on
the DEIMOS control GUI.
- Symptom
- FCS image shows light but software reports X-correlation
failed. Image contrast too low or grating/slider
misregistered errors.
- Problem
- Potential causes are:
-
The grating tilt encoder has lost its position so
the actual position does not match the reported
position.
-
Either the FCS reference image or the new FCS image
contains a substantial cosmic ray.
-
Grating became unclamped due to a loss in DEIMOS air
pressure.
-
Grating was not properly installed in its mount by
summit technician.
- Solution
-
-
Execute the FCS fix
procedure. The FCS fix GUI can be launched from
the Actions menu on
the DEIMOS control GUI.
- Re-home the grating tilt mechanism by either clicking on
the G3 tilt or G4 tilt button on
the Init/Stow GUI, or by
typing "mmot g#tltcal=1" at a polo prompt, and
where "#" is either "3" or "4".
-
Inspect the FCS reference image for cosmic rays and
if needed, re-take the reference image.
-
Unclamp and re-clamp the grating via the dashboard.
-
Have summit staff remove and re-install the suspect
grating to ensure that it is seated properly in the slider.
- Symptom
-
You want to match against a previous observation on the
FCS GUI Reference control
panel, but no reference is taken.
- Problem
-
There are no saved FCS setups which match the current
setup.
- Solution
-
- Symptom
-
An attempt to use the "Match Previous" feature of FCS
fails with the error Dewar X translation stage hit a
limit.
- Problem
-
The grating is either improperly seated now, or was
improperly seated when the original FCS reference exposure was
taken. Alternatively, changes to the grating cell, grating
system, or grating parameters (e.g., GRATOFFx) may cause the
grating to clamp up in a slightly different position and thus
shift the images. See also next item.
- Solution
-
-
Compare Y positions of the same reference spots on the
original FCS reference image and the new reference image.
Verify that they are separated significantly in Y. If
not, then the problem is elsewhere.
-
Have summit staff unload and re-install the grating.
-
Re-try the "Match Previous" operation.
-
If "Match Previous" continues to fail, then some
change in the grating system may be the cause. In this
case, matching previous may not be possible.
- Symptom
-
When attempting to use the "Match Previous" function on the
Reference control panel of
the FCS GUI to match to the previous
night's FCS reference image, the attempt fails with an error
unable to match. Comparing the current FCS image to
the previous reference image shows a large spatial offset.
- Problem
-
The grating tilt encoder has slipped and the new image is
not properly registered.
- Solution
-
- Recalibrate the grating tilt by typing the following
command on a polo or vm-deimos (local)
terminal:
modify -s deimot g3tltcal=1
Note: if using slider 4, specify g4tltcal=1
instead.
-
Re-try the match previous operation.
-
If FCS still cannot match, use the fcsmov
command to steer the current image so that it matches
the previous reference image.
- Symptom
-
FCS issues moves but does not converge on the target, which
keeps bouncing back and forth in the X direction.
- Problem
-
The piezo controller/actuator is not functioning properly.
- Solution
-
- Inspect cabling at the FCS controller (located
in DEIMOS barrel
electronics bay #2), particularly the high voltage line
coming out the center of the controller.
-
If cabling looks fine, check that the FCS controller
channel is working properly by using one of the other
channels on the controller (consult Lick first).
- Symptom
-
When attempting to run fcstrack, the script
dies with an Subscript out of range. error.
- Problem
-
The script attempted to read an undefined keyword.
- Solution
-
If fcstrack does not restart automatically, then
restart it from the VNC menu (DEIMOS Control Menu.. →
Subcomponents... → Start fcstrack.)
- Symptom
-
FCS refuses to lock in due to a lockout condition,
which is claimed to be a focus mismatch although the focus is
correct.
- Problem
-
The focus tolerance keywords are not initialized
properly.
- Solution
-
- Check the keyword values via:
show -s deifcs fcsfoto1 fcsfoto2
-
If they are zero, on any polo or vm-deimos
(local) terminal, type
modify -s deifcs fcsfoto1=200 fcsfoto2=600
- Symptom
-
FCS remains in lockout condition even when the
grating, central wavelength, filter and focus values all look
correct. It complains that there is no setup for the current
configuration. Beware especially after a mask alignment.
- Problem
-
Usually, the central wavelength of the grating is slightly
off from reference value. There is finite resolution in
the tilt mechanism and sometimes the "Go Back" function of
the grating does not set the exact wavelength.
- Solution
- Move off the central wavelength, then back again.
-
On the Mechanism control panel of
the DEIMOS control, change the
Wavelength field by 10 Angstrom.
-
Return to your desired central wavelength.
This should solve the problem.
- Symptom
-
FCS cannot track. Looking at FCS images reveals that one
of the two FCS CCDs is not reading out (i.e., half of the FCS image
displayed on FIGDISP contains all zero-valued pixels),
although the other CCD looks normal.
- Problem
-
The signal chain for one of the FCS CCDs is interrupted.
- Solution
-
WARNING Do not attempt to power
cycle or reboot the FCS system. If you do, the FCS system can
get caught in a catch 22. Without a proper cable connection
you can't boot, but to test the connection you need to boot
and take an image. Yikes. Trouble shoot only during the day,
and an expert technician at the summit will need to check and
repair the cabling to make a permanent repair (see [KD2-19923].)
As a temporary measure, as long as one of the CCDs is reading
out, the Staff Astronomer can enable partial FCS compensation
by telling the FCS software to use only the one working CCD.
To do this:
- Edit the following file as dmosbld at polo:
/kroot/rel/defult/bin/fcstrack
Under normal operation (both CCDs working), line 63 of
this script reads:
set offline = 0
If CCD 1 (left-hand CCD as viewed with FIGDISP) is
malfunctioning, change this line to read:
set offline = 1
If CCD 2 (right-hand CCD as viewed with FIGDISP) is
malfunctioning, change this line to read:
set offline = 2
-
Kill and restart the fcstrack script. You
should get a warning message:
*** FCS CCD #1 has been marked offline ***
Verify that FCS is now able to track.
- Symptom
-
FCS complains of a lockout situation because the dewar
stage is at a negative/positive limit. FCS cannot
re-position the dewar stage to correct for differences
between the FCS reference image and the current FCS image.
- Problem
-
One problem may be that the grating is improperly clamped
either currently or when the reference image was acquired in the
afternoon. If the grating is improperly clamped, the result
could be large shifts between FCS images.
- Solution
-
-
Try simply unclamping and reclamping the
grating. If it does not work the first time, try it
once more.
-
If the problem was that the grating was inserted
during the nigth either without using Select Slider
or while the rotator was not in the correct
orientation for the corresponding Select Slider
command, the fastest solution is to:
-
Have the OA to record the current position and
to stop guiding.
-
Run Select Slider 3|4. This should
insert the grating using the correct rotator
angle.
-
Wait for FCS to track. FCS might take a couple
of minutes to track, because the dewar stage has
to move away from its limit.
-
Once FCS is tracking, have the OA to start
guiding again.
-
Check that your target is correctly aligned.
-
If you are not certain of when the grating was
improperly campled and the previous options did not
work, rotate the instrument 90 degrees from the current
position or to -30 deg (about the rotator value set by
FCS setup in the afternoon). Then try unclamping and
reclamping the grating. If this is done during the
night while the instrument is guiding, it will
require coordination with the OA, since guiding
should be stopped.
-
If none of the previous options work, the
current position of the grating is likely not at
fault. It may have been that the grating was
improperly clamped when the FCS reference images
were acquired. If this is indeed the problem, then
an FCS image will need to be retaken as a
reference. You will need to unlock the
rotator and dis-allow DCS control of the
rotator. Next, reacquire FCS images following the
afternoon procedures. When finished acquiring new
FCS images, you will need to put the rotator back into
DCS control and have the OA do a standby-init on the
rotator.
- Symptom
- FCS images are flipped left/right or the spectrum appear
shifted left/right relative to the FCS reference
image. When FCS is tracking, large cross correlation
errors are reported by the FCS error handler.
- Problem
- This problem is attributed to attenuated signal in the
fiber optic digital communications link between the
FCS CCD controller (inside DEIMOS) and FCS CCD VME crate
(in the Keck-2 computer room).
- Solution
-
This problem may not be solved at night. A technician
will need to clean the FCS fibers and reseat the boards during
the day.
- Symptom
-
One or more of the following conditions are given:
-
FCS keeps toggling between Emergency
and Tracking.
-
The FCS log keeps issuing errors about a stage having
reached a limit.
-
The FCS cross correlation is stuck on a secondary maximum
(see this
cross-correlation plot as an example.)
- Problem
-
One of the FCS stages has reached a limit, the spots on the
current FCS image are offset by more than 25pix with respect to
the reference image and FCS is tracking on a false broad
maximum. This issue requires action as soon as possible.
- Solution
-
Execute the FCS fix
procedure. The FCS fix GUI can be launched from
the Actions menu on
the DEIMOS control GUI.
- Symptom
-
One or more of the following conditions are given:
-
FCS keeps toggling between Warning
and Tracking.
-
The FCS log keeps issuing warnings such as:
- WARNING: dwxl8trg= is within 100 counts of its maximum
range (-2300, 700).
- WARNING: gntltoff is larger than the recommended range
(-100, 100).
- WARNING: tmirrtrg is within 490 counts of its maximum
range (10, 9400).
-
The FCS cross correlation looks good
(see this
cross-correlation plot as an example.)
- Problem
-
One of the FCS stages is close to its limit, but it has not
actually reached the limit yet.
- Solution
-
This does not require immediate action as soon as the spots
on the current FCS image are reasonably well aligned with the
spots on the FCS reference image. You may want to silence
the FcsAlarm sound on
the EventSounds GUI.
- Symptom
- When taking reference image or starting FCS tracking, the
ccd reads out but no image is saved and a 30 seconds timeout
warning appears. The FCS ccd crate become unresponsive.
- Problem
-
Wrong directory permissions: the account running the
fcstrack script does not have write permission to the
current output directory.
- Solution
-
Compare the group membership and the write permission of the
current outdir with the other numbered (user) accounts. Have the
SA check the proper group memberships, and if neither you nor
the SA can change them, request the help of the software on call
person. Unfortunately, this problem also crashes the FCS CCD
crate which needs to be rebooted and restarted (see
the FCS CCD powerup
procedure).
- Symptom
-
When taking reference image or starting FCS tracking, the CCD
reads out and displays an image on the FCS GUI, but the image is
saved under the wrong name
(e.g., fcs0504_2057.fits.old.rNAkGG)
- Problem
-
The FCS watch_ccd daemon is in a bad state.
- Solution
-
Restart the watch_ccd program.
- Symptom
-
The testAll script indicates
that power to the the FCS CCD system is disabled:
Checking FCS CCD 15V Power.......ERROR! Current value 'disabled' should be 'enabled'
Checking FCS CCD 30V Power.......ERROR! Current value 'disabled' should be 'enabled'
- Problem
-
Although the power may be off, the more likely issue is
that the FCS CCD system was reading out at the time you ran
testAll
- Solution
-
Re-run testAll and check whether the system
still reports an error. If necessary, stop the FCS system by
issuing the command
mfcs fcsmode=off and then
re-run testAll to check status.
- Symptom
-
Guider cannot be selected from MAGIQ GUI.
- Problem
-
Guider is powered off or requires a power cycle.
- Solution
-
Cycle power to the guider off and on by executing the
following command on polo:
tvpower cycle
This should take about one minute to complete.
- Symptom
-
Guider can be selected on the MAGIQ GUI, but images from the
guider do not show stars or only a portion of the field (top
1/3) show stars.
- Problem
- Either the guider is not properly configured or the
shutter is broken.
- Solution
- Follow these steps to determine source of problem:
- Verify that the DEIMOS hatch is open from the main
DEIMOS control GUI.
-
On a polo terminal, type tvfilter to
verify that the TV filter is set to a reasonable value
(e.g., R). If it is set to Home,
select R.
-
On a polo terminal, type tvfocus to
verify that the TV focus is set to a reasonable value for
the selected filter (e.g., 970 for R). Note
that 1 is not a reasonable value.
-
Note that the default value for the guider filter and
focus is R and 970. If you suspect that the defaults
should be in use, reselect these values.
-
If still no good image, close the hatch, turn on the
Qz lamp, and see whether any light is seen on the image.
-
If no light is seen, the guider shutter may be
inoperative. Replacing this is an extensive job for the
day crew.
- Symptom
-
Light is seen on the guider images, but the images appear
"smeared" horizontally.
- Problem
-
The serial clock card in the guider controller is
malfunctioning.
- Solution
-
Repairing this is a full day's work for a talented
daycrew. Have daytime summit staff pull DEIMOS, remove
access panels on front of instrument, and check serial card
in the guider head.
- Symptom
-
When offset guiding in vertical angle mode, the guide
star does not move, but the target drifts off the slit.
- Problem
-
The wrong guiding mode has been selected, so the center
of rotation is set to the guide star rather than the slit.
- Solution
-
Please see table
on guiding modes. This is a case of offset guiding.
Center of rotation needed to be set and then start guiding
with "On Star" button.
- Symptom
-
After running AUTOFOC to focus the telescope, the
secondary mirror position is more than a few tenths of a mm
away from the nominal value of 0.8 mm.
- Problem
-
The TV camera focus is not set correctly.
- Solution
-
-
Check the TV camera focus value by
typing tvfocus on a polo terminal, which
should be around 1000 units.
-
Change this value as needed by typing tvfocus
NEW_VALUE on a polo terminal.
-
Re-run AUTOFOC and verify that the value has changed.
- Symptom
-
When running MIRA, the images are badly out of focus.
- Problem
-
The telescope is badly out of focus, possibly because the
DEIMOS TV camera focus is not set correctly.
- Solution
-
See the description for AUTOFOC returns
abnormal telescope focus value.
- Symptom
-
Autofoc crashes with the following error message:
can't connect autofoc to aut_srv_task
- Problem
-
The wrong version of AUTOFOC was run. There is a SunOS
version for use with the SunOS guider, and a Solaris version
for use with the Solaris guider.
- Solution
-
Run the correct version of AUTOFOC.
- Symptom
-
Data directory, filename prefix, etc., are not properly
reset after running MIRA.
- Problem
-
The MIRA script failed to complete.
- Solution
-
Have the OA or SA restore parameters as follows:
-
Open a polo terminal
-
Execute the command:
restore_state -verify
This should restore the pre-MIRA settings.
- Symptom
-
MIRA images show a steep top-to-bottom gradient in the
brightness of the segments.
- Problem
-
This is not generally a problem, just a benign symptom of using
the 900-l/mm grating.
- Solution
-
As long as all segments can be identified and MIRA
completes without error, no additional action is required.
- Symptom
-
When xbox is run, it fails before analyzing
the first box, with an error akin to
extension BluSlits not found
Subsequent attempts to analyze this same image yield the
same error.
- Problem
-
The xbox program attempted to read the image
before it was fully written.
- Solution
-
-
Type flpr and re-run xbox.
-
If that fails, restart IRAF and re-run
xbox.
-
If that fails, inspect the image header (execute the
command fitsheader -e BluSlits filename on
polo) and verify that the specified extension
exists in the image header.
- Symptom
-
When xbox is run, it fails before analyzing
the first box, with an error akin to
extension DESIslits not found
Subsequent attempts to analyze this same image yield the
same error.
- Problem
-
The FITS header extension called DesiSlits is not being
read by the software, either because it does not exist in the
image header or because IRAF can't read it.
- Solution
-
If you are trying to get a slitmask aligned and are pressed
for time, proceed straight to the
procedure
for aligning slitmasks without FITS chunks. Otherwise,
you can proceed as follows:
-
Verify that a slitmask is in place (the DesiSlits
extension is not written when slitmask is set to
None or Unknown). If not, insert mask
and re-run xbox.
-
Use fitsheader -e DesiSlits filename
on polo to check if the extension exists.
-
If DesiSlits is found, then try restarting IRAF and
re-reading the file.
-
If DesiSlits is not found, then run the command
check_fits_chunks to determine whether the FITS
chunks are on disk.
-
If all indications are OK, then restart the
write_ccd process as the current observer on
polo:
deimos restart write_ccd
If FITS chunks are missing, it is likely that something went
wrong in the process of scanning the masks.
Follow the procedure for dealing with a mask scan
error, then take these additional steps:
-
Verify that slitmask list on the DEIMOS control GUI
agrees with expectation.
-
Run the command check_fits_chunks to
determine whether the FITS chunks are on disk. If not,
then seek help.
-
Then try taking a new alignment image and running the
alignment software.
- Symptom
-
When xbox is run, it crashes with a floating
point error when it tries to analyze a certain box.
- Problem
-
A truncated box (i.e., one that is at the edge of the
CCD) may cause this to occur. The mask must be re-analyzed
with the offending box excluded.
- Solution
-
- Identfy the bad box by displaying it with
the ds9_mosaic. Note the PANE corodinates of the
bad box.
- In IRAF, run the command get_boxes
image, where image is the name of
an alignment image, to generate a "boxfile" (text file)
listing the boxes (generally named
box.maskname).
-
Edit the boxfile. Locate the line corresponding to
the bad box by comparing the PANE coordinates. Delete the
line and save the file.
-
In IRAF, run xbox from the command line
using the box file as input:
xbox image input=boxfile
- Symptom
-
When xbox is run, it beeps and complains
STAR SKIPPED when attempting to locate certain
stars.
- Problem
-
The alignment boxes were not found at the expected
locations in the alignment image, probably due to either
uncorrected flexure or changing to a different grating.
- Solution
-
-
In IRAF, execute the command
tune_qmodel last
to adjust the pointing model so that the guide boxes are
found. Note that after you mark the location of the
alignment box, the program will invoke xbox in
practice mode.
-
Re-run do_xbox to compute and send telescope
moves.
- Symptom
-
During the afternoon checklist, SAT gets stuck when trying
to display one of the user-defined slitmasks. The IDL window
(slit_align) shows an error message and its prompt is
active. Note that the IDL window (slit_align) is
minimzed in the lower region of the VNC window, hidden behind
the main SAT GUI. To bring up the slit_align window,
double-click on it when it is minimized once you have shifted
away the main SAT GUI.
- Problem
-
There is some problem with the mask geometry, which does
not allow boxes identification using the information in the
image header.
- Solution
-
Follow this procedure to identify the alignment boxes
manually:
-
At the slit_align IDL window prompt, execute the
command retall to restore all IDL internal variables.
-
On the SAT GUI, select the Options tab.
-
-
Change the Box file format to maskname.box.
-
Select the tab ID boxes.
-
Load the desired image on the SAT display. This may
take a few seconds. Once the image is loaded, NONE of
alignment boxes will appear enclosed in a square box.
-
Place the cursor on each of the alignment boxes and
press m to mark them. A red square should
enclose each of the identified boxes.
-
Once you are done selecting manually all alignment
boxes for the mask, open a terminal and
type cdata to change to the directory where
DEIMOS images are being saved.
-
List the files in the data directory to check a
file named box.YourMaskName exists. The file
should contain a list with the coordinates of all identified
boxes for that particular mask.
-
On the SAT GUI, select the tab Options.
-
Change the Box file format to fits.extn.
IMPORTANT NOTE: During the night, when doing the
on-sky coarse alignment for this mask, make sure before
starting the alignment, the Box file format option in
the Options tab is set to maskname.box,
but only for this mask. The Box file format
option should be fits.extn for any other mask
whose boxes were identified automatically rather than
manually.
- Symptom
-
Once the coarse alignment has been completed
successfully, SAT crashes during the fine alignment
procedure. The IDL window (slit_align) shows the
following type of error message:
% GET_BOX_OFFSETS_ITER: starting iteration 1
input coords for box 0 3322 1176
input section for box 0 3222 3422 1076 1276
output section for box 0 0 200 0 200
[...]
output section for box 5 0 200 0 200
input coords for box 6 7355 1023
input section for box 6 7255 7455 923 1123
output section for box 6 0 200 0 200
% ABS: Variable is undefined: DX.
% Execution halted at: GET_BOX_OFFSETS_ITER 124
/home/lris/widgets/released/slit_align/get_box_offsets_iter.pro
% LOADMASKIMAGE 4488
/home/lris/widgets/released/slit_align/slit_align_event.pro
% SLIT_ALIGN_EVENT 6578
/home/lris/widgets/released/slit_align/slit_align_event.pro
% WIDGET_PROCESS_EVENTS
% $MAIN$
- Problem
-
There is a big shift in the mask alignment image, which
caused the boxes not to be where the SAT software expects to
find them. This might be related with instabilities in the
grating tilt mechanism.
- Solution
-
A possible way to solve the problem is to ensure that FCS is
tracking before taking the alignment image.
-
Make sure that SAT is recovered, either by restarting
it or by typing retall and .reset at
the IDL prompt in the slit_align terminal.
-
On the DEIMOS control GUI, select the science
wavelength in the GRATINGS panel.
- Check if FCS is tracking. In case FCS is not tracking use
the Fix FCS GUI from
the Actions menu on
the DEIMOS control GUI.
-
Once the FCS is tracking, go back to SAT and Start
Fine Alignment.
- Symptom
-
The SAT cannot find the fiducial stars in most of the
boxes, even though the stars can be clearly seen within the
boxes in the fine alignment images.
- Problem
-
This problem occurs even with FCS in tracking mode before the
alignment image was taken and also having made sure that the afternoon
mask images were taken with the grating selected using the
select_slider script. Still, box identification using the
information in the image header is not possible.
- Solution
-
Follow this procedure to identify the alignment boxes
manually:
-
In the main SAT GUI, select the tab Options.
-
Change the Box file format to maskname.box.
-
Select the tab ID boxes.
-
Load the desired image in the SAT display (either an
image from the afternoon mask identification procedure, or
the latest fine alignment image). This may take a few
seconds.
-
Once the image is loaded in the SAT display window,
there are two options: (1) All/sufficient alignment boxes
are detected automatically (boxes are enclosed in a red square),
(2) NONE of the alignment boxes appear enclosed in a red square.
-
If none of the alignment boxes are automatically
marked, place the cursor on each of the alignment boxes and
press m to mark them. A red square should
enclose each of the identified boxes. Use d to
delete unwanted/mistaken identifications.
-
Once you are done selecting manually all alignment
boxes for the mask (or in the case the boxes were identified
automatically), open a terminal and type cdata to
change to the directory where DEIMOS images are being saved.
-
List the files in the data directory to check if a
file named box.YourMaskName exists. The file
should contain a list with the coordinates of all identified
boxes in that particular mask.
-
In the main SAT GUI, select Actions → Load
Fine Alignment Image and select the last fine alignment
image.
- Symptom
-
Coarse alignment is successful, but there are no stars on the
alignment boxes on the first fine alignment image.
- Problem
-
Alignment stars are slightly off the alignment boxes. This can
be caused by a number or reasons, such as the slitmask center
pointing origin being slightly off or a large relative flexure
between the guider and the science detector.
- Solution
-
-
Option 1. Use
the Imaging
Coarse Align procedure to move the alignment stars inside
the alignment boxes.
-
Option 2. This is a manual version of the previous
option, in case the previous option fails.
- Select slitmask None on the DEIMOS control
GUI.
- Hit Expose on the DEIMOS control GUI. This
will take an image of the FOV without any mask on the
focal plane.
- Open the fine alignment image with no stars in the
boxes
using ds9_mosaic image_name.
- Open the image of the FOV without slitmask on the same
DS9 using the option File → Open as → Mosaic
WCS...
- On the DS9, select Frame → Match → Frame
→ WCS.
- Blink the images with and without the slitmask.
- Visually identify the alignment stars on the image of
the FOV without the slitmask.
- Apply the offset from one of the alignment stars to
the center of its corresponding alignment box as
follows:
- Calculate the approximate offet in X (pix) from
the star to the box center: delta_x = x_box -
x_star.
- Calculate the approximate offet in Y (pix) from
the star to the box center: delta_y = y_box -
y_star.
- On a polo terminal type: pxy delta_x
delta_y
- Insert back the slitmask using the DEIMOS control
GUI.
- Start fine alignment on the SAT.
- Symptom
-
When the summit mask milling maestro attempts to mill a
mask, the sequence fails with an error like: Block 43,
error 401 x-axis software over travel. press esc to continue.
- Problem
-
On occasion, the memory card in the Milltronics system
may become corrupted and lose the stored parameters from
its memory. This may cause the mill to drive the table into
a limit or refuse to mill a mask because the coordinates are
illegal. This results in an x-axis over travel condition.
- Solution
-
Page 40 of the Slitmask Milling Manual describes the Parameter
Recover Procedure. Please see: slitmask
Milling System Manual of Operations.
- Symptom
-
When scanning a filter or grating barcode, the instrument
responds with a "bad" signal (3 short honks).
- Problem
-
The stage was not at a defined position. Unless the
position is defined, DREMEL will not accept the barcode.
- Solution
-
Verify that you have a green light from the stage's
position indicator before you scan. If not, re-select
the position using the local controls on the instrument.
- Symptom
-
When a barcode is scanned using the handheld barcode
scanner, the scanner beeps an acknowledgement but DEIMOS
does not give the honk response.
- Problem
-
Either DREMEL or the bargun dispatcher is hung or
otherwise unresponsive.
- Solution
-
-
Verify that the DREMEL and Hand Held
Barcode Scanner daemons are alive:
-
On a polo terminal, run the script:
testAll -s daemons
-
The DREMEL and barcode scanner daemons should appear as:
Checking dispatcher.bargun.......OK
Checking dremel..................OK
-
If not, then restart these processes as user kics
at keamano:
deimos restart dispatcher.bargun
deimos restart dremel
- Verify that DREMEL is really by
typing show -c -s deimot dremtick on any terminal
and checking that the DREMEL tick counter increases. If not,
restart DREMEL as user kics at keamano:
deimos restart dremel
-
Watch the dremel and bargun logs by issuing the following
commands in a polo window:
view_logfile -tail dremel
view_logfile -tail bargn
Also, issue the following command on polo to
monitor broadcasts from the bar gun dispatcher:
cshow -s deimot bargnget
-
Have a summit technician scan the barcode on a
grating or filter, or scan one of the barcodes on the
laminated sheets attached to the instrument.
-
If the bar gun beeps but no entry appears in the bar
gun log, restart the bargun dispatcher as follows:
-
If the bar gun is functional but no entry appears in
the dremel log, restart dremel as follows:
-
Log into keamano as kics.
- Type the command:
deimos restart dremel
-
Repeat the above steps and verify that DREMEL now
recognizes the bar gun signals.
- Symptom
-
The automated Count/Scan operation to get the slitmask
barcodes terminates with an error about mask scanning,
indicating either that an incorrect number of barcodes were
received or that invalid barcodes were scanned.
- Problem
-
The barcode reader incorrectly scanned one or more barcodes.
- Solution
-
Follow these steps to manually fix the barcode list.
Note: unless you really know what you are doing, it is
best to leave this to a DEIMOS expert.
-
On the DEIMOS control GUI,
click on the DREMEL Details... button. This will
launch the DREMEL panel.
-
On the DREMEL panel,
click the Emergency/Diagnostics tools header to
activate the buttons on emergency/diagnostics area.
-
Click on the Get barcodes button. The current
barcode list will be copied into the text box next to the
button.
-
In the text box, enter a comma-separated list of the
correct slitmask barcodes starting from slot 2 and
continuing through the last occupied slot. Be sure there is
a one-to-one correspondence between barcodes and occupied
slots (as indicated by the DREMPOPS keyword in
the DREMEL information area). Do not press
the Tell dremel button yet!
-
On the DREMEL information are, verify that
the DREMFITS keyword reads
Completed around...
which indicates that the FITS-writing process has run to
completion. If not, then the process may be hung.
- On the Emergency/Diagnostic tools area, click the
Tell dremel button to force regeneration of
FITS chunks.
-
Click the COMMIT! button to save changes.
- Wait for the DREMFITS and
DREMCMIT keywords to show
Completed around...
-
Check the revised list of gratings, filters, and
slitmasks on the Mechanism control area of
the DEIMOS control GUI.
- Symptom
-
Clicking the Review Config button on the DEIMOS
does not bring up the tkremel window previewing
the new configuration.
- Problem
-
A possible cause is that the resulting configuration is
invalid and cannot be displayed, perhaps because the same
name appears in two different positions.
As an example, the config below lists two Long1.0B masks
with different barcodes. Because the names are the same,
DREMEL fails.
SLITMASK2: Long0.7 BC=8506
SLITMASK3: Long1.0B BC=9090
SLITMASK4: Long0.8 BC=7441
SLITMASK5: LVMslitG BC=8850
SLITMASK6: Long1.2 BC=7359
SLITMASK7: Long1.5 BC=7360
SLITMASK8: GOH_X BC=2126
SLITMASK9: E0b BC=9024-no change
SLITMASK10: uds_ft BC=8852-no change
SLITMASK11: Long1.0B BC=7358-no change
SLITMASK12: GOH_X BC=2124-no change
SLITMASK13: Empty_13 (Bad port)-no change
- Solution
-
-
Inspect the file
/local/kroot/data/deimot/dyna/dremel.cfg.
Check the listings for filters, gratings, and slitmasks
looking for identically-named elements in two positions
of the same sytem.
-
If this fails to indicate the problem, then check the DREMEL
log with the following command on a polo terminal:
view_logfile -tail dremel
- Click the Review Config button again and
check for messages like this:
ERROR duplicates in stage position data!
These seem to be duplicated
GRATE.nam.600ZD GRATE.nam.600ZD GRSEL.nam.600ZD GRSEL.nam.600ZD
FATAL, CANNOT PROCEED
# found duplicates in stage data, cannot process
-
If identical entries are found, fix the problem by
either:
-
Removing the duplicate from the instrument if
there are two masks for instance with the same name.
-
If duplicate names are not in the instrument,
then try re-scanning the elements in the affected stage.
- Check tha DREMEL works as expected:
-
On the DEIMOS control GUI,
click on the DREMEL Details... button. This will
launch the DREMEL panel.
- Click on Review Config and verify that it
runs and displays the new configuration properly.
- Symptom
-
DREMEL dies while attempting to initialize, or at the
completion of a slitmask scan when attempting to read recods
from slitmask database. The DREMEL
panel on the DEIMOS control GUI
indicates an unusual failure on the top status line.
- Problem
-
The summit instrument Sybase server is not responding
properly and requires a reboot.
- Solution
-
- Use ping waiaha to determine whether
waiaha is alive.
-
Have summit staff determine whether waiaha
is functioning properly, and reboot if needed.
-
Restart DREMEL by logging into keamano as
kics and running:
deimos stop dremel
deimos start dremel
|