Verify that the NIRSPAO reconfig to/from AO is Complete

Call the summit, and reach out to the on-duty K2 Instrument Support Tech. Confirm that NIRSPEC is (either) inside AO or back at Right NAS, safely defined with all its lines and connections re-established. You can tell them that you will be doing the post-reconfig powerup checkout, and will let them know when that is done.

Set the correct keyword for NIRSPEC or NIRSPAO operations

1. Open a local xterm within the instument VNC session. (NIRSPEC menu, login windows, local xterm)

    modify -s nsmores instrume=NIRSPEC (for destination RNAS, i.e. seeing limited) 

    OR

    modify -s nsmores instrume=NIRSPAO (for destination LNAS, i.e. AO) 

Establish and Verify Power to NIRSPEC's outlets

1. From any nirspec xterm:

   power on all

2. Verify that all outlets are now powered on:

   showpower

   Normal output should look something like this:

NIRSPEC Power Service = nspower
====================================================
Stat Keyword    Description               Power (W)
====================================================
Power Strip A = nspower1
====================================================
On   OUTLET_A1  Flatlamp                         15
On   OUTLET_A2  Arclamp                           0
On   OUTLET_A3  nsmotor2 Galil                   40
On   OUTLET_A7  nspec HxRG SAM                   17
On   OUTLET_A8  nscam HxRG SAM                   17
====================================================
Power Strip B = nspower2
====================================================
On   OUTLET_B1  Forward heat exchanger           59
On   OUTLET_B3  MAGIQ Guider                    141
On   OUTLET_B6  FEU Flip                          0
On   OUTLET_B7  FEU TipTilt                       2
On   OUTLET_B8  FEU Zaber                         6
====================================================
Power Strip C = nspower3
====================================================
On   OUTLET_C1  nsdewar1 LakeShore 336           20
On   OUTLET_C2  nsdewar2 LakeShore 336           20
On   OUTLET_C3  nsdewar3 LakeShore 218            3
On   OUTLET_C4  nsdewar4 Varian                  19
====================================================
Power Strip D = nspower4
====================================================
On   OUTLET_D1  Terminal server                   6
On   OUTLET_D2  Network Switch                   19
On   OUTLET_D3  nsmotor1 Galil                   38
On   OUTLET_D4  nsmotor3 ADAM 6066                4
On   OUTLET_D5  Rear heat exchanger              69
====================================================
  

Check Instrument Temperatures

1. To get temperatures (K) and rate of temperature change (K/min) (from any nirspec xterm):

   temps

   temps -d

2. Temps will be mildly elevated, (e.g. CCR350, CCR1050, OPTPLATE), but all should be coming down (i.e. showing negative K/min values. Normal Temperatures look like this:

   	   Service  =   NSDEWAR                  NIRSPEC Temperatures (K) 
   ======================================================================
    Keyword      Location                                          Temp  
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    BENCH1INVAL  Temperature-value                                 50.860
    BENCH2INVAL  Temperature-value                                 50.652
    CCR1050VAL   Temperature-value                                 47.768
    CCR350VAL    Temperature-value                                 16.024
    LN2CANVAL    Temperature-value                                 58.463
    OPTPLATEVAL  Temperature-value                                 57.604
    ROTMOTVAL    Temperature-value                                 58.956
    ROTTOPVAL    Temperature-value                                 76.660
    SCAMASICVAL  Temperature-value                                 51.793
    SCAMFILTVAL  Temperature-value                                 54.683
    SCAMTEMP1VAL Temperature-value                                 30.005
    SCAMTEMP2VAL Temperature-value                                 29.888
    SPECASICVAL  Temperature-value                                 62.103
    SPECTEMP1VAL Temperature-value                                 30.000
    SPECTEMP2VAL Temperature-value                                 29.928
    TMAVAL       Temperature-value                                 58.779
   	   

Restart the SPEC detector service

1. From any nirspec xterm, issue these commands in succession:

   stop_spec

   start_spec

2. Note: Takes about 60 seconds for the timing file to be downloaded, indicated when the detector status to turns to "Idling".

   show -s nspec status

Restart the SCAM detector service

1. From any nirspec xterm, issue these commands in succession:

   stop_scam

   start_scam

2. Note: Takes about 60 seconds for the initialization to complete, indicated when the detector status to turns to "Idle".

   show -s nscam status

Start up NIRSPEC software from any user number account (e.g. nspec1)

On the VNC background menu: NIRSPEC Control Menu → NIRSPEC Start Up.

This will launch the following GUIs:

• Control 0:
  • NIRSPEC Format Simulator (AO Mode) GUI, aka. Echelle Formal Simulator (EFS).
  • NIRSPEC instrument control GUI (mechanisms)
  • Program Identification GUI (PIG)
  • Eventsounds GUI
• Control 1:
  • SCAM Ginga display GUI
  • SCAM detector dialog
  • NSCAM Status display
• Control 2:
  • SPEC Ginga display GUI
  • SPEC detector Dialog
  • NSPEC Status display
• Telstatus: Optionally, the following GUIs can be launched from the VNC pulldown menu:
  • NIRSPEC MAGIQ UI
  • K2 Telescope Status Menu → FACSUM
  • K2 Telescope Status Menu → XMET - Weather

Initialize all motors (go to control 0 desktop)

1. First, reset the mechanism motion motor control mode to "position". From any nirspec xterm:

   motmode pos

2. Initialize all the mechanisms (from any nirspec xterm):

   init_all_motors

   Note 1: This command will not execute if the optical plate is warmer than 69K. Check temps to verify you are in range (from any xterm): temps

   Note 2: When the init_all_motors command is active, you will see motion to the mechanisms shown in the NIRSPEC Instrument Control GUI. You will see all GREEN check marks when successfully completed - takes several minutes.

   Note 3: It is possible this command will complete quickly (with no errors), which means it has already sensed the need to re-calibrate mechanisms and has already completed this task. You'll see all GREEN check marks in this case.

3. Clear any mechanism states that are indicated by "???" or "UNKNOWN" in the NIRSPEC GUI (usually this is just the Pinhole and Fold Mirror stages). Click on each of those stages and from the pop up window pull down, select "Out" for Fold Mirror and Pinhole, and "In" for FEU flip, and click "Apply" to move those stages there. Often in the first attempt to do this, there are no choices listed. Then, close the popup window and try again. (this is a known bug).

Check SCAM detector (go to control 1 desktop)

1. Check the NSCAM status window above the Ginga Display. When you see status = Idle, then you are ready to take an exposure
If the status shows an error or fault, then restart the SCAM detector service (see above) and wait for status = Idle

Note 1: As of April 2022, NIRSPEC has a UPS installed to keep power on the SCAM detector controller throughout the reconfig. So there should be no need to power down and power up the detector controller galil.

Note 2: It is now very unusual for you to need to restart the detector service more than once to get SCAM back to life. In pre-UPS days, initial attempts could've resulted in status = fault, or complaints in the detector dialog about the file not being written. Sometimes, it can help to toggle between full frame and sub-array (i.e. normal mode) SCAM display modes:

scam_fullframe

scam_normal

Take a test exposure on SCAM

1. From any nirspec xterm:

   tint2 0.67 (this is the minimum seconds for SCAM readout)

   coadds2 1

   goi2

2. Ginga display shows image readout. Note, the first time you do this, you can sometimes get all zeros for counts. If so, take a second exposure. You should expect to see low counts (< 50 ADU) with noise.

Check SPEC detector (go to control 2 desktop)

1. Check the NSPEC status window above the Ginga Display. When you see status = Idling, then you are ready to take an exposure. If the status shows an error or fault, then restart the SPEC detector service (see above) and then wait for status = Idling

   Note 1: As of April 2022, NIRSPEC has a UPS installed to keep power on the SPEC detector controller throughout the reconfig. So there should be no need to power down and power up the detector here.

   Note 2: It is now very unusual for you to need to restart the detector service more than once to get SPEC back to life. In pre-UPS days, initial attempts could have resulted in status = fault, or complaints in the detector dialog about the file not being written.

Take a test exposure on SPEC

1. From any nirspec xterm:

   tint 1.5 (this is the minimum seconds for SPEC readout)

   coadds 1

   goi

2. The SPEC Ginga display shows image readout. Note, the first time you do this, you can sometimes get all zeros for counts. If so, take a second exposure. You should expect to see around 30-50 counts.

Take Test Calibration Lamps and Verify Flux Levels and Mechanism Positioning

1. From control 0 EFS: Set up to configure instrument, Obs mode=Setup Only.
2. Configure to any particular instrument setup: (e.g. High Res, Slit= 0.432x12 when at RNAS, or 0.041x1.13 when inside AO), & use NIRSPEC-7 with default grating angles).
3. Click GO to configure the instrument. Verify the mechanisms go to the selected positions on the NIRSPEC instrument control GUI.
4. Set Up EFS for taking lamps, Obs Mode=Lamps Only.
5. Click GO to take a small set of lamps: Takes one dark (lamps off), one flat lamp, and one arclamp.
6. Verify on Ginga SPEC that the frames have read out, Lamps-on Flats should have ~10,000 counts. See example of SPEC flatfield image.
7. Verify that the grating angles are roughly correct for the default Kband setting, by comparing with the expected SPEC arc image. It is normal for there to be a fractional order shift in the up/down direction compared with the comparion image.
8. Take a SCAM image (tint2=0.67, coadds2=1) and verify background counts are correct: (1000-1300 counts for SCAM non-AO images and 0-50 counts for SCAM AO images) . Note that the differences here are due to the Current Stop of the SPEC filter being set automatically by the EFS to "thin" (for NIRSPEC) or "AO" (for NIRSPAO). You should see the slit in NIRSPEC/SCAM but not in NIRSPAO/SCAM.

Finish up

1. If NIRSPEC is at RNAS, it is now ready for science. Finish up by putting the instrument into a safe state. From any VNC via the background menu, select NIRSPEC Control Menu -> End of Night Shutdown.
2. If NIRSPEC is inside AO, leave the instrument control software up and proceed to the NIRSPAO Begin Run AO check, or shutdown and do that later.