TAO - Image acquisition with the MU script

	File locations and telescope name
	Station data
	Basic parameters which determine script behavior
	Dome parameters
	Filter parameters
	Safe telescope position/parking option
	Image compression parameters
	CCD camera parameters
	Telescope slewing parameters
	Telescope slew limits
	Pointing corrections
	Timing tolerance/ waiting times
	Bias frame parameters
	Dark frame parameters
	Flat field parameters
	Image shifts for binned calibration files
	Weather station parameters
	Focus parameters Page 1 Page 2
	Aiming exposure parameters

Starting MU

Sequence of events
during an observing
run using MU

Timing Refinement

Collecting timing
data

Analyzing timing
data

Adjusting the
empirical timing
correction

Other Tools

Slew time
measurement script

Minor Planet Checker
query script

Etc.

Image acquisition with the MU script

Customizing the MU script (continued)

Telescope slewing parameters

' TELESCOPE SLEWING PARAMETERS
slewSettleTime = 3                    ' Settling time (sec) after slews
SlewTol = 100.                        ' Tolerance (deg) in checking for end of slew
SlewWait = 2200                       ' Time step (msec) for waiting while checking for
                                      ' end of slew
waitAfterAsyncSlew = False            ' True to wait 2*slewWait msec after issuing an asynchronous
                                      ' slew command. This may be useful on some telescopes when 
                                      ' the download-while-slew feature is used, to ensure that 
                                      ' the telescope actually starts moving before the image 
                                      ' download starts
checkForSlewStart = False             ' True to check if the telescope reports that an issued slew 
                                      ' command has actually started; this should be set to False 
                                      ' for the Paramount, due to a 4-5 sec waiting time after a 
                                      ' slew command is issued, during which control is not 
                                      ' returned to this script; short slews are usually over after 
                                      ' this 4-5 sec period elapses
timeoutSlewStart = 5.                 ' Timeout (sec) when waiting for the telescope to report that
                                      ' an ordered slew has actually started
timeoutSlewEnd = 230.                 ' Timeout (sec) when waiting for the telescope to report that
                                      ' a slew in progress has actually ended
abortTimedOutSlew = False             ' True to abort a slew which times out before retrying it or
                                      ' giving it up

slewSettleTime. Specify the amount of time (in seconds) which the script should wait after the end of a slew, to allow for the settling of mechanical vibrations. This settling time should be the same specified in the scheduler configuration file.
SlewTol. This parameter sets a tolerance (in degrees) to be used when checking if a telescope slew is finished. The MU script will only believe that a slew is finished when the telescope reports that it is no longer slewing and the reported telescope position is within SlewTol degrees of the target position. The checking of telescope positions was introduced because some automated telescope mounts would sometimes produce false reports that a slew was over, resulting in opening the shutter when the telescope is still moving toward the target. A typical value for SlewTol would be 0.05 deg. If your telescope is not prone to this problem, you may effectively disable the checking of telescope positions by setting SlewTol to a very large value such as 100 deg.
SlewWait. This is the interval (in milliseconds) between successive checkings of the telescope state (slewing/not slewing) and position when a slew is in progress. This parameter should be neither too small (to avoid overwhelming the CPU and/or telescope with queries) nor too large (to avoid making the script too sluggish in reacting to the end of a slew). Typical values for SlewWait are between 1000 and 3000 msec.
waitAfterAsyncSlew. Set this to True to wait 2 x slewWait seconds after an asynchronous slew (that is, a slew for which control is returned to the script immediately after the slew command is issued). This may be useful with some telescope mounts when the download-while-slew feature is enabled, to ensure that the telescope actually starts moving before the image download starts (if this doesn't happen, the CPU may "freeze" during the image download, and the telescope may start moving after the image download is over; this effectively defeats the purpose of the download-while-slew feature).
Note: If you use the Paramount, this parameter should be set to False.
checkForSlewStart. If this parameter is set to True, the script will check if the telescope reports that it is slewing after each issued slew command. Althout this check should not be necessary, it has proved to be important with some telescopes, due to bugs in their lower-level telescope control software.
Note: If you use the Paramount, this parameter should be set to False.
timeoutSlewStart. If checkForSlewStart is set to True, this parameter specifies the maximum time (in seconds) the script will wait for the telescope to report that it is slewing after each issued slew command. A warning message results if this waiting period elapses without the telescope reporting that it is slewing. If checkForSlewStart is set to False, this parameter has no effect.
timeoutSlewEnd. This parameter specifies the maximum time (in seconds) the script will wait for the telescope to report that a slew in progress is finished, after it has started. It should be set to the duration of the longest slews which the telescope ever does, or a slightly larger value. If the slew appears to be still unfinished after this waiting period elapses, the script produces a warning message, reissues the slew command, and again waits up to timeoutSlewEnd seconds for the slew to end. If the slew is still unfinished after this second waiting period elapses, the script produces another warning message and continues, assuming that the slew is actually over (which may not be true if there are problems with the telescope or the lower-level telescope control software).
abortTimedOutSlew. If this parameter is set to True, the script will issue a command to abort any slew which times out (that is, which is not yet finished timeoutSlewEnd seconds after it started). This is usually not necessary (so this parameter would normally be set to False), but could be useful with some telescopes.