TAO
Tools for Automated Observing
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Introduction
  System requirements
 
Getting Started
  Installation
  Modeling slew times
  Measuring camera
  download times
  Specifying filter
  names and numbers
  Modeling the local
  horizon
  Creating user profiles
  Initializing target
  databases
  Customizing the
  scheduler
 
Daily Operation
  Starting observatory
  control software
  Updating target
  databases
  Generating a list of
  potential targets
  Preparing a list of
  observation requests
  Running the
  scheduler
  Starting scheduled
  observations
 
Image Acquisition with
the MU Script
  Customizing the
  script
  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
  Customizing the
  SlewTime script
    Page 1
    Page 2
    Page 3
  Starting the
  SlewTime script
  Script output
  Minor Planet Checker
  query script
  Regression program
 
Etc.
  Software updates
  License agreement
  Contact the author
Slew time measurement script



Starting the SlewTime script

To start an observing run using the SlewTime script, follow these steps:
  • Start ACP and establish a connection to the telescope (Telescope -> Connect). If another program (such as PC-TCS) is used in conjunction with ACP to control the telescope, you may need to start it before starting ACP. If TheSky is used in conjunction with ACP, it should automatically start and connect to the telescope when you click on Telescope -> Connect in ACP. If your telescope does not remain synchronized with the celestial sphere between successive observing runs, you will also need to re-synchronize it before establishing the connection from ACP to the telescope.

  • Click the Browse button in ACP, and select the script SlewTime.vbe on the observatory control computer.

  • Click on the Main button to start the script.

Script output

When SlewTime is started, it creates two log files and a text file which will contain the slew time data. These files are located in the directory specified by parameter logDir in SlewTime.cfg. The naming conventions for the output files are given in the following table (where yyyymmdd_hhmmss is the system clock time of creation of the log file):

File Description
SlewTime_yyyymmdd_hhmmss.dat Text file containing slew time data
SlewTime_yyyymmdd_hhmmss.log Main log file. This file records the history of the slew time measurement session (including all the text written by the script to the ACP scripting console), and contains useful information for the diagnostic of problems which may occur.
SlewTime_emergency_yyyymmdd_hhmmss.log Emergency log file. Whenever a potentially serious problem occurs during a slew time measurement session, the corresponding warning or error messages are written both to the main log file and to the emergency log file. The emergency log provides a way to quickly get access to the description of the problems without having to download and browse the much larger main log file.

Previous: Telescope slewing parameters, slew limits
Next: Minor Planet Checker query script



© 1999-2004 Paulo Holvorcem