TAO - Getting started

Step 1: Installation

TAO is distributed in a zip file about 2 MB in size. To install TAO, just unzip the distribution zip file to some directory on your hard drive. For example, if you choose to unzip it to the root of the C: drive, you will obtain a directory C:\TAO containing the following subdirectories:

ACP_scripts: this directory contains the MU image acquisition script and a script which automates the measurement of telescope slew times, in separate subdirectories. These scripts may be executed under the ACP observatory control program.
docs: this directory contains the TAO documentation.
obs: users of the MU script may use this directory to store target lists to be executed, log files, and calibration files (dark frames, bias frames, flat fields).
orchestrate_scripts: Users of Orchestrate may use this directory to store Orchestrate scripts generated by the TAO scheduler.
regress: this directory contains program regress, which may be used for linear regression analyses of such data as telescope slew time vs. angular displacement, focuser position vs. temperature, etc.
schedule: this directory contains program schedule and associated files.
targets: this directory is used to store TAO's target databases, and contains the programs and scripts which are used to create and update it.
users: users of the MU script may use this directory to store CCD images (in separate subdirectories for each user).

Note: In this documentation we will refer to the above subdirectories by their paths relative to the directory to which you have unzipped the TAO distribution zip file. For example, if you chose to unzip the distribution file to C:, then a reference to directory TAO\ should be interpreted as C:\TAO\, a reference to directory TAO\schedule\ should be interpreted as C:\TAO\schedule\, and so forth.

Installing Windows Script 5.6

In order to run the scripts included with TAO, you will need to have Windows Script 5.6 (or later) installed on your computer. You may verify if Windows Script 5.6 (or a later version) is already installed on your computer by opening a DOS window (also called a Command Prompt in the newer versions of Windows) and typing

C:\>cscript

If you see a copyright message like

followed by usage information, then Windows Script 5.6 is already installed and you can proceed to the installation of the software components for automated data download (see below). Otherwise, go to the Microsoft downloads page, select Windows Script in the "Product/Technology" box, type 5.6 in the "Keywords" box, and click on the "Go" button. Select the appropriate version of Windows Script 5.6 for your operating system, and follow the instructions provided on the web site for downloading and installing Windows Script.

Installing software components for automated data download

TAO's scripts perform automated data downloads, including ephemerides, lists of unusual minor planets, etc. This requires that you install the following software components:

Download msvbvm50.exe and double click on this file in Windows Explorer to install a set of Visual Basic 5 runtime files.
Download mswinsck.cab, which contains the Microsoft Winsock Control 6.0. Open mswinsck.cab with WinZip or a similar program, and extract its contents to an empty directory. Use Windows Explorer to locate file mswinsck.inf in this directory, right-click on it, and select Install. If you get a window saying that you need to use a CD-ROM to install the file, just choose to proceed, specify the directory to which the contents of mswinsck.cab were unzipped (this directory will probably be already specified in the appropriate text box), and finish the installation.
Download post.zip and unzip it to an empty directory. Use Windows Explorer to locate file post.exe in this directory, double-click on it, and click Ok on the dialog window which will pop up.