TAO - Getting started - Step 2 (continued)

You should now have a set of linear relationships which describe the relationships between slew time and angular displacement for the telescope right ascension and declination axes, and (if applicable) for the dome azimuth axis.

The coefficients of the linear relationships which describe telescope slew times should be entered in a data file (mount slew time model) with the following format:

! Example telescope slew time model
!
! August 19, 2004
!
! Slew time in right ascension (t_RA, in seconds) is given by 
! 
!     t_RA = A + B * dRA,
!
! where dRA is the angle (in degrees) through which the right ascension 
! axis must turn in order to perform the slew. Note that A and B may
! have different values in different ranges of dRA, and that dRA is
! always greater or equal to zero.
!
! Slew time in declination (t_dec, in seconds) is given by
!
!     t_dec = C + D * ddec,
!
! where ddec is the angle (in degrees) through which the declination
! axis must turn in order to perform the slew. C and D may have 
! different values in different ranges of ddec, and ddec is always
! greater or equal to zero.

dRA_min (deg)   dRA_max (deg)    A          B
20.             360.             18.768     0.8581
1.              20.              8.227      1.4541
0.              1.               3.893      6.36

ddec_min (deg)  ddec_max (deg)   C          D
14.             360.             14.523     0.6232
0.8             14.              7.691      1.0451
0.              0.8              3.159      5.27

In a slew time model file, comment lines start with "!" and are ignored; blank lines are also ignored.

Telescope and dome slew time models are usually saved to directory TAO\schedule. This sample mount slew time model (TAO\schedule\telescope.txt) may be used as a template for creating your own telescope slew time models. If you use more than one telescope, each one may have its own slew time model.

The coefficients of the linear relationships which describe dome slew times should be entered in a data file (dome slew time model) with the following format:

! Example dome slew time model
!
! August 19, 2004
!
! Dome slew time in azimuth (t_az, in seconds) is given by 
! 
!     t_az = A + B * daz,
!
! where daz is the angle (in degrees) through which the dome
! must turn in order to perform a slew. Note that A and B may
! have different values in different ranges of daz, and that daz is
! always greater or equal to zero.

daz_min (deg)   daz_max (deg)    A          B
8.              360.             6.5        0.473
0.              8.               2.5        0.68

This sample dome slew time model (TAO\schedule\dome.txt) may be used as a template for creating your own dome slew time models. If you use more than one automated dome, each one may have its own slew time model.