On all GUI modules, windows which will take user input (such as specifying
an integration time or a macro name on the GUI module shown on this page)
will have a green border when the window is active. To change, simply type
a new value, you do not need to backspace over the old entry. The window
will turn red, indicating an entry in progress. To complete entry of the
new value, you must enter a carriage return or the new value
will not be accepted by the GUI!
File Menu:
Init wheels sends all of the filter wheels back to their
zero positions.
System setup will bring up the initialization window.
Quit system will quit the GUI.
The other options are less useful.
Modules Menu:
The modules menu is used to start the different modules, each of which
has its own description page -- see the GUI Description section of the
manual.
Display
Image display - should start automatically.
Telescope
Telescope control - should start
automatically.
Satcheck
Turns on audible saturation warning
Stripchart
Keeps a visual record of the past several
images.
Temperature control
Not currently available with
Omega-Prime.
Options Menu:
Sound calls up a sound menu, where a specific sound file
can be associated with a variety of different functions (such
as telescope moves, completion of a read...).
Savepath, Macropath, and Objectpath tell the GUI where
to save data and where to look for macro and object files.
Logfile specifies where the log file is kept. Note that the
logfile path needs to be re-entered each time the GUI is restarted
and the other path parameters should be checked!
Filter Control: Omega-Prime has 3 separate filter wheels. While the
control panel allows for addressing each wheel separately, all requests
for filters should be made from the Wheel-Macro menu, where all
normal observing configurations are available. The three individual
filter wheels should say moving as the wheels are being repositioned,
then display the actual position (filter name, open, or blank) when there.
Read Mode: The different read modes available in Omega-Prime are
described in detail in the manual. For standard broadband observing with
Omega-Prime, this should normally be left at double correlated read
(dcr).
IT(s): is the integration time in seconds. Note that the minimum
exposure time with Omega-Prime is 0.8 seconds! Keep this in mind when
doing broadband observations under high background conditions or when
observing bright objects - the array can easily saturate during this 0.8
seconds of "dead time" while the array is resetting.
Repeat: is the number of images with the specified exposure time
which will be taken each time a read is executed. The total exposure
time will then be N repeats times T seconds.
File Name: The next file to be saved is given the
name which appears in the window just below repeats. The name will
automatically increment by one each time a save is executed.
Read The read button executes a read using the current exposure time
and number of repeats. On completion of a read, the images are not saved
unless autosave is selected under the save option.
Save: The save button saves the most recent image(s) obtained
using the currently defined save options.
Save-Options: Calls up a save configuration panel which defines
the default way in which to save images. The main choices are whether
to save individual exposures as separate disk files, or to integrate
them (sum) and save only a single disk file. Note that, as with MAGIC,
the first image typically has problems. If saving integrated images, it
is highly recommended that the first exposure of a series is not
included in the sum! Also, note that the save options are overridden by
any options specified in observing macros. For example "save -f 2 -i" in
a macro will integrate from image 2 to the end of the series, and save only
a single file, even if the save options specify saving images separately.
Turning on auto-save will execute a save after every read, without clicking
on the save button.
Endless turns on a continuous read. The images are read out with
the current integration time and dumped to the display, but are not
saved. This is useful for positioning the telescope before starting a
macro.
Object: is the object name which is written into the fits header
under the keyword "OBJECT" for the current image. It will be updated
automatically if object selection is done through object files (recommended),
or can be changed by hand.
Sky: Clicking on the sky button writes a sky flag into
the fits header, but otherwise has no effect.
Macro: Here, you specify a macro to read into the macro buffer.
The filename, without the .mac extension, is all that is necessary (all
macros must have the .mac extension). The macro file must be in the
MACROS directory specified under the macro path on the options menu (see
above).
Execute, Pause, and Abort: control the execution of observing
macros. Note that if a pause is issued, the macro will continue executing
until all current commands are completed! Check in the command window to
be sure that the pause is in effect. Clicking on continue will continue
executing the macro after the pause. This is useful when changing the dome
slit segments.
Disk: The green portion of the bar indicates the fraction of
the selected disk space which is still available. If you are taking lots
of data, keep an eye on this. The GUI also issues an audible warning
when the disk is getting close to full (assuming you have not turned off
the sounds!).
