Troubleshooting

Telescope - CCD - PC -Planning - Unsolved

I. Telescope

1) Dr. Laird maintains a page here.

II. CCD

1) When you click the icon to turn the filterwheel, there is a delay and a dialog box appears with "Received time out."

Problem: The filterwheel has not turned -- it has become physically stuck, or the electronics in the filterwheel have failed.

Solution: Try a few more times. Sometimes it just hangs once. More likely, it is stuck for the night. If it is before 11pm, call Andy Layden for instructions. If not, you can continue observing using only the filter which you have available (that is, if it is stuck in I, just take I frames). Email or leave a voicemail message for Dr. Layden reporting the problem.

III. PC

1) You can't find the CCDSoft software to operate the CCD camera.

It lives in C:\Program Files\Software Bisque\CCDSoft. Click on the CCDSoft icon to start it up. Usually, we leave it "minimized", so you can start it by clicking on the CCDSoft name along the bottom bar. To minimize it again at the end of the night, click on the _ box at the extreme upper-right of the screen.

IV. Planning

1) If SuperMongo (SM) is not working for you, check to see that you have a copy of the .sm file in your home directory:

• cd
• ls -lag .sm
• if it is not there, copy one from Layden's account: cp /home/galileo/layden/.sm .sm
• if it still doesn't work, contact Dr. Layden

2) If you can not print out the nightly plan from inside SuperMongo:

Instead of the usual method which flushes the postscript plot directly to the printer,

• dev postscript
• plot
• dev x11

create a postscript file with SM and send that file to the printer:

• dev postencap plan.ps
• plot
• dev x11
• (in a UNIX window) lpr plan.ps

V. Unsolved problems

1) if you can't solve your problems from the above, and

• it is before midnight, call Dr. John Laird for technical problems with the telescope, CCD, or PC.
• it is before midnight, call Dr. Andy Layden for problems with the CCD or PC, or for problems with star selection, aquisition, and other procedural problems.
• if it is after midnight, close everything down and email a report of your problem to Drs. Laird and Layden. Please be very specific describing what is wrong and what you have tried. Also, specify when you will be available to answer our questions ... it can sometimes take a bit of detective work to figure out the problem, and it helps to get all the clues straight!
• If you cannot close the dome, phone Dr. Laird at any time (this is probably the only situation that warrants an after-midnight call, but any situation in which hardware or people are jeaopardized may warrant a call -- use your judgement). Call Dr. Layden if you can not reach Dr. Laird.

2) Contact Numbers (please try office numbers first before phoning at home):

• Dr. John Laird -- (office) 2-7244 (home) 354-0490
• Dr. Andy Layden -- (office) 2-8653 (home - see handout in warmroom).
• Campus Police Non-emergency -- 2-2346
• Emergency (Ambulance, Fire, Police) -- 911