The UH IfA NeXTStep CCD System User's Manual

Software Release 3.07
Document Release 3.07 Final / 4.09 Preliminary
Last revised 08/31/95

Hubert Yamada (yamada@ifa.hawaii.edu)
Kevin Jim (kjim@terrasys.com)
Principal Investigator: Gerard Luppino

Copyright 1992-1995, University of Hawai`i, Institute for Astronomy

This manual is primarily for release 3.07 of the Ccd software. However, it includes descriptions of a few features which are available only in later releases. Most of these new features are clearly marked.

This is the user's manual for the NeXT-based CCD Control system (ccd) and the NeXT-based autoguider control system (Otto), which were developed by the CCD group of the University of Hawai`i, Institute for Astronomy, CCD control system.

The current version of this manual is located at http://ccd.ifa.hawaii.edu/uh88/Ccd.

Contents

1. Manual Sections
2. Recent changes to the CCD software
3. A quick introduction to the CCD control system

Manual Sections

Recent changes to the CCD software

This is a list of the more important new features. Please see the release notes for a complete list of new features.

• 3.06: Long exposures no longer require confirmation.
• 3.05: Memory usage no longer increases with each exposure.
• 3.04: Increased readout speed, especially for small frames.
• 3.04: No longer crashes after a large number of frames.
• 3.04: Added a fast readout mode (SLOW should be disabled).
• 3.04: In loop mode, with SAVE disabled, only the last data file is saved
• 3.04: Program no longer crashes the system when run for long periods of time.
• 3.04: Memory usage no longer increases uncontrollably.
• 3.04: The cursor is now drawn properly when the image is flipped.
• 3.04: All windows may now be printed with the main menu print command.
• 3.03: When a readout fails, the partial frame is now written to disk.
• 3.03: When download fails, the software will retry automatically.
• 3.03: The plot display updates when switching between row and column plots.
• 3.03: TCS status should be obtained more reliably.
• 3.02: Shutter timing problem fixed.
• 3.00: Spectroscopy and photometry tools are now partially functional.
• 3.00: Sub-frames and binning are now set dynamically.
• 3.00: TCS information can now be stored automatically (disabled by default).
• 3.00: Exposures may be specified in tenths of seconds.
• 3.00: The look up table for the main window may be set from the zoom window.

A Quick Introduction to the CCD Control System

It would be wise to glance through the full Software user's manual; for the impatient user, this is what you absolutely need to know. The program is started from a Unix shell with the command ccd-3.07. There are several older versions that are available, in case there is a bug with the current release. You may be given a more recent version.

When the program starts, you will be asked to select a ccd. The choice of ccd should be obvious. You will be asked if you want to download a file; answer yes.

To expose, and read out the ccd, you simply need to set a time in the exposure control window, and then press the Expose button. The default settings will cause the ccd to flush itself, to take the exposure, to read itself out and to store the data to disk. That's all you really need to know. Your file is saved to disk with a file name that is generated from the name and number that appears in the expose window.

Note that if a normal readout fails, you may be able to recover your data by using the manual read button.

To learn how to use the simple image manipulation features, just go ahead and play with the Main display window, the Zoom window, and the Plot window. Look at the Exposure Controlpanel help page to learn how to control exposures.

On-line help is available from within the ccd program. The Help system is primarily organized by windows. If you have a question about some function in one of the ccd program windows, look for the name of the window within the Help system. There are also some general topics discussed.

If you have questions about using the ccd program which is not answered by the on-line Help system, see the WWW help pages, which are indexed by this page. You may find the Common Questions and Known Problems sections to be especially useful.

This document was written by Hubert Yamada (yamada@ifa.hawaii.edu) and Kevin Jim (kjim@terrasys.com).