Troubleshooting guide

are printed out:
OBS_TYPE Type of observation being taken; commonly used keywords are object, standard, flat, dark.
OBJECT Name of object being observed. NOT provided by TCS.
FILEBASE Image filename's prefix; the naming convention is filebase.####.fits where the numbers
(####) are automatically incremented by the data taking script from 0001 to 9999.
ORIG_DIR Absolute pathname of the directory to which you wish to write data. Make sure you
include the trailing / on the pathname.
DATE_OBS UT date at the end of the night (YYYY-MM-DD). Provided by TCS.
EXP_TIME Exposure time for integration in seconds. Must be an integer ≥ 2 and at least twice the
value of the parameter NREADS.
NREADS Integer number of non-destructive reads per endpoint per image.
• For imaging use NREADS = 1, which corresponds to Correlated Double Sampling
(CDS).
• For spectroscopy you can use multiple read sampling:
• The minimum value is NREADS = 3.
• The maximum recommended value is NREADS = 8.
• The minimum allowable EXP_TIME is 2×NREADS.
• Note that this script does not always rigorously enforce this condition, so please
double check that EXP_TIME and NREADS are mutually consistent.
• For NREADS ≥ 3 the output image will have signals NREADS times higher than for a
CDS frame; i.e., the output image is a coadd, not a coaverage frame.
• A schematic of the readout scheme appears in Figure 7, Appendix 2.
BIAS The value of the last requested bias is recorded here. The imaging bias is 1.0 V; for
spectroscopy one uses a bias of 0.75 V, which yields a substantially lower dark current,
although at the cost of some well depth. To determine the actual bias value hit the Update
All button on the UFSTATUS GUI.
WEATHER A numerical descriptor of common environmental conditions (1=photometric, 2=thin
cirrus, 3=broken clouds, 4=overcast, 5=snowing, 6=fog).
WIND A numerical range descriptor of the wind speed (1=calm, 2=low, 3=moderate, 4=high,
5=closed).
After prompting you for all of these parameters, config.exposure.pl will ask if you want to change the bias. If
you answer "y" it will automatically run the script set.bias.pl. In imaging mode, the bias should always be
set to 1.0 V.
6. Take an image. Execute the command singleimage.pl [Take Image]. This will take one image with the
exposure time specified by config.exposure.pl and display it on the ds9. The first image after starting up may
look bad, so take a second one if this is the case.
7. Verify Position Angle. The value of the parameter ROT_PA in config.mos.dither.kp4m.pl should match the
actual telescope position angle, which is shown near the bottom of the telescope status screen; the telescope
operator can show you which number to read. The valid rotator range is -0.6º to +180.0º.
8. Verify Telescope. After taking the first image, use the File/Display Fits Header pull down menu on the ds9
display to verify that the TELESCOP keyword is correctly set to 4m. If it is not, the scale on the display will
be incorrect and the MOS setup routines will not work. It will be necessary to run the script config.location.pl
-telescope kp4m to reset the telescope to the KPNO 4m. Because this loads a default header, one must run
config.exposure.pl again to reset the parameters.
FLAMINGOS@4-m, Ver. 2.39, 2013 April 23 Page 13 of 47