Instructions for remote observations using the VAX/Antcon setup

Updated 040711 / mtt

Settings in the control room:

Normal QSO observing settings
A/D converter at 10 V (many of us do that anyway; this is good for automatic and remote observations so that there will be no saturated signals when levels change due to dew falling / coming off)
panel offsets at 0,0
antenna at standby (or automatic observations tracking)
if conveniently possible, write in the control room logbook an entry that you will be making remote observations (date, time)

Also check before leaving Metsahovi

Current eq.eq. (note: CONTOBS logs these, so if you forget to check it, check a file for a value that was recently used)
Source list: take a copy of the current source list + instructions with you (an electronic version of our 2004 source list is attached, but the priority information etc. must be checked).
Offsets: what have been the recently used good offsets for each part of the sky.
Take copies of log sheets with you.
Has a good noise diode calibration measurement been done as late as possible before you leave?
Are you sure that the radome is dry when you leave?
Is it certain that nobody else will try to make observations in Metsahovi while you are remote observing? Ie. inform others, leave a PostIt note on the control room computer keyboard, etc. Also if you are not coming back next morning, make sure you and the next observer agree on how you change shifts: will you command the antenna to standby and log out from vax before (s)he will continue, or does your session need to be stopped? If so, at what time? etc.

How to proceed at home:

Note:

contobs-debian.txt

ssh at least two separate sessions to kurp, use them for connections:
1. telnet blazar
(user kurpitsa)
2. telnet antcon 5555

If CONTOBS was not running when you left Metsahovi, you can skip the following explanation and move on to the next dashed item. If contobs was observing when you left, you need to stop the process before you can start a new contobs! (Otherwise you will immediately get an error message when trying to start). For this you need to know the name of the process you must stop. For this you need to know the name of _your_ process so that you don't kill yourself.
But first put the antenna to standby position: at your Antcon terminal type: standby
The name of the process to kill is either KURPITSA or of the format _TWA33: or something like that (always underscore, terminal code number, colon).
You can see the name of your process by typing: sho proc
You can see the full process table by typing: psa
(this is my own abbreviation for: show system, mimics ps -a in unix).
If CONTOBS is running at Metsahovi, you will probably see one process called KURPITSA and one of the format _TWA33: and lots of others that you should ignore. If you are not certain how many Kurpitsa-login processes there are, you can type: who
and this will show you the Vax users (in our example it should be 2) When you now know which one you are, you can stop the other one by typing: stop "name"
for example: stop kurpitsa
or: stop _TWA33:
Please note: Never kill any of the processes with other kinds of names! VMS does not protect the processes well, you can kill anything you want to, so please do not do it!
Make sure you know what you want to observe, and that the sources are where you think they would be.
Start contobs at your vax terminal. Set the source coordinates and observing & cal parameters, but do not start the observation yet.
Give Antcon a tracking command: vaxtrack
you can check that the antenna is slewing and then correctly tracking check its position as often as you want by typing: azel
Choose your default offsets for this direction, set them by:
azeloff=azoff,eloff
for example: to set azimuth offset to +2 millidegrees and eloff to -4,
type: azeloff=0.002,-0.004
You can always check the current offset setting:
azeloff
Start observing normally.
When you need to stop for some reason (bad weather, somebody else taking over the observations) type at Antcon terminal: standby

Note: if you keep getting very strange offsets, it is possible that you have forgotten to reset the panel offsets. If you notice that this was the case, please write this down on your observing log afterward or at least remember to tell the others, so that nobody will take your offsets as the default ones.

For remote and automatic observations it is very important to make frequent observations on our flux calibrators (even as often as every third measurement or so) especially in the night time. It is also useful to write down any visual observations of weather changes while you are awake (even though your remote site may be different from Metsahovi it gives some indication of the trends etc.)

Use common sense. Pay attention to what you are doing. Check the antenna status and your remote session from time to time. Don't drink too much while driving the telescope :-)

----

An additional short notice:

> telnet antcon 5555

There will be no user name asked, this command immediately connects you to the Antcon port 5555. If you do not believe it, you can always start by typing: azel to see that you are there.

And to exit Antcon, simply type: exit

Last modified: Mon Sep 6 10:57:16 EEST 2004