Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• ROTSE-III Data Acquisition System
  • Introduction
  • The Daemons
    • The ROTSE Daemon: rotsed
    • The Clamshell Daemon: clamd
    • The Spot Daemon: spotd
    • The Camera Daemon: camerad and camserverd
    • The Schier Mount Daemon: schierd
    • The Weather Daemon: weathd
    • The Alert Daemon: alertd
    • The Astronomical Scheduler Daemon: astrod
    • The User Daemon (userd) and the ROTSE User Shell (rush)
  
  
• How To Run the ROTSE-III System
  • Introduction
  • System Files
  • Starting the System
    • Monitoring Logfiles with tail -f
    • The DAQ System: rotsed
    • Online Analysis: The PacMans
  • Shutting Down the ROTSE System
  • The Rotse User Shell: rush
    • Starting rush
    • Shell Information
    • rhelp: The Help Command
    • rstat: The Status Command
    • rmode: The Mode Command
    • Clamshell Commands
    • Mount Commands
    • Focus Commands
    • Camera Commands
    • Alert Commands
    • Pointing Model Logging Commands
  • True Realtime Status Monitoring with rmonitor
  
  
• The ROTSE-III Configuration Files
  • General Configuration File Information
  • rotsed.conf
  • alertd.conf
  • astrod.conf
  • camerad.conf
  • camserverd.conf
  • clamd.conf
  • schierd.conf
    • The Focus Model Data File
  • spotd.conf
  • userd.conf
  • weathd.conf
  
  
• Rotse-III Scheduling
  • Introduction
  • astrod and rotsed
  • astrod.conf
    • Daemon Parameters
    • Exposure Parameters
    • Sky Patrol Parameters
    • Burst Follow-up Parameters
    • Scheduling Parameters
  • Triggers and Schedules
    • Triggers: Defining Imaging Sequences
    • Defining Schedule Items
  • burst.conf
  • Guest User Schedule Submission
  
  
• Polar Alignment and Pointing Models
  • Introduction
  • Polar Alignment
    • General Information
    • TelRad Alignment
    • Two-Star Pointing
    • A Simple Tpoint Model
    • Adjusting the Polar Alignment
  • Using Tpoint
  • Refining the Pointing Model
  • Tpoint Formulas
  
  
• Building A Better Focus Model
  • Introduction
  • The Focus Model
    • The Focus System
    • The Basics
  • Manually Monitoring the Focus Gradient
  • Setting Up an Automated Focus Run
  • Constructing a Focus Model
  
  
• Image Correction and Calibration Images
  • Introduction
  • Dark Images
    • Obtaining Dark Images
    • Creating a Median Dark
  • Flat Fields
    • Twilight Flats
    • Sky Flats
    • Fringe Maps
    • Fitting the Fringe Map
  • Updating the Automated Pipeline Files
  • Performing Image Correction: corr_im_fast and new_dfc
    • Introduction
    • What corr_im_fast Does
    • What new_dfc Does
  • Uncorrecting Images: uncorrect
  
  
• Realtime Data Analysis and Monitoring Telescope Operations
  • Introduction
  • Realtime Automated Analysis
    • sexpacman
    • idlpacman
    • Burst Response Analysis in Real-time
  • Manual Data Analysis
    • Creating Object Lists Manually
    • Match Structures
    • Relative Photometry
  • Operational Status and Monitoring
    • rotsepager
    • Realtime Status Monitoring over the WWW
  
  
• Troubleshooting
  • Introduction
  • Tips and Tricks
  • Help! The system won't start!
    • Problem: The system is already running
    • Problem: The system crashed and left a lockfile
    • Problem: A daemon configuration file has an error
    • Problem: A daemon hasn't died properly from a previous run
    • Problem: A temporary problem with the i/o box
  • Help! The camera isn't working right!
    • The camserverd logfile
    • Problem: The image is saturated
    • Problem: The power supply has died
  • Help! The mount is having ``issues''!
    • Problem: The mount control software is not running
    • Problem: The encoder is dirty or misaligned
    • Problem: The balance is off or a cable is snagged
  
  
• ROTSE-III File Naming Conventions
  • Three-Letter Acronyms (TLA)
  • Coordinates or ID Numbers
  • Instrument Designation and Index Number
  • Optional Modifiers
  • Match Structures
  • Standard Data Directory Structure
  
  
• FITS File Information
  • FITS File Description
  • Accessing FITS Files: Command Line
    • Primary FITS Headers: mhead
    • Image Data: ds9
    • Binary Structure Data
  • Accessing FITS Files: IDL
    • Primary FITS Headers: headfits.pro
    • Image Data: readfits.pro
    • Binary Data: mrdfits.pro
  • Accessing FITS Files: C
  
  
• ROTSE-III Data Products
  • Raw Images
  • Corrected Images
  • sobj Files
  • cobj Files
  • Match Structures
  • Relative Photometry-Corrected Match Structures
  
  
• Index
• About this document ...