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Remote Observing Manual

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12 Meter Kitt Peak	Tucson, Arizona	10 Meter SMT Mt. Graham

 

       Requests for remote observing should be coordinated with the ARO Director.

Contact Info:

         Observatory Director: Info on observing scheduling.

Dr. Lucy Ziurys:

Email: lziurys{at}as{dot}arizona{dot}edu

         Phone: 520-621-6526

Operations Manager: Info on the Xremote software package and account passwords

Thomas W. Folkers:

Email: tfolkers{at}as{dot}arizona{dot}edu

Phone: 520-626-7837

12 Meter Operator:   Info on the scheduling of remote test runs and account passwords.

Email: oper12m{at}as{dot}arizona{dot}edu

         Phone: 520-318-8670

10 Meter Operator: Info on the scheduling of remote test runs and account passwords.

Email: opersmt{at}as{dot}arizona{dot}edu

Phone: 520-621-4328 x210

Documents and other information is available on the ARO web site: http://aro.as.arizona.edu/

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CONTENTS

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Introduction:

Observers can connect to the 12-m or SMT telescope computers and establish a remote data reduction session, see the on‑line "Status" screen, have a computer "Talk" session with the telescope operator, have a real‑time automatic display of incoming data, browse previously recorded data, see weather information, view receiver switched power and total power "chart recorder" output, and view real‑time video snap‑shots (12-m only).

 The choice as to whether to observe remotely or on-site is largely the observers', although management may insist on local observing if the observations are deemed particularly complicated or if the observers are unfamiliar with the telescope.  Most importantly, observers should understand that remote observing is intended for experienced users who are very familiar with the facility, the observing modes, and the telescope personnel.  The principal assets of remote observing are convenience, access and making small blocks of telescope time accessible to observers who otherwise might be unable to travel.  We think it is most appropriate for short observing runs or for use by a collaborator who is not at the telescope but who wishes to participate in the observing.  Most programs benefit from the on-site presence of the observers:   communication with the operator and other staff members is more fluid, access to staff advice and other observatory resources is easier, and the confluence of collaborators at the telescope may prove stimulating and beneficial to the scientific program.  The possibilities of remote observing are being tapped and a number of the traditional objections to it have been eliminated by technological advances.  Nonetheless, we are continuously enhancing remote observing capabilities to extend it to a wider audience and broaden its power and flexibility.  We welcome comments and suggestions from users.

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Etiquette and Propriety Issues:

Remote observing is designed for independent observer runs or in collaborative observing runs involving the same observing program. Multiple collaborative observers may use the package at the same time. But, be mindful that the package requires both computer cycles and network bandwidth and you should not be competing with other observers for these resources.  In addition, many observers may be (understandably) uncomfortable with their data being monitored by someone who is not part of their group. When you start the remote package the telescope operator receives a message on his monitor screen that a remote login has occurred.  If he is not expecting a remote observing run to commence, he can kill the remote processes.

Trial logins before a remote observing run are best done on maintenance and test days.  In all cases, you should notify the operator when you are attempting a trial run.  Once you have performed the login and checked that all the tasks are working, you should exit as quickly as possible.  Simple courtesy and common sense will avoid any conflicts.

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Security Issues:

We strongly advise that all observations to the ARO telescopes be performed using ssh. Using ssh provides the most secure type of communications to and from the telescopes.  Ssh also makes setting X display variables easier because it does all the work for us.

If your computer is behind a firewall or you use DHCP for obtaining IP addresses, then ssh will most likely be the only way remote observing will work for you.

Just make sure your instance of ssh is doing the X11 tunneling for you.

Observers are strongly advised to obtain and use ssh.

The latest versions of ssh for Windows may be obtained free of charge for research usage at: 

http://www.ssh.org/support/downloads/secureshellwks/non-commercial.html

The latest version of openssh can be obtained at:

http://www.openssh.org/

Most Linux distributions already supply ssh or openssh by default.

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Password Policy:

It is the policy of ARO not to give out passwords via email. All passwords must be obtained by calling the Telescope Operator, Operations Manager or the Program Coordinator.

Be advised that the password for remote observing is different than the general obs account.

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Equipment Requirements:

The following are required for successful remote observing:

 

The following systems are known to work with our Remote Observing Package:

sftp -oUser=obs smtoast.as.arizona.edu.

 

Password: (See section 4 for our password policy)

Next, you must change to your observing directory:

sftp> cd “ini”   ( Example:  cd twf )

where "ini" are your three observing initials. 

To place your catalog in your directory, type:

sftp> put your_catalog_name.cat

Example: % put agn_sources.cat

 

NOTE:  Your catalog name must have the extension “.cat” when finished to be recognized by our system as a source catalog.

To end the sftp session, type

sftp> bye

 

Other coordinate and velocity frames are supported – Please see contact list above for more info about catalog options.

Examples of ARO catalog format can be found here.

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Starting Xremote:

We present two forms of logging on to our systems, ssh and telnet.  Please see Section 3 for information on Security Issues involving telnet. Instructions for telnet usage are provided only for those without ssh.

  

SSH Instructions:

Open a shell / xterm type window then type:

For Kitt Peak 12 Meter:

% ssh -l obs modelo.as.arizona.edu

For Mt. Graham 10 Meter:

% ssh -l obs smtoast.as.arizona.edu

 

% Password:       (See section 4 for our password policy)

[ lots of messages ]

% observer initials: (your initials, as established with the operator)

At the prompt you may start the remote observing package by typing:

% Xremote <cr>

The system will first check that your home machine has allowed our computers the permission to write to your display, and, if so, will print:

% OK

You will be prompted for the remote password which is different from the general ‘obs’ password. (See section 4 for our password policy)

See here for instructions on the use of Mac version of the ssh program.

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        Interacting with the Xremote Session:

Shortly after executing the steps in sections 6.3 or 6.4 a control menu like the one shown below should, depending on the site, appear on your screen. The items that are "missing", from the Xremote control panel, are engineering processes that are available only from engineering login accounts.  These technical items are not of general interest to observers.

 

12 Meter Xremote	SMT Xremote

 

Explanation of controls:

 “Select All” button. Pressing it will select all the standard processes.

 “Clear All’ button. Pressing it will clear all the check boxes.

 “Start” button. Pressing this will start all of the selected processes.

 “Stop” button. Pressing this will stop all the selected processes.

 “Exit” button. Pressing this will end your remote session. Any processes still running will also be terminated.

"Page Operator" button. Pressing this button will play a prerecorded message in the control room to alert the operator.

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Using the controls.

If you press the  button, checks marks will appear in all the default boxes except a few auxiliary processes which must be started explicitly. 

Conversely, pressing the  button removes all the check marks.   It is worth starting all the remote processes at least once to familiarize you with what is available.  You may find that you do not need all of the processes, in which case they can be shut down individually.  If the network throughput into your site is sluggish, you may also choose to shut down all but the most essential screens. 

To start the processes identified by check marks in the boxes above, press the  button. 

If you want to stop some of the processes, first press the  button to remove any remaining checks, then check the specific processes you want to stop, and press the  button. 

To stop the entire Xremote session, push the  button, then log out of your original window by typing "<control-d>" or "logout."  Please remember to stop your remote session as soon as you are finished observing.

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What you get:

Depending on your choices, up to 17 windows will begin to appear on your screen. Some of these screens may appear different because of different features at each site.

 

Catalog Tool: 

This will display the position of sources on various Az/El and time grids.  Source catalogs in your directory as well as the ARO standard catalogs are accessible.  You can use this tool to plan your observations and to display when sources are up. To bring up the control menu for this tool, move the mouse arrow to the interior of the window, hold down on the right button and pull to the desired menu selection.

 

 Receiver Chart Display: 

 

Condar Window: 

This is just a terminal window for continuum data analysis.  You type “condar” in this window to start the UniPOPS CONDAR program. This program will start its own graphics window. This window shows a condar graphic window after reducing a five point observation.

 

This window presents a real‑time, automatic display of each observing scan within moments of the completion of the scan.  Both spectral line and continuum observations are displayed.  Utility observations, such as five‑points, focus checks, etc., are reduced automatically.  The results of the analysis are transmitted to the operator.  This window can be resized with the mouse.  When Dataserv starts, an additional icon will appear labeled OTF Gridder.  This icon will pop open to display on-the-fly images when that observing mode is in use.  Do not kill the OTF Gridder window even if you do not plan to make OTF maps; doing so will kill Dataserv altogether. This display is a view of the 12 Meter Dataserv reducing a pointing scan.

 

DataBrowse: 

DataBrowse is an off-line version of Dataserv.  While Dataserv is always attached to the incoming data stream from the telescope, DataBrowse can be used to peruse previously recorded data.  It provides a very fast way to review the data on disk.  It is particularly useful in quick look displaying of spectral line OTF maps. DataBrowse does not provide publication grade results; you must use Line, Condar or Class for that. It is only a quick look tool. This shows the interface from the SMT.

 

Datacntrl: 

This is just the interface portion of Databrowse (see above), that talks to the on-line Dataserv process. It allows adjustments to be made to Dataserv. (i.e. which filters back ends to use, which channels to integrate, etc). This is normally only used by the operator. This shows the interface from the 12 Meter.

 

Diskspace: 

This window is a display of the various disk drive capacities. The three rightmost gauges show the capacity of the data files. This display is only mildly useful to people doing intense OTF mapping.

 

Line / Class Window: 

This is just a terminal window for spectral line analysis.  Within this window, type line to start the UniPOPS LINE program. Alternatively, you may type “class” in this window if you wish to use the GILDAS software package. Both packages will start their own graphics window. The UniPOPS line graphics window is shown at left.

 

Monitor Display: 

This shows error and status messages seen by the operator. 

 

Operator Log:

This is a scrolling text file that gives a summary of observations with similar information to that recorded manually by the telescope operator on his log sheets.  Configuration information such as filter bank changes appears as single-line entries in the automated log.

 

Rambo: 

This is the off line version of Rambo. It is useful for watching the setup screens that the operator is using. No telescope control can be achieved from this display. This window shows the Rambo display from the SMT.

 

Status Display: 

This shows the on‑line status monitor (with telescope setup information) as seen on the screen at the telescope.

 

Weather Chart Display: 

This shows the temperature, barometric pressure, and relative humidity on one screen, the zenith opacity of the 225 GHz tipping radiometer on a second screen, and wind speed, direction, and a rain marker on a third screen.  The display cycles automatically among the three screens or a specific screen can be displayed via a pull‑down menu button on the top of the window.  Results for the last 24 hours are presented.  This window can be resized with the mouse.  The pull‑down menu also allows the display of 4 satellite weather photos from the visual, IR, water vapor‑sensitive band, and a surface analysis weather map, which includes a radar precipitation summary.  You can kill these extra weather map image windows by hitting a "q" or the spacebar with the mouse arrow inside the weather map windows.

 

Xgpoint:

Program to show you results of pointing scans. Select 'AutoPoint.dat" and then press "Load File". This will load in all pointing results in the current archive. Next, select the receiver you are using by right-clicking on the receiver name button. All this does is set the frequency range for that receiver so the sorting process only retrieves the correct points. You may further refine the selection process by changing the date fields, time fields or frequency range. Once you are satisfied with the selection criteria, press the "Sort Data" button to select only those pointings. Xgpoint will then llist the selected pointings in the right most list widgets. Under the "Plot Choice" frame, pressing the various plot formats will give graphic plots of the data. Pressing the "Hardcopy" button will pull up an additional window that allows you to pick where to send the Postscript output. Once properly filled out, press the "Print" button and then click the mouse on which window you want a hardcopy of. (As of this writing, Nov 09, 2005, only Az vs. El, and El vs. El works properly for hardcopies)

 

Xhchat:  

Use this to carry on an electronic conversation ("E-Chat") with the telescope operator.

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If your network connection is very slow, than the very least you should run are the following programs:

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Stopping an Xremote session: 

After you have finished your remote observing session, please stop all the remote processes. 

You have two options here.  You can press the  button on the Xremote screen which will stop all processes and remove the control menu. 

Alternatively, press the  button, then press the  button.  This will stop all the default remote windows, but leave the menu screen operative.  Please note that killing the Xremote window by itself using the window manager will not kill the other windows; they run as independent processes.   To conclude your remote observing session, type “exit” in the original window.

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Making Remote Hardcopies:

From UniPOPS (Condar and Line)

There are two options for routing UniPOPS hardcopies to your local site.  Approach 1 is easy but tedious if you are making a lot of hardcopies.  Approach 2 is automatic but requires some UNIX savvy, may open a security hole on your remote host, and it can tie up the unipops program while the graphics file is being printed.