[ ] [] [ ] File menu item The menu item File includes possibilities to add comments during observations and for work with a star list and data bases. Comment The dialog for adding a single line user's comment in the mass-file. The comment is appended to the file with a time stamp after finishing the current measurement. Shortcut is [Ctrl]-[C]. Select star The item opens the list specified in the turbina.cfg/General/Inputs/StarData/Star.lst containing 130 stars brighter than 3 mag available for MASS measurements. This file can be replaced by another file having the same format. The displayed list is normally sorted by airmass, but can be resorted by any field (such as: HR number, Name, Hour Angle (HA), Decl. AirMass (restricted to be less than 10), Vmag, Spectrum) by clicking on the field name (header). You can select star by double-click on the star row or by pressing button [Select]. The star information is refreshed in the program at the moment of closing of the window. Aperture WithAperture (from the CFG section Operations/Star Pointing) is set in this moment; the parameter CoordinateSystem specifies the selection between Right Ascension and Hour Angle for displaying. Button 2 on the left border of the program window does the same. Show star The item shows information on selected star. Button 1 [Show] on the left border of the program window does the same. Information for pointing at the selected star contains the Name, coordinates (HA/RA, Decl), Vmag, Spectrum and comment. The field HA can be changed by field RA depending on flag General/Inputs/CoordinateSystem in the turbina.cfg file. The information is updated every second. PlayBack Load file(s) for recomputing the output results based on the count data. The file *.mass.in is selected with the dialog. This file must be copied from the output results file *.mass and, optionally, some parameters (e.g. AccumTime in a Normal mode) may be changed to see sensitivity of the output to this modification. Also, the re-processing of data may be done after the TURBINA algorithms modification. Output mass-file will be put in the same directory (specified in turbina.cfg as General/Inputs/PlayBackDir) as *.mass.out. PlayBack is a CPU-time consuming operation. After finishing the job, the graphic results are displayed and the context of the program is switched back to the pre-PlayBack state after user presses File/End PlayBack. Exit Exit the program, the instrument is parked. Shortcut is [Ctrl]-[Q]. Measurements menu item The menu item Measurements contains several commands for making observations. All commands run immediately except for the Select Scenario. Normal Immediately run Normal mode measurement of scintillation indices. The aperture WithAperture is set, usually it is WorkAperture. Counters are in the "Normal" mode determined by the parameters from the section Operations/Normal mode in CFG. During AccumTime the measurements are done by blocks of the duration BaseTime, a total of AccumTime/BaseTime blocks. After the measurements are finished, the settings remain effective. For every block, average count value and scintillation indices are computed. The results are saved in the file *.mass (see Sect. [*]). The individual counts from blocks are saved in the binary count-file if the scientific count-saving is enabled ( Operations/Common/SciCountSave=On in CFG). For the whole AccumTime measurement, the average values of the statistical moments (indices) and the estimates of their errors are computed and saved. Then the integral parameters of the turbulence profile and the profile itself are computed. The results are displayed on the screen and saved in the file *.mass. Generalized Run Generalized mode measurements of scintillation indices. First, the aperture WithAperture is set, normally it is WorkAperture. The counters are in the "Normal" mode, but Exposition and BaseTime can be different from the corresponding parameters in the Normal mode, they are defined in the section "Generalized" of the CFG. An odd-numbered block is accumulated. Then the aperture WithSecond is set (usually it is "ConjugLens1"). During the change of aperture, the new exposure time SecondTime is set (if different from BaseTime). An even-numbered block is accumulated. The aperture WithAperture is set again. A total of AccumTime/(BaseTime+SecondTime)+1 odd-numbered blocks and AccumTime/(BaseTime+SecondTime) of even-numbered blocks are accumulated. Counts are saved if enabled (see Normal mode). For every block, the average values, dispersions, differential dispersions and the corresponding scintillation indices are computed. The results are saved in the file *.mass. For the whole AccumTime measurement, the average values of the statistical moments and the estimates of their errors are computed and saved. Then the integral parameters of the turbulence profile and the profile itself are computed, this time including the whole-atmosphere parameters. The results are displayed on the screen and saved in the file *.mass. Center control This procedure sets the WithAperture aperture and shifts the wheel by ScanStart micro-steps. The counter settings are the same as for "Normal mode" but the micro-exposure time is set from the Star Centering section of CFG and the Base-time sequence length is n=|ScanStart- ScanFinish|+1. The synchronous movement is started for n steps with simultaneous counting. Then, after a 5ms pause, the backward movement is started for -n steps with counting. This cycle lasts for 2*n*Exposition milliseconds. Number of scans is [tex2html_wrap_inline221]. After accumulation of scans the average scan with forward and backward scans merged is constructed. The positions (motor micro-step number) at which the star appears and disappears behind the centering aperture edges are measured on this merged scan. Then they are converted into the star shifts along the Right Ascension (shiftRA) and Declination ( shiftDec) direction which are shown on the display and saved in the *.mass-file. Transformation of scanning results to the RA-Dec coordinate system uses the parameters PositionAngle and Mirror from the section Operations/Star Centering of CFG. In case the Autoguiding mode is activated ( Operations/Common/WithAutoGuide is "Yes"), then the correcting procedure is started. It passes the following steps: 1. Shift the telescope by -shiftRA*RA_PARAM by Right Ascension and by -shiftDec*DEC_PARAM by Declination. Here RA_PARAM and DEC_PARAM are some regularizing parameters, both equal to 0.9 currently. 2. Measure the star position again. In the star is within the so called ``Central zone'' (a parameter in Operations/Star centering section of CFG), then procedure exits with success. If not, it goes to the p.1, up to 3 iterations. If after the last iteration the star is still out of ``Work Zone'' (another parameter WorkZone in the same section), it exits as unsuccessful and, if started from the scenario, the latter stops. Focus control This procedure is identical to Center Control, but its parameters are defined in the section "Focus control". After the measurements and production of the merged scan, the latter is reduced by a special utility measuring the sharpness which is converted into the defocus measure. The conversion is made linearly using the parameters Sharp0 and Scale (derivative of defocus by sharpness near the focus) in the section Operations/Focus control of CFG. Background The sky background is estimated. The command uses two parameters from the section Operations/ Background measurement of the CFG. We use the method "Aperture Shift" now: the aperture is shifted by ApertureShift steps leftwards, then rightwards. The signal is accumulated during AccumTime, the center is corrected with the coefficients determined by the command Tools/Background correction and are saved in the CFG, to be used as default values if the observer accepts it. Flux estimation The brightness of a star (or any other light source) is estimated. Accumulation time is set by the parameter FluxEstimationTime from the section Operations/Common. The current values of fluxes and their errors are displayed, their final values are saved in the *.mass file. Shortcut is [Ctrl]-[F]. Select Scenario Select a script from the list specified in the Operations/Scenario section of the CFG. At the startup, the script specified in the Operations/ Initialization section is loaded. Run scenario Execute the selected script (also duplicated by the button 3). Stop scenario Abort the current script (duplicated by the button 4). It waits until the current mode is finished. If the script is re-started after this, its starts from the beginning of the script. Pause scenario Suspend the current script (e.g. to re-center the star), duplicated by the button 5. It waits until the current mode is finished. After the second press of the button, the script execution is resumed. Tests menu item The item Test of the main menu contains three tests of the instrument and software. The parameters of these tests are specified in the section Operations/Tests of the CFG. Exchange test Exchange test consists of two parts. First part: all counting modules are tested in the "Normal mode" (one block each). Each module is activated in turn (first, the old master is disabled, then a new master is enabled). Second part: during the ExchangeTestTime (or a total of ExchangeTestTime/BaseTime blocks) all 4 counters are tested in the working configuration. Normal mode is restored and kept active after the test finishes. The results of the tests (percentage of the packets loss or "Ok") are displayed on the screen and saved in the data file. Detectors test Check the PMT sensitivity. The aperture WithAperture is set. The control light with the level TestFlux is activated and, after a small pause (to warm up the LEDs) the measurements are done during DetectorTestTime. The control light is then switched off. The previous aperture is restored. The measured fluxes must correspond to the TestCounts to within a FluxTolerance relative error. All fluxes in the program refer to 1 ms accumulation time (i.e. scaled to 1 ms if the actual time is different). The counts are displayed on the screen. If they do not correspond to TestCounts, the message is given: "Invalid fluxes". The resulted non-Poisson parameters of detectors are also checked to correspond to the NonPoisson parameters of counters (in device.cfg to within a NonPoisTolerance relative error. Statistic test For Statistic Test, the counters are set to "Normal mode". The intensity of the control light is set to the level specified in the parameter StatisticLight of the section Operations/Tests and modulated with Modulation relative amplitude. Before measurements, the pause is done to stabilize the flux of the LED. Test lasts for Normal/AccumTime seconds. When the test is finished, the control light is switched off and the previous aperture is restored. The signals are processed as in the normal mode, but additionally the amplitude of the flux modulation is determined (the currents of the LED modulation specified by the parameter Modulation may not correspond exactly to the flux modulation). The format of the displayed and saved results is identical to the normal mode. The expected index values, computed from the measured modulation levels (middle, high, low) for comparison, are displayed and stored in the file in the same format as measured indices. (The comparison of the expected and observed indices - success or not - is to be implemented.) Tools menu item Item Tools in the main menu contains the commands for auxiliary measurements, alignment, control, etc. Initialization Initialization: initial settings of the instrument are loaded/activated as specified in the Operations/ Initialization section. Initialization must be repeated after change of some parameters through the Config item of the main menu and after "Parking" function. Detectors counting meas. Detector counting measurement: the count rate of PMTs as a function of HV and pulse discrimination threshold is measured. The parameters are specified in the section Operations/Detectors counting measurement. The counters are in the Normal mode, the aperture WithAperture (normally ControlPrism) is set. There are three embedded loops. The outer loop is over the light fluxes (as listed in Light). The dark counting if needed should be specified explicitly (with the light level 0). The intermediate loop is over the HV levels, and the innermost loop is over the discrimination level. After each HV setting, a pause of 3 s is made. Every single measurement is accumulated during the BaseTime, and every point in the (L,V,D) space is measured during the AccumTime, a total of AccumTime/BaseTime repeated measurements. When the loops are over, the control light is switched off, the previous aperture is restored. For every point, the average flux value, its error and a non-Poisson coefficient are computed. The resulting table is written to the file and displayed on the screen. Detectors statistic meas. Detector statistic measurement: a procedure to measure the main statistical parameters of the detector, its non-linearity coefficient and non-Poisson coefficient. The measurement parameters are specified in the section Operations/Detectors statistics measurement. Counters are in the Normal mode. The control aperture is set. The loop over light flux list Light is done. Every point is accumulated during AccumTime after warming of the LED for 30 s; the individual counts may be save in a count-file for technical needs (if Operations/Common/TechCountSave=On in CFG). Then the control light is switched off, the current aperture is restored. For every point, the average flux value, its error and a non-Poisson coefficient are computed. The resulting table is written to the file. The parameters are determined separately for each channel. Centering... Interactive centering of the star. The Star Centering procedure is made continuously while the observer corrects manually the telescope attitude. Each RefreshAccumTime, the star shifts relative to the center of the field of view (determined in a sense of Aperture Center procedure) are displayed in arcseconds as a pair of huge font numbers. After finishing the manual centering, the button [Finish] should be pressed. Track Calibration... Determine the parameters SpeedRA, SpeedDec for the Center Control procedure. Speed (''/sec) is an angular shift of the telescope which the mounting "makes" during the 1-second pressing on the correcting "button". It assumes that the speed of correction is not changed on the mounting. The speed is measured separately for RA- and Dec-directions. These parameters are specified in the section Operations/Star centering. The procedure of measuring SpeedRA, SpeedDec is given below. It starts with a prompt the observer to set the star in the center of the diaphragm. Then each step is repeated in both directions: 1. The backlash is canceled by some long enough correction along the selected direction and the same correction in opposite direction. As a result, the star may shift by at most the backlash length. 2. The star position is measured by the scanning by the CenteringHole (as in Star Centering mode). It is (shiftRA0, shiftDec0). 3. The telescope is shifted in the same direction as during the last backlash-canceling movement during some time GAP. 4. Star position is measured again as (shiftRA1, shiftDec1). The speeds are then: SpeedRA = (shiftRA1-shiftRA0) / cos(Dec) / GAP; SpeedDec = (shiftDec1-shiftDec0) / GAP. 5. The telescope is shifted back to move the star closer to the center of the diaphragm (de-centering is then at most the backlash value). The result is displayed and accepted (in program and CFG) by pressing [Accept] button. Background correction... Determine the correction coefficient to the background measured off-axis. The parameters are specified in the section Operations/Background measurement. The observer is asked to point the telescope to the bright sky. The aperture WithAperture is set. Average fluxes are measured during the AccumTime in the following positions of the aperture: on-axis, shifted by the +ApertureShift, on-axis, shifted by --ApertureShift, on-axis. This cycle is repeated twice. The ratio of the background flux in the center to the background flux for off-axis aperture (average for both sides) is computed. When [Accept] is pressed, the newly determined coefficients will be used throughout the measurement session and saved in CFG if "SaveCFG" is invoked. Whenever a background is measured in the ApertureShift mode, its values in opposite aperture shifts are averaged and multiplied by the above correction coefficient Correction. Aperture Center... Centering correction determines the points of appearance (X1) and disappearance (X2) of the star on the scan while scanning the on-axis star. Made with settings Measurements/Star centering; there is a message before starting scanning: "Put the star in the center of the diaphragm". Press [Continue] to start measurements. The measurement is done the same way as in Center Control. The zero-point centering parameters CenterX1 and CenterX2 are determined. They are used in Center Control mode and Interactive centering procedure as a reference point. Aperture adjust... Aperture adjust: fine correction of position of any aperture by visual inspection or by the flux maximization. One needs: a) select aperture (it is set after this); b) move the aperture step-by-step in "+" or "-" direction (left or right); c) after finishing, press [Accept]. The previously set aperture is restored on exit from the dialog. The correction value obtained is added (with a sign) to the correction known before and written in the CFG upon selection of "SaveCFG". The range of correction is [tex2html_wrap_inline231] micro-steps. Talk Talk - dialog window for sending the commands of the low level to micro-controllers for debugging purposes and abnormal states. The modules replies are shown in the same window. Break accumulation Stop the current measurement after the end of the Base-time count series acquisition. Parking Parking - to shut down the device in agreement with section Parking parameters (e.g close the main shutter, HV Off etc). Done automatically before the (normal) exit from the program. The control is given completely to the manual buttons unit on the device side. In parking state, the powering of MASS instrument can be turned off and on. To continue the measurements with a program, it is obligatory to do the Initialization. Control menu item Control - a folder for making the operations with a device without changing the CFG. 1. Door Open/Close - open or close the main entrance shutter ("door") 2. HV On/Off - switch the high voltage unit (see the initialization procedure after the program startup) 3. Safety On/Off - enable/disable the shutting down the high voltage upon the detection of the too high photo-current in any channel. 4. Buttons lock/unlock - block or allow the manual device operations with three buttons on its side 5. Turn illumination on/off - switch the lighting of apertures for viewing 6. Turn light on/off - switch the control light for self-testing 7. Set illumination level - set the intensity of lighting with a logarithmic intensity step 8. Set light level - modify the relative intensity of the control light 9. Set HV - set the new value of hight voltage in Volts 10. Set Aperture - set the aperture from the provided list. Current aperture is shown in grey color 11. Null-point - for the device to search for the zero-point (reference of the aperture wheel). After this, the error message about "Apertures module" may appear; press [Ignore] then. Config menu item Config - change the program and device parameters situated in the CFG. The sub-menu structure mimics the one of the configuration file, the headings repeat the names of sections. The dialogs themselves are not shown in the figure of Menu Tree. The position "SaveCFG" is added in the bottom. Preferences Preferences - change the text window parameters ("Text Window Settings" subsection) and of the graphic window ("Graphic Window Settings" subsection). Both allow to define manually the dimensions of the program and graphics windows in X-display units or put "auto" for default "optimal" settings. Font sizes should be adjusted experimentally (depend strongly on X-window settings). Graphic settings include additionally the choice of the axes and background colors from a list and the size of the datum point on a graph. General General - change the following variable values: * program version, version number, date of introduction, who modifies the program; * configuration file version, its number and date, author of modification; * observatory/site name, longitude of the site: h,m,s, latitude of the site: d,m,s, time zone, altitude above the sea level, location of MASS, elevation of MASS above ground; position angle of the MASS instrument (measured to the East from the northern direction to the direction "Aperture - Segmentator" of the MASS-device); * input data: the list of stars for measurements, file with a spectral response of the detector, weight functions directory for atmospheric calculations; * output data: temporary data placement, output data directory (mass- and count-files) and logs placement. Devices Devices - change following variables: Counters: placement of detectors (modules) in channels of MASS (related to the beams from the segmentator unit of MASS). The detector discrimination level, non-linearity (dead-time) parameters and non-poissonity parameter are specified in the file device.cfg for a specific counter attached to the given channel; Apertures: placement of specific apertures on the apertures wheel and some parameters describing the optics: diameter/focal length (for holes/lenses, respectively) and the stop position correction in micro-steps. Operations Operations - change a number of parameters in following SubSections: "Common" - default high voltage level, pooling periods, flux estimation integration time, modes of data saving "Initialization" - initial device status after 12V power on "Star Pointing" - aperture to set during the change of target star and the coordinate system - Right Ascension (RA) or Hour Angle (HA) - for star position display. "Normal mode" - parameters of the Normal mode of measurements "Generalized" - additional parameters for generalized mode of operation "Focus control" - parameters for focus control operation "Star centering" - parameters for star centering operation "Background measurement" - parameters for background measurement "Detectors counting measurement", "Detectors statistics measurement", "Tests" - for corresponding modes "Parking" - the device status upon the parking "Scenario" - editing the measurement scenarios Display Display - enable or disable the output of indices and atmospheric parameters and turbulence profile in the main results window and in graphic window. Six kinds of output parameters exist: Scan - show the merged scan obtained in Star Centering or Focusing modes Flux - show the stellar fluxes in channels in Normal or Generalized modes. The main results window shows the actual average counts per millisecond. The graphics shows the plots reflecting the time dependence of the flux converted to the zero magnitude. For this, the V-magnitude of the star from the input catalogue is used together with its B-V color to convert the V-magnitude into the MASS photometric system. Thus, the graphic curve of fluxes (called "F_*") reflects the history of atmospheric transparency during the night and must not (in principle) be very sensitive to the change of the target star. Index - show the normal or differential indices DESI - show the differential exposure indices Integral - show the integral atmospheric parameters (seeing, isoplanatic angle etc.) Profile - show the restored turbulence profile. Save CFG SaveCFG - force the changes of the working parameters made during the program execution to be saved in the configuration file Help menu item Help - a brief help on the program usage: actions which are performed by the system on selection of menu items.