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New Telescope Control System Arrives at the Coude...(1Sep92)
Feed
(from KPNO, NOAO Newsletter No. 31, 1 September 1992)

Long time users of the Coude Feed telescope will recall the great
improvement in performance of the telescope when the last new control
system was installed in 1987: the telescope pointed well and was
incredibly well-behaved compared to the FORTH operating system. We are
hopeful that the "new" new control system installed at the Feed this
summer will achieve similar success!

The new control system is similar in architecture to the 2.1-m system.
The telescope is actually controlled by a Heurikon computer, and the
human interface to the program is provided by windows, implemented
using the "OPEN LOOK" standard on an NCD terminal. The advantages of
the new system are 1) much improved pointing and tracking, 2) a
graphical user interface which we hope will be easier to learn and
faster to use, 3) better access to star caches and catalogs, 4)
compatibility with other telescopes on the mountain, and 5) better
maintainability.

The new telescope control system includes the basic functions needed to
observe at the Coude Feed telescope, including opening and initializing
the telescope, entering coordinates and selecting stars from star
caches, acquiring stars, "zeroing" the coordinates, tracking, guiding,
and setting the grating. Star caches from the retiring control system
have been recovered and are available still with the new star cache
utility. A user's manual ("A Quick Guide to the New Coude Feed Control
System") is available in the KPNO Operations Support Office and at the
telescope. On-line help is also available right on the screen during
operations using a variety of help buttons and keystrokes--no need to
fumble through the manual!

The switch controlling the grating drive motor power has been rewired.
The grating switch in the control room works exactly as before except
that the grating will not `jump' when the motor is turned on or off. No
longer will users have to toggle this switch in order to get an exact
grating position!

Several Coude Feed observers in the spring and summer generously
consented to test the new system, and we have streamlined the user
interface and ironed out many of the wrinkles our guinea pigs
uncovered. Their comments and suggestions led to substantial
improvements to the control system, and we appreciate their help.

D'Anne Thompson, Kim Gillies, Caty Pilachowski

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