R. Millan-Gabet IOTA run log -- April29 - May 14 IONIC-3T beam combiner -------------- UT 03 May 2002 -------------- * Delay1 in TA * observe: YUMa, ra=12, dec=+55, V=8.5 - 22:25 pm alignment done. re-adjusted IONIC xy, images were 2x2 pixels, now 1x1. note: C telescope about 3x fainter than others (on PICNIC) LD1 = 590.0142 cm, LD2 = 1009.9589 cm - 11:25 pm fringes found: SD1_Offset = -1.896 cm, SD2_Offset = 0.060 cm NLoops=2, NReads=4 StarTracker: ~500du @ 4ms iota0 -> iota4 - 11:55 pm calibrator: Chi UMa LD1 = 550 cm, LD2 = 1200 cm got fringes on D1+F (SD1_Off = -1.8794 cm but not on the other 2 channels ... TC is almost 0! HA ~ +3, dec=+50, vignetting? note: TC on startracker is about same as other 2 ... usually x2 brighter ... note: fiber_explorer still crashes sometimes with error: could not memory map the device BT_ENOMEN: Insufficient resources. in spite of unmap() code added in vxcom_all.cpp as suggested by Wallace ... - 1:00 am go back to YUMa to verify fluxes: (HA~+2) TC is x10 fainter than other 2 on PICNIC! on startracker about 500du as before and as TA&TB - decide to use fiber_explorer to re-optimize D2 beam IDL frozen core dumped OT core dumped! good time for a break ... * 2:30 am, rebooted 3 cpus and restarted everything (previous attempts w.o. rebooting resulted in hanging daq and OT) * observe: chi Cyg, ra=20, dec=+33, H=-1.5 TC still contributing almost no signal to PICNIC re-peaked fiber on SD2, previous position was way off: now TC contributes much more signal! (earlier, maybe I did a bad yaw adjustment, or this new fiber position may just be due to different angle from saturating CCD, tint=10ms) LD1 = 170.0031 cm, LD2 = 600.0034 cm startracker: ~2000du @ 4ms (TC brightest now) (reducing tint had no big effect on PICNIC signals) found fringes: SD1_Off = -1.9118 cm, SD2_Off = 0.0525 cm cool!: on short baselines fringes very clear, but barely visible on AB baseline NReads = 4, NLoops = 1 seeing seems to have degraded: more OPD motion and pistoned fringes ... iota5 -> iota10 matrix data: iota11 -> iota14 - 4:30 am calibrator: Alf Vul LD1 = 20.0070 cm, LD2 = 649.9948 cm startracker: ~1500du @ 4 ms fringes found: SD1_Off = -1.888 cm, SD2_Off = 0.0935 cm NReads = 4, NLoops = 1 iota15 -> iota19 matrix data: iota20 -> iota22: DAQ crash during file 22 ... matrix data: iota23 -> iota26 (not sure this is working properly, I don't really see one star at a time on the star tracker ...) * 5:00 am try to test COAST fringe tracker for EP quit IDL DAQ reboot CPU2 login as EP and run DAQ from his directory run observe re-acquire fringes: OK default fringe tracker (COAST) not finding fringes ... hitting lock has no effect verify threshold parameters: OK not finding fringes IDL and DAQ frozen quit IDL & try again: nada * 5:30 am: bright outside: QUIT -------------- UT 04 May 2002 -------------- * change configuration from A=D1 to B=D1 * Beam combinr offsets used: (see UMass ICS/OT Manual) AB = -162.01 AC = -277.73 BC = -115.72 * 10:15 pm search on HR5015, ra=13, dec=4.8, V=5, M1III, H=0.9 star_tracker: ~3000du @ 10ms ------------------------------------------ found D1+F fringe: SD1_Offset = -1.6050 cm ------------------------------------------ VERY good seeing & high vis & high SNR [from now on always keep D1+F fringe while searching on SD2] search +-2cm on SD2, nothing note: SD2 beam (TC) has ~1/7 PICNIC flux of others ... try to improve using fiber_explorer note: SD2 beam in front of fiber is very non-centrally peaked!! out of delay range * 12:00 am looked through system for possible alignment problem with TC: seems OK looked at image of SD2 fiber (w. alignment telescope focused at infinity): seems OK, compared with that of SD1 and they are similar this is strange, if IONIC SD2 parabola is not out of focus, then it could be the C telescope focus ... what else? * 1:00 am search on HR6603, ra=17, dec=4, V=2.8, K2III, H=0.2 star_tracker: ~3000du @ 10ms I cannot get SD2 beam to contribute better than 1/5 of others fiber_explorer consistently shows very non-centrally peaked beam at IONIC parabola focus (one can move piezos by 100s du and essentially not change the flux on PICNIC), not the case with the other beams. because I am worried about the loss on contrast due to the 1/5 unbalance (should be small ...) I search slowly and go over some spots several times. * 4:00 am ------------------------------------------ found D2+F fringe: SD2_Offset = +2.3740 cm ------------------------------------------ recorded some data with the 3 fringes: iota0 (fringe tracker losses lock halfway through for some reason) iota1 (ocasional small but noticeable SD2 oscillations) iota2 (good data) * 4:30 am out of range of delay. QUIT. ----------- UT May 5 02 ----------- * Delay1 in TB * 7:30 pm script from previous night was not saved ...? also, delay_sys always editable ... SD1 beam: sec & yaw light coincide SD2 beam: not exactly, ~1mm off looking through AT try to look at SD2 beam alignment: cannot simultaneously be centered on SD2 mirror & LD2 baffle, and only control is exit mirror. whatt we find is the best compromise between the two. is SD2 dihedral mis-aimed? still not good lights on SD2 dih & LD baffle (in & out) ... difficult to do this. * 8:35 pm go for alp Boo: known diameter, good for calibration check ra = 14, dec = +19, V = -0.04, K1III, H = -2.4 using star tracker diaphragm: ~1cm pupil barely out of saturation @ 4ms fiber_explorer: SD1 FWHM = 1295x1103du SD2 FWHM = 1727x2057du Fix FWHM = 800x500du (fits done at 100du/step) * 9:45 pm LD1 = 300cm, LD2 = 640cm Nloops = 1, NReads = 2 using warm ND in front of PICNIC ... lots of problems with: star tracking reliably (maybe because of diaphragm) SDs hitting each other because of my errors and taking a long time to recover searched fringes unsucessfully, eventually realized that PICNIC flux on TC & TA were 10x fainter than TB using fiber_explorer recovered some flux to about 3x difference PICNIC fluxes now are: TA=50du, TB=150du, TC=50du (net, and accumulated for the nreadsxnloops) ... LD1 = 300cm, LD2 = 770cm * 11:35 pm fringes found, finally! SD1_Offset = -1.561cm, SD2_Offset = 2.276cm nice data, fringes seen only in 2 short baselines, as expected iota0 -> iota10 matrix data: iota11 -> iota14 * 12:45 calibrator: ups Boo, ra=14, dec=15, V=4.0, K5III, H=0.6 star tracker: ~2000du @ 4ms, diaphragm fully open of course, due to different star tracker condition, I had to go find the PICNIC signals again using fiber_explorer LD1 = 300cm, LD2=1020cm remove warm ND from PICNIC Nloops=1, Nreads=2, weak signal on D2+F SD1_Offset = -1.587cm, SD2_Offset = 2.361cm iota15 -> iota20 matrix data: iota21 -> iota24 save some data with NLoops=2, NReads=2, for higher SNR on D2+F iota25 -> iota28 matrix data: iota29 -> iota32 * take a break, I need some vegetarian chicken and a cigarette * 2:20 am go for HR5879, ra=15, dec=+18, V=4.1, M0III, H=0.5 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~2000du @ 4ms LD1 = 280cm, LD2 = 955cm NLoops=2, NReads=2 PICNIC signals: TA=40du, TB=100du, TC=20du NLoops=2, NReads=4 SD1_Offset = -1.587cm, SD2_Offset = 2.375cm nice data (sometimes strong piston noise seen in PS of low freq. channels) iota33 -> iota37 matrix data: iota38 -> iota41 * 3:00 am go for HR5889, ra=16, dec=+26, V=4.6, G3.5III, H=2.6 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type HA = +1:50, maybe dome vignetting a bit star tracker: ~600du @ 4ms NLoops=4, Nreads=4 PICNIC signals: TA=40du, TB=110du, TC=20du note: mean background is 70du/(4x4) = 4du LD1 = 40cm, LD2 = 920cm SD1_Offset = -1.593cm, SD2_Offset = 2.361cm data OK ... scanning kind of slow for the atmosphere iota42 -> iota43 matrix data: iota44 -> iota47 repeat with NLoops=3, NReads=4, to scan a little faster iota48 -> iota50 matrix data: iota51 -> iota54 * 3:55 am go for HR6973, ra=18, dec=-08, V=3.8, K3III, H=0.9 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~1500du @ 4ms LD1 = 740cm, LD2 = 1060cm SD1_Offset = -1.621cm, SD2_Offset = 2.361cm Nloops=2, NReads=4 good data, but signal seems low for H mag ... must need piezo re-peaking but I have no time for that iota55 -> iota58 note: small SD2 ocillations may have caused some of the piston noise during some parts of data sets matrix data: iota59 -> iota62 the quality of the fringes just went up significantly, not sure why ... more signal? (thin cloud earlier) so record another set iota63 -> iota64 note: just realized that after last LD move I left ON the switches for tank lights and yaw etc (no lights on) which we noticed in the past introduces extra PICNIC noise ... * 4:30 am test COAST fringer tracker for EP again stop_daq start_daq from EP directory => scanning waveform screwed up stop_daq, reboot CPU2 and restart fringes re-aquired => fringe tracker does not recognize fringes => hitting "lock" naturally does nothing hit "t" to reduce the "threshold", whatever that means in this case => IDL crashed, same as last time. ----------- UT May 6 02 ----------- * clear weather * 7:00 pm alignment & setup completed note: confirmed: my delay_system part of the obs script from las night (with the D1=B config) was not saved ... maybe it is because I put it inside one of those "embedded scripts" ... the ones preceded by a 0- symbol ... ? .............................................. note: PICNIC DAQ in 4,4 mode is showing those large t-domain spikes on pixel 3 we sometimes get. This was not the case yesterday in the same readout mode, with similar nominal signal. The spikes persist even with no star on (suspected related to saturation). It seems to me it is an intermittent flakiness of the CPLD circuit ... must test this more, e.g. what happens if we sample other pixels? these are the modes that show those artifacts: OK NOT_OK 1,1 4,4 1,4 4,3 2,4 3,4 4,2 6,4 5,2 6,2 (not trying all the combinations ... looking for a good one) .............................................. peak PICNIC signal using HR4517 * 8:00 pm go for HR4359, ra=11, dec=15, V=3.3, A2IV, H=3.2 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~1500du @ 4ms LD1=340cm, LD2=920cm crap! move yaw LD2 when I was looking at LD1 ... recovered (I hope) looking through system again on SD2 beam NLoops=4, NReads=2 PICNIC: A=20du, B=30du, C=4du -> 6du re-peaking w. fiber_explorer found fringes! HA = 00:35 SD1_Offset = -1.5925cm, SD2_Offset=2.3756 iota0 -> iota4 note: iota2, lost lock at some point & recovered note: using fringe tracker threshold = 0.5 note: poor SNR, but 3 fringes definitely there note: on D2+F channel fringe tracker almost never sees the fringe, but often centered because it is tarcked on the other two channels changed fringe tracker threshold to 0.25 iota5: lost fringes ... put fringe tracker offset back to 0.5 iota6: again, lost the fringes, oh well ... matrix data: iota7 -> iota10 * 10:45 PM go for HR4737, ra=12, dec=28, V=4.3, K1III, H=2.0 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~1000du @ 4ms LD1=70cm, LD2=850cm NLoops=4, NReads=2 SD1_Offset=-1.5510cm, SD2_Offset=2.3745 nice data iota11 -> iota15 matrix data: iota16 -> iota19 * 11:30 pm go for HR5200, ra=13, dec=15, V=4.0, K5III, H=0.7 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~2000du @ 4ms LD1=330cm, LD2=925cm NLoops=4, NReads=2 SD1_Offset=-1.554cm, SD2_Offset=2.372 nice data, high SNR iota20 -> iota matrix data: iota24 -> iota27 * 12:15 am go for HR5490, ra=14, dec=26, V=4.8, M3III, H=0.4 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~1500du @ 4 ms LD1=150cm, LD2=790cm NLoops=4, NReads=2 SD1_Offset=-1.539cm, SD2_Offset=2.390cm super nice data iota28 -> iota31 matrix data: iota32 -> iota35 * 1:00 am go for HR5889, ra=15, dec=26, V=4.6, G5III, H=2.7 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~1000du @ 4 ms LD1=190cm, LD2=760cm NLoops=4, NReads=2 SD1_Offset=-1.524cm, SD2_Offset=2.393cm poor SNR, particularly on D1+F iota36 -> iota39 matrix data: iota40 -> iota43 * 2:00 am setup for next source, which is faint go to HR5744 to re-peak PICNIC signal w. fiber_explorer: OK *2:45 am go for HR7264, ra=19, dec=-21, V=2.9, F2II-III, K=1.9 source for calibration as a fn of spectral type star tracker: ~2000du @ 4ms LD1=920cm, LD2=1010cm NLoops=4, NReads=2 low SNR, found D1+F fringe but not others low signal re-peak using fiber_explorer: signal increased by big factor! (>5) => really dependent on alignment situation! * 4:00 am HA=-00:30 found fringes SD1_Offset=-1.599cm, SD2_Offset=2.316cm nice data iota44 -> iota47 matrix data: iota48 -> iota51 ----------- UT May 7 02 ----------- * clear * 7:30 pm plan: switch to D1=A configuration, to observe Sam Miras. establish my references: alignment looks pretty good looking mirror-to-mirror through system basically, verify yaw and then that looking centered on corner targets also is centered on secondary targets, for A and B. switch corner mirrors to A=D1 configuration re-establish line of sight looking at corner targets, and adjust aiming of corner mirrors using picomotor control, for A and B: OK * 8:30 pm done setting everything up too late for first Mira target (RS Cnc): HA=+2 * 10:00 pm spent the last couple of hours on misc small problems ... optimize star tracker mirrors because D1 seemed vignetted (1/3 the flux on CCDs of other beams), re-peak IR signals etc go for Mira Y Uma, HA=00:05 note: huge (many arcmins, at edge of TV screen) pointing error on TC ... was not the case for the southern sources. fiber_explorer: D1_FWHM=400x450du, D2_FWHM=700x500du, F_FWHM=400x800du star tracker: ~1000du @ 10ms LD1=580cm, LD2=1000cm NLoops=1, NReads=4 on PICNIC: A=150du, B=80du, C=25du SD1_Offset=-1.893cm, SD2_Offset=0.08cm spectacular data iota0 -> iota4 matrix data: iota5 -> iota8 * 10:25 pm calibrator, I guess, chi UMa, HA=01:25 star tracker: ~2000du @ 4 ms (reduced to avoid saturation) NLoops=1, NReads=4 PICNIC signals about 1/2 of previous source LD1=450cm, LD2=1090cm SD1_Offset=-1.881cm, SD2_Offset=0.100cm nice data iota9 -> iota13 matrix data: iota14 -> iota15: DAQ crash!! restart IDL/DAQ matrix data again: iota16 -> iota19: failed to keep lock on C (iota18) matrix data again again: iota20: failed on A iota21: OK on B iota22: failed on C iota23: dark maybe the DAQ crash put in something screwey in shmem ... clear all telescope offsets in OT, and try again: matrix data: iota24 -iota27 (failed on C, iota26) forget it, do it by hand: iota28: A=D1 open only iota29: B=F open only iota30: C=D2 open only iota31: all shutters closed note after the fact: after this point, because I take matrix data by hand, all files (data & matrix) probably have 100 scans. * 11:30 pm: I have time before next target, go make a pizza. * 12:30 am go for Rx Boo, source, for EP's thesis, HA=00:50 star tracker: ~1500du @ 4ms LD1=60cm, LD2=840cm Nloops=1, NReads=4, warm ND between IONIC lenses SD1_Offset=-1.895cm, SD2_Offset=0.087cm nice data, almost over-resolved on long (AB) baseline iota32 -> iota35 matrix data: only worked on B only: iota37 IDL/DAQ crash: ftrack.pro line 473: Arith error: Floating illegal operand note: this line seems to be a wait,0.1 statement inside the matrix data taking routine ... stop-daq & star-daq continue matrix by hand: iota39: C open only iota40: A open only iota41: all shutters closed * 1:10 am calibrator: rho Boo, HA=01:18 star tracker: ~2500du @ 4ms LD1=180cm, LD2=970cm NLoops=1, NReads=4, removed warm ND somehow the SD carts collided ... re-home & re-track SD1_Off=-1.889cm, SD2_Off=0.072cm nice data iota42 -> iota46 matrix data: iota47: A open only iota48: B open only iota49: C open only iota50: all shutters closed * 2:00 am go for Mira G Her, HA=00:15 star tracker: ~3500du @ 4ms LD1=330cm, LD2=870cm NLoops=1, NReads=4, warm ND between IONIC lenses SD1_Off=-1.891cm, SD2_Off=0.105cm nice data iota51 -> iota55 matrix data: iota56: A open only iota57: B open only iota58: C open only iota59: all shutters closed * 2:30 am calibrator: 12 Iot Dra, HA=01:45 star tracker: ~3200du @ 4ms LD1=680cm, LD2=1160cm NLoops=1, NReads=4, removed warm ND SD1_Off=-1.882cm, SD2_Off=0.09cm nice data iota60 -> iota64 matrix data: iota65: A open only iota66: B open only iota67: C open only iota68: all shutters closed * 3:15 am go for Mira chi Cyg, HA=-01:50 star tracker: ~3000du @ 4ms LD1=170cm, LD2=550cm NLoops=2, NReads=4, 2 warm ND between IONIC lenses SD1_Off=-1.92cm, SD2_Off=0.079cm nice data, high signal, low contrast fringes, resolved out on AB iota69 -> iota74 matrix data: iota75: A open only iota76: B open only iota77: C open only iota78: all shutters closed * 3:55 am calibrator: Alf Vul, HA=-00:50 star tracker: ~2000du @ 4ms LD1=10cm, LD2=550cm NLoops=2, NReads=4, removed warm NDs SD1_Off=-1.893cm, SD2_Off=0.121cm nice data iota79 -> iota83 matrix data: iota84: A open only iota85: B open only iota86: C open only iota87: all shutters closed * 4:30 am: QUIT ----------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT: save ----------------------------------------------------------------- Delay System May 02 ------------------- (all cm) Stations: Name A ne15 B se15 C cent Fixed Delay in: a or b Baseline Delta Vectors: Baseline North East Up AB -0.5730 -0.1289 -0.4498 AC -0.7987 +0.6054 -0.9272 BC -0.2275 +0.7403 -0.4958 Beam Combiner Offsets: AB AC BC A fixed -162.01 -277.73 -115.72 B fixed 55.9528 -164.5131 -220.4836 User Offsets: SD1 SD2 A fixed -1.6 2.4 B fixed -1.9 0.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- UT May 7 02 ----------- * clear * 6:30 pm: all ready, waiting for sun to set to observe RS Cnc, HA=00:20 now! it can't believe the Earth rotates this slowly ... * 7:30 pm: finally ready to star track * 8:45 pm after making mistakes with fiber_explorer (getting the telescopes confused) I am finally taking data go for Mira RS Cnc, HA=02:16 star tracker: ~300du @ 4ms LD1=210cm, LD2=1020cm SD1_Off=-1.895cm, SD2_Off=0.05cm NLoops=1, NReads=2 beautiful data, seems resolved on AB baseline, good seeing iota0 -> iota5 matrix data: iota6 -> iota9 (works fine today) * 9:10 pm calibrator: HR3705, HA=02:30 star tracker: ~saturated @ 4ms LD1=320cm, LD2=1140cm SD1_Off=-1.885cm, SD2_Off=0.076cm NLoops=1, NReads=2 very nice data, seems unresolved iota10 -> iota14 matrix data: iota15 -> iota18 * 9:30 pm test COAST fringe tracker for EP again open loops on OT and stop OPD tracking quit idl/observe stop_daq, re-boot CPU2 login as EP, go into ~/Projects/iota/ppc-scripts/ load_daq (twice), spawn_daq run observe as iota from ~/iotamc, as before run option 4 (corrected scans display, as before) re-acquire fringes, open loop close the OPD loop using default fringe tracker (IOTA): OK recorded data in case this is of interest: iota19 unlock press "c" to change fringe tracker algorithm select "2" for COAST algorithm => IDL crash exit IDL, do stop_daq in EP window => no response quit, re-boot CPU2, and restart normal DAQ: OK * 9:30 pm go get dinner, salad today, boring * 10:30 pm try to determine wether we get enough flux in PICNIC to observe the low mass binaries Damien Segransan is interested in: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- name ra dec epoch mura mudec V/R K sp t GJ570B 14:57:26.5 -21:24:41.5 2000 706.4 -1666.8 6.5 3.8 M2V c GJ570A 14 57 28.0 -21 24 55.7 2000 0.0 0.0 5.7 3.0 K5V (Be carefull, Gl570A is brighter and very close to Gl570BC). t GJ586A 15:28:09.6 -09:20:53.0 2000 49.1 -363.4 50. 6.2 4.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GJ570B: star tracking, trick: at 20 ms, A is ~2000du and B is ~600du, find A and then go a few 4" steps in +X PICNIC: NLoops=6, NReads=1, highest I could get w.o. the artifacts on pixel 3 signal on PICNIC is clearly detected ~ few du, in an average sense record some data: A telescope only: iota20 B telescope only: iota21 (for dark levels use set taken for GJ586A) I had it on telescope C, but accidentally cleared the offsets and lost it, now I can't find it anywhere on the TV, even searching many arcmin! Try many things on C (re-homing, going to other stars etc): nada telescopes A&B: hit a roll limit. this is weird, because the dec=-21 but the HA only +1 ABC roll position is ~63, C is not at a roll limit GJ586A: star tracking: ~300du @ 20ms cannot find it on C telescope PICNIC: NLoops=6, NReads=1 signal on PICNIC is clearly detected ~ few du, in an average sense record some data: A only: iota22 all shutters closed: iota23 B only: iota24 A+B: iota25 * 2:30 am: QUIT note on PICNIC noise: -------------------- at this NL=6,NR=1 mode most of the time during these "observations" I had very well defined narrow noise peak in the power spectrum, which has not been the case during my previous nights observing. This peak drifted in frequency from ~50Hz to ~300Hz in timescales of tens of minutes. Sometimes, it would dissapear completely, and be replaced by smalled peaks all over the place.