Kast Double Spectrograph User's Manual: Arc and Flat-field Lamps

User's Guide to the Kast Double Spectrograph

Table of Contents

Introduction
Quick Reference
Hardware Overview
Common Path
Blue Side
Red Side
Detector Characteristics
Software
Kast Controller
Data Taking System
Position Angle
Arc and Flat-field Lamps
Diagonal Mirror
Kast Focus
Eventsounds
Telescope Offset
Setup and Observing Hints
Setup Procedures
Observing Hints
Calibration Lamp Spectra
Exposure Time Calculator
Data Quicklook
Data Archive
Mt. Hamilton Homepage

Arc and Flat-field Lamps

The arc and flat-field calibration lamps are both controlled from the slinelamp_fe user interface. slinelamp_fe is started by typing slinelamp_fe on either gouda or karnak computers.

The top portion of the GUI controls the arc lamps and the bottom portion the flat-field lamps. Clicking on the "Expand >>" button will bring up a list of available lamps with buttons for turning them on or off.

The lamps are on timers so they will turn themselves off after 30 minutes, unless the timer is reset or a different time span is selected via the "Timer is On" button. "Time Out" is the length of time, in minutes, for which the timer is currently set. "Time Left" is the amount of time left, in minutes, before the lamps are turned off. Please turn off lamps when not in use, as the lifetimes of the arc lamps tend to be short and replacement lamps expensive.

Status messages for the lamps and controller are displayed in the upper portion of the arc or flat-field lamp GUI section.

Figure 1: slinelamp_fe GUI
When the GUI is expanded, the names of the available lamps are displayed. Clicking the name of the lamp will bring up a menu allowing you to turn on or off the lamp, or turn off all lamps (with the exception of the Super-Blue dimmer).

You can define up to two groups or "blocks" of lamps (see Figure 2) to be turned on/off via the "Block is Inactive"/"Block is Active" buttons. These buttons are available when the GUI is "Collapsed", saving screen space for other or more important user interfaces. This is particularly convenient for the arc lamps where multiple different lamps are desirable for wavelength calibrations on the Kast spectrograph red and blue sides.

There are currently three flat-field lamps available: Blue, Red, and Super-Blue. All three are mounted on the Cassegrain secondary mirror housing.

  • The Red lamp is rather dim and red, suitable for wide or intermediate band direct imaging flats.
  • The Blue lamp is much brighter and better suited for dispersed or narrow band direct imaging flat-fields.
  • The Super-Blue lamp is a flat-field lamp whose brightness is controlled through a rheostat. To turn on the lamp, type in the desired dimmer setting (range is 0 to 100; 0 being off and 100 full brightness) and click the "Set" button. Click the "Off" button to turn the lamp off.

Figure 2: Expanded slinelamp_fe GUI
The Functions menu allows access to diagnostic information from the lamp controller as well as the message log window. It also gives you access to the "Exit" command to exit the GUI.

Figure 3: slinelamp_fe Functions Menu

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Last modified: Mon Mar 30 15:22:31 PDT 2009