- A few weeks before an LLAMAS run, email the observer a notice about
the LGS target list. Sample email is below:
Dear Mark Ammons,
You are scheduled for LLAMAS nights on Aug 19-23. Please submit your LGS
target list to mh-laser@ucolick.org by August 14th so we can process it
and send it to US Space Command for clearance.
Contact me if you have any questions about what should be included
in the target list or other LLAMAS target list clearance issues.
Elinor
- The observer should email a target list in the following format.
(Note: Keck format target lists are also accepted, but that format
is not discussed here). The TargetName should have no spaces and
the RA and Dec may be space or colon separated. Any target that
does not include the lgs=1 key will not be cleared. Note that only
one of the guide star-science target pair needs to be cleared
(typically in Keck style lists only the science target is cleared
and the TT star(s) are not, Lick lists will often have everything cleared).
TargetName RA Dec Epoch lgs=1
for example:
PKS0736+01 07:36:42.51 01:44:00.24 1950 lgs=1
M10 16 57 06.0 -04 06 00 2000 lgs=1
- We take the observer provided target list and add the following
header info. It is ok for most fields to be bogus, e.g. ?? for an unknown
phone number or program, but the Date must be the PST date that the
lasing will occur. The file can be named anything, but I use the following
convention - LGStargetlist_YYYYMonDD.txt, e.g. LGStargetlist_2008Jan19.txt,
where YYYYMonDD is the PST date of lasing. You should put the file
on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/targetLists/ (you don't have to do
this, but it keeps everything organized for everyone if you do).
Observer's name: Gates
Observer's email: egates@ucolick.org
Observer's phone: 8-9610
Program name: Active Galaxies
Date for which list applies: 19 August 2023
Comments:
Target list:
There is now a program to help parse target lists and process them on
nickelvnc: /usr/local/lick/bin/targetListParse.tcl. This will
prompt for the necessary information and allow you to
Browse... for the file. You must also specify whether it is a
Keck or Lick formatted list.
- Space command requires files to be in PRM format. The PRM program
is currently on nickelvnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
Syntax: PRM-LLAMAS targetlist
For example:
PRM-LLAMAS LGStargetlist_2023Aug19.txt
PRM-LLAMAS creates three (or more, if more than 400 targets) output files,
that will be on nickelvnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/PRM/. These files are
- PRM_Lick_LLAMAS_355nm_DDMmmYYYY_For_JDAYddd_AZEL.txt
where DDMmmYYYY is the UT lasing date, e.g. 20Aug2023, and
ddd is the julian date of lasing.
- PRM_Lick_LLAMAS_355nm_DDMmmYYYY_For_JDAYddd_RADEC.txt
where DDMmmYYYY is the UT lasing date, e.g. 20Aug2023, and
ddd is the julian date of lasing.
- YYYYmmmDDUT.txt where YYYYmmmDD is the UT date of lasing,
e.g. 2023Aug20UT.txt.
Note, if the targets are Fixed Field of View (FFOV) positions, there is a different PRM program: PRM_FFOV-LLAMAS. FFOV targetlists need to be manually created and you should refer to an example file in /u/user/observers/lgs/targetLists/FFOV_example_target_list.txt
Syntax: PRM_FFOV-LLAMAS targetlist
For example:
PRM_FFOV-LLAMAS FFOV_targetlist_2023Aug19.txt
- Upload the PRM files to space-track.org
- Log in as mh-laser@ucolick.org
- Click on Files - Upload
- Choose the Lick/PRM/ directory
- Select PRM files to upload.
If necessary due to problems, email the PRM files to space command at
JSpOCSSAOps@vandenberg.af.mil and
UDG_614AOCDet1_SSAOPS@us.af.mil.
Copy mh-laser@ucolick.org as well on the emails.
The target list
should be emailed to space command at least four days in advance of
the lasing date.
(FYI, if you need to phone space command, the number is 805-605-6546)
Sample Email message:
Dear LCH,
Attached are PRM files for Lick Observatory Laser activities for UT
2023 Aug 20-23 (JDays 232-235).
Please email clearances to mh-laser@ucolick.org.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Thank you,
Elinor Gates
408-238-9610
egates@ucolick.org
- On the day of lasing, space command will upload the PAM files to
the mh-laser@ucolick.org account on space-track.org.
Please download and save these files to nickelvnc in
/u/user/observers/lgs/PAM/.
If you get back more than one PAM RADEC file, you will want to concatenate
them into a single file using a command like the following:
cat PAM-RADEC.txt PAM-RADEC2.txt > PAM2023JDay232.txt
This creates a single file for the lsmParse program (see below) to process.
- There are three processing programs to deal with the laser clearances and
create the files for the Laser Shutdown Monitor (lsm). These
programs are on nickelvnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
- lsmParse takes each PAM file and creates the lsm
files.
Syntax: lsmParse PAMfile
Example: lsmParse PAM_Lick_LLAMAS_355nm_12Jul2023_For_JDAY195_AZEL.txt
Example: lsmParse PAM_Lick_LLAMAS_355nm_12Jul2023_For_JDAY195_RADEC.txt
Example: lsmParse PAM_Lick_LLAMAS_355nm_12Jul2023_For_JDAY195_FFOV.txt
- lsmCheck.tcl checks to make sure that every requested target was
cleared (and lists targets cleared, but not requested).
Syntax: lsmCheck lsmUTDate
Example: lsmCheck 2023Jul13UT
- lsmNames.tcl takes the lsm files and renames them according to the
target names provided by the observer in the LGStargetlist file.
Syntax: lsmNames lsmUTDate
Example: lsmNames 2023Jul13UT
Note: lsm files are on nickelvnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ in a
date named subdirectory.
- At the time of lasing, start the Laser Shutdown Monitor
(on nickelvnc, /usr/local/lick/lgs/bin/LSM-LLAMAS.tcl) and make
sure the lsm file for the proper target is loaded.
LSM.tcl looks at the type of target (AzEl, RADec, or FFOV) and its
coordinates, and makes sure the telescope is pointed at the right spot
and the tracking state is correct for the mode. If not, lasing will
be disabled (via the POCLASER keyword).
- If new PAM files are sent after you have processed the previous
ones, you must go to /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ and into the appropriate date
subdirectory and remove all the .lsm files before processing the new
PAM laser shutdowns as above.