}

TUI

TUI is a user interface for the APO 3.5m telescope. It runs on unix, MacOS and possibly on Windows.

Starting and Stopping TUI

  • On unix, type "tui" at the command-line prompt. On MacOS or Windows, double-click TUI. If MacOS complains that the application is unsigned then right-click TUI and select Open. If TUI is not yet installed, see the installation instructions.
  • If you have never run TUI before, set up your preferences before proceeding (for help on any item, right-click on the control and select Help from the menu that appears):
    • Select Preferences from the TUI menu.
    • Under Connections
      • Set User Name to some word that will identify you to other users. I recommend the first letter of your first name followed by part or all of your last name, e.g. "JGunn".
    • Under Exposures:
      • Set Save To to the desired parent directory for science and guider images. TUI creates a hierarchy of subdirectories that separates images from different programs and different dates. Thus you can pick one Save To directory and use it for all your observing.
      • Note: if you want your images to go into instrument-specific subdirectories, include that info in the image name, for example: "dis/dark" instead of "dark".
      • Select whether to auto-download science images to your computer and whether to automatically view those images in ds9.
    • Look through the other preferences.
    • Press Save to save all changes. (Or if you prefer to try things out first, press Apply to use your changes but not save them.)
  • Connect to APO.
    • Select Connect from the TUI menu.
    • Enter your program ID (e.g. UW01) and the associated password. If you didn't save a user name in preferences, type that in as well. Call your Observing Specialist at APO if you don't know your password.
    • Press the Connect button.
    • The displays should update to show current information.
  • To save your window positions and remember which windows to open at startup, select Save Window Positions from the TUI menu. Remember this so you can do it again when you have a better feel for where you like your windows.
  • When you are done observing, select Quit from the TUI menu.

Help

  • Many windows display help in a status bar near the bottom of the window. Simply place the mouse pointer over a control to display its help.
  • Detailed on-line help is accessible from most controls and displays. You are reading one page of this help right now. To get help for a particular control, right-click on it and select Help from the menu that appears. This will open the appropriate section of the manual in your default web browser (warning: if you have multiple desktops the window may open in a different desktop).

Message window

  • You can send messages to other users using the Message window. Type in the lower pane and hit <return>. Messages appear in the upper pane. If you don't see this window, select the Misc>Message menu item.

Monitoring the Telescope

The following windows can help you keep track of what's going on:

  • Status: shows current position, offset, time, cartridge, etc.
  • Sky: shows the position of the telescope on the sky, including azimuth wrap.
  • Focal Plane: shows the orientation of the sky relative to the instrument.
  • Logs: show all messages received by TUI, with various filtering options. There are multiple log windows, each of which can have its own filters.

Slewing

  • To slew the telescope, use the Slew window (TCC>Slew menu item).
  • See Entering Positions, Times and Offsets below for hints on entering positions.
  • See User Catalogs to create and load a catalog of positions.
  • To select a catalog item, either double click it in the Sky window or select it from the Catalog menu in the Slew window. In either case, this simply fills in the information in the Slew window. You still have to push the Slew button to slew.
  • You will usually want FK5 or ICRS coordinates, depending on your object catalog. ICRS is essentially FK5 J2000.
  • The usual choice for rotation is 0° Object. This keeps north up on your instrument. Another common choice is 0° Horizon, which keeps atmospheric dispersion along the slit of a spectrograph.
  • The history menu shows you your past slews. Select one to set up that slew again.

Offsetting

  • The Offset window (TCC>Offset menu item) and Nudger window (TCC>Nudger) allow you to offset the telescope.
  • See about offsets for information about the various kinds of offsets.
  • Absolute offsets (only available in the Offset window) replace any existing offset. Relative offsets are added to any existing offset.
  • The Focal Plane window can help you figure out which direction an offset will move.

Using Instruments

  • Most instruments have two windows: one for configuration and one for exposures (simpler instruments only have one window). To open the configuration window, select the instrument in the Inst menu. To open the exposure window, click Expose... in the configuration window.
  • To configure an instrument, open its configuration window and press Config to display the user-settable controls. Set the controls as desired and click Apply.
  • The current configuration should always be correct. However, the user-settable controls may get out of date if you leave them visible. To bring the user-settable controls up to date, press the Current button.

Guiding

  • The Guiding Users's Guide has a nice overview of guiding.
  • Guide windows have some hidden controls and shortcuts, so I strongly recommend you look over the Guiding Manual.
  • You can select various guiders and slitviewers from the Guide menu.
  • If you have a guide window open then guide images will be downloaded even if you don't have Auto Get selected. However, only the most recent 100 images are ever kept on disk and all guide images are deleted when TUI quits.

Entering Positions, Times and Offsets

  • Position may be entered as °:':"." or °:'.' or °.° (h:m:s or h:m.m or h:m:s.s for HA). For example: 1.5 and 1:30 both mean 1 1/2 degrees. To enter a colon, type : <space> or keypad /. The displayed units update as you add each colon.
  • In a similar vein, exposure times may be entered as s.s or m:s.s or h:m:s.s and offsets as "." or ':"." or °:':".", depending on how many colons you enter. For example: 150 and 2:30 both mean 2 1/2 minutes.
  • You must type. Remark's thumb wheel controls are gone.
  • You can enter your data ahead of time in a user catalog. The format has changed slightly from Remark, but is more flexible and more forgiving. If your old Remark catalogs don't specify proper motion then you can use them "as is".