CCD Control

The CCD control window is shown in Figure . The CCD control works by sending commands to the observatory standard AAO2 CCD controller system running on a pair of VMS machines.

Figure: The CCD Control window -- This is obtained by clicking on the more button in the CCD section of the main Control Task window

The upper section of the window specifies the exposure time, the type of run, and whether it is to be recorded. Since the 2dF data reduction software relies on correct header information, it's very important to enter the correct run type; see the sections below for more information. The options for recording data are as follows:

Normal -- A standard run which will be permanently recorded. These runs are assigned a sequential run number and recorded on the data disk, currently at :

/net/aatlxy/data/aatobs/OptDet_data/YYMMDD/ccd_N

The run naming convention follows DDmmmCnnnn.fits, e.g. 25oct10010.fits would be the 0010 run from CCD1 on the 25$^{\tt {th}}$ October.

Dummy -- These are exposures taken during setup which do not need to be kept. They are written to
/net/aatlxy/data/aatobs/OptDet_dummy/YYMMDD/ccd_N

Glance -- The CCD is read out and displayed but not recorded on disk. These can be used for checking exposure times etc.

See the Observing guide for more details about actually taking data and calibration frames.

The lower section of the display specifies which CCDs are being controlled. The normal situation is that both CCDs are selected, in which case simultaneous exposures will be taken on both CCDs. The Repeat Mode allows a single exposure, a continuous sequence of exposures, or a specified repeat count.

The Window button allows the CCD readout window to be specified. The AAOMEGA_2DF window should be used for all standard AAOmega/SPIRAL observations.

The Readout Speed sets the readout speed for the CCD which determines the readout time, readout noise and gain. The NORMAL mode is normal, although FAST is acceptable for many programs. ULTRAFAST is used for setup checks, but should also be acceptable for high signal targets where read-noise is of little importance.