Telescope Control Computer (TCC)

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Purpose

This repository contains code for use at Manastash Ridge Observatory (MRO). It provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI), Bifrost, built in Python 2.7 for controlling the primary Ritchey-Chretien Telescope. This GUI is intended to allow control of the telescope as well as a new auto-guiding system being developed for MRO. The new TCC will see first use in Summer 2017.

Feature Set

• Telescope Control

  • Slewing (Complete)
  • Tracking (Complete)
  • Jogging (Complete)
  • Focusing (Complete)
  • Hand Paddle Control (Complete)
  • Status Display (Complete)
  • Precession (Complete)

• Target Selection

  • Target Lists (Complete)
  • Target Alt-Az Plotting (Complete)
  • Target Airmass Plotting (Complete)
  • Target Assignment (Complete)
  • Target Finder Chart (Complete)

• Guider Control (Not Available in Current Release)

  • Guider Exposure (In Development)
  • Guider Rotation (In Development)
  • Periscope Finder Chart (Complete)
  • Auto Find Guide Stars (In Development)
  • Guiding (In Development)
  • Jog Guide Field (In Development)
  • Focus Guider (In Development)

• Initialization

  • Park Telescope (Complete)
  • Cover Position (Complete)
  • Initialize Telescope Systems (Complete)
  • Tracking Rate Assignment (Complete)
  • Guiding Parameters (In Development)
  • Set Telescope Position (Complete)
  • Load Zenith Coordinates (Complete)
  • Pointing (Complete)

• Night Log (Not Available in Current Release)

  • Log Fields (In Development)
  • Save and Send Logs (In Development)

Dependencies

• WxPython: https://wxpython.org/
• Astropy: http://www.astropy.org/
• Astroplan: https://astroplan.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
• Astroquery: https://astroquery.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
• Ephem: http://rhodesmill.org/pyephem/
• Numpy: http://www.numpy.org/
• Matplotlib: https://matplotlib.org/
• TwistedPython: https://twistedmatrix.com/trac/