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UKIRT Annual Report 1995 and 1996
THE UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE
ANNUAL REPORT
1995 AND 1996
4. Report on Operations
4.5. Computing
During 1995-1996 effort in the UKIRT Software Group concentrated on (i)
the move of all software systems, except instrument-control, to Unix,
(ii) specific enhancements to instrument software, and (iii) development
of VME-based telescope control software required for a number of
components of the Upgrades Programme (e.g. top-end control and primary
mirror figure control). A large number of computing hardware changes at
UKIRT and at the JAC were associated with all of these changes.
At the telescope, spring 1995 saw the completion of the port of CGS4DR to
Unix - with a graphical user interface, completion of control software
associated with the upgrade of CGS4 to a 256 256 array, and
installation of the new slit wheel with rotating slits. By the end of 1995
the IRCAM and CGS4 data reduction systems were fully ported to Unix (both
at UKIRT and at the JAC) and conversion of CGS3 data reduction software to
Unix was in progress. By mid-1996 Unix supplanted VMS as the default
workstation operating system in Hilo. Data archiving and de-archiving
were largely transferred to Unix systems by the end of 1996.
On the telescope-control side in 1995 the new servo control software for the
telescope was moved successfully to a VME-based system and primary mirror
control was installed. The MPIA software contribution to the Upgrades
Programme arrived in 1996. From then on the major effort of the UKIRT
software group was to bring on-line via user-friendly interfaces the
top-end and bottom-end Upgrades systems, which were delivered by the MPIA.
The successful commissioning of reliable and user-friendly tip/tilt control
software constitutes a major technical highlight. Additional effort
went into creating additional interfaces and adding new controls for
other Upgrades systems still to be installed (e.g. primary mirror figure
control and dome ventilation).
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