UKIRT QA NIGHTS

UKIRT image quality, thermal stability etc. are monitored and maintained by a regular, scheduled series of "quality assurance" nights, with approximately one such night per month. This page details the measurement programme undertaken on these nights.

This page is http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT/telescope/QAnight/QA_NIGHT_PROGRAMME.html

A QA night includes the following:

• Pointing Test
• Port & Tilt
• Focus offset measurements
• Wavefront Sensing
• Pointing Test
• CGS4 position angle offset monitoring
• Instrument aperture determinations
• Emissivity measurement

Wavefront sensing

Refer to the WFS web page for details of running this instrument. The full WFS test takes four hours. Do not do this in the first few hours; wait until things have settled and cooled down. The WFS system and observing protocol are documented step-by-step on:

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT/telescope/wfs/wfsobs.html

The WFS data reduction protocol are documented step-by-step on:

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT/telescope/wfs/wfsred.html

For instructions on doing WFS with WFCAM, please refer to the staff wiki.

Pointing test

The TSS should perform a pointing test. This takes about one hour (60 CMC stars should be observed with an exposure time of one minute). For WFCAM, all you need to do is run the "long_ptest" command in the TCS. For Cassegrain instruments, follow the instructions in QA/engineering night procedures in the UKIRT TSS guide.

Please send notification that a pointing test has been done to Tom Kerr.

Port and Tilt (UFTI and UIST)

PRINCIPLE:
With dome lights on and mirror covers closed, exposures are taken in the J filter; the camera is aligned when the signal is at a minimum as then the camera is looking directly at the covers and not getting light reflected off the dome.

# 1. IN THE DOME:
Turn on all lights (top and bottom levels); make sure that if peple are around they will not affect the light path to the camera; remove the window cover from the camera (IRCAM has a screw on cover on its snout).

# 2. IRTSUN1, TELESCOPE STARTUP:
Run up telescope with tel_dev (not _sim), datum dichroic and move dichroic to appropriate port for camera (east for IRCAM, west for UFTI) by "pstart", and e.g. "port west". Keep mirror covers *closed*.

# 3. KIKI, INSTRUMENT STARTUP:
If using UFTI datum filter wheels and shutter and open shutter (if not already run up, run up the EPICS screens to do this by "dm ufti.dl"). Run up oracom for skl/oractest and send "ufti_align" for execution. If using IRCAM set up for the Vax keyboard mapping (see instructions given on typing "runup"), open a vaxterm on irtcon, and run ircam3_eng. If you prefer you can take data through orac in which case run ircam3_dev and then run up oracom for skl/oractest, send "ircam_align" for execution. (Its better to use orac if you also want to e.g. take and analyse array test data.)

# 4. KIKI AND IRTSUN1, TAKING DATA, MOVING DICHROIC:
If using UFTI run the ufti_align sequence which takes 10 sec full array exposures with the J filter. (Exposure time may need tweaking.) If using IRCAM and _eng, use "direct_configure" in the SMS menu to select the J filter and set exposure time to 10 seconds, NDSTARE, standard bias, full array. Hit "run" to take a frame. If using _dev and orac, run the ircam_align sequence from oracom. (Exposure time may need tweaking.) The routine is: take an exposure with dichroic at 0,0; move dichroic, when dichroic is settled, take another exposure. There is some hysteresis so move the dichroic from positive to negative values, or always go through (0,0) (no need to actually take repeat data at 0,0, just set the dichroic there). The command is e.g. for moving port, "poffset 0 -50". Tilt offsets are smaller than port and a sequence may look like:

   tilt: 0   0   0    0 0    0    0 0    0 0    0 0    0
   port: 0 -50 +50 -100 0 -150 -200 0 -250 0 -300 0 -400

   tilt:    0  -20  +20    0  +40    0 +100  -80  +70  -60 +100
   port: -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190 -190

# 5. KIKI or KAUWA, ANALYSING THE DATA:
If taking data from the OM you can send the data through QUICK_LOOK in the DR so that NDF's are created as opposed to HDS files. These are a little simpler to display and get stats on, but its not crucial to do this. Set the DR going by typing "oracdr_ufti" or "oracdr_ircam", then "oracdr -loop flag". If using UFTI the data will be in /ukirtdata/raw/UTdate/ufti, or if you ran the OT script and QUICK_LOOK you can use /ukirtdata/reduced/UTdate/ufti. If using IRCAM and _eng the data will be in /vaxdir/ircam_data/engUTdate/rodir. If you used _dev and orac then it will be in /ukirtdata/raw/UTdate/ircam or /ukirtdata/reduced/UTdate/ircam (if QUICK_LOOK ran). cd to the appropriate directory. Type "kappa". Get a clipped mean value for each full frame as it comes in by typing e.g.

    for UFTI data: "stats clip=3 f20001216_00014.i1"  for /raw or
                   "stats clip=3 f20001216_00014"     for /reduced

    for IRCAM data: "stats clip=3 ro001216_14"        for _eng data or
                    "stats clip=3 i20001216_00014.i1" for /raw or
                    "stats clip=3 i20001216_00014"    for /reduced

Plot the mean value against port or tilt offset and get a minimum by linear extrapolation from the outer points to center, or by fitting a parabola. The data will look something like:

    counts
               x
                                                x
                  x
                                              x          
                                            
                                            x
                      x
                        
                          x
                                         x
                                         
                               x   x   x
                                                    
           
                                              offset    
                                                         

Focus offset measurements

Please send the results of the focus offset measurements for all instruments to Tom Kerr and/or Russell Kackley.

See http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT/telescope/QAnight/FF.html for the current and past focus values.

UFTI

In general, take 8 or 9 points, 0.2mm apart in Fine Focus setting, centred on the current default setting of Autofocus Fine Focus for the instrument. You should jump between positive and negative offsets in building up the coverage.

For UFTI, the procedure is very similar to the above except that images are examined using GAIA. Find a UKIRT Faint Standard (20 second or longer exposures are best) near the zenith. Run the programme through to "Observe", set UFTI quick look going, wait until the autofocus has settled and then look for the first full frame (the TSS UFTI display shows the frame number incrementing). Use View...Pick Object to measure the FWHM. Record the results on the form given in a later section. (The FWHM gets a bit weird when the images are well out of focus.) Strehl would probably be OK and ought to be less vulnerable to thin cloud. The measurement range of fine focus for UFTI should be from 0.6 or 0.8mm to 2.2 or 2.4mm, in steps of 0.2 mm.

[Note - the following is obsolete - IRCAM is now off the telescope]. For IRCAM, the TSS runs the instrument up. Send an appropriate K-band faint standard observation, stripped of all but the "observe" inside the "sequence" and with the DR recipe set to quick_look, from the OM and run it through to the "observe" breakpoint. The autofocus offset puts the star quite close to the bottom of the ircam frame, and quick_look reduced frames won't allow you to pick object unless the edge of the frame is out of the pick object view window. So you are limited to a zoom of 6 compared to the recommended zoom of 3 for UFTI.

UIST

Please check:
1. Imaging 0.12"
2. Imaging 0.06" JHK
3. Imaging 0.06" LM
4. IFU
5. (Pol in Imaging 0.12")

General note: The 0.12" imaging focus and the spec focus should always be the same, so generally its only necessary to do the former.

Imaging mode

Same as UFTI:
1. UIST Movie; Measurement range should be between -1.5 and +2.5.
2. Use 9th mag CMC and ~5 x 4sec exposures; do in H-band (~20x0.8sec for 0.06LM - do in L').

Note: It is measurements taken away from the in-focus ff setting that ultimately constrain the ff value (even though these can be a bit blobby), since changes in ff near focus have little effect on the stellar psf.

Spectroscopy mode

Having plotted up the data, please then report the FF value at peak signal to Russell and ukss.

IFU mode

Essentially repeat the steps for a normal spectroscopy focus run. However, when faced with the multiple spectra in Movie, drag out the XY-profiles box over all the bright/central spectra. Although moving away from focus spreads light into adjacent spectra, it also spreads light along the slit axis, so ALL the spectra in the IFU movie will drop in strength.

Finally, note that current ff values for all UIST modes are listed on the UIST engineering web pages.

CGS4

The CGS4 protocol is as follows:

This whole process takes 15 or 20 minutes.

Data Analysis

By Hand

Using the Spreadsheet

Run the FINE FOCUS CALCULATOR Spreadsheet by double-clicking it on the desktop of the summit PC (this is a shortcut to the actual sheet, which is stored in C:\UKIRT\Utilities).

Enter the mean values determined above against the fine focus setting. Unless you know what you're doing with EXCEL, don't try to expand the tables to allow for more focus positions; let me (AJA) know if this needs to be done.

The spreadsheet does a fit to the values you enter. If any value is missing, leave the corresponding entry empty in the table, and it will be ignored.

Copy the coefficients of x(squared) and x as reported in the chart window into the box to its right. The sheet calculates the best-fit focus position and reports it in the green box. Please document this value in the "history" sheet, which you can get to by clicking on its tab at the bottom of the excel window.

Emissivity

This should actually me measured at the end of every night in which CGS4 is used. It should be performed with the echelle, so as to achieve the required resolution. Instructions are avai;labl;e on the staff wiki. Please be careful to move the dichroic to the CGS4 (north) port before taking sky and dome data.

UIST Grism sensitivity check

A few times a year we should observe the same source with the HK grism, just to keep an eye on its transmission, etc. So, if you have a spare ten minutes please run the "HK Grism sensitivity check" MSB in the EC1 QA nite programme. Its set for just the one target, g-129 (RA 03hrs, Dec +18) so it should only come up in the QT if the target's available. The target is faint (10th-11th), so imaging acquisition on the target itself (rather than a nearcmc) should be fine. Its set for just one quad, with 60sec exposures.

CGS4 Position Angle Calibration

Protocol is as follows: TSS runs a two-row peakup for one and two pixel slits: Peakup is run twice, on two rows well spaced on the array - 140 and 200 for example.

If significantly nonzero angles are found (note - image rotator can set to accuracy of about 0.1 degree, and with the 2-pixel slit successive determinations can vary by 0.05 degree in good conditions):

TSS saves the slit position angle -

where SLITNAME is something informative such as 1pixdec00. Inform Tom Kerr by email that the offset has changed; he will adjust the settings in the cgs4 config file.

Until the config has been changed, using the affected slit will require the offset to be recalled from the saved version, until the new values are made the default:

Aperture Measurements

Note - Aperture measurements are collated and implemented by Tom Kerr and/or Russell Kackley, and should be communicated to those two immediately they are completed.

UIST

Note: for the Imaging 0.12" and 0.06" apertures, use the full array and the same reference pixel (see the table in the above eng. web page).

Set up a simple imaging sequence in the OT with the H-band filter, full array and a short (few-second) exposure time; for a 9-10th mag A- or F-type star about 3-5 sec should be ok in the H-band.

Having slewed to the star (or the near-cmc), load and run the sequence in the QT. Stop at break and run Movie. Then follow the steps outlined below (under Camera Aperture Determinations) to center the star on the appropriate pixel on the array.

Please note that we need apertures for

• Imaging - 0.12"
• Imaging - 0.06"
• Spectroscopy. Use 4-pixel slit reference pixel.
• IFU.
• Imaging polarimetry. Measured WITHOUT the polarimetry prism or waveplate in the beam; so with the same UIST imaging observation used to measure the other apertures, just centre the star on the pixel value for Imaging Polarimetry.
• Coronograph: again, just measure this using an ordinary imaging observation at the pixel specified for Coronograph 6-pix wire (NOT Coron with Pol).

CGS4

Use the U/EC/1 MSB for CGS4 instrument aperture measurement. If there is time to do more than J and K (which are the important ones), then edit the wavelength and resubmit/query/fetch. Also if there is time to do several slit PAs, edit them as appropriate; a range of 0, -15, -30, -60, -90, -120, -150 is useful to cover.

The full list of required aperture measurements is given in the form in a later section.

UFTI

Aperture Determinations - TCS commands summary

In the TCS command window:

1. Use the PORT command to position the dichroic for the instrument

2. Use the APER command to select the correct instrument aperture

3. Send the telescope to a CMC target (if necessary)

4. Use the COLLIM command to adjust the telescope pointing model

5. Turn on autoguiding

6. Click on the appropriate TCS Tab to display Instrument Apertures

7. Use the AOFFSET and AZERO commands to adjust the instrument aperture values until the target is in the correct spot on the array. For UIST see the UIST engineering web pages for the most up-to-date values. For UFTI, see above.

8. The TCS status display will show the instrument aperture values (X and Y, in mm). Send the numbers to Russell and ukss so that the OT configuration files and TSS values can be updated.

Additional notes for Polarimetry apertures - really for CJD's benefit...

UFTI : the current measured APERTURE offsets between imaging and imaging pol is: +5.7,-32.5

If you do need to check the imaging to imaging-pol offset, then in EC1 there is an MSB containing two obs, one for the normal, full-array instrument aperture, and a second for the UFTI pol aperture. UFTI pol targets should ALWAYS be placed in the top-half of the array, so the difference between the two apertures should be about 30" (i.e. toff of 0,-30" should move a target from the imaging aperture to the pol aperture, so that the two images of the star [the e- and o-beams] will be well-positioned in the centre of the two upper pol windows)..

NOTE: THIS SHOULD BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT INSTALLING THE WAVEPLATE OR THE POL MASK IN FRONT OF UFTI. JUST THE PRISM INSIDE UFTI WILL BE USED. HOWEVER, THE MOVIE IMAGES MAY LOOK A BIT WIERD, I.E. YOU WON'T SEE THE USUAL E- AND O-BEAM SEGMENTS.

UIST Image Rotator Center-of-Rotation Measurement

1. Prepare UIST by running a sequence that has a suitable target and a UIST Target Acquisition component.
   
2. When the sequence pauses at the breakForMovie location, run Movie from the sequence console.
3. Use the APER UIST_AX command on the TCS command-line interface to select the special UIST aperture for this procedure. The star position will move to a new location on the array, but that is ok for this test.
4. The idea now is to rotate the UIST image rotator through its full range of motion (-90 deg to +90 deg) and record where on the array the star is located at each position angle. A suggested form for recording the data is in the appendix of this page. The image rotator can be moved from the <TBD> EPICS screen. The star location can be determined using GAIA's Pick Object tool.
   

UIST Flexure Measurement

1. Prepare UIST by running a UIST read noise sequence.
2. From the File->Load menu item, load the "UIST_flexure.exec" file.
3. Run the sequence from the top.
   
4. At the break in the sequence after the "set OBJECT" command, run the "long_ptest_uist" command on the TCS command-line interface. This command will cycle through a list of 60 sky positions. At each position, do the following:
   1. TSS: push the star into the guide box using the buttons and turn on autoguiding.
   2. Observer: Click the "Run from highlight" button.
   3. TSS: hit return to go to the next star.

Dichroic Vignetting Check

Only do this if the dichroic has recently been changed and the vignetted region is therefore unknown.

1. Use the PORT command to select a port of your choice (north, east, south or west).

2. Use the APER AXIS command to select the AXIS aperture.

3. Send the telescope to a CMC target.

4. Use the COLLIM command to adjust the telescope pointing model such that the star is approximately centered in the guide box.

5. Turn autoguiding OFF.

6. Switch the guide camera to acquisition mode.

7. Use the REFR OFF command to tell the TCS to not compensate for the dichroic refraction. The star will move outside the guide box, but that is OK. Do not move the star back into the guide box.

8. Use the VIGN OFF command to allow the TCS to move the crosshead into the vignetted regions.

9. Use the TOFF command to offset the telescope to determine the vignetted regions.

   The principle is to move the star image until it starts to 'split', then back off until you have a minimal or non-existent 'partner' image. Note: this is difficult for the E/W ports, as the acquisition mode on the guider creates a 'streak' off to the right, so some of the 'split' images will be buried somewhat in this. Also, when the star image goes into the guide box (but no companion split image) you are off the dichroic (because there is no longer any refraction due to the dichroic); move back towards the dichroic to find the area where the 'split' starts to occur.

   Apply offsets as follows:

   EAST and WEST ports	TOFF X 0
   NORTH and SOUTH ports	TOFF 0 Y

   As an example - the vignetted regions as of January 2001 were:

   East port	-146.5 < X < -125.5 & 124 < X < 141.5 arcsec
   West port	-134.5 < X < -117 & 132.5 < X < 153.5 arcsec
   North port	-163 < Y < -141.5 & 108 < Y < 125 arcsec
   South port	-150.5 < Y < -133.5 & 116 < Y < 137.5 arcsec

10. Record the telescope offsets at which vignetting occurs (double images in the guider draw window). There is a form at the end of this page to suggest a method for recording the data.

11. Set the telescope back to the zero offset position (TOFF 0 0).

12. Go back to step 9 and repeat the procedure for the other 3 ports.

13. When you are done, it is very important that you use the VIGN ON and REFR ON commands to tell the TCS to avoid the vignetted regions and compensate for the dichroic refraction.

14. Send the results to r.kackley@jach.hawaii.edu
    

    
    

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    APPENDIX: BACKGROUND to Focussing protocols

    Fast Guider

    The Fast Guider has two basic modes of operation: Normal and Autofocus.
    

    The two basic modes use different lenses, located at a pupil plane inside the Fast Guider, to form an image on the guider CCD. One is a single lens, forming a single star image on the CCD for normal (fast) guiding. The second is a 2x2 lenselet array which forms 4 star images on the CCD. (Normal Guiding has subsidiary modes, "focus" and "acquisition" which are currently rarely used. These differ from Fast Guiding mainly in the binning of the pixels from the CCD and in the field of view which is read out.)
    

    The optimum arrangement derived and employed for Fast Guiding is to bin the native pixels of the CCD into 3x3 "superpixels" around 0."93 arcsec square: we then read out a 4x4 array of the superpixels and use the signal on the central four and that on the outer twelve to determine the location of the centroid of the image.
    

    In fast guiding the the secondary mirror feedback loop tries to hold the centroid at the point defined by the inner corners of the four central pixels, by tipping and tilting the secondary mirror with its piexo actuators. In auto-focussing we use the fact that the radial separation of the four images is a measure of the telescope focus position, so by measuring this separation over a period of time and comparing it with a nominal value a focus correction can be derived which is then applied to the telescope secondary mirror Z position. In principle this could be done as fast as the CCD is read out; in practice the piezos do not have enough throw to correct for the focus excursions actually seen, so the focus corrections are applied via the hexapod, which is a lot slower (~Hz) than the tip-tilt system (~10s of Hz).
    

    We normally average the 60-Hz focus correction measures for periods of 2, 4 8, 16 or 32 seconds. (In this process we also determine the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) variation in the numerous computed focus corrections which were combined to get the average; this quantity ("Zrms") is a measure of the seeing.) The nominal value for the radial spacing of the images is actually just set by the CCD array pixel spacing: in autofocus mode we read out an 8x8 array of the same 3x3 superpixels used in fast guiding. This comprises four 4x4 "fast-guide" type sub-arrays, one for each subimage. The reference spacing is then just that of the four centrepoints of the central quartets of pixels, and for each readout of the array we compute the displacement of the centroids of the sub-images from the reference positions; its radial component measures the current defocus (and the mean X-Y component measures tip-tilt, just as in fast guiding, so that this process is still available).
    

    In autofocus mode the larger readout area slows the process somewhat: whereas in fast guiding we can read out at 100 Hz (or in fact a good deal faster), in autofocus mode the standard readout rate is 60 Hz. When in autofocus mode the guider systems determine focus corrections averaged over the chosen time and send these corrections to the hexapod, which moves the secondary in the Z direction in such a way as to bring the centres of the four subimages onto the four centrepoints of the four subarrays of superpixels.

     

    Guider Fine Focus

    The single and quadruple lenses are both carried in the same lens wheel, which can be moved towards and away from the CCD. This adjustment is called "Fine Focus" on the Botttom-End Control screens and is a measure of the lens wheel position (in mm) relative to an arbitrary zero. Each scientific instrument has a slightly different optimum telescope focus setting. But as we have seen the guider in autofocus mode can only correct the telescope focus to bring the images into coincidence with the reference points on the CCD.

    However the radial spacing of the images on the CCD is a function of the overall focus of the telscope and guider system, including the lenslet array. Thus moving the lenslet array towards and away from the CCD also changes the spacing of the images. This enables us to use differnt telescope focus settings for the various instruments: we just select for each an optimum distance of the lenslet array from the CCD, i.e. an optimum setting for the guider "Fine Focus". These values are referred to as the Autoguider Fine Focus Offsets.

    Note that the Fine Focus setting is different when in autoguider and Normal Guide mode as the lenses used have different focal lengths.

     

    FOCUS QUALITY CRITERION

    Selecting a variable to be measured to determine focus quality is non-trivial, but image central intensity in one form or another works well. Strehl ratio on UFTI/TUFTI images should be fine and at least nominally independent of transparency. In the case of CGS4 we use the signal in the selected row as displayed on the Movie screen. (This is not independent of transparency; a normalised signal (the ratio of the central row to the two adjacent rows, perhaps?) is possible but not currently available.)

    ---

    
    

    Appendix: Forms

    
    

    Full CGS4 Aperture Measurements

    
    

    Date:

    Recorded by:

    Grating	PA	Instap x	Instap y
    40l/mm, 1st order	0
    	-15
    	-30
    	-60
    	-90
    	-120
    	-150
    150l/mm, 2nd order	0
    	-15
    	-30
    	-60
    	-90
    	-120
    	-150
    Echelle	0
    	-15
    	-30
    	-60
    	-90
    	-120
    	-150
    40, 2 pixel	0
    40, 4 pix	0
    Ech, 2 pix	0
    150, 2 pix	0
    40, 1pixel, 1.25um	0
    40,1 pixel, 1.65um	0
    40, 1pix, prism (use lower beam)	0

    
    
    

    Form for CGS4 fine focus

    
    

    UT Date

    Observers:

    	Signal Values
    FF setting	1	2	3	4	5	6	Mean
    0.1
    0.3
    0.5
    0.7
    0.9
    1.1
    1.3
    1.5
    1.7
    1.9

    Best focus setting:

     
    

    Form for CGS4 slit offsets

    Date	Observers	Offset (2pix)	Offset (1pix)	Saved as

    
    
    

    IRCAM Apertures (Obsolete)

    
    

    Date	Observers	Aperture (band, x,y)
    20001227	AJA,TW	K, 4.05,11.64
    20001228	AJA,TW	K, 4.18,11.67 K plus pol 4.18, 15.32 (righthand slot)

    
    
    
    

    UFTI Fine Focus

    
    

    Date

    Recorded by

     

    FF setting	FWHM	FWHM	FWHM	FWHM	Mean FWHM for spreadsheet
    0.0
    0.2
    0.4
    0.6
    0.8
    1.0
    1.2
    1.4
    1.6
    1.8
    2.0
    2.2

    
    
    

    IRCAM Fine Focus (Obsolete)

    
    

    Best focus setting:

    Date

    Recorded by

     

    FF setting	FWHM	FWHM	FWHM	FWHM	Mean FWHM for spreadsheet
    0.0
    0.2
    0.4
    0.6
    0.8
    1.0
    1.2
    1.4
    1.6
    1.8
    2.0
    2.2

    Best focus setting:

    
    

    UIST Image Rotator Center-of-Rotation Measurement
    

    Date

    Recorded by

    
    

    	Star Location
    Position Angle (deg)	X (pixels)	Y (pixels)
    -90
    -60
    -30
    0
    30
    60
    90

    Dichroic Vignetted Regions
    

    Date

    Recorded by

    	+RA offset (arcsec)		-RA offset (arcsec)		+Dec offset (arcsec)		-Dec offset (arcsec)
    Port	Inner edge	Outer edge	Inner edge	Outer edge	Inner edge	Outer edge	Inner edge	Outer edge
    North	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
    East					N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
    South	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
    West					N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A