CCCP Observing with WIRC

WIRC Setup

• On arrival, confirm that the WIRC machine has been set up and that the Arcview widgets are running. Try changing filters or something innocuous like that.
• If Arcview is not running: Gently click once with the left mouse button on the "Start Arcview (no VNC)" icon on the desktop.
• Note: All desktop interaction on the WIRC machine should be done with single mouse-clicks only, no double-clicks.
• If Arcview is running but frozen: Try to "Quit" and restart.
• If that doesn't work: You may need to execute a hard reset on the controller card. This requires pushing the correct button on the lower rear of the WIRC machine. If you don't know which button to press, ask somebody (I'm not going to try to describe it to you!)
• Make a directory for your data for that night: Suggested use is /home2/wirc/cccp/YYYYMMDD. Set this directory as the "Path" under "Exposure Info" in Arcview. Then go to the WIRC2 machine and start up the "Image Puller" by double-clicking (yes, double-clicking!) on the ArcVIEW icon on the desktop.
• Set the "Sequence Number" to 1001 for your first night. You should also fill out the "Observer" info.
• Check for the "TCSGui" Arcview widget. Find it as "PI_TCSP2000GUI" on the "Select a Plug-In..." if you need to launch it (it should launch automatically)
• Check that the "Script Server Plug In" widget is alive (also launched by default). Launch it from the "Select a Plug-In..." menu if not.
• Launch the Dither widget from the "TCSGui" menu called "Special Functions...". You may need to click "commands >>>" to get access to this menu.
• From the Dither widget, load the official CCCP 10-point dither pattern: /home2/wirc/cccp/10p_dither. If you press the "Show" button you will get a graphical picture of the pattern.
• On the second monitor for WIRC, single-click the "ds9" icon to get a ds9 window. If there is an ximtool launched already, quit that first.
• Start an IRAF session. Change into your working directory and load the "wirc" package.

Calibrations

• Take a few bias frames to confirm basic detector operations. The "bias" exposure is technically a 3.25-second dark because of the nature of the WIRC readout. For this reason, be sure you are in the filter "Block" position for bias exposures.
• Negotiate with the DBSP lead (yourself?) to determine when to take domeflats.
• For domeflats: Lights out in dome, secondary mirror out, primary mirror cover open, "lowlamps" setting via the DBSP computer.
• Domeflats setup: Fowler_S=1, Coadds=1, Repeat=9, Title="Dome (lowlamps)".
• Exposures: J-band=8.0s, H-band=8.0s, Ks-band=5.0s. Take one sequence (9 exposures) in each band.
• Turn off the lamps ("lampsoff") and execute the full sequence again: Title="Dome (lampsoff)".
• Expected count levels: Lowlamps gives J=12 kcts, H=20 kcts, Ks=22 kcts. Lampsoff gives J=10.0 cts, H=50.0 cts, Ks=12 kcts.
• Check that your images are transferring to the WIRC2 computer properly.

Focus

• Execute a focus run using the "focus" task in the IRAF "wirc" package.
• First have the operator move the focus 0.5-mm (or more) below the last night's focus. The "focus" routine only increases the focus during your run.
• Make sure you are observing in one of the JHKs filters.
• Keep track of the focus setting and approximate FWHM for each image that comes through. "imexam" will be launched for each difference image; "q" once you have analyzed the image fully.
• Once you have passed through the minimum, quit the focus loop and set the focus. You can ask the operator to do this, or adjust the focus yourself (increment/decrement only) using the "Focus" button on the "TCSGui" widget.

Observing

• The standard observing setup for bright supernovae is Fowler_S=1, Coadds=2, Exptime=15.0s. This applies to all three JHKs, although the Ks sky level should be watched.
• Click the "GO" button on the Dither widget to get the standard 10-pointing sequence.
• Change filters, rinse, repeat.

Reduction

• TBD.