VIRUS Alignment Characterization Procedures

Goal

The goal is to take 5 unbinned Hg lamp exposures, 5 dark frames (with same PFIP exposure time), 5 unbinned Cd-A lamp exposures, 5 dark frames (with same PFIP exposure time), and 5 bias frames to test the alignment of newly installed VIRUS units once these units have been stable and cold for (at least) 16 hours. The Hg and Cd-A lamp exposures need 45-55k in the peak line on the target IFUs. The dark frames should be the same exposure times as the lamp PFIP shutter exposure times (not the FCU exposure time).

Note we are trying to use the same numbering for engineering tests so for the test exposures please use the 6000s and the final VAC exposures please use 7100-7199.

The VG and IP must be OFF while taking the data for this test.

Note exposure times for Hg and Cd-A need to be checked every time for new IFUs. Listed below are the exposure times from previous dates/units.

Reporting

When you have completed a successful set of VAC, email astronomer@, Phillip, and Renny.

• The email subject line should include 'VAC' and the V-number in the format 'Vnnn'

• The email body should include:
  • the yyyymmdd of the data directory
  • the observation numbers for each of the bias, Hg, and Cd data. These should be:
    • 7101 for Hg
    • 7102 for Cd
    • 7103 for Bias

Results

Date	IFU(s)	Hg exp time [s]	Cd-A exp time [s]
20190504	S081/V327, S105/V051	8.8	60
20190524	S072/V405	4	35
20190528	S072/V405	4	30
20190529	S097/V405, S072/V017	5.4
20190529	S072/V017		45
20190529	S097/V405		33
20190712	???	2.4	30
20190719	S041/V407,S077/V402	2.5	20
20190819	S031/V408	8.0	45
20190915	V409,V410,V330	8.0	60
20191009	V411	10.0	62
20191011	V330	8.5	50
20191017	V410, V412	9.0	53
20191022	V413, V414, V330	9 (V413), 6	65 (V413), 48
20191031	V410	9	81
20191105	V317	10.3	80

New script (testing mode for now)

Run ~sir/dev/astro/operations/virus_tests.sh <vac|dsf> [-skipip]

"skipip" only if you do not need that script deal with IP and VG.
Script first warm up lamps and entering test mode to determine correct exposure time. It will ask for max flux level after each test exposure and will display corrected exposure time. Available commands are:

nextifu next IFU next next lamp quit exit the script

Scripted commands

Note about testing exposure times:

• In testing that the brightest arc line is in the range 45-55K, just replace "-L 5" with "-L 1" in the script commands below so that you take a single image at a time.

Note on naming scheme:

• for binning 1x1 name will be "unbinned_<lamp name>"
• for all other non standard binning scheme are : "<lamp name>_<binning>"

Commands (it's recommended to run each command with "--dry-run" first for checking):

First step is to determine appropriate exp time for Hg and Cd-A to get 45-55k in the peak line on the target IFUs. Do this using observation numbers 6XXX and start with exposure times about half of those given above in case you saturate.

Try the following for faster work:

Turn on the Cd-A and Hg lamps through the TCS gui

ipvg off -V
countdowns 780

Cd-A test exp vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l cd-a -L 1 -bexp 55 -o 6101 -skip_warmup -B
Re-Turn on the Cd-A lamp and calculate the correct exposure time for the VIRUS unit of interest to get 50k peak.
Hg vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l hg -L 1 -bexp 7 -o 6102 -skip_warmup -B
Re-Turn on the Hg lamp and calculate the correct exposure time for the VIRUS unit of interest to get 50k peak.
Now run the following but remembering to change the exposure times!!!

• vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -b 5 -o 7100 -skip_warmup -B
• vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l cd-a -L 5 -bexp 20 -o 7101 -skip_warmup -B
• vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l hg -L 5 -bexp 9 -o 7102 -skip_warmup -B
• ipvg on -V

Two scenarios: (assuming these are done in the day time)

• data taken with dark dome
  • ipvg off -V
  • biases vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -b 5 -o 7100
  • Hg vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l hg -L 5 -bexp 2.5 -o 7101
  • Cd-A vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l cd-a -L 5 -bexp 20 -o 7102
  • ipvg on -V

• data taken with dome lights on
  • ipvg off -V
  • biases vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -b 5 -o 7100
  • Hg vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l hg -L 1 -bexp 2.5 -o 7101
  • Cd-A vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -l cd-a -L 5 -bexp 30 -o 7102
  • darks vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -d 5 -de 20 -o 7103
  • darks vlcal -i virus --binning 1x1 -d 5 -de 45 -o 7104
  • ipvg on -V

To judge the image flux levels

Use the virusview command to view the images from all 4 amps of a given S###. Measure the peak flux in each amp using the ds9 Scale histogram (Scale Parameters). Use the most sensitive amp to judge the max peak level. Use this level to estimate the exposure time needed to achieve a peak of 50K or so.

Low level commands

To take the bias frames one could do the following:

syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=0, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="zro", object="unbinned_bias", observation=7100, exposure=1 )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7100,exposure=1)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=0, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="zro", object="unbinned_bias", observation=7100, exposure=2 )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7100,exposure=2)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=0, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="zro", object="unbinned_bias", observation=7100, exposure=3 )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7100,exposure=3)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=0, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="zro", object="unbinned_bias", observation=7100, exposure=4 )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7100,exposure=4)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=0, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="zro", object="unbinned_bias", observation=7100, exposure=5 )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7100,exposure=5)'

Now take the lamp exposures (Note that the exposure time of 8.8 seconds has previously worked well for the brightest emission line for the S105 unit but might not be good for future units Try taking a test exposure with observation=6xxx.

Also note that the flux level of the Hg lamp does not fully stabilize until 13 minutes after it has been turned on.

ipvg off -V
syscmd -P 'FCUDeployHead()'
syscmd -P 'FCUEnableLamps(lamps="Hg",slider="a",state="on")'
sleep 180
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=0.1,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="cmp", object="unbinned_Hg", observation=7101, exposure=1 )'
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=8.0,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7101,exposure=1)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="cmp", object="unbinned_Hg", observation=7101, exposure=2 )'
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=8.0,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7101,exposure=2)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="cmp", object="unbinned_Hg", observation=7101, exposure=3 )'
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=8.0,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7101,exposure=3)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="cmp", object="unbinned_Hg", observation=7101, exposure=4 )'
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=8.0,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7101,exposure=4)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="cmp", object="unbinned_Hg", observation=7101, exposure=5 )'
syscmd -P 'FCUExposeSliderA(time=8.0,lamp_name="Hg",headpos="overide",light_guide="blue",shutter="virus")'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7101,exposure=5)'
syscmd -P 'FCUEnableLamps(lamps="Hg",slider="a",state="off")'
syscmd -P 'FCURetractHead()'

To take the dark frames: (at the PFIP exposure time)

syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="drk", object="unbinned_dark", observation=7102, exposure=1, dark="true" )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7102,exposure=1)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="drk", object="unbinned_dark", observation=7102, exposure=2, dark="true" )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7102,exposure=2)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="drk", object="unbinned_dark", observation=7102, exposure=3, dark="true" )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7102,exposure=3)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="drk", object="unbinned_dark", observation=7102, exposure=4, dark="true" )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7102,exposure=4)'
syscmd -V 'expose(seconds=20, x_binning=1, y_binning=1, type="drk", object="unbinned_dark", observation=7102, exposure=5, dark="true" )'
syscmd -V 'wait_for_write(observation=7102,exposure=5)'

Then do the same for the Cd-A lamps