New TCS

The old TCS was dismantled at the start of the semester. The new TCS has been used throughout the semester and only positive comments have been received. However, there is a fundamental problem with the communication (from the data acquisition programs) to the TCS. This turned out to be a flaw in the operating system on which the new TCS runs and the only solution is to go to a new system which would require a significant effort plus extra costs. A different method using sockets (which functions at a more basic level that the current RPC communication system) has been developed for the TCS command server but needs to be verified with the instrument computers.

Some minor upgrades identified during the semester are still waiting to be implemented, and work is progressing on the documentation and the logging system.