New TCS

The problem with the communication between the new TCS and the data acquisition programs have basically been solved by changing the way this communication works. For this a new sequencer for the TCS was developed and implemented using the new socket-based interface to the TCS.

Also during this semester various minor upgrades were implemented and work is progressing on the documentation and the logging system.

As part of the set-up provided when using the service building as control room, and in general when using any part of the observing system remotely, a TCS Display application was made. This application can be run on any observing system computer and provides a small window with basic TCS information (coordinates, telescope status, etc). We are planning to extend this application to include the option to display information from the guide star system (e.g., relative position of the star, total measured intensity) such that the guide process can be monitored (e.g., to see if the star does not move out of the box, or if the guide star gets very faint because there are clouds).