Building drive

There still is an issue with getting any error messages from the building drive in to our general logging and data-base system. A possible way was noted on a SIEMENS technical web forum, but this needs to be investigated. As an alternative, a preliminary design was made for a device that can read the messages from the building drive, detect any error messages, and send those to the observing system log. The hardware cost would be low, but it would require significant development work.

When there is a building drive error, we currently do a full power-off of the telescope, read and note down the error message, and power on again. However, the time to do an automatic soft power cycling of the drive system is normally sufficiently short to not cause any problems with the telescope getting too close to the building, and it should be possible to do a reset without powering off the telescope. The error message on the building drive can then be read later. The precise way in which this can be implemented will need to be considered. E.g., if the telescope has a high tracking rate in azimuth (when close to zenith), there might not be sufficient time for the power cycle, while it also depends on the specific error in the building drive if a a power cycle actually solves the problem.