AzcamServer

azcamserver is the main server application for the azcam acquisition and analysis package. It usually runs in an IPython window and is mainly used to control data acquistion.

Configuration and startup

An azcamserver process is really only useful with a customized configuration script and environment which defines the hardware to be controlled. Configuration scripts from existing environments may be used as examples. They would be imported into a python or IPython session or uses a startup script such to create a new server or console application.

An example code snippet to start azcamserver when using the azcam-itl environment is:

# server-side (azcamserver)
import azcam
import azcam_itl.server
instrument = azcam.db.tools["instrument"]
exposure = azcam.db.tools["exposure"]
instrument.set_wavelength(450)
wavelength = instrument.get_wavelength()
print(f"Current wavelength is {wavelength}")
exposure.expose(2., 'flat', "a 450 nm flat field image")

Another example code snippet to start an azcamserver process is:

python -i -m azcam.server.server_mock
or
ipython -m azcam.server.server_mock --profile azcamserver -i

and then in the IPython window:

instrument.set_wavelength(450)
wavelength = instrument.get_wavelength()
print(f"Current wavelength is {wavelength}")
exposure.expose(2., 'flat', "a 450 nm flat field image")

Tools

AzCam's tools are used to define and control a system. The supported systems include:

Astronomical Research Cameras, Inc. gen1, gen2, and gen3 controllers. See this link.
STA Archon controllers. See this link.
OCIW Magellan CCD controllers (ITL version). See this link.
ASCOM cameras. See this link. This code has been used for QHY and ZWO cameras.

Exposure Tools

These tools defines the exposure interface. The default tool name is exposure.

The exposure tool often coordinates the actions of the hardware tools such as controller, instrument, etc. For example, when exposure is initialized the tools in the exposure.tools_init list are initialized. Similarly when exposure is reset, the tools in the exposure.tools_reset list are reset.

Autogenerated docs for the base Exposure class

Astronomical Research Cameras Controllers

import azcam.server.server
from azcam.server.tools.arc.exposure_arc import ExposureArc
exposure = ExposureArc()
exposure.filetype = exposure.filetypes["MEF"]
exposure.image.filetype = exposure.filetypes["MEF"]
exposure.sendimage.set_remote_imageserver("localhost", 6543)
exposure.image.remote_imageserver_filename = "/data/image.fits"
exposure.image.server_type = "azcam"

STA Archon Controllers

import azcam.server.server
from azcam.server.tools.archon.exposure_archon import ExposureArchon
exposure = ExposureArchon()
filetype = "MEF"
exposure.fileconverter.set_detector_config(detector_sta3800)
exposure.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.image.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.display_image = 1
exposure.image.remote_imageserver_flag = 0
exposure.add_extensions = 1

Magellan Controllers

import azcam.server.server
from azcam.server.tools.mag.exposure_mag import ExposureMag
exposure = ExposureMag()
filetype = "BIN"
exposure.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.image.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.display_image = 1
exposure.image.remote_imageserver_flag = 0
exposure.set_filename("/azcam/soguider/image.bin")
exposure.test_image = 0
exposure.root = "image"
exposure.display_image = 0
exposure.image.make_lockfile = 1

ASCOM Exposure

import azcam.server.server
from azcam.server.tools.ascom.exposure_ascom import ExposureASCOM
exposure = ExposureASCOM()
filetype = "FITS"
exposure.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.image.filetype = exposure.filetypes[filetype]
exposure.display_image = 1
exposure.image.remote_imageserver_flag = 0
exposure.set_filename("/data/zwo/asi1294/image.fits")
exposure.display_image = 1

Controller Tools

These tools defines the camera controller interface. The default tool name is controller.

Documentation for the base Controller class

Astronomical Research Cameras Controllers

import azcam.server
from azcam.tools.arc.controller_arc import ControllerArc
controller = ControllerArc()
controller.timing_board = "arc22"
controller.clock_boards = ["arc32"]
controller.video_boards = ["arc45", "arc45"]
controller.utility_board = None
controller.set_boards()
controller.pci_file = os.path.join(azcam.db.systemfolder, "dspcode", "dsppci3", "pci3.lod")
controller.video_gain = 2
controller.video_speed = 1

Camera Servers

Camera servers are separate executable programs which manage direct interaction with controller hardware on some systems. Communication with a camera server takes place over a socket via communication protocols defined between azcam and a specific camera server program. These camera servers are necessary when specialized drivers for the camera hardware are required. They are usually written in C/C++.

DSP Code

The DSP code which runs in the ARC controllers is assembled and linked with Motorola software tools. These tools are typically installed in the folder /azcam/motoroladsptools/ on a Windows machine as required by the batch files which assemble and link the code.

While the AzCam application code for the ARC timing board is typically downloaded during camera initialization, the boot code must be compatible for this to work properly. Therefore AzCam-compatible DSP boot code may need to be burned into the timing board EEPROMs before use, depending on configuration.

The gen3 PCI fiber optic interface boards and the gen3 utility boards use the original ARC code and do not need to be changed. The gen1 and gen2 situations are more complex.

For ARC system, the xxx.lod files are downlowded to the boards.

STA Archon Controllers

import azcam.server
from azcam.tools.archon.controller_archon import ControllerArchon
controller = ControllerArchon()
controller.camserver.port = 4242
controller.camserver.host = "10.0.2.10"
controller.header.set_keyword("DEWAR", "ITL1", "Dewar name")
controller.timing_file = os.path.join(
    azcam.db.systemfolder, "archon_code", "ITL1_STA3800C_Master.acf"
)

Magellan Controllers

import azcam.server
from azcam.tools.mag.controller_mag import ControllerMag
controller = ControllerMag()
controller.camserver.set_server("some_machine", 2402)
controller.timing_file = os.path.join(azcam.db.datafolder, "dspcode/gcam_ccd57.s")

Camera Servers

Camera servers are separate executable programs which manage direct interaction with controller hardware on some systems. Communication with a camera server takes place over a socket via communication protocols defined between azcam and a specific camera server program. These camera servers are necessary when specialized drivers for the camera hardware are required. They are usually written in C/C++.

DSP Code

The DSP code which runs in Magellan controllers is assembled and linked with Motorola software tools. These tools should be installed in the folder /azcam/motoroladsptools/ on Windows machines, as required by the batch files which assemble and link the code.

For Magellan systems, there is only one DSP file which is downloaded during initialization.

Note that xxx.s files are loaded for the Magellan systems.

ASCOM Controller

import azcam.server
from azcam.tools.ascom.controller_ascom import ControllerASCOM
controller = ControllerASCOM()

Temperature Controller Tools

This tool defines the temperature controller interface. The default tool name is tempcon.

Documentation for the TempCon class

CryoCon Testerature Controller

This tools supports Cryogenic Control Systems Inc. (cryo-con) temperature controllers. See http://www.cryocon.com/.

Example Code

import azcam.server
from azcam.tools.cryocon.tempcon_cryocon24 import TempConCryoCon24
tempcon = TempConCryoCon24()
tempcon.description = "cryoconqb"
tempcon.host = "10.0.0.44"
tempcon.control_temperature = -100.0
tempcon.init_commands = [
"input A:units C",
"input B:units C",
"input C:units C",
"input A:isenix 2",
"input B:isenix 2",
"input C:isenix 2",
"loop 1:type pid",
"loop 1:range mid",
"loop 1:maxpwr 100",
]

Instrument Tool

This tool defines the instrument interface. The default tool name is instrument.

Documentation for the Instrument class

Telescope Tool

This tool defines the telescope interface. The default tool name is telescope.

Documentation for the Telescope class

Display Tool

This tool defines the image display interface. The default tool name is display.

rois = display.get_rois(2, 'detector')  
display.display(test.fits')

SAO Ds9 Image Display Tool

This tool supports SAO's ds9 display tool running under Windows. See https://sites.google.com/cfa.harvard.edu/saoimageds9.

See https://github.com/mplesser/azcam-ds9-winsupport for support code which may be helpful when displaying images on Windows computers

from azcam.tools.ds9.ds9display import Ds9Display
display = Ds9Display()
display.display("test.fits")
rois = display.get_rois(0, "detector")
print(rois)

Documentation for the Display class

Focus Tool

The focus tool controls focus observations used to determine optimal instrument or telescope focus position. This code is usually executed in the console window although a server-side version is available on some systems. focus is an instance of the Focus class.

focus.set_pars(1, 30, 10)  
focus.run()

Focus Parameters

Parameters may be changed from the command line as: focus.number_exposures=7 or focus.set_pars(1.0, 5, 25, 15).

focus.number_exposures = 7: Number of exposures in focus sequence
focus.focus_step = 30: Number of focus steps between each exposure in a frame
focus.detector_shift = 10: Number of rows to shift detector for each focus step
focus.focus_position: Current focus position
focus.exposure_time = 1.0: Exposure time (seconds)
focus.focus_component = "instrument": Focus component for motion - "instrument" or "telescope"
focus.focus_type = "absolute": Focus type, "absolute" or "step"
focus.set_pars_called = 1: Flag to not prompt for focus position
focus.move_delay = 3: Delay in seconds between focus moves

Sendimage

The exposure.sendimage class supports sending an image to a remote host running an image server which receives the image.

remote_imageserver_host = "10.0.0.1"
remote_imageserver_port = 6543
exposure.sendimage.set_remote_imageserver(remote_imageserver_host, remote_imageserver_port, "azcam")