M2FS Software Documentation - Release Notes

v1.9, v1.8, v1.7, v1.6, v1.5, v1.4, v1.3, v1.2, v1.1, v1.0
v0.9, v0.8, v0.7

v1.9 (2022-04-13)
  • Synchronize the file number when using the common START button.
  • Added the "MODE" command to work with the new M2FS control computer (MCC).
    • This tells the MCC if the M2FS or IFUM mode is used.
  • HighSierra deployment target.
  • Some bug-fixes.

    • v1.8.5 (2019-05-28)
  • Modified the "subraster" record of the FITS header to indicate the actual subraster geometry even if the full ('0' padded) frame is saved.
    • SUBRASTR='[x1:x2,y1:y2]'
  • Added the Gaia catalog to the SkyMap.
  • Some minor bug fixes.
    • Note: There are some minor problems running this version on macOS Yosemite (eg. spinning progress indicators are invisible).
    Please use v1.8.4 if you encounter any serious issues.
    v1.8.4 (2018-02-16) -- (first use 2018-11-23)
  • Added a 0.35 second delay between exposures in a loop.
    • v1.8.3 (2017-11-14)
  • Back-propagate changes on the Lamps/Eng hardhat to the M2FS window.
    • v1.8.2 (2017-11-09)
  • Added the McalAutoOff timeout to the M2FS preferences pane.
  • Added an Mcal on/off button on the Lamps/Eng pane on the instrument hardhat window.
  • Fixed a bug that left the LED presets on the Lamps/Eng pane at their previous values when Mcal was turned off.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the Mcal power button on the LFSIM pane to display Off when Mcal got "auto-shutoff".
    • v1.8.1 (2017-11-06)
  • Suppress the "no filter" warning when taking dark- or bias-exposures.
  • BeagleBoard status requests "FILTER ?" and "FLSIM ?" updated.
    • "FILTER ?" command returns three additional engineering values: "position # # #"
    "FLSIM ?" command returns one additional engineering value: "{IN,OUT} #"
    v1.8 (2017-09-05)
  • Added control of the calibration LEDs (combo) to the M2FS-GUI.
  • Added the status of the LEDs and combo name to the FITS header.
  • Control the three LoRes lamps via one popup button (combo).
  • Added the LoRes combo name to the FITS header.
  • Added the Lamps/Set tab to the M2FS hardhat window.
    • It allows to define the LED and LoRes lamp combos.
  • Added the LEDs to the Lamps/Eng tab of the M2FS hardhat window.
  • Automatically turn off Mcal after 2 minutes when no lamp is on.
  • Automatically turn off the lamps and Mcal when the DCU retracts Mcal.
  • Removed the lamp auto off/on during readout when in the "Lamp" exposure type.
    • Removed the warmup time from the lamp setup (.xml) files.
  • The SkyMap uses the re-formatted star catalogs in /Users/Shared/StarCatalogs

    • v1.7 (2017-05-16)
  • 64-bit (deployment target macOS-10.9+).
  • Enforce "localhost" quietly as the CCD-host when in Simulator mode.
    • This allows to switch to "Simulator" mode without changing the CCD-host on the Startup window.
  • M2FS-Slits Hardhat:
    • The "Set" button and "Enter" key both send the value in the respective edit control.
  • Internal restructuring (refactoring) of all TCP/IP modules:
    • BeagleBoard, Acromag, CCDserver, TCSIS.

    v1.6.1 (2016-12-05)
  • The GUI keeps the Configuration label on the CCD window when a Snap exposure is taken.
    • v1.6 (2016-09-08)
  • Displays the name of the last loaded Configuration file on the GUI.
  • Writes the name of the last loaded Configuration file to the FITS header (CONFIGFL).
  • Widened the Calibration Lamps popup buttons to accomodate the different system font on Snow Leopard.
  • Added 2x4 binning.
  • Increased the pre-query wait time during Slide motions from 3 to 6 seconds.

    • v1.5.5 (2016-06-21)
  • Fixed a bug when updating the slit Set Point (former Nominal) for the first Tetris.
  • Added a [Help] button on the Slits Hardhat that explains how to update the slits Set Points.
    • v1.5.4 (2016-02-03)
  • Instrument hardhat: Preset the slit motion edit fields to '0' steps (was '1').
  • Changed the default data path to /Volumes/DATA_CLAY/M2FS/...
    • v1.5.3 (2016-01-25)
  • Appended the text "Running on AC power" when the UPS status switches to "OL" (online).
  • Changed the delay between a motion command and the first status request from 1 to 3 seconds.
    • The one second delay was too short to avoid a race condition when multiple devices where commanded simultaneously.
    In particular, Load Configuration caused frequent "fake" failures.
  • Write the commands sent to the Beagle to the logfile after the TCP/IP connection lock has been acquired.
    • This enforces that the response will always appear just after the command in the logfile.
    v1.5.2 (2015-10-28)
  • The CCD-GUI displays the SWAP icon when the Slide is in the LRSWAP position.
    • v1.5.1 (2015-09-15)
  • Order the plates list alphabethically.
    • This should make it easier to find the desired plate in a long list of available plates.
  • Allow to move the slits (Tetris) on hat Hardhat window by pressing Enter on the edit fields.
    • The resulting action is identical to pressing the Go button to the right of the edit field.
  • Enable text selection from the Terminal window.
    • This allows to transfer responses from the BeagleBoard into a spreadsheet or text editor.
  • Write the selected Configuration to the logfile.
    • This will help to identify the cause if there are events where the Slide did not move away from the LRSWAP postition.
  • Removed the color bar at the top-right of the CCD-GUI that indicated the shoe associated with the CCD.
    • v1.5 (2015-04-20)
  • Added a Stow button to the Preferences window.
    This button replaces the Stowed Shutdown check mark and initiates the following motions (for both sides):
  • All slits are moved to position 1.
  • The LoRes grating elevation is moved to +89 deg.
  • The filter is moved to the Load position.
  • The plugmode is turned OFF (not yet available).
  • Fixed the re-sizing of the plate selection dialog.
  • Moved the Load and None buttons to the Filters pane on the hardhat window.
  • Moved the LoRes Swap button to the Slide pane on the hardhat window.
  • Removed the Setup mode from the M2FS window.

    • v1.4.3 (2015-03-03)
  • Disabled the "Plug" mode button.
  • Added the date to the Messages window.
  • X-Flip the composite image ("OverView") on the QuickLook Tool.
  • Removed File Number from the Preferences window.
    When the Preferences window was open during an exposure and closed afterwards it reset the File Number.
    The File Number may now be changed on the Camera GUI after selecting the Camera-FileNumber menu.
    • v1.4.2 (2015-02-27)
  • Some minor internal improvements.
    • v1.4.1 (2015-02-23)
    Configuration - Load:
  • Added a warning when the filter of a Configuration is not available.
    • v1.4 (2015-02-09)
    CCD Camera Window:
  • AutoFocus control (check-mark).
    When the AutoFocus control is active the M2FS-GUI sends focus corrections every Polling Interval minutes if the current focus difference is larger than Delta Focus (see 'HardHat' below).

    • M2FS Hardhat:
  • Focus tab allows changing the AutoFocus parameters.

    • v1.3.3 (2014-12-15)
  • Added check marks to the Load Configuration window that allows to de-select the entire blue or red side.
    • v1.3.2 (2014-12-10)
  • Adjust the position of the cradle temperatures on the M2FS-Temperatures window and increased the font size.
    • v1.3.1 (2014-12-09)
  • Disable the common Start button while any device is moving.
    • v1.3 (2014-11-24)

    M2FS Hardhat:
  • Added a new tab on the instrument hardhat with text entries for the filter names.
  • Added a button on the hardhat to open the directory with the Configuration files in the Finder.

    • QuickLook Tool:
  • Implement smooth panning between the quadrants in the Quicklook tool.
    • Note: The aperture statistics still use the pixels of the current magnifier quadrant only.

    Others:
  • Added the "radiation" icon to each of the calibration lamp popup menus.
  • Display this warning only once per session
    • "HiRes calibration lamps on in LoRes mode"
  • Changed the font in the Progress window from Helvetica to Courier (fixed font).
  • Disable AppNap when running on OS-X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later.
  • Correct Magellan altitude (2405 m)

    Bug Fixes:
  • Allow to change the exposure time in the common CCD section when doing a loop.
  • Automatically turn-OFF the Quartz lamp when turning-ON the ThNe lamp.

    • v1.2.2 (2014-09-17)

    Lamp exposure type:
  • Fixed a race condition during the automatic lamp turn-off after an exposure loop.
    • CamGUI:
  • Synchronize both Camera-GUIs when started with the common Start button on the M2FS-GUI.
    • This is necessary when a dialog box (eg. "no plate selected") de-synchronizes the start of the exposure.
    v1.2.1 (2014-09-16)

    Load Configuration:
  • Removed the [Close] button on the window's title bar to enforce either an explicit "Load" or "Cancel" action.
  • Disable the Configuration menu during exposure loops.
    • v1.2 (2014-05-30)

    Features:
  • Added a Progress window that displays the time remaining for the current exposure, ie. time until shutter-close.
    • The Progress window is made the front window automatically when an exposure is started (if visible).
  • When loading a configuration the focus will not be changed, unless explicitly requested.
  • Reduced the re-drawing time when the QuickLook tool window is resized.
  • Added the MG_Wide filter.

    • Bug-Fixes:
  • Fixed the exposure progress bar when taking a 'Bias' exposure.

    • Others:
  • Fixed the default number formatter behavior in Mavericks (MacOS-X 10.9)
  • Adopted CoreText as the text system for the GUI (CGContextSelectFont was deprecated in 10.9-Mavericks)
  • Moved the scripts to ~/Library/Application Support/M2FS/Scripts/
  • Moved the configuration files to ~/Library/Application Support/M2FS/Configurations/
  • Moved the object list files to ~/Library/Application Support/M2FS/Objects/

    • v1.1 (2014-02-13)

  • Use 3 decimal places (%.3f) for the M2FS temperatures in the FITS header
  • Display the Configuration Preview dialog after a new configuration is selected.
  • Automatically load the configuration after a Setup is selected
    • if the file "plateName_setupName.m2fs" exists in the "~/Library/Application Support/M2FS" folder.
  • Add saving and loading M2FS configurations.
    • The followings settings are stored in the configuration file:
  • Slide
  • HiRes azimuth and elevation, or LoRes elevation
  • Filter
  • Focus
  • Slit (Note: Custom slits configurations are not yet implemented)
  • Readout Speed and binning
  • Do not require a Plate or Setup for Bias and Dark exposures.
  • Added a "MJD" (modified Julian day) FITS record to the data files.
  • Use a "Level Indicator" for the exposure and loops progress bars (stays colored when the window is not the Key window).

    • v1.0 (2013-11-23)

  • Turn off all MCal lamps when the M2FS-GUI is closed.

    • v0.918-0.926 (2013-11-20..22)

  • Estimate the MCal flat-field lamp warmup times (measurement pending)
    • HgAr: 30 [seconds]
    Ne: 16
    Quartz: 2
    ThAr: 2
    ThNe: 2
    Xe: 2
    The cutoff time for a looped Lamp expsosure was set to 15 seconds.
  • Swap (fix) ThAr and ThNe channels at the Acromag.
  • Added common controls (M2FS-Window) for the Exposure Type, Binning and readout Speed.
  • Automatically select the (only) Setup if a Plate file contains only one Setup.
  • Add background color (red,blue) to the CCD-GUIs.
  • Automatically copy the Object and Comment values to the other CCD-GUI if the Enter key is pressed.
  • Added a color bar at the top of the CCD-GUIs to indicate the Shoe associated with this CCD.
    • The color will be yellow if there is no Shoe in the Cradle.
  • Allow the Slit Nominal value to be changed by an edit-window.
  • Renamed the filter Setup position to Load.
  • Display a Warning Dialog when taking a Snap in Lamp exposure type.
  • Allow to change the exposure time during an exposure from the common control area (M2FS-Window).
  • SH-LED levels = {0,1,3,9,27,81,255}
    • v0.916-0.917 (2013-11-15)
  • Select #output amplifiers implicitly with the binning.
  • M2FS-Hardhat (Slits tab): replace the "+","-" buttons with a "Go" button and take the sign from the edit box.
    • v0.915 (2013-10-14)
  • Wait for the LoRes-Elevation axis when moving the Slide to the Change position.
  • Disable the Observing Mode control while the Slide is moving.
  • Disable the HiRes axes while the Slide is in the Change position.
    • v0.907-0.914 (2013-10-03)

  • Add an "Update" button to the Dewar-Status window.
  • FITS keywords "SLIDE-ENC" and "SLIDE-STP" changed to "SLIDEENC" and "SLIDESTP" (max. length is 8 characters).
  • 2 amplifier readout mode (replaced by 1 amplifier mode, pending new DSP code).
  • Disable 3x/4x binning in 4-amp mode.
  • Add a '?' to the SLIDE, LO-ELEV, HI-ELEV and HI-AZIM FITS value fields if the value is "from file" (device not initialized).
  • Lamp exposure type 
    • Pseudo code:
  for (loop=1 to nloops) {
    if (loop == 1) {        // first loop
      if (any lamp on) {
        store current lamp setup
      }
    }
    restore last lamp setup
    wait the maximum of all "warmup-time"s of lamps that were OFF
    take exposure
    if (loop == nloops) {   // last loop
      turn off all lamps
    } else {
      turn off lamps with "warmup-time" shorter than "slow" (ie. 15 seconds)
    }
    readout exposure
  }
  • MoveAll button on the Slits pane of the M2FS-Hardhat window.
  • bug-fix in run_Gfilter
    • v0.906 (2013-08-25)
  • 7 SH-LED levels {1,2,3,205,230,255}.
    • v0.905 (2013-08-23)
  • Hide '-emtpy' filter positions on the guider- and CCD-filter popups.
  • Update Exposure time and Loops edits when the Common edit receives an Enter key-event.
    • v0.904 (2013-08-22)
  • Guider filter has 6 positions (was 4).
    • v0.902 (2013-08-21)
  • Make all GUI updates on the main-thread.
    • v0.901 (2013-08-19)
  • Move-To-Front M2FS and CCD windows if any one of them is selected as main-window.

    • v0.816 (2013-08-15)
  • Add control of the Mcal power by using channel-1 of the Acromag controller (overlay with ThAr lamp).
    • v0.815 (2013-07-24)
  • Refactor the ObjectList window.
    • v0.814 (2013-07-17)
  • Display the 'foot pints' taken exposures to the SkyMap.
    • v0.812 & v0.813 (2013-07-16)
  • Make access to the Cocoa framework multi-thread safe.
    • v0.811 (2013-07-10)
  • Alert sound and display 'fading' when the Beagle runs on battery (UPS) power.
    • v0.810 (2013-04-11)
  • Improved handling of BeagleBoard failures.
    • v0.809 (2013-04-11)
  • Sound class added
  • Send SHUTDOWN and GUICLOSING from background thread
    • v0.808 (2013-03-11)
  • 4-output mode finalized
  • m2fserver -c {r,b}
    • v0.807 (2013-03-04)
  • Open {red,blue,both} for Ql-Tool, Dewar-Status, CCD-Voltages, and Hardhat windows.
    • v0.806 (2013-02-25)
  • Scripting: added an error dialog when an invalid Filter, Slide or Slit is detected
  • Edit-Windows: bug-fix in ESC handling
    • v0.805 (2013-02-22)
  • new M2FS temperatures window
    • v0.804 (2013-02-21)
  • common Filter, Slide and Slits control on M2FS-window.
    • v0.803 (2013-02-19)
  • reject exposure time change from M2FS-window when in Bias mode
  • don't say shutter closed when in Bias or Dark mode
    • v0.802 (2013-02-14)
  • improved (error) message dialog box design
    • v0.801 (2013-02-11)
  • load filter names from file 'filters.xml'
  • DropDown buttons for filter, slide and slits
  • longer timeout (10 seconds) for communication with the BeagleBoard
    • v0.800 (2013-02-09)
  • load slit names from file 'slits.xml'

    • v0.715 (2013-02-01)
  • Calibration Lamps re-design

    • 2012-03-22, Christoph C. Birk, Carnegie Observatories (last updated: 2014-01-22)