Camera Command Summary

All camera commands are prefaced by 'c' and must be lower case. These commands are all passed directly to the RoboCCD camera control daemon without any processing. All commands are case-insensitve, but arguments preserve case if not used as command modifiers. All commands generate actions involving the camera or its setup. All entries shown as uppercase indicate arguments that should be replaced by numbers or strings as appropriate.

area X0 Y0 DX DY	Set readout area of CCD.
area full	(Re)set readout to full image.
autofile on|off	Enable/disable automatic file name incrementing.
autoflat [N]	Automatically take N twilight flat images in current filter (default=20).
autoname	Automatically set next file name.
bias LABEL	Setup for bias frame with given name.
binfac N	Set CCD binning factor (1, 2, 3, or 4).
center	Center last object imaged on lock point.
colorseq [NAME]	Enable/disable color sequence given by NAME.
dark LABEL	Setup for dark frame with given name.
delay N	Delay N seconds between exposures.
done	Flag current data directory to indicate data collection has ceased.
exit	Exit daemon (no response from this).
file NAME	Set filename manually (rarely used).
filter NAME	Set filter to NAME (sets up both wheels).
flat LABEL	Setup for flat frame with given name.
focus sweep START STOP STEP	Collect focus sweep observation.
focus delta [X]	Set step size of focus command (default=reset).
focus steps [N]	Set number of steps on either side of focus.
focus	Automatic focus tweak-up.
N frames	Request N frames at next "o" command.
lock X Y	Set lock location on CCD.
logtemp [N]	Set temperature logging interval to N or disable.
o	Take data (observe) with current settings.
o N	Take N frames with current settings.
observers NAMES	Set names of observers for data logging.
object LABEL	Setup for object frame with given name.
ok?	Null command, returns "ok!".
rawfilt POS1 POS2	Low-level command to set position of filter wheels.
N seconds	Set exposure time to N seconds.
setfocus [doit]	Set telescope focus based on environment data.
spot X Y	Set hot-spot (used for center).
stopam X	Set termination airmass for observation.
stoplst HH:MM:SS	Set termination at LST of HH:MM:SS
stoptime HHMM	Set termination time for observation HH:MM UT.

There are some safeguards and defaults built into the camera controls. Color, delay, frames, stopam, stoplst, and stoptime all control aspects of taking images. These commands are all used prior to an 'o' command to setup the sequence of images. If any of these commands (include 'o N') lead to the collection of more than one frame, then autofile is always turned on regardless of its value prior to the 'o' command. That means it is not possible to take a long series of images without saving them to disk. Note that the setting for autofile is left in the same state after the exposure as it was before. Finally, any of these duration control values are disabled at the completion of the 'o' command. That means you don't have to worry about reseting things after an exposure. It also means that the use of any of these commands should immediately precede the 'o' command itself. You cannot assume a value is carried over from before.

Back to my home page    Back to automation page