Calypso Telescope Operators Manual: Emergency Procedures

Emergency Contacts

In case of emergency on the mountain you can contact Kitt Peak emergency staff on Channnel 1 on the two way radios. Other emergency contacts are:

Edgar Smith - 212-757-6565

Bruce Truax - 860-276-0450

Injury

If someone is injured at the observatory, call the Kitt Peak emergency staff using Channel 1 on the two way radio. The Kitt Peak emergency response staff is well trained and they take their job seriously.

Power Outages

In the case of a power outage, the observatory is equiped with uninterruptable power supplies (UPSs) and an emergency generator (located on the north side of the storage shed). The backup power system has been designed to park the telescope and close the building, it is not designed to allow continued observing. There is UPS power for all control computers but not for the telescope drive motors or the building. They get power during an emergency from the generator. Therefore, when the power is first lost, the telescope will stop moving due to loss of motor power but the servo processes and encoders will keep running and the brakes will come on. The telescope will know where it is but it will not be able to move until the generator is started.

In order to shut down the telescope in an orderly fashon you should perform the following steps carefully, but quickly when power is lost.

1. In the Telescope Operator Interface (TOI) window press the stop button. This will stop the servo processes and hold position.
2. From the TOI main window select the Engineering->Limit Switches menu item.
3. In the Limit Switches window, press the Reset Servo button. This will set the current servo position to the actual axes positions.
4. Start the emergency generator next to the storage shed.

   

5. Switch the mains to the emergency generator power at the panel in the storage building. Once you have done this you have restored power to the motor drives.

   

6. Press the Resume Servoing button in the Limit Switches window of the TOI.
7. From the TOI main window select the Shutdown->Park All menu item.
8. Once the axes are parked, close the building and shut the doors as described in Closing the Building.
9. Once the telescope is parked and the building closed, all power should be shut off to the telescope in the electronics room.
10. Next, the SUN workstations jupiter, earth, and saturn and the Compaq alpha charon should be shut down. There is a limited capacity in the UPS for the control room and it is better if the computers are properly shut down before the UPS runs out of energy. For instructions see Shutting Down the Computers.

Once the main power has returned, it is advisable to wait at least 30 minutes to make sure that it is stable. You can then switch the emergency power switch in the storage room back to the line power and shut off the generator. Next you should power up all of the computers. Once the computers are ready, you can reopen the telescope, just remember that the UPS's probably have low charge, so if the power goes out again, you may not have much time to get the axes shut down.

Manually Parking Telescope

Even though the Calypso servo system is very reliable, there will be times when it will fail and it will be necessary to park the telescope manually. The telescope is small enough that this can be done by one person although it is a task most easily perfomed with assistance. The only time two people are absolutely needed for safety reasons is when the wind is blowing at more than 30 mph. At high wind speeds, the wind can push the telescope when the brakes are released and for the safety of the operator and the telescope, there should be two individuals on the observing level. You should make yourself familiar with this procedure during daylight hours so you do not end up fumbling around in the dark.

Note that left and right assume you are positioned behind the primary mirror cell, looking in the viewing direction of the telescope.

Elevation Axis

Locate the Brake Control Pendant, it should be located on the telescope fork. Change the Elevation brake switch to the release position. Locate the elevation axis park and limit switches, they are located behind the elevation axis drive sector on the right, front side of the fork. The top switch is the park position switch and the bottom switch is the limit switch. You should be able to see these switches while grasping the truss and pulling the elevation axis into position. While pulling the elevation axis to the horizon, watch the two switches carefully until the actuation cam comes close to the switches. Slowly lower the elevation axis until the park switch (top) is depressed and the limit (bottom) switch is not depressed. Switch the azimuth brakes switch back to the operate position.

Azimuth Axis

Locate the Brake Control Pendant, it should be located on the telescope fork. Change the Azimuth brake switch to the release position. Rotate the telescope until it is pointing to the northeast (towards the long end of the observing platform. Adjust the rotation until the Park position fiducial marks located are aligned. The park position marks can be found on the left side of the telescope, one of the marks is on the aluminum decking and the other mark is on the telescope skirt. Once the marks are aligned switch the azimuth brake switch back to the Operate position.

Rotator Axis: Left (WFCAM) or Right (HRCAM)

Locate the Brake Control Pendant, it should be located on the telescope fork. Change the appropriate park pin switch to the release position. Rotate the rotator (not the cable wrap) until the park position marks on the bottom of the rotator align. Switch the park pin switch on the pendant back to the operate position. Carefully rotate the rotator back and forth by a small amount until the park pin engages, if the rotator does not turn then the pin is engaged. Do not force the rotator since the pin can be sheared off though the use of too much force.

VERIFY PARK

Park position can be verified for all three axes in the electronics control room, by looking at the Ziatech monitor on the table. Use the F8 on the keyboard to bring up the Ziatech status screen. The status for the axes should say "parked".

Closing Building if the Drive System Fails (Need Photo's of procedure)

In the event that the building drive system fails and the building will not close, there is an emergency electric winch mounted on the southeast wall which can be configured to pull the building closed.

If it becomes necessary to use the winch use the following procedure:

1. Put on a pair of work gloves.
2. Grab the hook end of the winch cable and the two pullies.
3. Flip the clutch lever on the winch to allow the cable to be withdrawn.
4. Pull out the cable and walk to the south corner of the platform.
5. Connect the pulley closest to the winch to the attachment point at the corner of the platform.
6. Pull the cable and the remaining pulley to the west corner of the platform and attach the second pulley to the attachment point at the west corner.
7. Continue pulling the cable back to the west corner of the building and attach the hook to the attachment point on the building.
8. Engage the clutch on the winch.
9. Plug the winch into an outlet.
10. Using the control pendant, operate the winch to retract the cable, closing the building.
11. When the building is fully closed against the stops, reach around the south corner of the building and crank the handle to insert the park pin.
12. Once the park pin is inserted, reverse the winch to relieve the tension on the cable and disconnect the cable and the pulleys from their attachment points.
13. Using the pendant, retract the cable fully.
14. Close the two doors using the two door close buttons located on the North West wall.

NOTE: This method of closing the building will not necessarily be needed during a power failure since the main observatory drive system is powered by the emergency generator, therefore, if power is lost, first start the generator and bring it on line and try to use the normal drive system.

Shutting Down the Computers

Under normal operations, the computers are left running. In the case of a power outage, or approaching lightning storm use the following procedure to shut down the computers.

• The SUN workstations jupiter, saturn, and earth:
  1. issue command: sudo shutdown -h now
  2. when asked to shut down system, answer: y
  3. Wait for computer to finish (takes a few minutes)
  4. Turn off disk drives, then main box, and finally the monitor

• The Compaq alpha charon:
  1. Log in as system
  2. Shut down system
  3. Power down main box, then console terminal

• The Macintosh
1. Under "Special" menu in the Finder choose Shutdown
• The PCs in the control room and the computers in the electronics room at the base of the telescope pier
1. Use the "Start" menu and select Shutdown