RE: Tass Software Challenge

[Tom Droege <tdroege@veriomail.com>]

Bill,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you.  I have been too busy seeing 
doctors.

First, I am looking for production software.  I have been accumulating a 
lot of data and I want to reduce it to star lists.  There should be lots of 
interesting new variables in the data I have already taken, and there is 
lots more data coming.

None the less, the software has to be capable of being "tinkered" with to 
improve it and to remove problems as they are discovered.

The most likely scheme is one that uses IRAF or other canned programs with 
a script that guides the data through the reduction process.  That way the 
script can be edited to make changes/improvements as problems are detected.

The most likely system to run with this is Linux, thought Windows would be 
just fine.

I am not sure what I want to do to improve the Memory board problem.  I 
have found that turning the computer with the memory board in it off and 
back on will sometimes get it to work.  This points to a register 
initialization problem.  I have just not found it yet.  So the memory 
boards may be workable.  I just don't know yet.  I really want to avoid 
building a new interface if I can avoid it.

Tom Droege


At 09:09 AM 10/9/01 -0700, you wrote:
>I read over a couple of the documents and looked at some websites.  I
>think I have a pretty good idea about the types of things that need to
>be done.
>
>Question: What aspects of the software are important to you?
>
>i.e. Do you need to be able to tinker with it or would you rather it
>just work? Does it have to run on a particular operating system or
>should it run on multiple operating systems?  Are we looking for
>efficiency/speed or flexibility/slower?
>
>I also found an SBC you might want to consider.  They have Linux for it.
>The system can be totally contained on compact flash (around $50 for
>128mb) and 128mb SIMM.  We could also get them to add some realtime
>operating system API's in case you need to control the timing for the
>ECP.
>
>http://www.emacinc.com/pc_compatible_sbcs_info/pcm5820.htm
>
>Basically you could run Apache web server and give the camera a web
>interface for remote control.  You could also use all the standard
>protocols to down load the data. Set up cron jobs to run things a
>specified times etc.  Some of the current software people use would also
>work on it.
>
>Bill OConnor
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tom Droege [mailto:tdroege@veriomail.com]
> > Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 9:31 PM
> > To: Bill OConnor
> > Subject: RE: Tass Software Challenge
> >
> > Bill,
> >
> > It may not seem obvious to a newcomer, but tass is a software
>development
> > project.  A half dozen people here have at various times worked data
> > through a complete pipeline.  But there is much work to be done.
> >
> > The scheme is that I build telescopes and give them away, then I hope
> > someone will write software that I can use to reduce the data that I
> > take.  A sort of fair exchange, I think.
> >
> > You might look at the Jure Skvarc technical notes.  Try TN77 for a
> > starter.  Then Michael Richmond has a pipeline posted.  Hunt on the
>home
> > page for it.
> >
> > There is some nice stuff on the IRAF web site that outlines what you
>will
> > want to do.  I did not see anything about matching to a catalog.
>Michael
> > Richmond has written catalog matching software, as have several
> > others.  Hope this helps.
> >
> > With people on this list, one never knows what sort of help they
> > need.  Some are real experts in one area but need help in others.  So
>you
> > have to ask for what you need.   Chris's outline is a good start.  It
> > depends on what you know how to do.
> >
> > Tom Droege
> >
> >
> > At 10:07 PM 10/7/01 -0700, you wrote:
> > >Ok, I have the data set.  I've looked over the FITS website.  Can
>anyone
> > >point me to the software that is currently used to process data.  I
> > >assume that it runs on some flavor of *nix. Tom mentioned IRAF.
> > >
> > >I have downloaded a copy of Bohdan Paczynski's paper but have not had
> > >time to really look at it. Is there anything else I should be looking
> > >at?