RTML

[Stupendous Man <richmond@a188-l009.rit.edu>]

  I haven't been in the loop for over a year now, but as far
as I can tell, RTML is a decent language for describing high-level
commands to a telescope.  It would be more complex than we
need with the Mark IV (since the Mark IV has only a few possible
motions, and fixed instruments with no filter wheels), but 
certainly one could describe a series of operations to control
a Mark IV in RTML.  

  Of course, RTML is a _high-level_ language.  One must always
write a low-level driver which actually talks to the hardware.
I suppose that one could write a new translator which takes
RTML and turns it into a series of STAMP commands, and vice
versa.  Having already written one such "interpreter", however,
I find myself reluctant to go ahead and do it again.  

  One could probably translate from RTML into the simple
control language I devised for the Mark IV, if one wanted.
Again, not something that I have at the top of my priority 
list.

  What _is_ at the top my list is fixing the RA drive coupler
between the motor and the RA shaft.  It's still slipping, after
one attempt to fill the rubber hose coupling with chamois.
I'll try another layer of leather and maybe some hose clamps.
I just received a set of airline filters, one of which I'll 
put downstream in the air tubing from the tubes of Drierite;
then I won't worry about any dust getting into the CCD heads.
Tom's design calls for a bubbler filled with some liquid to 
trap the dust, but I decided that a filter was more robust
(besides, I couldn't find a source for the right kind of oil).

  In other MICHAEL news, I managed to find the Hour Angle and
Declination of the telescope's home position -- it turns out
that M15 drifts through the field.  As soon as I can get
the RA coupling to grip, I'll be ready to rock.

                                            Michael