Weather Safety and Dome/Roof Control Experiences

[Stephen Avery]

[This thread contains some really good info on dome/roof control for weather safety - copied from the Scheduler section]

Bob,

I hesitate to raise this issue, because I know it has already been extensively discussed, and there really isn't a problem. Nevertheless.....

In the notes for the Scheduler, it is emphasised that the Scheduler should retain control of opening the dome, and that no opening command should be placed in the Startup script. This tends to imply that control of the dome should be left to the Scheduler. However, that is not correct.

Closure of the dome is not managed by the Scheduler. If the weather becomes unsafe, the unsafe condition will trigger closure of the dome by ACP. No problem!

However, if the observing session comes to an end, and no weather unsafe condition has arisen, the shutdown script will then run. If no dome closure command is placed in the shutdown script, and if the option "Close and park/home when scope is parked by script" is not selected in ACP, the dome will remain open. In other words, the Scheduler does NOT take responsibility for closing the dome, only opening it.

This caught me out once or twice, when the weather turned wet after the session had ended, and the shutdown script had already finished, leaving the dome open.

Ticking the "Close and park/home when scope is parked by script" seems to be the most straightforward way of dealing with this, but that means that the dome is closed each time the scope is parked, which may not be desirable.

I think a better option might be to close the dome by means of a command in the shutdown script, but I don't know how to do that (having limited programming skills).

Any comments?

Stephen