UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA OBSERVATORIES / LICK OBSERVATORY

LLAMAS Operational Procedures

Daytime Laser alignment use | Laser Startup for on-sky operations | LGS Ops

Make sure POCO is using the LLAMAS pointing model.

Anyone in the dome or NASA PIT must be wearing eye protection!

Daytime Laser alignment use

Procedure to allow laser use in dome during the day when dome shutter is closed.

  1. Make sure all doors to the dome are closed.
  2. Make sure poco_fe is running.
  3. Make sure dome shutter is closed.
  4. Rotate dome so that dome slit is aligned so that the black matte square is above the laser launch telescope, if you will be working with the Arete laser. If using the Arete laser, the laser operator will engage the bypass key.
  5. LLAMAS crew will install their bypass flag and ensure all other setup for alignment is done.
Laser can be disabled by rotating the dome, setting poclaser=disabled, opening a door, closing the mirror cover, pushing the LASER Emergency Stop button, etc.

Laser Startup for on-sky operations

Procedure to make sure safety systems are set up and ready for laser propagation. All software runs on shanevnc.ucolick.org from the user account.
  1. One hour before laser propagation, phone the FAA, 916-366-4080, to notify them of the hours we plan to propagate the laser for the night.
  2. One hour before laser propagation, email Space Command Laser Clearinghouse the Laser Status Report via the lgsStatusReports.tcl program entering the correct PT local times for laser operations start and stop times and laser status.
  3. Make sure shanevnc:1 is running on shimmynova so sounds triggered by the laser safety software can be heard. (Sounds can be tested from LSM-noreal.tcl by clicking on LaserShutter - Sound.) Make sure the speaker attached to shimmynova has a sufficient volume setting to hear sounds.
  4. Move the telescope to a cleared boresight position. Usually the start of night position will be the south of zenith boresite position, Azimuth=180.0 deg, Elevation=85.0 deg (HA=0:00:00 Dec=32:20:24).
  5. Make sure that the LLAMAS laser safety system is not bypassed, i.e., it is hooked up to the Lick Modicon safety system.
  6. Make sure all hardware safety interlocks are functioning (i.e,. doors, radar, laser spotter buttons, etc.). This will usually be done by Lick laser operations team.
  7. Make sure aopococ is running. This program will monitor the current zenith distance of the telescope and make sure it is within FAA approved parameters. The background color of the ZD will change to yellow if close to an FAA elevation limit, and red if outside of the FAA approved elevations. It will generate the photon-torpedo sound if it shutters the laser because of zenith distance limits.
  8. Start laserLLAMAS_Shane.tcl. This software will show laser propagation status (LASONSKY on/off) and the POCLASER status (disabled/enabled). Clicking the enable/disable button changes the POCLASER keyword state and can be used to manually shutter the laser.
  9. Start LSM-noreal.tcl and load the appropriate .lsm file. Usually this file will be SZ.lsm at the start of the night. AZEL lsm file naming convention is degreesAZ_degreesEl.lsm for any position that isn't the predefined SZ.lsm (5 degrees south of the zenith) or NZ.lsm (5 degrees north of zenith). This software works identically to the LSM.tcl software for ShaneAO LGS operations.
  10. It should now be safe to propagate the laser.

LGS Operations

General procedure for moving to a new laser target position.
  1. Shutter laser.
  2. Move telescope to new target.
  3. Load new target's .lsm file into LSM-noreal.tcl.
  4. Confirm laserLLAMAS_Shane.tcl and aopococ are running and show that lasing is permitted.
  5. Confirm that radar is running.
  6. Confirm with laser spotter that we are clear of aircraft.
  7. LLNL LLAMAS team will confirm that all other safety systems permit laser propagation.
  8. Propagate laser and keep an eye on the software and its status, manually shuttering laser if the automated systems fail by pressing the hardware button or the enable/disable button in the laserLLAMAS_Shane.tcl GUI.
Elinor Gates
Last modified: Wed Aug 26 03:07:26 PDT 2026