Telescope Limit Status
The "Limits" portion of the Main Window diplays the status of the three telescope position limits: N-S, E-W, and Elevation (or horizon). Each limit can be in one of four states: clear, near, soft, or hard. The limit "clear" message changes to "near" as one approaches the limit, "near" changes to "soft" when a software limit is reached. On very rare occasions it is possible to push the telescope into a "hard" limit where it actually trips a hardware limit switch. When in a soft or hard limit, telescope motion is halted and tracking and autodome are disabled. The operator can move out of a software limit by either entering coordinates that lift the telescope out of the limit, by manually moving out with the virtual joystick, or manual slew functions.
POCO will not permit a "Move to Target" if the target coordinates exceed any of the telescope limits, but it is possible to track or to manually move into a limit. Manually slewing into a limit may cause the telescope to coast past the software limit and into a hardware limit. The best way to avoid this is not to use manual slew when near a limit. If you do trip a hardware limit, call a support scientist or telescope technician.
Direct Imaging Limit Information
Spectroscopy Limit Information
sa@ucolick.org Last modified: Tue May 12 15:25:55 PDT 2009