A new telescope control system for the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo: I – derotators

Adriano Ghedina; Manuel Gonzalez; Hector Perez Ventura; Candido Carmona; Luis Riverol

doi:10.1117/12.2054632

22 July 2014 A new telescope control system for the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo: I – derotators

Adriano Ghedina, Manuel Gonzalez, Hector Perez Ventura, Candido Carmona, Luis Riverol

Proceedings Volume 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V; 914553 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054632
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) is a 4m class active optics telescope at the observatory of Roque de Los Muchachos. In the framework of keeping optimum performances during observation and continuous reliability the telescope control system (TCS) of the TNG is going through a deep upgrade after nearly 20 years of service. The original glass encoders and bulb lamp heads are substituted with modern steel scale drums and scanning units. The obsolete electronic racks and computers for the control loops are replaced with modern and compact commercial drivers with a net improvement in the tracking error RMS. In order to minimize the impact on the number of nights lost during the mechanical and electronic changes in the TCS the new TCS is developed and tested in parallel to the existing one and three steps will be taken to achieve the full upgrade. We describe here the first step affecting the mechanical derotators at the Nasmyth foci.

Citation Download Citation

Adriano Ghedina, Manuel Gonzalez, Hector Perez Ventura, Candido Carmona, and Luis Riverol "A new telescope control system for the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo: I – derotators", Proc. SPIE 9145, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes V, 914553 (22 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054632

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