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HIPSR User’s Guide

This User Guide gives an overview of the HIPSR system. HIPSR is the next-generation signal processor for the multibeam receiver. If you’re reading this, you probably want to know how to use it.

Note

If you’re not familiar with the Parkes 64 m telecsope, you should have a read of the telescope user guide.

Observing with HIPSR

Starting observations

There are three things that must be started to observe with HIPSR:

  1. The telescope control system, TCS
  2. The hipsr-server script which runs on hipsr-srv0
  3. The hipsr-gui plotter which runs on hipsr-srv0

Before you press “go” on TCS, you first need to start the hipsr-server script. To do so, you need to SSH into hipsr-srv0:

> ssh -Y corr@hipsr-srv0(.atnf.csiro.au)

Once you’ve connected, start the server with the command:

cd bin
> ./hipsr-server-200

Or, if you're using the 400 MHz mode, run hipsr-server-400:

> ./hipsr-server-400

Now you’re ready to start the graphical interface (GUI):

> ./hipsr-gui

You should see the gui start up in a new window.

To start TCS, open a new terminal on Joffrey and type:

> tcs

Until someone copy and pastes how to use TCS here, you’ll have to consult the telescope user guide.

Checking your setup

TODO:

  • Cable equalization
  • PKMC
  • OPERFCC
  • Cal control

Stopping observations

To stop the server, press ctrl + C. The server will close all open files before exiting.

Getting your data

HIPSR data is stored on hipsr-srv0 in /data/hipsr/.

When things go wrong

Here’s a few notes on problems you might run into with HIPSR. For anything to do with the telescope, consult the telescope user guide.

Socket errors

TCS seems to give a random socket error 9: bad file name the first time it connects to the HIPSR server (hipsr-srv0). This doesn’t seem to matter.

Sometimes the TCS socket (59012) is held open, and neither TCS or HIPSR will negotiate a new TCP/IP connection. If this happens, you can check the port status by typing:

> netstat | grep 59012

You can check whether there’s another instance of hipsr_server by typing:

> ps aux | grep hipsr_server

Caution

If there’s a rogue instance of hipsr-sever.py running, you may have to kill it. This can be done with the command:

> kill [PID]

However, take care when doing this that you kill the right thing.