Example Common Camera Config File

Below is an example of a common camera config file, a short version of blue-beam.cfg.

set{
  PREFIX=2006.06.08
  EXPTIME=16.8
  BOX_X=114
  BOX_Y=114
  BOX_WIDTH=200
  BOX_HEIGHT=200
  DISP=0
  

camera{
    NAME=m16i-gcont-foc
    HOST=camera5
    EXEC=bin/hitachi
    CFG=cfg/m16i-gcont-foc.cfg
    STORE=store1b
    PORT=2356
    GAIN=0.0
    GAMMA=1.0
    MIN=0.0
    MAX=255.0
    CONN=1
    MODE=0
    FRAMES=1
    REPEATS=0
    COMPRESS
  }

  camera{
    NAME=m16i-gcont-defoc
    HOST=camera4
    EXEC=bin/hitachi
    CFG=cfg/m16i-gcont-defoc.cfg
    STORE=store1b
    PORT=2356
    GAIN=6.0
    GAMMA=1.0
    MIN=0.0
    MAX=255.0
    CONN=1
    MODE=0
    FRAMES=1
    REPEATS=0
    COMPRESS
  }
}

BASEPORT=10000

Under set{ you might want to change the PREFIX and EXPTIME.

PREFIX

Is the name of the directory all camera images will be stored in (convenient to change every day).

EXPTIME

The common camera exposure time. For Sarnoff cameras make sure it is the same as the exposure of the chopper (the frequency control box on top).

BOX_X... DISP

Parameters not of great importance.

Under camera{ you must check that NAME, HOST, EXEC, CFG and STORE is set for the camera you intend to use. Also check that DISPLAYHOST (end of file) is set right.

NAME

Is the name that will be displayed in the upper left corner in the common camera interface when you click on the image display corresponding to that camera.

HOST

Is the name of the computer the camera is connected to (camera1-camera6), which is later used for connecting to the camera computer with ssh HOST.

EXEC

Is the camera code and depends on the type of camera. Sarnoff cameras run on i586-linux/sarn, MegaPlus cameras run on bin/hitachi and MegaPlus II cameras run on bin/phx.

CFG

Is the path to the config file for the camera, see section B.

STORE

The name of the computer where the data should be stored. Options are store1a and store1b. The data is reachable at ssh store1a (or b) under data/PREFIX/IMAGE_DIR
/FILE_PREFIX. The reason fo rthe two interfaces is that you do not want to exceed the limit of the GbLan network (which is roughly 90MB/s).

PORT... COMPRESS

Nothing that needs to be changed (mostly default settings for the camera interface).

And at the end of the common config file:

DISPLAYHOST

The internal name for control computer you want to run the common camera interface at. Royac 16, 17, 18 and 19 has the internal names control1,control2, control3 and control4.