General instructions for use of the remote observing workstations are given here. Make sure to read the remote observing policies for Keck or Lick before starting any of this. Detailed instructions on making VNC connections are given on the Keck and Lick observing instructions pages and github pages.
First-time users of the remote observing room should contact Aaron Barth and Paul Robertson to get the login information and to schedule a quick demonstration of the equipment. This can be at the same time as when you do your pre-observing checkout to test your VNC connections.
If you find any problems with the observing equipment, you should (1) notify Aaron Barth and Paul Robertson by email immediately, and (2) leave a note on the white board describing the situation, and add the date and your name to the note.
It is the observer’s responsibility to get the login passwords from the remote room managers (Aaron or Paul) and test their connection setups before their observing run.
If you want to plug a laptop into a power outlet, there is a power strip underneath the observing desk.
As of October 2021, the new observing workstation is fully set up for Keck and Lick observing. The Mac Mini is also set up to be used if needed as a backup option (see below for instructions).
Scheduling and logistics for use of the remote room
- Start by reviewing all information on the Safety page.
- All usage of the remote observing room must be listed in advance on the Google calendar. Make sure that any nights when you plan to request use of the remote observing room are listed on the Google calendar.
- A test VNC connection should be done prior to every observing run. The observer should choose a day for the test VNC connection when nobody else is using the room, and add the test connection day and time to the Google calendar.
- The PI or observer should request permission for remote observing from Keck or Lick observatory for those nights, following standard observatory procedures. See the Keck and Lick pages for details.
Zoom connections
The Mac Mini and TV are used to connect to Keck and Lick using Zoom. To set up Zoom:
- Turn on the TV, and make sure it is set to HDMI input
- Turn on or wake up the Mac, and log in
- Click on the Zoom icon in the bottom launcher bar
- Click the button to join a meeting and enter the appropriate number for Keck or Lick. You’ll get the Zoom connection numbers from your support astronomer before your observing run.
- Other Zoom settings can be found in the Preferences window, but it should be set up such that you don’t really need to make any changes. If anything isn’t working, check the audio and video preferences to make sure that the external USB web cam is selected for video, the Yeti microphone is selected for audio input, and the external HDMI is selected for audio out. Make sure that the audio input in Zoom is set to use the Yeti microphone and not the Logitech webcam microphone.
- The Yeti microphone has a red LED light to indicate that it’s powered on. This is also the mute button: if you push it to mute, it will blink while muted. However: it’s better to click the “mute” icon at the bottom left of the Zoom window itself (using the computer mouse), because then the remote site can see that you’re muted.
- On the back of the Yeti, there’s a dial with 4 settings. This should always be set to select the round circle, which means “omnidirectional audio pickup”. There is also a gain dial: just leave this at the default setting, which seems to work fine. You can move the microphone to a different location if needed, but it should pick up audio ok for the whole room if it’s on the left desk next to the TV.
- The Logitech webcam is located on top of the TV, and has a green LED that goes on when the camera is in use.
- When you’re done observing, quit Zoom, put the Mac to sleep (if coming back for another observing night) or turn it off (at the end of your observing run), and turn off the TV.
- If needed for some reason, Zoom can also be used on the Intel NUC observing workstation under Linux. To run Zoom on the Linux workstation, unplug the USB hub from the back of the Mac Mini and plug it into the USB-C port on the front of the NUC box to connect the webcam and microphone. You can run Zoom from the Applications menu or the top menu bar on the Linux machine. Make sure to check that the audio settings are set to use the Yeti microphone and not the Logitech webcam microphone. You can find the Zoom settings menu by clicking on the mute/unmute button or the start/stop video button at the bottom of the Zoom window.
New observing workstation (summer 2021)
Our new observing workstation is now available as of August 2021. This is an Intel NUC running Rocky Linux, connected to two 4K monitors. The large monitor is connected to the NUC via HDMI, and the small monitor is connected via USB-C. Instructions for use:
- Turn on the two LG monitors. The power button is underneath the screen at the center of the screen, right behind the LG logo. Push the power button in to turn on the monitors. This same button controls the monitor input and other monitor settings. (There’s no need to use the remote control for the large monitor.)
- Press the power button on the front of the NUC to boot it up.
- Log in to the remote user account. Before entering the password, click the settings “gear” icon next to the “sign in” button and make sure that either the MATE desktop manager or Plasma (X11) is selected. You can use a different one of the desktop manager systems if you prefer, but these are the best choices. MATE will be the easiest to use and will have the same look and feel as our old system under GNOME. Plasma is a modern desktop manager that has some fancier features.
- If you are unable to log in to the NUC: an odd problem has come up recently on the NUC, where entering the correct password doesn’t lead to a successful login, and you get returned back to the login page. The temporary workaround seems to be to switch to a different desktop manager. Use the settings “gear” icon to switch to a different desktop manager. The two best ones to use are either MATE, or Plasma (X11). Just switch to whichever one of these is not selected, and try logging in again. You can then log out and switch back to the previous one if you prefer to use it instead.
- Commonly used applications (Terminal, Firefox, Chrome, and Zoom) can be launched from the menu bar at the top left of the big monitor.
- The large monitor is set to full 4K resolution so you can fit 4 VNC windows on it. The smaller monitor is set to a display resolution of 2560×1440 so that windows will have the same size on both monitors, for better visibility. If you prefer to use the smaller monitor at full 4K resolution (with tiny pixels), you can go to the MATE displays preferences by going to the System menu and selecting Preferences -> Hardware -> Displays, but please set it back to 2560×1440 when you’re done using it.
- Sound will come through the speakers on the large monitor. To change the output volume, look for the volume control icon at the top right of the large monitor, or use the Sound preferences pane under the MATE System menu.
- To start up the Keck remote observing scripts, open a terminal and go to the RemoteObserving directory. The start_keck_viewers script is there. Run the script to start your VNC session, and enter the VNC password when prompted.
- For Lick startup instructions, see the Lick Observing page.
- Instructions for making test connections and for opening and closing VNC sessions are on the Keck remote observing github page.
- You can move windows around from one monitor to the other. This is a nice improvement of the new observing setup compared with our old 4-monitor setup.
- A potential problem identified after setting up the new system is that the 2nd monitor (the smaller one) sometimes goes to sleep if there’s no activity on its screen for a while. This appears to be a monitor setting rather than a Linux setting, and the solution so far isn’t obvious. Try to keep at least one window open on the 2nd monitor and this may prevent it from going to sleep. If it does go to sleep, it will wake up again if you open the Displays preferences: go to the MATE System menu at the top left of the big monitor, and select System -> Preferences -> Hardware -> Displays. Opening this up should wake up the 2nd monitor.
- If for some reason there’s a need to run Zoom on the Linux box instead of the Mac Mini, you can do this by unplugging the USB hub from the Mac and plugging it in to the USB-C port on the front of the NUC box. This will connect the webcam and microphone. See the Zoom instructions above for more details.
End of night instructions
- Go to the terminal window where you initiated the VNC session, and use the menu to quit the VNCs.
- If you are observing at Lick, make sure to quit the VPN session using the VPN Connections menu from the network icon at the top-right corner of the primary monitor.
- If you are done with your observing run, shut down the NUC from the System menu. If you are coming back for another observing night, you can log out and leave the NUC running.
- Turn off the two monitors.
- Log out of the Mac and turn off the TV using the remote.
- Clean up any mess before you go, and don’t leave any food garbage in the trash cans in the observing room.
- If you’ve checked out a temporary key for your observing run, return it after you’re done.
Using the Mac as a backup observing computer
- CAUTION: this setup on the Mac appears to be working but has not been extensively tested.
- If the Intel NUC computer is not working due to hardware or software problems, the Mac Mini can be used as a backup option for connections to Keck (but not for Lick). This should only be done in extreme circumstances, such as if the NUC box won’t power on at all, or is experiencing some kind of major failure. If this happens, you should notify Aaron and Paul immediately. Follow the steps below if you need to use the Mac as a backup observing workstation.
- First, make sure that the NUC box is turned off.
- The Mac Mini can easily be connected to the large 4K monitor. There is a white USB-C cable connected to the back of the monitor. Connect this to one of the open USB-C ports on the back of the Mac Mini.
- The monitor will then probably ask you if you want to use the USB-C input. Use the power button behind the LG logo on the bottom of the monitor to select this. Or, if this option doesn’t come up, you can get to the monitor’s input menu by pressing the monitor power button once, and then using it as a joystick to select USB-C from the input menu.
- You can move the Mac keyboard and mouse over to where the LG monitor is for convenience while observing.
- The Mac Mini can drive the TV (for Zoom) and the 4K monitor simultaneously. If the 4K monitor is showing a mirror of the TV display at low resolution, open up the Mac displays settings and turn off the “Mirror Displays” option. For the displays pane on the LG monitor, set the resolution to “Scaled” and select the “More Space” option. You should then see the TV at its normal resolution and the big monitor at 4K resolution.
- Open up a terminal window on the Mac and cd into the RemoteObserving directory, and start your observing VNC session. The LG monitor should be able to fit all 4 VNC windows.
ISDN router has been disconnected
The observing workstations used to be connected to the network via an ISDN router that provided a backup connection to Keck in the event of an internet failure on campus or anywhere between UCI and Keck. As of Fall 2020, Keck has ended ISDN support, and we have removed the ISDN router.
Observers should be aware that any internet failure on campus or along the route from UCI to Keck will lead to loss of observing time. Therefore, whenever possible, it’s best to have observers connected from two independent locations, as insurance against any local network outages.
Other stuff
Feel free to use the microwave oven or coffee maker during your observing night, but remember that it’s your responsibility to clean up after yourself. Do not leave any food garbage in the garbage can in the observing room since it does not get picked up often. Food and beverages should NOT be on the observing desk: keep your food and coffee away from the workstations, keyboards, and router.
We are no longer using the refrigerator in the remote observing room since it makes an annoying amount of noise. Please don’t plug the fridge in or turn it on. If you need to keep food cold, use the refrigerator in room 2153.