A new site in Pasadena, CA is available at IPAC in the Keith Spalding building. This site is intended to server NASA users, but is open to all.
USRA has notified us that they are moving their facility and will no longer be able to provide a Keck Remote Observing Station. We thank USRA for providing this service for our observers for the last several years.
On November 24, Keck released a significant upgrade to the remote observing software https://github.com/KeckObservatory/RemoteObserving which observers use to connect to the instrument VNCs from home. If observers have already configured their software to connect from home, they do not need to upgrade if they don’t want to. The current (v1.x) connection will still work. There are benefits of upgrading to version 2.0 however:
Benefits of v2.…
During the pandemic, Keck will support up to two observers for at-home observing: one primary and one secondary observer. At-home observing requires the installation of software which only runs on linux and macOS operating systems. The software run on python 3.6 or newer. At-home observers will be contacted by Keck staff and should work with this staff to install and test the software several days ahead of their run to allow time for troubleshooting.…
We have received word that UCO is discontinuing its program to provide ISDN backups to its remote observing sites. This UCO program has been paying for the ISDN connection at the Keck summit as well, so this means that the ISDN backup connection to Keck will be terminated at the end of this month. All sites can terminate their ISDN service as it will no longer be a viable backup. No action is required,…
Observers with UCLA email addresses should be aware that there are problems with emails from the Keck Remote Observing Help Desk system failing to be delivered to UCLA email addresses. We have been actively working with both UCLA and Atlassian to resolve this, but it remains unsolved.
Observers with UCLA email addresses are advised to use an alternate email when submitting tickets via the web form https://keckobservatory.atlassian.…
We have developed new remote observing software to launch the VNC sessions for Keck remote observing. This new software is designed to provide more user tools, enable better version control, and provide additional debugging features. The new software is available on GitHub https://github.com/KeckObservatory/RemoteObserving. Site managers who wish to upgrade to the new software should contact Keck to get their site configured.
With the new software, users can now restart a single VNC session,…
LBNL has notified us of their intent to close their remote observing site. Users in that area should consider the nearby UCB site. According to our records, the first "mainland only" use of the LBNL site was in Nov 2006. We would like to thank LBNL for supporting our Keck observers by providing this service over the last 12+ years.
Starting on Feb 13, 2019 Keck will be using Zoom for videoconferencing rather than polycom. It is important that all sites (including Keck HQ in Waimea) initiate their call to the Zoom https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/mainland_observing/tech/zoom/ meeting, rather than to the usual polycom address you may have called in the past. The remote sites have been made aware of this and have configured and tested their videoconferencing hardware in preparation.…
(excerpted from the Keck Observer Newsletter)
The slow drumbeat of changes to Remote Observing (formerly known as Mainland Observing) continues. We will soon be using Zoom for video conferencing during remote observing sessions. Remote sites will be able to connect with Keck night staff using either Polycom hardware or Zoom hardware, so depending on whether the remote site has opted to change their hardware,…
(excerpted from the Keck Observer Newsletter)
As always, mainland observing remains a popular observing mode for Keck. The mainland observing system has been in place (in one form or another) for more than 15 years now and we are in the midst of re-evaluating some of the technologies which are used to make mainland observing happen.
Our current system relies on ISDN technology to serve as a backup connectivity pathway for "mainland only" qualified sites in case of a network failure.…
Remote Observing