I Was perusing the SRT Manual once again today and wrote a simple script to simulate a 24 hour scan of the sky directly above the dish, allowing the rotation of the Earth itself to scan a path. As I was wondering about writing more complicated scripts that would automate the SRT over a period of 24 hours or more, I came to realise an oversight. If the automation script is set to slew the dish at preset times (UT or LST) then there is a good chance there will be significant movement of the dishes during University opening hours. As such, there should be adequate signage to alert anyone on the observation deck that the SRT dishes may move without warning during operation. Whether the signage be permanent and broad in nature, or specific and able to be deployed only during use; there should be some way of warning people not to stand near them while they are in operation.
Additionally, when running extended automation scripts, 6 hours or longer in length, it is unlikely the operator will be present for the entire time (unless the operator is particularly diligent, or has little better to do with his/her time). As such, it would then be astute to assume that one might not foresee potential damage to the devices while running unsupervised. This reiterates Dr Hotan and my prior assessment, stating the need to belay the loose cables and clear the deck of detritus. I must endeavour to find out how the Control programme responds to interference with the SRT movement. If there is no back-emf sensor, if the dish becomes stuck while in operation and the Control programme does nothing to stop the dish movement, then serious damage could occur.
I will explore the feasibility of a webcam to monitor the dish while either being used remotely, or monitoring while an extended script is running.
