NOAO Wildfire Instrument Controller

Gerald B. Heim; Nick C. Buchholz; Roger W. Luce

doi:10.1117/12.176794

1 June 1994 NOAO Wildfire Instrument Controller

Gerald B. Heim, Nick C. Buchholz, Roger W. Luce

Proceedings Volume 2198, Instrumentation in Astronomy VIII; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.176794
Event: 1994 Symposium on Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation for the 21st Century, 1994, Kailua, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

The Wildfire Instrument Controller is currently being used in four IR instruments at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Wildfire is a high performance, versatile transputer based controller which manages the clocking and readout of the 2D arrays along with all other aspects of instrument control. Wildfire utilizes high speed fiber optic links for communication between its two components: the electronics mounted on the instrument and the digital signal processor located in the computer room. This paper is a systems level discussion of the hardware and software that make up the Wildfire Instrument Controller. We present an overview of the system operation along with measured performance data. We also discuss how the Wildfire system can be easily expanded to provide the higher level of performance required for high speed readout of the next generation 1024 by 1024 pixel IR arrays.

Citation Download Citation

Gerald B. Heim, Nick C. Buchholz, and Roger W. Luce "NOAO Wildfire Instrument Controller", Proc. SPIE 2198, Instrumentation in Astronomy VIII, (1 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.176794

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