If you would like to observe remotely, please make sure that you requested remote support in your observing proposal (we need to know ahead of time to schedule proper support). Please read this page, and get in touch with either your local partner LDT contact, or directly with Stephen Levine (sel at lowell) at Lowell. Anyone wishing to observe remotely must already have had a run where they were in residence at LDT for the run, working with the instrument(s) they propose to use.
COVID-19 Note:For the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak, any observing at the LDT will be done remotely. |
The LDT Skype account is DCT operator. Try searching on dctoperator.
The LDT phone numbers are
If you are observing remotely, contact your TO ahead of time to let them know:
To approve remote observing, we have two basic operational requirements. These will be re-evaluated periodically to see how they might be updated to meet observers' and the facility's needs better.
Anyone wishing to observe remotely must already have had a run where they were in residence at LDT for the run, working with the instrument(s) they propose to use.
This requirement is waived for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. A new user who is a member of a group that regularly uses LDT should observe with an experienced group member. All other new users MUST contact LDT staff to ensure support on their first night. |
If you have not observed remotely before, or have had troubles in the past, please get in touch and set up a time to test out your VPN and VNC connections before your observing run. You can test your VPN connection at anytime. When testing the VNC connection, contact the site first as you run the risk of interrupting someone already working on the machine. (For details, see below.)
Contact LDT staff or your departmental contact for your departmental VPN account name and password.
There are two available VPN servers at Lowell:
Primary: 207.192.243.66:4433
Backup: 4.53.111.130:4433
If you are unable to access the Lowell network through the primary server, please try the backup server.
As a general rule, before connecting to ANY LDT computers remotely, please make a Skype connection and check-in with your TO to make sure you don't collide with another observer.
OPERATIONS AT THE TELESCOPE WHEN NOT THE CURRENT OBSERVER: If there is another party observing, and you would like to access the telescope or instruments (even to do internal calibrations, or similar self contained operations), you must contact the people observing at that time as well as the TOs. If you don't know the observers, start with the TOs, as they will know who is observing. The observers have the right to decline any such operations if they feel that they might interfere with what they are doing.
From a safety perspective, we need to be aware of any operations taking place at the telescope. From a science perspective, the observers of record may have concerns that other operations might have unanticipated impacts on their observations.
Remote observations have the disadvantage of not sharing the control room with your TO. As such, it is necessary to proactively communicate.
There have been occasional reports of VNC dropouts from the observer computers (dct-obs1 / dct-obs2). We are investigating the source of these issues, but plan accordingly. |
OS | VPN | VNC | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
MacOSX | Apple VPN client | Apple Screen Sharing Client (Finder -> Go ->Connect to Server) | This setup is the most seamless, and works with both dct-obs1 displays in use. Login using the observer account and password. Screen size is 2 x (2560 x 1440). It is operationally easiest to work with only one of the two screens at once.
| |
MacOSX | Apple VPN client | TightVNC RealVNC | You may need to ask someone at LDT to set the dct-obs1 display to mirror mode before connecting (screen size will come through incorrectly and logging in may not be viable). You will need the VNC access password, in addition to the observer account and password. | |
Linux | SonicWall NetExtender | ssVNC TightVNC | You may need to ask someone at LDT to set the dct-obs1 display to mirror mode before connecting (screen size will come through incorrectly and logging in may not be viable). You will need the VNC access password, in addition to the observer account and password. | |
Windows_7 | SonicWall Global VPN Client (GVC) | RealVNC | You may need to ask someone at LDT to set the dct-obs1 display to mirror mode before connecting (screen size will come through incorrectly and logging in may not be viable). You will need the VNC access password, in addition to the observer account and password. | |
Windows_10 | Native Windows 10 L2TP/IPsec VPN client | RealVNC | You may need to ask someone at LDT to set the dct-obs1 display to mirror mode before connecting (screen size will come through incorrectly and logging in may not be viable). You will need the VNC access password, in addition to the observer account and password. |