Observing requests
The Calvin-Rehoboth robotic observatory uses the ACP Observatory Control Software from DC-3 Dreams to schedule and control the observing. One approach to using this package is to construct observing "plans", simple text files that describe what and how to observe. There are four web forms in the sidebar to make writing observing plans quick and easy. Simply fill out the form that most closely matches your observing goals. The scientific detail are up to you, but the form checking insures there will be no uninterpretable typographical errors.
Calvin students and staff can get a course password from their teacher or supervisor. With a correct password, a submitted observing plan automatically becomes a text file with a sensible name (RA-dec-Name.txt) in the observatory "in box" file directory. On clear evenings, these files will be assembled together to make a master plan for the night by the observer on duty. When observations are completed, the text files are placed in the "out box" and a note is made in the observatory log spreadsheet. Students can search this spreadsheet for their name to find the date their data were taken. Data files are stored according to date.
The web forms can also be used without a password by anyone interested in generating ACP observing plans. The plan will appear as text in your web browser, and can be copied and pasted from there for use elsewhere.