Skylight installation

Installation

The majority of the "hardware" of the camera was installed in 2 days. There is a lot to it - it arrived in 2 big trucks from Holland, and took all day to unpack.
You do need some spare space to store the crates for a while, as installation proceeds. (Obviously, it can't be in the actual room!)

Firstly, a template is layed on the floor to give an exact location of the bolt holes needed for the pillars. This is the final chance to tweak the position in the room. The holes are drilled and the pillars are fitted.

After the pillars are fitted, the cross-beams are hoisted up into position, carefully checking for straightness and being level.
The pillars can be adjusted by bolts on their feet.

The frame is carefully checked throughout construction. In our set-up, and extension arm is fitted to position the pillar by the door. This means the pillar is tucked well out of the way of the entry to the room.

Final levelling is done using a rotating laser which "draws a line" along the frame on all four sides, thus enabling a visual reference for adjustment.

Then the central cross-gantry is raised, using 2 hoists. This will hold the 2 camera heads, and contains mechanical and electrical parts.

This is ours being raised on 18/3/03.

Next, some work on the collimator exchangers, These are like doors which open, with a pair of collimators (one on either side), to enable the camera heads to align and change the collimators.

Then the detector assemblies are fitted. These have previously been acclimatising for 24 hours and are wrapped in protective silver foil for insulation.
Fitting is relatively east, as the heads can go very low - the crate can remain on the floor, and the extending arm is pulled up to the gantry.

Its coming on well now, the collimators are fitted into their "doors" and the power and computer towers are fitted to the back wall.
The power supply enters here. The power enters on the left side as you face the wall, and the controls and computers are the other side. This is NOT interchangeable. The camera also has a built-in UPS here.

The acquisition terminal is fitted on a suitable wall, preferably outside the area of the Skylight frame. A cable will need to be run from the towers to the terminal, which should be hidden away in trunking. Ours was mounted on a hollow wall, so the cable could be run down the inside.
There is a metal shelf which holds the keyboard and mouse, but it feels a little flimsy - we shall see how it holds out!
Unfortunately, the mouse or trackerball can only be placed on the right hand side, so tough luck for all the left-handers.

It was time to power up the system, and then the system came to life. The three computers booted up, and the Midas Touch screen (seen above) fired up, with its colorful display. The Acquisition (JetStream) terminal can now be used to acquire studies, with its very easy to use and clear display. You can find your way around it in no time. I'm still not sure if I prefer a mouse or trackerball, but you can use either.

So now its time to move on to setting up the Detectors, after a weekend of stabilising in their new environment.

Next Page - Setting up and Tuning

J.Guffogg March 2003