Program Computes Pointing Corrections for a Radiotelescope

TLC is a computer program that determines corrections for radiotelescopepointing errors associated with tilts and elastic deformations. These errors occur because for rotation in azimuth, a radiotelescope is mounted on wheels that move on a circular track that deviates from perfect flatness. TLC processes radiotelescope field data through smoothing, filtering, segment-fitting, trend-removal, Fourier-transform, and high-passfiltering algorithms to generate a lookup table that contains the pointing corrections. The field data in question are readouts from four inclinometers, the relative positions of the inclinometers, and readouts from an azimuth-angle encoder. Written in the Matlab software system, TLC is a user-friendly program that provides a graphical user interface that enables even an unfamiliar user to proceed, step by step, to the final result.