Release Note for Configure Version 7.0. 18-Jan-2006

This is the first release of Configure dedicated to AAOmega.

Configure Version 7.0 is functionally identical to Configure Version
6.3, released in Apr 2005.  Changes have been made to reflect the
transition from the 2dF system to AAOmega.


Changes implemented in Version 7.0
----------------------------------

When using the AAOmega system, there are now 8 guide fibres per field
plate.

There are 392 science fibres per field plate.

There are now 3 field plate options.  The 2dF top end system only has
two field plates, Plate 0 and Plate 1, which each have 392 science
fibres and 8 guide fibres.  There is a field Plate 2 option in
Configure7.0.  Field Plate 2 is a hybrid of the system.  It has the
maximum number of 'broken' fibres, having those from Plate 0 and Plate
1.  When configuring with Plate 2 the tolerances of fibre position are
increase to ensure that the configuration produced will be fully valid
on BOTH Plate 0 and Plate1.  This feature is intended for special
fields, such as standard star frames, and should not be used for
general configurations due to the loss of fibres and positioning
efficiency.

AAOmega is a dual beam spectrograph, but is essentially only a single
spectrograph.  All fibres are allocated to both arms of the
spectrograph.  This is distinct from 2dF where 200 fibres where
allocated to each of 2 spectrographs, each with only one arm.
Differential atmospheric effects mean that it is important to specify
the central wavelength for which fibres should be positioned on the
sky.  For a target list with multiple science goals it may be
desirable to configure targets optimised at different central
wavelength.  This mode is not yet implemented and all fibres are
configured for a single central wavelength.  Therefore, target types in
the in the .fld file of P1,P2 and P are identical at this time.

Any questions regarding this release of configure should be
addressed to Chris Ramage cr@aaocbn.aao.gov.au or to
Rob Sharp rgs@aaoepp.aao.gov.au