Should any errors be indicated by either the instrument or detector control systems, the OA and/or engineer can be called upon to examine the problem, as with on-site observing. In such situations, we often use a collaborative whiteboard tool, wb , which allows text and graphics to be transmitted in real-time to both parties. This is useful for indicating error messages, describing image characteristics, etc. (As an aside, we note that wb and the rest of the software used for this project is available for free, with the exception of the TCP-LFN software from Sun Consulting.) Should problems arise with the network, personnel may be contacted at the ACTS control center and/or the HDR sites.
Finally, in addition to the instrument control software, all of the usual observing software tools are available remotely: telescope pointing and UT meters, guider window eavesdropping images, etc. Of course, standard TCP tools such as telnet and ftp are used regularly to retrieve images to the local system, where any of several data reduction packages commonly used in astronomical image processing are available. As mentioned above, one of the outstanding features of remote observing is the wealth of familiar software and hardware facilities that are available at the user's home institution: printers, personal workstations and software, libraries, etc.