Log entry time 22:19:45 on December 17, 2011

Entry number 360589

This entry is a followup to: 360450

I think BTA is fine.  From home ...

What's actually not working is the script that writes to two EPICS
variables which the BTA software then uses those variables to make
the automated numbers.  It's not a show-stopper because the experimenter
can (and should anyway) check & edit the BTA data.  As for what's wrong
with the script: it seems that "caget hac_bcm_average" always results
in zero, so it thinks the beam is off.  These data get logged to a log
file and I can see that it was zero the whole time we've been running.
So either this EPICS variable is wrong, or stuck at zero.  I suppose 
we could substitute a scaler that's reading the BCM.

The other job the script has to do is recognize if the DAQ is being used.
This seems to be working.  It takes the "or" of the 2 HRS.  If either DAQ
is being used, then we are using the beam.

The script is a convenience feature.  Historically, it tends to be 
reliable during steady production, but it's not very intelligent about
various other uses (harp scan, Moller commissioning, etc) so one must
always check.  And it seems to always break between experiments.