ICE for the McDonald V2 CCD controller Version: 9 July 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This latest copy of this document can be found at: Web: http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/computer/ice-v2-ccd-controller Disk: /home/oberon/pjm/ice_info Table of contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Changes in this version of this document Background Important reading Detector problems and bug reporting Setting up to run the new ICE WINDOW AND FILE SYSTEM ORGANIZATION: IMAGE DISPLAY: DATA FILE TYPE: Parameter file detpars Parameter file v2pars Parameter file instrpars Operating the detector CCD controller power Running ICE Startup Exclusive use of CCD controller Control-C Output from command "v2 status=0" Information output during integration and readout: Header information Changes in this version of this document ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Changes since the 30 April 2002 version: Section added: Changes in this version of this document Section modified: Background Section modified: Important reading Section modified: Startup Section added: Exclusive use of CCD controller Section added: Control-C Background ~~~~~~~~~~ A new version of ICE is in use for operating the new McDonald Observatory Version 2 (V2) CCD controllers. It is currently running: SF1 and LRS on the HET MM1 and HRS on the HET TK3 and 2dcoude on the 2.7 m TK4 at the 2.7 m and the 2.1 m White Guider at the 2.7 m and the 2.1 m Important reading ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overall, there are few operational changes from the previous version of ICE. However, it is very important to read and understand the sections titled: CCD controller power Output from command "v2 status=0" Exclusive use of CCD controller Detector problems and bug reporting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In addition to the normal problem reporting procedures at the observatory, please report any problems or bugs in the detector system (hardware, software, or documentation) to Phillip MacQueen at pjm@wairau.as.utexas.edu or (512) 471-1470. - For problems reported on the screen, it is very important to save the screen messages immediately prior to and including the problem by copy-and-pasting them. - For bad images, it is very important to save a representative example. Please report the file names of the examples, and the directory in which they can be found. Your help with this will be really appreciated. Setting up to run the new ICE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently, the new version of ICE runs on the new Sun Ultra 10 computer named oberon at the 2.7 m telescope, and a similar computer named nereid at the 2.1 m. Note well that TK3 and 2dcoude are no longer connected to atlas at the 2.7 m, but rather oberon, and you can only run those instruments and the new ICE from oberon. Note well that TK4 is no longer connected to atlas at the 2.7 m, or miranda at the 2.1 m. You can only run TK4 and the new ICE from oberon at the 2.7 m, and from nereid at the 2.1 m. If you have run ICE before, you should find the new ICE very familiar and straightforward to use. The new version of ICE is run in the usual way by executing icex from within iraf. However, note well: The detector ICE parameter files have changed, and you should start a new iraf directory for running this new ICE, and within that new directory, run "mkiraf" first. You should not use any detector or instrument related parameter files from the previous version of ICE that has been in use at McDonald. WINDOW AND FILE SYSTEM ORGANIZATION: It is highly recommended that you use the following window and file system organization for running ICE: Use one IRAF window for running ICE, and another IRAF window for normal IRAF operations. These two invocations of IRAF are independent except for sharing the same data directories and image display tool. They are run from different directories (e.g. ice and iraf) with independent login.cl and parameter files. The advantage is that the ICE data collection task is as isolated as possible from other activities on the Sun, including IRAF activities. In particular, IRAF tasks do not interfere with the parameter files of ICE tasks. IMAGE DISPLAY: Within your login.cl file, set parameter "stdimage" to imt35 when using TK3, and imt34 when using TK4. DATA FILE TYPE: The V2 controller supports mosaics and multi-amplifier readouts. The only file format that can be used for those modes is FITS. The default file format is FITS even for single amplifier readouts such as currently from TK3 and TK4. Writing IRAF file format files should work, but has not been tested, and is not recommended. Check your login.cl file to make sure parameter "imtype" is either commented out, or set to fits. The new or changed parameter files are detpars, v2pars, and instrpars, and they are described below. Following that is information on operating the detector system. Parameter file detpars ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are some new parameters in detpars. All the old parameters are unchanged in any way. A normal parameter file (for TK3) looks like (or similar to) the example given below. For TK4, change parameters lastcol and lastrow to 1024, and parameter detname to "TK4". The new parameters and their setting are described after the example. I R A F Image Reduction and Analysis Facility PACKAGE = icex TASK = detpars (firstco= 1) First column of data (device coordinates) (lastcol= 2048) Last column of data (device coordinates) (firstro= 1) First row of data (device coordinates) (lastrow= 2048) Last row of data (device coordinates) (colbin = 1) Column binning factor (1,2,3,4,8) (rowbin = 1) Row binning factor (1,2,...,8) (amplifi= 3) Detector amplifier(s) to use (gain = 1) Detector gain setting (1=1x,2=2x) (integra= 3) Detector integrator (1=slow 2=medium 3=fast) (detpix = l) Data type of detector pix (u=16-bit l=18-bit) (iflushp= 100) Period between flushes when idle (-1 to 15000 s) (dumpdra= no) Use the dump drain for flushing if CCD has one (srdrain= no) Use serial register as a drain during flushing (preflus= yes) Flush the CCD before all integration types (detname= TK3) Detector name (detcap = runlib$detcap) Detector capabilities file (detinfo= ) Optional image header info about detector (angle = 0) Detector angle from nominal (nframes= ) IR Detector sum/average nframes (debug = no) Debug the detector interface (bypass = no) Place the detector interface into bypass mode (mode = ql) ($nargs = 0) Parameter "amplifier": This specifies which CCD amplifier or amplifiers are to be used for reading out. Currently, use amplifier 3 on both TK3 and TK4. It is the amplifier that we have been using to date for both detectors. Parameter "gain": Use gain=1. The other value of 2 is not currently available. Parameter "integrator": All three integrators are fully functional. The integrator is part of the signal processing, and is primarily responsible for reducing the readout noise. For TK3, the three integrators give the following performance: int=1: 25 kpixel/s readout rate, 177 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 2.6 electron readout noise for 18-bit data int=2: 50 kpixel/s readout rate, 90 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 3.0 electron readout noise for 18-bit data int=3: 100 kpixel/s readout rate, 45 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 4.4 electron readout noise for 18-bit data For TK4, the three integrators give the following performance: int=1: 25 kpixel/s readout rate, 45 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 2.8 electron readout noise for 18-bit data int=2: 50 kpixel/s readout rate, 23 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 3.3 electron readout noise for 18-bit data int=3: 100 kpixel/s readout rate, 12 s full frame 1x1 readout time, 4.6 electron readout noise for 18-bit data Broad recommendations: Use Int3 for: - all setup work such as focusing, wavelength setting, and field finding - time resolved observing where readout time is important - high quality observing at moderate or higher signal-to-noise ratios, where you are willing to give up a hardly detectable amount of data quality. Use Int2 for: - most observing when you want to be a bit conservative. Use Int1 for: - low signal-to-noise ratio observations when the integration is long, and the longer readout time is a relatively small fraction of the entire observation. - when the best possible data quality is required. Parameter "detpix": This parameter specifies whether the data will be recorded at 18-bits per pixel, or 16 bits per pixels. Note well, the parameter pixtype in parameter file obspars must be set to match. 18-bit data gives the lowest readout noise and best data quality. It is recommended for TK3 and TK4. Parameter "iflushp": This parameter name means Idle-FLUSH-Period. When the CCD is idle, the CCD is flushed with this period. 100 seconds is recommended. The value of minus-one (-1) means that the CCD is not to be flushed at all when idle. Parameter "dumpdrain": If the CCD has a dump drain, then use it for (very fast) flushing. TK3 and TK4 do not have dump drains, so set this parameter to "no". Parameter "srdrain": This parameter name means Serial-Register-DRAIN. If enabled, use the CCD serial register for (faster than standard) flushing. This mode is not yet available for TK3 and TK4, so set the parameter to "no". Parameter "preflush": If enabled (with value "yes"), the CCD is flushed before all integration types (such as test, darks, zeros, object, etc.) It is recommended that this be enabled. If time-series observations are being taken in a tight loop, this parameter can be disabled as the previous read is the flush for the next integration. Parameter "detname": The value of this parameter is an alias for the name of the microcode (controller software) to be used for running the detector. Use "TK3" for TK3, and "TK4" for TK4 (and note the upper case characters). Parameter file v2pars ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a new parameter file for ICE. The v2 in the name v2pars refers to the McDonald Observatory V2 CCD controller. This parameter file provides the primary interface to the CCD controller. The first two parameters, status and V2power, are the only two parameters that an observer will normally use. Note well that some of the parameter names contain capital letters. I R A F Image Reduction and Analysis Facility PACKAGE = icex TASK = v2pars (status = INDEF) V2 status block (0=summary,1=full) (V2power= INDEF) V2 controller power (0=off,1=on) (bias1 = INDEF) Amplifier 1 detector bias level (-1.24993 to 0) (bias2 = INDEF) Amplifier 2 detector bias level (-1.24993 to 0) (dettemp= INDEF) Detector temperature (-135.27 to -69.735) (SHsourc= INDEF) Servo heater source (0=off,1=SD,2=HP) (H2sourc= INDEF) Header 2 source (0=off,1=AD,2=HP) (H2power= INDEF) Heater 2 power level (0.0 to 1.0) (inttau = INDEF) TC integrator time constant (41 to 10445) (intinit= INDEF) TC integral initial value (-8.57 to 8.57) (intenab= INDEF) TC integrator enable (0=off,1=on) (T1notch= INDEF) Thermometer 1 notch frequency (0=60Hz,1=50Hz) (VGpower= ) Vacuum gauge power (0=off,1=on,?=query) (IPpower= ) Ion pump power (0=off,1=on,?=query) (ADCsour= 0) A/D converter source (0=detector,1=ground/WG) (DCRpars= ) DC restoration parameters (biaspar= ) Bias parameters (gatepar= ) Reset and auxiliary gate parameters (Plpars = ) Parallel lower parameters (Pupars = ) Parallel upper parameters (Slpars = ) Serial lower parameters (Supars = ) Serial upper parameters (WGpars = ) Waveform generator parameters (mode = ql) ($nargs = 0) Parameter "V2power": This parameter is used for turning on and off the internal power of the CCD controller. It will be described later in the document. Parameter "status": This is a very frequently used parameter for monitoring the detector. From the ICE command prompt, type: v2 s=0 This is the shortest form of the full command v2 status=0. The output gives the status of the detector system. If "v2 s=1" is used, the same information is printed out following a listing of the full status telemetry from the CCD controller. The output is described later in this document. Parameter "ADCsource": This must be set to zero (0) so that the CCD is the data source. In addition to the parameters at the top of v2pars, there are eight nested parameter files at the bottom of v2pars which each hold many parameters. These are for detector development and support, and are mainly password protected. Parameter file instrpars ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are new parameters in instrpars, but none of them are currently used by the McDonald Observatory instruments (as compared to the HET instruments). All of the parameters that have been used previous at McDonald are exactly the same way as before. I R A F Image Reduction and Analysis Facility PACKAGE = icex TASK = instrpars (instrfi= ) Filter selection (fts = ) Filter name translation (instrfo= ) Instrument focus (filtoff= ) Filter focus offset values (slituni= ) Slit unit focus offset values (probepo= ) Probe position value or file (apertur= ) Aperture & slit selection (decker = ) Decker selection (dispers= ) Disperser control (tiltpos= ) Tilt position (order = ) Spectral order (0=most efficient) (dispaxi= ) Dispersion axis (gts = ) Grism name translation (polariz= ) Polarizer angle in degrees (complam= ) Comparison lamp control (gascell= ) Gas cell control (covers = ) Cover control (posangl= ) Position angle (tvfilt = ) TV filter selection (instrpo= ) Instrument power control (instrin= ) Optional image header info about instrument (instrna= test) Instrument name (instrca= runlib$instrcap) Instrument capabilities file (debug = no) Debug the instrument interface (bypass = no) Place the instrument interface into bypass mode (mode = ql) ($nargs = 0) Operating the detector ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CCD controller power ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is necessary for observers to understand the following aspect of the architecture of the CCD controller power supply and its control. When the power switch on the controller is turned on, only part of the controller is powered up. The rest of the controller is powered up or down under software control. This later power is called the analog or internal power. Normally, the observatory support staff will have the detector system cold and fully operational, and the power will not be an issue. However, if there is a power outage, a power brown-out, or a CCD Controller failure in its power, then the internal power will turn off and will not automatically turn back on. The internal power must be turned back on with a software command as described below. How to determine if the power is on or off is described in the following section that describes the command "v2 s=0". The CCD systems, like the computers, will normally be run on a UPS (uninterruptable power supply), to prevent most power problems. The commands for turning on and off the internal power, and their output to the screen are given below. Any two of these commands should never be issued less than about 10 seconds apart. Observers will normally not use these commands, but may have to if the internal power is found to be off. If the internal power does not turn on after several attempts, call for observing support. ic> v2 V2power=0 Powering down the CCD V2 Controller V2 Controller has been powered down ic> ic> v2 V2power=1 Powering up the CCD V2 Controller Back Plane S/N04 Rev. B Power Supply S/N04 Rev. B Clock Driver S/N04 Rev. B Temperature Controller S/N04 Rev. A DSP S/N04 Rev. A ROM A ASP1 S/N06 Rev. C ASP2 Absent Penthouse S/N04 Rev. A +36V +16V -16V +6V 6ma 0ma 0ma 4515ma Total Power Supply Pre-Power Up Current 9ma 28ma 28ma 0ma Power Supply Post-Power Up Current 0ma 196ma 154ma 35ma Temperature Controller Current 0ma 301ma 266ma 665ma ASP 1 Current 0ma 0ma 0ma 0ma ASP 2 Current 15ma 1127ma 910ma 5390ma Clock Driver Current 75ma 182ma 266ma 70ma Penthouse Current 138ma 1596ma 1526ma 5495ma Total Final Current Controller confirms that correct ucode for TK3 is running ic> The shortest form of these commands are "v2 V2p=0" and "v2 V2p=1". The commands can also be executed in the usual IRAF way by typing v2pars, setting the value of parameter V2power, exiting v2pars with a control-D, and executing command "v2". Note well: if the internal power has been off, the CCD will have cooled down below its operating temperature. The CCD will be brought back to its operating temperature automatically when the power is turned on. It will take some time before the temperature is stable again. The temperature can be monitored with the command "v2 status=0" as described in a later section. Note well: do not put either of these power commands in your login.cl file, or in any scripts. Running ICE ~~~~~~~~~~~ Startup ~~~~~~~ - execute "icex" within the IRAF window for running ICE. - set the parameters correctly in at least detpars, v2pars, and instrpars - execute the command "v2 s=0" that is described three sections below. * if the output reports the detector powered up and running, proceed with normal ice operations for setup and observing * if the output reports that the detector is powered down, turn on the internal detector power as described previously, and repeat this step. * if ICE reports that the detector is in use, as described in the section below, then either: # terminate the ICE process that is already using the detector, as also described below, and repeat this step, or # terminate the current attempt to use ICE. Exclusive use of CCD controller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICE, like all support diagnostic programs which operate the CCD controller, is programmed to allow access to the CCD controller by only one task at a time. If you try to run ICE CCD controller commands while another task is running with access to the controller, you will get all (or most of) the cryptic and misleading set of messages in the following example: ic> v2 status=0 pcd_open: File exists PCD /dev/pcd0 open failed. Check board installation and unit number, and try restarting the computer Notice - using /dev/pcd0 as communications link pcd_open: File exists Detector error: Cannot open PCD ic> These messages are telling you: "either you, some other user, or an orphaned process is currently using the CCD controller. Therefore, you are being denied use of the CCD controller while that remains true". Definitely ignore the line that starts "Check board installation and ...". If you get these messages, either use the task already using the CCD controller, or terminate that task so you can proceed with your current attempt to use the controller. See the following section for information about orphaned processes. Control-C ~~~~~~~~~ ICE can "hang" at times, and Control-C (often two of them) may be needed to kill ICE. Destroying the window is another approach to killing ICE when it has hung. Killing ICE in these ways can leave the process running which accesses the CCD controller, and so you will not be able to start ICE again and use the controller until that process has been killed (see previous section for reason). The process is called "x_ccdacq", and you can determine if it is running with the command in the first line of the following example. If you get output from the command, as in the second line of the example, use the "Process ID" number in the left column of that line with the "kill" command as shown in the third line of the example. Oberon> ps -e | grep x_ccdacq 7803 pts/3 4:49 x_ccdacq Oberon> kill -9 7803 Oberon> This will kill the orphaned "x_ccdacq" process and should allow you to run the CCD controller with ICE. Output from command "v2 status=0" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This command is referred to as "reading the status" or "doing an s=0". It reports to you the status of the detector system. It should be used frequently to check on the status of the detector system. The full command is "v2 status=0", but this is usually abbreviated to "v2 s=0". Examples of output are given below for the case of the detector internal power being on, and then the case of it being off. ic> v2 s=0 Module: BP PS CD TC DSP ASP1 PH Cryostat Serial #: 04 04 04 04 04 06 04 TK3 Revision: B B B A A C A Status: OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK Supply: +36 V +16.5 V -16.5 V +6 V Current: 0.090 A 1.288 A 1.225 A 5.495 A -105.00 C CCD temperature 0.920 W Servo heater power -193.27 C Cryogenic temperature 0.033 mK Servo Error Signal 15.88 C Controller temperature -4.826 mK Integral Off C Instrument temperature 0.000 W Heater 2 power VG off mbar Vacuum pressure - Ion pump power ic> ic> v2 status=0 Module: BP PS CD TC DSP ASP1 PH Cryostat Serial #: 04 04 04 04 04 06 04 Revision: B B B A A C A Status: OK OK OK OK OK Off OK Off Supply: +36 V +16.5 V -16.5 V +6 V Current: Off Off Off 4.480 A ic> The first four lines of information describe the CCD controller. In them, each column corresponds to one of the modules of the controller. The module names are: BP Backplane PS Power supply CD Clock driver TC Temperature Controller DSP Digital Signal Processor ASPx Analog Signal processor number x PH Penthouse Cryostat The cryostat/dewar Each module of a given type has a unique serial number. Each module reports it level of hardware and firmware revision. Also, each module has numerous diagnostics, which are all combined into a single status output of OK/Error. The next two lines give the status of the four power supplies within the Power Supply module. If the internal power is on, then additional lines give the environmental status of the detector and the state of any peripheral detector instrumentation. The information is as follows: CCD temperature: The temperature of the CCD Cryogenic temperature: The temperature of the cryogenic cooling system Controller temperature: The temperature of the CCD controller Instrument temperature: The temperature of the instrument Servo heater power: The power being applied to regulated the CCD temperature. Servo Error Signal: The temperature difference between the actual and requested CCD temperatures. H2power: The amount of power being applied to Heater 2. This should be zero normally, and will be described at a later time. Vacuum pressure: The "Pressure" in the cryostat/dewar if a vacuum gauge is installed on the detector system (not installed on TK3/TK4) Ion pump power: The power status (on/off) of the ion pump if one is installed on the cryostat/dewar (none for TK3/TK4) Information output during integration and readout: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All the ICE commands work in their usual way for taking images. The information that is output during integration and readout has changed. Below is an example of the output from the detector, and an explanation of the information. In this example the instrument name (set in instrpars) is set to "test" so there is no output about the instrument. ic> test 1 object 10 Image `test' will be written to disk TK3 [1:2048,1:2048] Bin=[1,1] Amp=3 Int=3 Gain=1x 18-bit CCDtemp=-105.00 Cryotemp=-193.28 Conttemp=15.92 Instrtemp=Off SES=0.013 mK SHpower=0.916 W H2power=0.000 W P=VG Off Ion pump=unk Flushing ... finished Integration started at 16:13:35.80 UTC A(bort), C(ontinue), P(ause), R(ead), M(odify) Exposed Time left T_CCD T_cryo T_inst T_cont SES Power P Status 0:00:05.0 0:00:05.0 -105.00 -193.28 Off 15.92 0.07 0.893 VG off OK Reading block #17 of 17 Readout took 45.37 seconds exposure = 10.000 seconds (00:00:10.000) darktime = 10.151 seconds (00:00:10.151) ic> Immediately on executing the command, the configuration and status of the detector is reported in three lines of output. The first line gives the configuration as specified in detpars, and those parameters have been described previously. The remaining two lines give the environmental status of the detector and the state of any peripheral detector instrumentation. Also, during integrations longer than 5 seconds, status information is output once a second. This information includes: CCDtemp and T_CCD: the temperature of the CCD Cryotemp and T_cryo: the temperature of the cryogenic cooling system Conttemp and T_cont: the temperature of the CCD controller Instrtemp and T_inst: the temperature of the instrument SES: the "Servo Error Signal" in mK units. This is the temperature difference between the CCD actual and requested temperatures. SHpower and Power: The "Servo Heater Power", in watts. This is the power being applied to regulated the CCD temperature. H2power: The "Heater 2 power". This should be zero normally. P: The "Pressure" in the cryostat/dewar if a vacuum gauge is installed on the detector system (None for TK3/TK4) Ion pump: The power status (on/off) of the ion pump if one is installed on the cryostat/dewar (none for TK3/TK4) Status: The status of the entire detector system. This is the combination of all the diagnostics from the detector. During readout, the progress of the readout is reported with the "Reading block #" output line. There are always at least 4 data blocks per readout, and a data block is never larger than 1 megabyte. After the readout of each block, that block is immediately written to disk. ICE crashes ~~~~~~~~~~~ Header information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An example of the file header information specific to the detector system is given below. An explanation of some of the parameters follows that. HOSTCOMP= 'oberon ' / Host computer name HOSTOPS = 'SunOS 5.8' / Host computer operating system PROGRAM = 'ICE V2-19Feb2002' / Data acquisition program DETECTOR= 'TK3 ' / Detector name DETSIZE = '2048X2048' / Detector size for DETSEC MICROCOD= 'TK3_2001' / Detector microcode name CONTTYPE= 'McDonald Obs. V2' / Detector controller type BP = 'V2.0 #4 Rev B' / Backplane ID PS = 'V2.0 #4 Rev B' / Power supply ID CD = 'V2.0 #4 Rev B' / Clock driver ID TC = 'V2.0 #4 Rev A' / Temperature controller ID DSP = 'V2.0 #4 Rev A' / Digital signal processor ID ASP1 = 'V2.0 #6 Rev C' / Analog Signal Processor #1 ID PH = 'V2.0 #4 Rev A' / Penthouse ID AMPLIFIE= '3 ' / Amplifier(s) in use ASPGAIN = 1 / ASP gain setting INTEGRAT= 3 / Integrator setting DETTEMP = -105.00 / Detector temperature (Celsius) CRYOTEMP= -193.28 / Cold sink temperature (Celsius) CONTTEMP= 15.92 / Controller temperature (Celsius) SERVOPWR= 0.84 / Servo heater power (watts) NCCDS = 1 / Number of CCDs in detector NAMPS = 1 / Number of amplifiers used INSTRUME= 'test ' / Instrument CCDSUM = '1 1 ' / On-chip summation RDNOISE3= 4.35 / Readout noise for amplifier 3 (electrons) GAIN3 = 0.5840 / Gain for amplifier 3 (electrons per ADU) CCDSIZE = '2048X2048' / CCD size CCDSEC = '[1:2048,1:2048]' / Orientation to full frame AMPSEC = '[1:2048,1:2048]' / Amplifier section DETSEC = '[1:2048,1:2048]' / Detector section ORIGSEC = '[1:2048,1:2048]' / Original size full frame DATASEC = '[1:2048,1:2048]' / Image portion of frame TRIMSEC = '[2:2047,2:2047]' / Region to be extracted BIASSEC = '[2057:2072,2:2047]' / Overscan portion of frame