APOLLO Laser Electronics Racks
The laser bench itself sits on the telescope, but the electronics racks need not. Here we see the two racks, one of which needs to be close to the laser bench, and the other not so close. In order to limit heat buildup in the dome, the rack on the left can be far away from the laser, in the intermediate level of the dome.
The rack on the left contains the control unit (here seen on top of the rack), and two power units, one for each flashlamp head. The control unit sets the state of the laser, accepts remote configuration commands from the control computer, and responds to requests by the ACM to fire the laser. The Power units charge the capacitor banks, located in the other rack.
The rack on the right contains (from top to bottom): The RF generator that is tuned to the cavity length and modulates the mode-locker; two capacitor banks that send the current surge to the flashlamps 20 times a second; and the water cooling control unit that regulates the flow and temperature of the laser head coolant. This rack needs to be near the laser bench, and will likely end up mounted on the telescope structure.