Startup of the Experimental Physics Industrial Control System at NSTX

The Experimental Physics Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software which is being used as the basis of the National Spherical Torus Experiment's (NSTX) Process Control System, a major element of the NSTX's Central Instrumentation and Control System. EPICS is a result of a co-development effort started by several U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories. EPICS is actively supported through an international collaboration made up of government and industrial users. EPICS's good points include portability, scalability, and extensibility. A drawback for small experiments is that a wide range of software skills are necessary to get the software tools running for the process engineers. Our experience in designing, developing operating and maintaining NSTX's EPICS (system) will he reviewed.