def PDMS2Dec (decst, sep=":"):
    """ Convert a declination string to degrees

    Returns dec in deg
    decst     Dec string as "dd:mm:ss.s"
    sep       sympol to use to separate components instead of ":"
    """
    ################################################################
    pp = decst.split(sep)
    if len(pp)>0:
        deg = int(pp[0])
    else:
        deg = 0
    if len(pp)>1:
        min = int(pp[1])
    else:
        min = 0
    if len(pp)>2:
        ssec = float(pp[2])
    else:
        ssec = 0.0
    dec =  abs(deg) + min/60.0 + ssec/3600.0
    if pp[0].find("-") >=0:
        dec = -dec
    return dec
    # end PDec2DMS