This is an open letter to John Holtzman and Marla Geha in response to their recent note about SPIcam drift scanning. We're still digesting the message up here in Seattle... the purpose of this note is to commend our NMSU colleagues for their clear and constructive message. It's heartening to the SPIcam team to see such interest in improving the performance of the instrument. As most of you know, we've had some SPIcam shutter problems that are being actively worked on by the site staff. The shutter motor is being replaced with a geared system that should overcome the recent problem. Also, the SPIcam code is undergoing an upgrade that will provide some performance enhancements. Specifically this will enable faster chip clears and slower drift scans (ie longer integrations), and (we hope) a reliable way to take staring frames with short effective exposure times. (These enhancements and repairs are being carried out by Peter Doherty, Jeff Morgan and Gene Magnier at the UW, and the 3.5m crew at APO.) Again, thanks to Jon and Marla for their taking the time to communicate the drift scan methodology they have developed. Best to all, Chris. APO APO APO APO APO Apache Point Observatory 3.5m APO APO APO APO APO This is message 55 in the apo35-dsc archive. You can find APO the archive on http://www.astro.princeton.edu/APO/apo35-dsc/INDEX.html APO To join/leave the list, send mail to apo35-request@astro.princeton.edu APO To post a message, mail it to apo35-dsc@astro.princeton.edu APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO