APO 3.5-m Users Committee Phonecon, 2/8/10 Attending: Suzanne Hawley, Mark Klaene, Bill Ketzeback, Al Harper, John Bally, Michael Strauss, Jon Holtzman, Scott Anderson, Jon Fulbright Absent: Remy Indebetouw ********************************** User feedback, comments from institutional representatives: Chicago (Al Harper) - nothing to report. New Mexico State (Jon Holtzman) - Would be useful to know which TUI software version updates are critical and which are simply desired. Latest update had issues with installation on linux machine. Washington (Scott Anderson) - nothing to report. Colorado (John Bally) - nothing to report. Princeton (Michael Strauss) - nothing to report. Johns Hopkins (Jon Fulbright) - nothing to report. Virginia - no report (Indebetouw absent) ********************************* Discussion of telescope/instruments report - Klaene Mark called attention to some recent problems associated with the telescope, including magna-sensor errors and altitude drive preload. Both of these appear to be relatively minor and have cost little time. Major loss time factor has been the weather. ****************** 3.5-m Telescope, Instruments, and CIF Projects Highlights, 1/4/10 through 2/2/10 0) Overview Weather, specifically snow, has been the main issue again this period and we expect still more. Large snow falls have created a lot of staff access problems as well as power losses. Loss time due to snow on the roof was minimal, however high and variable humidity continues to keep us closed on some occasions under clear skies. 1) Telescope Behavior has been quite good with only rare minor issues with pointing and tracking. We have also seen very few cold-temperature related problems. 2) Instruments DIS, Echelle, SPIcam, Agile and TripleSpec ran with no problems. DIS blue ION pump is still running a little high. The DIS slitviewer camera shutter had its usual cold weather problems last period. We are monitoring this for increasing frequency but so far it has not re-occurred. The new NICFPS fanout board is progressing slowly with the board at CU for final assembly and testing. Installation is now set for March. There was still no progress on the NICFPS etalon at CU. 3) CIF projects High altitude tracking data are being analyzed. The spare drive box design is complete and fabrication has started. ********************************** o NICFPS fanout board, possible scheduling impact - Klaene After some discussion it was decided to test the new fanout board with the engineering chip at CU before installation at APO. This will delay any installation until March at the earliest. Once again the plan is to perform the installation during time when NICFPS is not scheduled to be on the telescope. John Bally knows of no progress on the F-P Etalon. Could be tested this spring. o Triplespec scheduling in Q2 - Hawley Feedback from the Observing Specialists is that they are getting more familiar with mounting Triplespec even during the cold winter months, and therefore block scheduling restrictions will be relaxed for the remainder of Q1 and into Q2. However users should be aware that Triplespec instrument changes do take longer than the other instruments which directly translates to a loss of observing time on the sky if requests are made during observing (ie changing instrument in the middle of a half night). o Q2 scheduling and class trips - Hawley CU class scheduled for March, UW class for July. Currently we have none scheduled for Q2 but if there are any plans for class trips to APO in Q2 they need to coordinate scheduling with Mark and Suzanne. Housing on site is still limited and needs to be worked out well in advance. Some progress has been made on obtaining new single beds to augment space in the dorm rooms. o Echelle update - Hawley, Holtzman Jon Holtzman has agreed to lead the echelle upgrade project, with help from JHU and possibly UChicago personnel. Work will begin on a conceptual design and requirements document with the aim of having a PDR in fall 2010. ***************************** ACTION ITEMS: [open from previous months]: NONE [new actions from this meeting]: NONE ********************************** Next meeting: The next Users Committee phonecon will be on Monday, 8 March, at 8:30 AM Pacific Time. The agenda and other materials will be sent to the committee members during the preceding week. APO APO APO APO APO Apache Point Observatory 3.5m APO APO APO APO APO This is message 1168 in the apo35-general archive. You can find APO the archive on http://www.astro.princeton.edu/APO/apo35-general/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-general@astro.princeton.edu APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO