Subject: Snow Program" Discontinued (Enclosure Wheel Cracks)

From: Ed Turner

Submitted: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 17:11:41 -0500

Message number: 38 (previous: 37, next: 39 up: Index)

Visual inspection of the cracks in the 3.5m enclosure rotation
wheels indicate that their growth rate has increased substantially
during the past few weeks.  Possible causes include lower temperatures
and frequent use of the snow/ice removal program which causes
many and large enclosure rotations.  Therefore, use of the
"snow program" will be discontinued until the wheels can be repaired
(see minutes of User Cmte meetings for further details) or until
its relation to the cracking rate is better understood.

The immediate implication is that observations will be interrupted
for a longer period of time following accummulation of snow or ice
on the dome.  This disadvantage is offset by the decrease in the
chance of enclosure wheel failure which would result in an extended
interuption of telescope operations.

Ed Turner
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