Subject: APO 3.5-m Users Cmte minutes 12/8/03
From: Bruce Gillespie
Submitted: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 08:03:00 -0700
Message number: 729
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APO 3.5-m Users Committee Phonecon, 12/8/03
Attending: Ed Turner, Michael Strauss, Bruce Gillespie, John Bally,
Rene Walterbos, Al Harper, Jon Holtzman, Russet McMillan, Don York,
Jim Green
Absent: Karl Glazebrook, Bruce Balick
Minutes taken by Bruce Gillespie
**********************************
2003 ARC Board of Governors meeting. Highlights included:
Increased down-time in 2003, partly due to aging systems
High turnover of off-site 3.5-m principals, and many new faces in ARC
Good progress in 2003 projects and user support documentation
Utilization of instruments changing, partly due to more programs
specifying multiple instruments
More certainty in CIF plans for 2004, half of 2003 CIF money unspent
(on purpose) and to be carried forward
3.5-m site and CIF budgets approved as proposed
Priority to be given to keeping general-purpose observatory profile
Forecasts and discussion of "Post-SDSS" operations scenarios
3.5-m connections to SDSS extension proposal discussed, mainly for
supernovae searches
New Director search, optimism for completion by spring 2004
Futures Committee, charge to be more oriented to scientific directions
Copies of the 3.5-m Annual Report have been sent to all the Users
Committee members.
**********************************
CIF Plans for 2004. The proposed items for 2004 CIF are:
Finish telescope baffling at Nasmyth port
Finish and release new remote observing s/w
Build/buy spare parts for telescope drives
Re-design/build new telescope drives
Finish design of new mirror supports, actuators, safety systems
NIC-FPS support (manpower, some funding)
Near-IR spectrograph project (select source, funding)
SPIcam upgrade design (define project, form team)
Echelle throughput (AR-coated optics)
There is certainly not enough manpower nor funds to complete all of
these projects in 2004. The Near-IR spectrograph remains a high
priority project, but the priorities of the other items will be
determined in the coming few weeks. If any members of the Users
Committee or other telescope users have pro or con opinions about any
of the listed projects, they should communicate these to Ed Turner as
quickly as possible. There will not be a "community meeting" at the
AAS next month.
**********************************
Secondary/Tertiary actuator problems. The 3.5-m is back to scheduled
science, after losing about five nights to problems with the
actuators of the 2ndary mirror, remedied by an heroic effort on the
part of the APO site engineering staff. First seen under cold (but
not the coldest) conditions, the three 2ndary mirror actuators were
sticking/stalling. After disassembly, problems were discovered in
one harmonic drive, three actuators, and the linear bearing that
supports the mirror in the middle of its back. Although we're not
certain, it's likely that the root cause of the problems were caused
by contamination in the linear bearing (dust, paint chips, etc.)
which may have caused the bearing to have more resistance in cold
weather. The three motion actuators are "designed" to break if they
meet resistance, and this is what appears to have happened. The
broken parts were replaced, one harmonic drive was adjusted, and the
linear bearing was cleaned and relubed (low-temp grease). To keep
the linear bearing clean, a flexible bellows boot was installed.
**********************************
Instrument News.
NIC-FPS report: Jim Green reported that a Leach controller for the
detector has been procured, given that Rockwell still has yet to
deliver theirs. With Ball Aerospace help, they are just beginning to
test and characterize the engineering-grade chip, and then will do
the science grade chip after the holidays. The controller for the
Fabry-Perot etalon has been ordered, and the mechanical stability
tests of the dewar and mounts look great. Cryo tests are scheduled
next, and the camera delivery to APO looks to be on track for Jul/Aug
04. The Rockwell data on the science-grade detector looks
impressive, and Jim Green said that he will see to it that the
NIC-FPS web page gets updated as the project evolves.
GRIM2 report: Al Harper reported that Dale Sandford will come to APO
the week of Dec. 15 to look into the missing-quadrant problem. There
will be adequate site staff around to help Dale, and maybe learn some
tricks.
JHU IR Spectrograph report: Ed Turner reported that a near-IR
spectrograph remains one of, if not the, highest priority new capital
project for the telescope. JHU has offered to build one to Alan
Uomoto's design, with Paul Feldman as PI and Steve Smee as the chief
engineer. We have also been informally told that CU would be
interested in building one, after NIC-FPS is finished. And third,
Mike Skrutskie at UVirginia is planning to build as many as three
near-IR spectrographs, one not as yet committed to any telescope, so
a possible partnership there is also conceivable. One of the early
tasks for 2004 CIF planning will be to decide which route to take and
how to finance the building of a medium-resolution near-IR
spectrograph for the 3.5-m.
**********************************
Director's Search. Rene said that he hopes to see the selection
process concluded by this coming spring.
**********************************
Last month's minutes were approved without comment.
Next meeting Monday, January 12, 2004, at 11:30 AM Eastern Time
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--></style><title>APO 3.5-m Users Cmte minutes
12/8/03</title></head><body>
<div align="center"><b>APO 3.5-m Users Committee Phonecon,
12/8/03</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Attending: Ed Turner, Michael Strauss, Bruce Gillespie,
John Bally, Rene Walterbos, Al Harper, Jon Holtzman, Russet McMillan,
Don York, Jim Green</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Absent: Karl Glazebrook, Bruce Balick</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Minutes taken by Bruce Gillespie</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>2003 ARC Board of Governors meeting</b>. Highlights
included:</div>
<div><br></div>
<ul>
<li>Increased down-time in 2003, partly due to aging systems
<li>High turnover of off-site 3.5-m principals, and many new faces in
ARC
<li>Good progress in 2003 projects and user support documentation
<li>Utilization of instruments changing, partly due to more programs
specifying multiple instruments
<li>More certainty in CIF plans for 2004, half of 2003 CIF money
unspent (on purpose) and to be carried forward
<li>3.5-m site and CIF budgets approved as proposed
<li>Priority to be given to keeping general-purpose observatory
profile
<li>Forecasts and discussion of "Post-SDSS" operations
scenarios
<li>3.5-m connections to SDSS extension proposal discussed, mainly for
supernovae searches
<li>New Director search, optimism for completion by spring 2004
<li>Futures Committee, charge to be more oriented to scientific
directions</ul>
<div><br></div>
<div>Copies of the 3.5-m Annual Report have been sent to all the Users
Committee members.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>CIF Plans for 2004</b>. The proposed items for 2004 CIF
are:</div>
<div><br></div>
<ul>
<li>Finish telescope baffling at Nasmyth port
<li>Finish and release new remote observing s/w
<li>Build/buy spare parts for telescope drives
<li>Re-design/build new telescope drives
<li>Finish design of new mirror supports, actuators, safety systems
<li>NIC-FPS support (manpower, some funding)
<li>Near-IR spectrograph project (select source, funding)
<li>SPIcam upgrade design (define project, form team)
<li>Echelle throughput (AR-coated optics)</ul>
<div><br></div>
<div>There is certainly not enough manpower nor funds to complete all
of these projects in 2004. The Near-IR spectrograph remains a
high priority project, but the priorities of the other items will be
determined in the coming few weeks. If any members of the Users
Committee or other telescope users have pro or con opinions about any
of the listed projects, they should communicate these to Ed Turner as
quickly as possible. There will not be a "community
meeting" at the AAS next month.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>Secondary/Tertiary actuator problems</b>. The 3.5-m is
back to scheduled science, after losing about five nights to problems
with the actuators of the 2ndary mirror, remedied by an heroic effort
on the part of the APO site engineering staff. First seen under
cold (but not the coldest) conditions, the three 2ndary mirror
actuators were sticking/stalling. After disassembly, problems
were discovered in one harmonic drive, three actuators, and the linear
bearing that supports the mirror in the middle of its back.
Although we're not certain, it's likely that the root cause of the
problems were caused by contamination in the linear bearing (dust,
paint chips, etc.) which may have caused the bearing to have more
resistance in cold weather. The three motion actuators are
"designed" to break if they meet resistance, and this is
what appears to have happened. The broken parts were replaced,
one harmonic drive was adjusted, and the linear bearing was cleaned
and relubed (low-temp grease). To keep the linear bearing clean,
a flexible bellows boot was installed.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>Instrument News</b>.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>NIC-FPS report: Jim Green reported that a Leach controller
for the detector has been procured, given that Rockwell still has yet
to deliver theirs. With Ball Aerospace help, they are just
beginning to test and characterize the engineering-grade chip, and
then will do the science grade chip after the holidays. The
controller for the Fabry-Perot etalon has been ordered, and the
mechanical stability tests of the dewar and mounts look great.
Cryo tests are scheduled next, and the camera delivery to APO looks to
be on track for Jul/Aug 04. The Rockwell data on the
science-grade detector looks impressive, and Jim Green said that he
will see to it that the NIC-FPS web page gets updated as the project
evolves.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>GRIM2 report: Al Harper reported that Dale Sandford will
come to APO the week of Dec. 15 to look into the missing-quadrant
problem. There will be adequate site staff around to help Dale,
and maybe learn some tricks.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>JHU IR Spectrograph report: Ed Turner reported that a
near-IR spectrograph remains one of, if not the, highest priority new
capital project for the telescope. JHU has offered to build one
to Alan Uomoto's design, with Paul Feldman as PI and Steve Smee as the
chief engineer. We have also been informally told that CU would
be interested in building one, after NIC-FPS is finished. And
third, Mike Skrutskie at UVirginia is planning to build as many as
three near-IR spectrographs, one not as yet committed to any
telescope, so a possible partnership there is also conceivable.
One of the early tasks for 2004 CIF planning will be to decide which
route to take and how to finance the building of a medium-resolution
near-IR spectrograph for the 3.5-m.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><b><br></b></div>
<div><b>Director's Search</b>. Rene said that he hopes to see
the selection process concluded by this coming spring.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>**********************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Last month's minutes were approved without comment.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Next meeting Monday, January 12, 2004, at 11:30 AM Eastern
Time</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> </div>
</body>
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