From: Russet McMillan Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20031127 Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 06:37:54 -0700 (MST) Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Thursday, November 27, 2003 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- B.Gillespie J.Krzesinski SPIcam 19:00 00:00 A.Nitta J.Krzesinski SPIcam 00:00 06:25 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOT USED I/RO/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B --------------------------------------------------------------------- EN02/O/D 17:55 00:00 0 0 0 0 3.1 3.0 0 0 0 NM09/O 00:00 05:48 0 0 0 0 5.8 0 0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- 1st half Observing Specialist: W.Ketzeback Gobble, gobble, gobble ... the turkey and fixin's here on site were marvelous! After the problems seen late last night with the secondary accuators unoffical word was given to the scheduled first half observer that we would not be opening at all tonight. It turned out that after the dome temperatures warmed to above -5C the actuators behaved normally again. It was decided that we were able to use the telescope until the problem with the secondary reoccured tonight. There was also a series of tests performed by Craig Loomis and I after I arrived on site this afternoon that helped decide wether to proceed or not. By this time, late in the afternoon Don was unreachable. I gave the time to the second half observers. About 20:45, Don did get my messages and called. Deciding to reliquish the remainder of his time to the second half users. The first half is accounted to engineering time since it wasn't the UC observer's fault that he was unavailable, nor the NM observer's fault that she benefited. We limped along, trying desperately to avoid doing any focus adjustments. This resulted in slightly soft and degrading focus with time as they sat on each object for several hours. Accurate focus was not critical for the science that the users were doing as long as it wasnt grossly out of focus. One slew and one focus adjustment got us through the first half holding our breaths. 2nd half Observing Specialist: R.McMillan We saw one example of borderline secondary trouble, but there was an unexpected warming trend shortly after 1 am which was apparently enough to prevent further trouble. It also helped that the observing program permitted leaving the secondary alone for long periods of time, so that we could simply wait out the coldest portions of the night. Other minor problems included a bad magnesensor measurement, unusually poor pointing on one target even after the magnesensor problem had been cleared up, one guider ICC crash, and hoggpt refusing all connections after about 04:45 MST (just as a band of cirrus started to move in). All told it was a successful, but nerve-wracking night -- the first usable Thanksgiving since I started working here! ------- FAILURE LOG ------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (SEGDFVO) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Air/Truss Wind Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp-C Dir MPH filt FWHM --------------------------------------------------------------------- 19:02 SPIcam -70(475) 174 76 -6.5/-4.4 33 9 g' 1.5 19:15 NA2gdr 2247(51247) 188 76 -5.8/-4.7 294 4 clear 1.5 20:44 SPIcam -55(478) 204 56 -5.3/-5.6 303 10 empty 1.2 -------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:01 24 1 6 277 (W) 463 clear none 17:01 22 1 8 354 (N) 269 clear none 18:01 21 0 13 35 (NE) 507 clear none 19:01 20 2 8 33 (NNE) 140 clear none 20:01 23 0 1 295 (WNW) 141 clear none 21:01 22 1 10 313 (NW) 159 clear none 22:01 20 2 11 337 (NNW) 225 clear none 23:01 20 -1 1 4 (N) 186 clear none 00:01 21 -2 5 67 (ENE) 138 clear none 01:01 21 -9 2 349 (NNW) 148 clear none 02:01 26 -23 9 24 (NNE) 108 clear none 03:01 24 -22 6 40 (NE) 111 clear none 04:01 28 -21 11 16 (NNE) 115 mstly clr none 05:01 27 -21 0 219 (SW) 111 mstly clr none 06:01 32 -17 6 9 (N) 61 mstly clr none Note: the wind was coming from the azimuth listed. The convention used is north=0 degrees, east=90 degrees. The dust count is particles > 1u per 0.1 cubic feet. TELESCOPE STATUS Telescope drives operational. Current Remark version: 2.85b Current guide software version: guider v4.1b4 Current TCC version: 2.7.2 Current TUI version: TUI-0.76