Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20090219 Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:19:10 +0000 (UTC) From: bketzeba@apo.nmsu.edu Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Thursday, February 19, 2009 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH ------------------------------------------------------------------- T.Tavenner T.Tavenner Nicfps 17:30 20:00 M.Shin M.Shin,M.Oguri DIS 21:00 00:10 H.Weaver H.Weaver,C.Lisse, SPIcam 00:20 06:30 Y.Fernandez INST SCHED(TWILIGHT) WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOT USED I/ROW/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NM03/R 18:46 20:00 0 0 0 0 1.2 0 0.8 0 0 PU05/R 20:00 00:10 0 0 1.0 0 3.2 0 0 0 0 JH05/R 00:10 05:47 0 0 0 0 3.8 1.8 0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: B.Ketzeback During checkout saw an error associated with port LTA7 (guider) in the tcc. I reported it to Fritz and he tracked it down to a bad/loose cable or connector. I went around looking for the bad connection but we never resolved it. The only effect was that the tcc could not communicate directly to the guider. Communications with the NA2 guider through the hub was still possible. So operation of guiding through TUI was fine however pointing corrections had to be calculated using a different method than through the tcc. Na2 Tert Tilts (RotAng 118.8) Xtilt Ytilt Was -200 1050 Measured Error 45 -118 Changed to -150 932 Pointing was off a little at the start of the night. Did not have another oppurtunity to check it a second time. At the first instrument change over, DIS seemed to go on properly however when I tried to do a slew, the rotator over currented at -90 degrees or +80 degrees. I had Fritz verify the over current condition and then went upstairs and verified that the rotator was binding at these limits by moving it by hand. I took the instrument off the NA2 Rotator and checked motion by hand again. All seemed well moving by hand to +/- 180. I remounted DIS and had the same problem. It would hang at -90. I called Mark at home and he had me check where it was binding. After verifying this I dismounted DIS again and remounted it. Same problem. This time I noted that the left kinematic was not in proper contact. A sheet of paper could be placed between the V and the cylinder. I dismounted it again (partially) and was able to wiggle the cart enough that the instrument came down properly on the mushroom on the left side. Mounting of DIS and Triplespec onto the mushrooms can sometimes be difficult but this was a rare case in my opinion where all looked well even at close inspection but still the instrument did not get mounted correctly. Unfortunately, an hour of sky time was lost. The rest of the night went well with no problems. Skies were photometric and seeing was moderate to good. ------- FAILURE LOG ------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (SEDFNVOG) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PU05 D I/H 20:00 21:00 Bad mounting of instrument ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp Strc Prim Sec Air filt FWHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18:11 NICFPS -107( 218) 50 75 -0.6 2.6 0.2 1.0 -0.7 Ks+nd2 0.60 19:10 NICFPS -239( 45) -85 24 -0.6 0.4 -0.4 -1.2 -0.7 Ks+nd2 1.08 21:01 dis-slit -4(-457) -99 66 -1.3 -1.1 -0.6 -1.7 -0.7 --- 1.22 23:34 NA2gdr -962(21037) 2 69 -1.3 -0.7 -0.4 -1.2 -0.6 clear 0.98 00:24 SPICAM -30( -222) 13 57 -1.3 -1.0 -0.8 -1.8 -1.0 R 0.97 00:26 NA2gdr -301(29698) 12 57 -1.3 -1.1 -0.8 -1.8 -1.0 clear 1.20 ------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16:00 33 -5 9 311 (NW) 239 clear none 17:00 0 348 (NNW) 260 clear none 18:00 31 -7 5 348 (NNW) 404 clear none 19:00 13 28 (NNE) 326 clear none 20:00 29 -4 20 27 (NNE) 369 clear none 21:00 30 -8 19 15 (NNE) 312 clear none 22:00 14 18 (NNE) 285 clear none 23:00 17 34 (NE) 246 clear none 00:00 9 355 (N) 258 clear none 01:00 11 22 (NNE) 247 clear none 02:00 7 9 (N) 241 clear none 03:00 15 1 (N) 279 clear none 04:00 9 344 (NNW) 464 clear none 05:00 14 348 (NNW) 304 clear none 06:00 9 352 (N) 295 clear 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 TCC version: 2.10.0 Current TUI version: TUI 1.5.1