Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20210713
From: ajt@apo.nmsu.edu
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2021 11:01:56 +0000 (UTC)
                      Apache Point Observatory
                      3.5m Telescope Night Log
                      Tuesday, July 13, 2021
PROG  PI ASTRONOMER      OBSERVER(S)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
AP01  S.Merkowitz       R.McMillan
GS02  D.Gies            K.Shepard
CU01  N.Schneider       C.Schmidt
                         ACTUAL
PROG  INSTRUMENT     START   FINISH
--------------------------------------------------------------------
AP01  APOLLO         20:00   21:20
GS02  ECHELLE        21:28   22:55
CU01  ECHELLE        --:--   --:--
   PROG       SCHEDULED      WEATH     EQUIP     OBS     NOT USED
 I/ROW/DTN  START  FINISH   D    B    D    B    D    B    D    B
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AP01/R      20:22  21:22    0    0    0    0   0.0  1.0   0    0
GS02/R      21:22  02:25   3.2  0.4   0    0   0.0  1.4   0    0
CU01/R      02:25  05:57   3.5   0    0    0   0.0  0.0   0    0
note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time
              ------------- ACTIVITY LOG --------------
Observing Specialist: A.Townsend,R.McMillan
During checkout, gcam required a startNubs & init to to clear errors, and NICFPS required "nicfps expose init" to fix a setting window failed error.
I reset the optical cloud camera so that's working again thanks to Jack's instructions.
There were some clouds at sunset which cleared up quite a bit by the end of twilight.
The 1-micron dust count rose steadily over the first half of the night, it was over 3500 particles/0.1 ft^3 at 22:00; since the humidity was still lower we closed louvers, closed the door on the intermediate level, turned off the intex fan and turned on the press fan.
At 22:55 we had to close the dome due to the high dust counts.
By the changeover between programs the dust count was over 9000! It stayed very high and we were unable to open the rest of the night.
                    ------- FAILURE LOG -------
              FAILURE MODE     TIME
PROG   INSTR     TI/SHU    START  FINISH  DESCRIPTION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
            ---------------- FOCUS LOG ---------------
Time  Instrument  Focus     Az  El  Temp Strc Prim  Sec  Air  filt  FWHM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 20:05 APOLLO     600( 2082) 115  41  15.5 18.3 17.9 18.0 16.2   530  1.70
 21:35 ecamera    355(  -64) -85  60  15.1 15.5 15.9 15.1 14.7   ND3  1.18
               ------------- WEATHER LOG ----------------
                                   Wind                      Precip.or
     Time   Temp F Dewp F  MPH  Direction    Dust    Sky    Conditions
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
     16:00    65    47      2   242  (WSW)   1672  ptly cldy   none
     17:00    65    45      5   243  (WSW)   1548  ptly cldy   none
     18:00    65    45      8   146   (SE)   1613  ptly cldy   none
     19:00    62    45     11   134   (SE)   1877  ptly cldy   none
     20:00    60    44     13   150  (SSE)   2404  ptly cldy   none
     21:00    59    43     13   153  (SSE)   2838 mstly clr    none
     22:00    59    44     13   175    (S)   3549 mstly clr    dust
     23:00    57    45     15   150  (SSE)   5627 mstly clr    dust
     00:00    56    44     11   131   (SE)   6742    clear     dust
     01:00    56    44     11   128   (SE)   7156    clear     dust
     02:00    55    44     11   125   (SE)   8319    clear     dust
     03:00    54    45     13   138   (SE)   8501    clear     dust
     04:00    56    47     11   184    (S)   8911    clear     dust
     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 SOFTWARE  ----------
Current TCC version: 1.4.2
Current HUB version: v20171231_01
Current TUI version: 2.6.0