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--- uc:uc20230905_september_5_2023 [2023/09/05 17:32]
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+++ uc:uc20230905_september_5_2023 [2023/09/06 02:18] (current)
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   * FGCU - no report
   * Wyoming - nothing to report
-  * Oklahoma - due to the failure of Agile some OU users are exploring the use of ARCTIC for high cadence photometry. Russet performed some speed tests of various readout modes and windowing with ARCTIC and they seem promising. Muk requested that we get a BG40 filter for ARCTIC for photometry of blue targets; Bill got some quotes and the filter has been ordered. We hope to get it within the next 60 days.
+  * Oklahoma - due to the failure of Agile some OU users are exploring the use of ARCTIC for high cadence photometry. Russet performed some speed tests of various readout modes and windowing with ARCTIC and they seem promising (see results [[arctic:arcticspeed|here]]). Muk requested that we get a BG40 filter for ARCTIC for photometry of blue targets; Bill got some quotes and the filter has been ordered. We hope to get it within the next 60 days.
   * NAPG - no report
   * Seattle - Joanne's collaborators are going to APO with some students for a training visit at the end of this week. She is still trying to refine a data pipeline for KOSMOS data taken through slit masks; the pipeline will be provided both in IRAF and python. She is talking with Bill and Joe Burchett about it.
@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 ----
-=== Additional telescope and instrument discussion ===
+=== Additional telescope and instrument discussion, shutdown summary ===
-xxx UPDATE THIS xxx
+It has been a very busy, exciting, and stressful 2 months! The 3.5m primary mirror was successfully recoated at Lowell Observatory in the chamber at the Discovery Channel Telescope. We will distribute the data regarding the new coating performance once they have been fully reduced.
-Very busy/exciting/stressful 2 months!
-Mirror successfully recoated at Lowell Discovery Channel Telescope. Will distribute data re: coating performance once reduced.
-DSSI team on site, SU collaborators here. SDSS coding workshop here.
-Telescope back in operations.
-M3 failure; replacement encoder being tested, working on coupler and mounting, hope to try in telescope tomorrow. Once functional will work on upgrade path to bring that system to newer tech. Hi res encoder easier than motor controller. Bill working on balance issue; still fine-tuning it.
-KOSMOS working.
-ARCTIC diffuser rotation
-ARCES IOL good but may decline
-DIS: red good, blue bad
-ARCSAT: filter wheel has failed
-Jack testing out PlanetCam idea on 0.5m - high speed imaging system
-mirror perfomance
+September is another busy month with the DSSI team on site, the SU collaborators visiting this week, and the SDSS coding workshop here later this month.
-in lab data being reduced and on sky data - photom conditions but very bad seeing - hard to compare
-cyber attack
+Following a successful summer shutdown the 3.5m telescope is back in operations.
-we reevaluated our security - biggest hole is mail server at APO
-second thing: backups - everything backed up pn site to VM , now instituted off-site cloud back up for all critical systems
-now inventorying hardware if have replacements, install VM
-look at critical systems in observing control rooms
-most ransom ware are from users clicking on an email - we will be moving it to a more modern one
-cost w/offsite backup is few $k per year, slowed down radio link for first initial backup
-mailing list requests
+Prior to summer shutdown we had a failure of the rotation mechanism for the tertiary mirror. The problem was traced to a high resolution encoder; a replacement encoder was ordered and is now being tested, and we hope to try it on the telescope tomorrow. Once it is functional we will work on defining the upgrade path to bring that entire system to newer technology. Bill is still fine-tuning the telescope balance following the removal of the LANL instrument.
+Agile is still down and it is not clear if/when it can be repaired. Users may wish to try ARCTIC for high speed imaging. As mentioned above in the OU report, Russet performed some speed tests of various readout modes and windowing with ARCTIC and they seem promising (see results [[arctic:arcticspeed|here]]).
+Other remaining engineering tasks include examining the ARCTIC diffuser rotation mechanism, which is not currently working, and identifying a fix for the failed filter wheel in ARCSAT. Jack recently tested out PlanetCam, his high-speed imaging camera, on the 0.5m.
+Regarding the data taken to measure improvement in the mirror perfomance, we have both in-lab data (acquired at DCT) and on-sky data, which was acquired during photometric conditions but with very bad seeing. The data are currently being reduced; we may try to take more on-sky data during the next engineering run.
+Nancy thanked the entire observatory staff for such a successful summer shutdown!
 ----
-=== Shutdown summary ===
+=== Cybersecurity ===
-xxx
+In light of the recent cyber attack on Gemini Observatory we reevaluated our cybersecurity protocols. We are making improvements to our vulnerabilities and instituting off-site cloud backups for all critical systems. Perhaps not unrelatedly, we have seen a dramatic increase in requests to join our email lists from bogus email addresses. **UC reps: please notify your department members that if they wish to join our
+mailing lists they should submit their requests from their institutional email accounts, or if they wish to use personal email addresses, they should notify us so that their requests are not rejected.**
 ----
@@ Line 98: / Line 89: @@
 === Q3 3.5m scheduling ===
-There is no open time left in Q3.Looked for opportunities to reduce M3 rotations but there weren't a lot because we didn't find many. But we are getting faster at doing it in person. Had one ToO call last night; payback date will be updated in next Q3 update.
+There is no open time left in Q3. We looked for opportunities to shuffle the schedule in an effort to reduce M3 rotations but there were not a lot of opportunities. The Observing Specialists are getting faster at doing the M3 rotations by hand so this is less of an issue now. We had one ToO called in last night; the rescheduled payback date will be posted in next Q3 schedule update.
 ----
@@ Line 105: / Line 95: @@
 === Q4 3.5m scheduling ===
-Schedule in progress, might be ready in a couple days. Monitoring programs coming back (Q4, Q1), quarter night programs adjacent to each other. Fine when last 2 quarters of night, so other programs have lots of shares. 7 different programs doing partial night observers. Some 1-2hrs at beginning or end. Fewer very flexible programs to pad those. Hoping teriaty rotations will be faster. If you think start/end times are wrong let us know. Packed so efficiently that we'll have several open bright halves for people to request. Also have several classes (4) and another visiting instrument run back to back
+The Q4 schedule is in progress and will likely be ready in a couple of days. In Q4 there were 7 different programs that requested partial half-nights, so we attempted to pair those together when possible. As a reminder users should check their scheduled observations, including the start/end times, and notify us if there are any errors. We also have 4 visiting classes and another visiting instrument run that are scheduled back to back. The schedule will have several bright open halves late in Q4 that users can request if needed.
 ----
@@ Line 111: / Line 101: @@
 === Q3 0.5m scheduling ===
-Aleksandr - Mike Joner is scheduled soon and the filter wheel is broken and we don't have an estimate for when it would be fixed but we need to tell him soon. He can choose to observe with no filter or request time later on. Hopefully have answer about wheel before sending out call
+We currently do not have an estimate for when the filter wheel will be fixed so Q3 users will need to decide if they want to observer filterless or if they want to forego their time. Hopefully we will know more about the filter wheel before sending out the call for Q4 proposals.
 ----
@@ Line 119: / Line 109: @@
 Open action items from previous meetings:
-  * Nancy: track down missing ARCTIC data reduction scripts for wiki. -> OPEN XXX. Making progress on it this week.
+  * Nancy: track down missing ARCTIC data reduction scripts for wiki. -> CLOSED.
 New action items from this meeting:
-  * xxx
+  * UC reps: please notify your department members that if they wish to join our mailing lists they should submit their requests from their institutional email accounts, or if they wish to use personal email addresses, they should notify us so that their requests are not rejected.
 ----
@@ Line 130: / Line 120: @@
 === All Other Business ===
-High speed imaging -is MBASIC still on the table?
+With the recent failure of Agile we need to understand the needs of our users with respect to high speed imaging before making any decisions about repair vs. replace. Within the next few days Nancy will provide several questions to the UC reps to poll their users on and report back at the October UC meeting.
-multi-bad

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