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--- uc:uc2026 [2026/08/04 15:59] – nchanove
+++ uc:uc2026 [2026/08/06 22:42] (current) – nchanove
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 ===== APO 3.5-m Users Committee Meeting, 8/04/2026 =====
-Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU)
+Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Anne Verbiscer (UVa), Moire Prescott (NMSU), Michael Hayden (OU), Sarah Tuttle (UW), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Adam Kowalski (CU), Eric Bellm (UW), Ben Williams (UW)
-Chip Kobulnicky (UWy), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Misty Bentz (GSU), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Adam Kowalski (CU), Eric Bellm (UW), Russet McMillan (APO), Ben Williams (UW)
 === User feedback and comments from institutional representatives ===
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   * UVa - nothing to report
   * NMSU - nothing to report
-  * Colgate - nothing to report
+  * Colgate - no report
-  * Williams - nothing to report
+  * Williams - no report
-  * Colorado - nothing to report
+  * Colorado - a user inquired about the possibility of time trades with WIYN. Adam will put the user in touch with Nancy to discuss it further.
-  * Wyoming - nothing to report
+  * Wyoming - no report
   * Oklahoma - nothing to report
   * Washington - nothing to report
-  * Georgia State - nothing to report
+  * Georgia State - no report
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 === Additional site, telescope and instruments discussion ===
-xxx
+Both ARCTIC and ARCES are currently having issues. ARCES was just vacuum serviced; there is something in the cryostat (we have suspected this for many years due to the observed contamination). Our new vacuum pump allowed us to pull more gas out of chamber, during which time a strong volatile smell was identified as coming from inside the instrument. This is probably something inside the vacuum that is deteriorating. The inter-order light (IOL) after cool-down dropped really rapidly; after an inadvertent partial warm up last night, the IOL improved briefly, indicating that the contaminant migrated from near the CCD to a colder region of cryostat. If the IOL continues to drop we may have to pull it offline and put it back into servicing. [Note added in proof: the IOL has reached the point of recommended servicing so the decision was made to begin that process on Friday August 7. Affected users have been notified.]
+Regarding ARCTIC, for the past few months while in multi-amplifier mode the lower left quadrant has been excessively noisy. Recently it went from being saturated on the edge of quadrant to fully saturated. At first this was believed to be a thermal effect; we worked on it over summer shutdown, swapped out some electronics, and improved airflow over controller. Coming out of shutdown, we recommend that it be used only in single amplifier mode. This was attempted last night but that showed a new problem, namely other parts of detector were showing a similar effect. Cary is troubleshooting this further. We have limited spares and can't get more due the sunsetting of the company that manufactured the camera control system, so we are watching this carefully.
+Everything else is performing well. Agile and DIS have been decommissioned. APOLLO had some laser power adjustments. KOSMOS is cold and stable. Coming out of shutdown there were a few issues with the 3.5m telescope but those have been stable the last few days and hopefully can be addressed during the next engineering time.
+Shutdown itself went very well. The site report above contains the latest updates concerning the situation at Sunspot.
+Although this is generally a good practice, in light of the aforementioned instrument issues we recommend that Q4 proposers try to identify backup programs that would make use of a different instrument. Most importantly, observers should inspect their data as they are being acquired as this is the fastest way for the observatory staff to learn about and address problems that may arise.
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 === 2026 Q3 3.5m scheduling ===
-The Q3 schedule is posted. The remaining OPEN or DD time is xxx. Users should submit requests for this time to the scheduling team (Amanda Townsend, Russet McMillan, Ben Williams, and Nancy Chanover), and cc their institutional scheduler.
+The Q3 schedule is posted. There are several slots of OPEN and DD time starting in mid-August. Users should submit requests for this time to the scheduling team (Amanda Townsend, Russet McMillan, Ben Williams, and Nancy Chanover), and cc their institutional scheduler. [Note added in proof: we may have some additional open time due to the upcoming ARCES servicing so anyone who has lost time due to weather in recent months should submit requests if they can use it.]
 === 2026 Q4 3.5m scheduling ===
-The Q4 institutional allocations were sent out yesterday; proposals are due on xxx.
+The Q4 institutional allocations were sent out yesterday; proposals are due on August 25. In light of the anticipated on-site housing crunch due to the loss of the housing trailer at Sunspot, it is //imperative// that anyone planning a class visit in Q4 should notify the scheduling team ASAP so we can understand the need for on-site accommodations.
-=== 2023 Q2 0.5 scheduling ===
+=== 2026 Q3 0.5 scheduling ===
-The ARCSAT schedule xxx
+The ARCSAT schedule is posted and ARCSAT is fully booked for Q3.
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 === PypeIt update ===
-Jon Holtzman reports that modules for KOSMOS and TripleSpec have been added into the develop branch of PypeIt. If there are any users that would be interested in trying those, they can do so if they download this version (e.g., see [[https://pypeit.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installing.html#development-or-pre-release-versions]], they would want the develop branch). If anyone has any questions they can contact Jon directly. These should be included in a release version relatively soon; it would be great to get some test users even sooner!
+As reported in last month's minutes, Jon Holtzman has added modules for KOSMOS and TripleSpec into the development branch of PypeIt. If there are any users that would be interested in trying those, they can do so if they download this version (e.g., see [[https://pypeit.readthedocs.io/en/stable/installing.html#development-or-pre-release-versions]], they would want the develop branch). If anyone has any questions they can contact Jon directly. These should be included in a release version relatively soon; it would be great to get some test users even sooner!
-Kevin asked if ARCES going to be added?  Bill said yes, that is the plan.
+Nancy reiterated the need for a user group devoted to software testing (at the moment, especially for KOSMOS and TripleSpec users to try out these PypeIt modules). Adam K indicated that he is willing to help. UC reps: please ask your users (and/or work with your institutional schedulers to identify your KOSMOS and TripleSpec users) to help out with this testing and to have those users communicate with Jon Holtzman about their experiences.
-Adam stated that there are lots of KOSMOS data reduction issues (for example, bleed-over and non-fixed pattern noise). How does PypeIt handle these, as users have needed to do this with custom software? We will report back on this at a future meeting.
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 === New instrument initiatives ===
-  * Ocotillo -
+  * KOSMOS new grism - the new quote arrived and we will be placing the order shortly.
-  * ASPEN -
+  * Ocotillo - We now have all of the optics in hand and just ordered the bulk of mechanical parts. They will arrive in approximately 3 weeks and then assembly will begin. The TEG team is now working on software, specifically to ensure that there is infrastructure in place to ensure communication between the 3 channels even if only one is functional first.
-  * SoonerCam -
+  * ASPEN - We received the report from the Preliminary Design Review team, which was pretty favorable. The team received some good suggestions and is evaluating next steps. We are moving forward with the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector, which will be installed and used with ARCES until ASPEN is built.
+  * SoonerCam - Gordon reports that he is able to control the timer card, he has become familiarized with the API, he can control the camera and read out FITS files. He is working on the time match and external triggering interface; it works using a unique feature of a timing card or with similar Agile heartbeat signal, one implementation is less complex than the other. He would like to assemble a focus group of potential SoonerCam users to better understand the envisioned use cases (e.g. what calibration frames would be needed, other design requirements) so he can finalize C++ library for imaging. UC reps: please notify your users that we are looking for some time domain / occultation / former Agile users to take part in this focus group. Any interested parties should let Nancy know so she can assemble this group.
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 === Pilot data archive with NOIRLab ===
+We are moving forward with an arrangement to have ARC 3.5m data ingested into the NOIRLab data archive. We will pilot this first with a single instrument (likely ARCES), which will allow us to work out any kinks. The decision was made to have this be an OPT-OUT arrangement, i.e. ARCES observations will automatically be sent over to NOIRLab (where they will remain not broadly accessible until after a TBD proprietary period) unless a user decides to opt out. Please direct all questions and comments to Nancy.
+----
 === ACTION ITEMS ===
 Open action items from previous meetings:
-  * Nancy will ensure that the final report from the Future of ARCSAT Working Group is made available to the Users Committee and put on the wiki. Status: OPEN (pending receipt of final version of report).
+  * Nancy will ensure that the final report from the Future of ARCSAT Working Group is made available to the Users Committee and put on the wiki. Status: OPEN (pending receipt of final version of report; still awaiting one appendix. Nancy said she will distribute the remainder of the report now even without the appendix).
-  *  APO: update KOSMOS user manual web page regarding issue of flats bleeding into overscan region. Status: CLOSED.
+  *  APO: update text on TUI downloads page to reflect new procedure for downloading TUI. Status: PENDING; needs verification
-  *  Nancy: include grant information in upcoming call for annual update on papers resulting from 3.5m/ARCSAST. Status: CLOSED.
+  * UC reps: notify your users about OPEN time available in June. Status: CLOSED.
-  * APO: update scheduling webpage to replace Postscript calendars with PDF versions. Status: CLOSED.
+  * Nancy: follow-up on PypeIt implementation and how it handles KOSMOS reduction complexities. Status: OPEN.
-  * APO: update text on TUI downloads page to reflect new procedure for downloading TUI. Status: PENDING; needs verification.
+  * Nancy: Post job ad links in July meeting minutes. Status: CLOSED.
-  * UC reps: notify your users about OPEN time available in June. Status: CLOSED
 New action items from this meeting:
-  * Nancy: follow-up on PypeIt implementation and how it handles KOSMOS reduction complexities.
+  * Nancy: revisit idea of time trades with WIYN.
-  * Nancy: Post job ad links in minutes.
+  * UC reps: identify KOSMOS and/or TripleSpec users in your department who would be willing to help test out the new PypeIt modules for those instruments. Have those users report their engagement with Jon Holtzman.
+  * UC reps: identify time domain / former Agile users who are willing to serve on SoonerCam focus group.
+  * UC reps: notify your users about OPEN time available in August-September.
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 === Next Meeting ===
-The next Users Committee meeting will be on Tuesday August 4 at 10:30 MDT.
+The next Users Committee meeting will be on Tuesday September 1 at 10:30 MDT.
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