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| ===== APO 3.5-m Users Committee Meeting, 10/06/2026 ===== | ===== APO 3.5-m Users Committee Meeting, 10/06/2026 ===== |
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| Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU), Misty Bentz (GSU), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Anne Verbiscer (UVa), Moire Prescott (NMSU), Ben Williams (UW), Eric Bellm (UW), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Adam Kowalski (CU), Michael Hayden (OU), Russet McMillan (APO), | Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU), Misty Bentz (GSU), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Anne Verbiscer (UVa), Moire Prescott (NMSU), Ben Williams (UW), Eric Bellm (UW), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Adam Kowalski (CU), Michael Hayden (OU), Russet McMillan (APO) |
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| === User feedback and comments from institutional representatives === | === User feedback and comments from institutional representatives === |
| * JHU - nothing to report | * JHU - nothing to report |
| * Colorado - nothing to report | * Colorado - nothing to report |
| * UVa - nothing to report; looking on website for logs (missing since Sep 20, 2026) | * UVa - nothing to report other than a user can't access night logs on web page after 9/20/2026; Nancy will look into it and report back |
| * Oklahoma - nothing to report | * Oklahoma - nothing to report |
| * Georgia State - nothing to report | * Georgia State - nothing to report |
| === Additional site, telescope and instruments discussion === | === Additional site, telescope and instruments discussion === |
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| AV issue: https://www.apo.nmsu.edu/mainpage/logs/3p5m/2026/9/ - just goes to login site, not observing logs | The 3.5m telescope is behaving nominally. The 0.5m is still inoperable; Bill recovered some spare parts from another site but the telescope still needs to be repaired. We anticipate scheduling Q4 ARCSAT observing programs to start no earlier than November. |
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| The 3.5m telescope behaving nominally. The 0.5m is still inoperable; recovered some spare parts but still need to repair. Taking new proposals in November. ARCTIC had through most of Sept had issues w/LL quadrant being saturated. With cooler weather that quadrant seems to have recovered itself. Don't totally understand. Swapped uout a bunch of compoents but still saw issue while troubleshooting. Believe had isolated to bei inside cryostat but now not certain. Will see if stays corrected for now. This past weekend there was evidence that there was water vapor stuck between L2 and L3 - new proble to address. Purge air was on so unclear what caused condensation to form there. ARCES had been slowly covering IOL issue over last few weeks but over weekend there was inadvertent warm up; now offline, hoping it will be back for tomorrow's observations. If unsuccessful or if vacuum has softened too much we will need to take it offline for more extensive servicing. Salt and pepper noise likely due to new ICC - digitization card. Problem w/kernel, or contact cards or CPU board itself. Recovery is quick but it can happen any time. Working trough procedure so obs-spec can act on it. Annual APOLLO servicing - NASA team on site, didn't complete entire task list but it was ambitious. unclear when coming back to complete it - some time in 2027. SoonerCam still in development. | Through most of September ARCTIC had issues with the lower left quadrant of the chip being saturated. With the cooler weather that quadrant seems to have recovered itself. This recovery is not well understood; during some troubleshooting we swapped out a bunch of components but we still saw the issue. It was originally believed to be a problem isolated inside the cryostat but that is now less certain. For now we are in a "watch and wait" mode. This past weekend we saw evidence that there was water vapor stuck between ARCTIC's L2 and L3, which is a new problem to address. The purge air was on so it is unclear what caused condensation to form there. |
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| | The inter-order light in ARCES had been slowly improving over the last few weeks but last weekend there was an inadvertent warm-up of the instrument. It is now offline but we hope that it will be back for tomorrow's scheduled observations. If we are unsuccessful in bringing it back, or if the vacuum has softened too much to cool it back down, we will need to take it offline for more extensive servicing. The salt and pepper noise that has been reported in ARCES frames is likely due to the new ICC, possibly the digitization card, a problem with the kernel, or the CPU board itself. This issue can appear any time, although recovery is quick. We are currently developing a procedure so the observing specialists can clear it up if seen, while Gordon continues to search for the root cause of the issue. |
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| | The annual APOLLO servicing visit took place recently. The NASA team was on site, but they did not complete their entire [ambitious!] task list. We expect they will return to complete the remaining tasks some time in 2027. |
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| === 2026 Q4 3.5m scheduling === | === 2026 Q4 3.5m scheduling === |
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| The Q4 schedule is posted. There is time available - one DD01 dark half still available on 11/10A. 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 Q4 schedule is posted. There is a limited amount of unscheduled time available: one DD01 dark half on Nov 10A. 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. |
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| === 2026 Q4 0.5 scheduling === | === 2026 Q4 0.5 scheduling === |
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| Not going to start until November; have Q4 proposals from request. | We have Q4 proposals in hand, and will not schedule them to start until November. |
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| === New instrument initiatives === | === New instrument initiatives === |
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| * KOSMOS new grism - order soon | * KOSMOS new grism - We have a revised quote from Wasatch; Sarah needs to complete her review of it and then we can order it. |
| * Ocotillo - Lab work is continuing, planning for a pre-ship review by end of this quarter. - Moire asked for spec sheet. | * Ocotillo - Lab work is continuing, and we are planning for a pre-ship review by end of this quarter. We had a check-in meeting on 9/25 and discussed progress and expectations for the next review. Moire asked if there is a spec sheet available so that users could view the expected performance and begin thinking about how they will want to use it. Nancy reported that an Ocotillo report is being prepared for the ARC Board meeting, and a spec sheet will likely be included in that document. If it is, she will share it with this group. |
| * ASPEN - Moving forward with ADC and gearing up for another funding proposal. | * ASPEN - Work on the ADC is moving forward. A request for funding was submitted for the ADC, and the ASPEN team is gearing up for another proposal submission next month. |
| * SoonerCam - user focus group recently . | * SoonerCam - a focus group of prospective SoonerCam users recently met with Gordon to discuss modes of operation for the instrument. This will help him develop the instrument control software. |
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| === Plans for January AAS Meeting === | === Plans for January AAS Meeting === |
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| APO plans to have a booth at the next AAS meeting (sharing a double booth with SDSS). Nancy polled the group to see if there is any interest in a special session or a splinter meeting related to APO-specific topics. There was no interest so we will not pursue this further. xxx update xxx | APO plans to have a booth at the next AAS meeting (sharing a double booth with SDSS). If any 3.5m users (especially students!) plan to present results that were enabled through 3.5m observations we would love to know about it so that we can highlight the talks/posters at the meeting. |
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| Open action items from previous meetings: | Open action items from previous meetings: |
| * Nancy: revisit idea of time trades with WIYN. Status: CLOSED. There does not seem to be interest from Indiana; Adam will discuss this with his user and follow up with Nancy if needed. | * Nancy: revisit idea of time trades with WIYN. Status: CLOSED. Indiana is not interested in revisiting our previous arrangement. |
| * UC reps: identify time domain / former Agile users who are willing to serve on SoonerCam focus group. Status: CLOSED. No volunteers. Nancy asked individuals directly. | |
| * UC reps: notify your users about OPEN time available in August-September. Status: CLOSED. | |
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| New action items from this meeting: | New action items from this meeting: |
