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==== APO 3.5-m Users Committee Meeting, 12/03/2024 ====

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Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU), Misty Bentz (GSU), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Jamey Eriksen (APO), Chip Kobulnicky (UWy), Moire Prescott (NMSU), Joanne Hughes (Seattle U), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU), Anne Verbiscer (UVa), Russet McMillan (APO), Gordon MacDonald (APO), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Eric Bellm (UW),  Ben Williams (UW), Michael Hayden (OU) 


=== User feedback and comments from institutional representatives ===

  * Wyoming - nothing to report
  * BYU - nothing to report
  * Washington - nothing to report
  * Colorado - users requested updates on Ocotillo, new echelle, and any other instrument initiatives; also a request for an update re: adding a new grism to KOSMOS for R ~ 1e4 capability (Nancy addressed both of these items below)
  * UVa - nothing to report
  * FGCU - no report
  * Seattle - nothing to report
  * Georgia State - nothing to report
  * Oklahoma - nothing to report
  * JHU - nothing to report
  * NMSU - Moire reminded us that Joe Burchett still has some remaining funds to make KOSMOS slit masks for MOS observations; the funds need to be spent down ASAP so please contact Joe if you're interested
  * NAPG - no report

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=== Telescope and Instruments Report === 

The detailed site report is included below, followed by additional information discussed during today's meeting.

// 3.5-m Telescope and Instruments Highlights, 11/05/2024 – 12/02/2024 //

1) Overview

November has seen wintery weather with two snow storms, each with enough snow to impact operations.  During the month of November we had one astronomer group visit, one visiting instrument team on site, and no class visits.   
 
The October water leak was repaired successfully and hasn’t shown any issues since the repair.  The phone line that was damaged was eventually repaired and now all the services affected by the leak are back to normal operational state.  
 
2) Operations

3.5m Telescope: Telescope is moving as expected.
 
0.5m Telescope:   Telescope is working well.
 
KOSMOS: nothing to report.
 
ARCTIC: had an emergency vacuum service performed due to the vacuum softening.  Instrument was returned to service without any missed observing time. Instrument seems to be experiencing an increased rate of the one quadrant dropping. Investigations to determine the cause of this trend are ongoing.

Agile: Once we received the repaired camera back on site, in-lab testing revealed an issue that necessitated that we return the camera to the repair vendor to investigate the hardware that was changed.  The camera control software was not able to configure the camera as expected and was reporting issues with the gain parameter setting.  
 
ARCES: Instrument is performing nominally.  IOL measurements have held steady and are still very good. Recently, the quartz flat lamp bulb housing and/or wiring was worked on to due to the lamp not turning on.  A temporary repair is in place while parts are on order.  Instrument flats are working with the temporary fix.
  
DIS:  Instrument is currently up and usable.  Vacuum servicing is not planned for Q4.
 
NICFPS: Instrument is performing nominally.
 
TripleSpec: Instrument is performing nominally.
 
APOLLO: system suffered a chiller failure due to leaks. The leaks were repaired and the system has successfully ranged to the moon after the repair.  The chiller that had the issue is a “spare” chiller being used because the in-service chiller had failed.  A replacement chiller is on order and will be integrated into the system when it arrives at APO.

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=== Additional site, telescope and instrument discussion === 

There was an emergency vacuum service performed on ARCTIC during November 11-12. The echelle lamp bulb holder was fixed this morning. December is looking wintery with a storm predicted for this weekend. Agile was sent back to the repair vendors to see if they could solve the gain issue. We are awaiting its return. It will likely be usable going forward, but possibly with a fixed gain setting rather than one that can be modified by users. **If there are any Agile users who typically adjust the gain setting during their observations please let Nancy know so we can understand the impact of this possible solution.**

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=== 2024 Q4 3.5m scheduling ===

We have some unassigned time in Q4 (5 B-half dates in late December, one of which was already requested). Users should look at the schedule and follow the usual channels for requesting this time (i.e. email Russet, Amanda, Ben, Nancy and their institutional scheduler when submitting requests, and provide a proposal cover page if you don't already have a program scheduled for the current quarter). Users can request time listed as OPEN or DD.

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=== 2025 Q1 3.5m scheduling ===

The Q1 2025 schedule is being worked on as we speak. We anticipate having it out by December 10. **Note added in proof: there is some open time available in early January (B halves on Jan 08, 09, 12). Please encourage your users to request it through the same channels described above.**

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=== 2024 Q4 0.5 scheduling ===

The Q4 ARCSAT scheduled is posted. There is time available in the last week of December (but with no requests for filter changes). The Q1 2025 call for proposals will be issued once the Q1 schedule for the 3.5m is posted.

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=== Website Modernization Effort ===

We are now planning to move forward with two parallel efforts, One is some work on the back end of things to stand up a dummy server to practice the changeover from our old website to a new one. The other is to engage with a wider set of stakeholders to obtain feedback on the website design. This activity will ramp back up after the new year.

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=== IT Security ===

We are increasingly concerned about potential IT security threats to our system. One possible change that will be made in the coming months is to change (and more regularly update) the TUI password. We will continue to provide details to our users as these plans develop.

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=== Recent ARC BoG Meeting === 

Nancy presented a summary of the 3.5m-related activities for 2024 (including science highlights from each ARC member institution) at the ARC Board of Governors meeting on Friday November 8, 2024. The Board was positive about our reports and approved our budget request for 2025.

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=== Status of new instrument initiatives === 

Nancy provided some updates on instrumentation. Ocotillo underwent a Critical Design Review in mid-October and the review panel is working on finalizing their report to deliver back to the instrument team. Work is continuing on the new echelle spectrograph (now called ASPEN, short for ARC Spectrograph for Echelle iNvestigations) and some funding requests have been submitted. We will continue to update this group on a regular basis concerning both initiatives.

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=== ACTION ITEMS === 

Open action items from previous meetings:
  * Nancy: get ROM costs for new KOSMOS grisms. Sarah reported that she has a finalized quote from one vendor. The grism design turns out to be a little complicated, but also, costs have gone up, so these are more expensive than we expected (ballpark $20k apiece). Therefore, we need to explore potential funding sources. We have reached an impasse in terms of prioritizing the desired grism; Nancy will amass all previous emails with grism requests and send to UC reps to query users about whether there is broad interest in a particular grism. This could help identify funding sources, either individually or collaboratively. STATUS: OPEN.
  * Nancy: Ensure that a short description of the impact of satellites be posted on the APO website somewhere and updated every 6 months or so. Nancy received examples of this issue from Anne Verbiscer and will get something added to the current (and new) web site. STATUS: OPEN.
  * UC reps: remind your users to review the Q4 and Q1 schedules and request OPEN/DD time if they can make a good case for it. STATUS: OPEN.
  * UC reps: remind your users that they can propose to use Agile in Q1 2025 (but must include a backup instrument). STATUS: CLOSED.

Open action items from this meeting: 

  * UC reps: poll your Agile users concerning whether or not they adjust the camera gain setting
  * UC reps: alert your users to the fact that plans are being formulated for decommissioning DIS (see below).

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=== All Other Business ===

Nancy raised the topic of decommissioning DIS. It is no longer performing in an optimal fashion and was not serviced in Q4 due to the fact that there was no demand for the instrument. Notably, 2024 was the first year that KOSMOS was the most frequently used instrument on the 3.5m, with ARCES as the second-most requested instrument. Nancy and Bill are developing a decommissioning plan and will provide more updates in Q1 2025. Meanwhile, UC reps: please alert your users to our plans for DIS and let us know if there is any feedback from the users.

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=== Next meeting ===

The next meeting will be on January 7, 2025 at 10:30 MST.

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