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==== APO 3.5-m Users Committee Meeting, 03/04/2025 ====

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Attending: Nancy Chanover (NMSU), Bill Ketzeback (APO), Ben Williams (UW), Aleksandr Mosenkov (BYU), Michael Hayden (OU), Anne Verbiscer (UVa), Moire Prescott (NMSU), Zach Berta-Thompson (CU), Joanne Hughes (Seattle U), Misty Bentz (GSU), Eric Bellm (UW), Gordon MacDonald (APO), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU)


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

  * BYU - nothing to report
  * Colorado - CU trainees are at APO right now and having a great time
  * Georgia State - nothing to report
  * JHU - nothing to report
  * NAPG - no report
  * NMSU - Moire had some questions about the ARCSAT camera - these were addressed in the Q1 ARCSAT schedule report (see below)
  * Oklahoma - there was a meeting with the OU Astro group and their VPR to discuss SoonerCam - this was discussed in the instrumentation initiatives report (see below)
  * Seattle - nothing to report
  * UVa - nothing to report
  * Washington - nothing to report
  * Wyoming - 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, 2/05/25 – 03/03/25 //

1) Overview

Weather wise, it was a milder and drier than average February. There was one on-site astronomer but no instrument teams visiting APO in the month of February. The first of two groups of students from CU were scheduled for their first night on the telescope last night. 

2) Operations

There is a new version of TUI available: v. 3.1.8. Visit the TUI Downloads page from the APO website for this newest version. 

3.5m Telescope: Telescope is working as expected. 

0.5m Telescope: Telescope is working as expected.  

KOSMOS: The disperser and mask wheels have been struggling with multiple failures. We are evaluating the problem but in the meantime, moving them by hand is the quick resolution when they  get stuck. 

ARCTIC: Maintenance on the diffuser mechanism is scheduled for the upcoming engineering time. We have had three failed ion pumps in the past many months. We were sent the wrong model. The manufacturer recognized that this was their error and they are replacing them. Once we get the correct model in stock we will swap out the one on the instrument. 

Agile: The camera is back at the repair house as the testing with APO software revealed a failure to select gain settings within the software; the demo camera they sent along for testing also did not work during recent bench testing on site. They confirmed they received the equipment we sent back. We are waiting to hear back from the repair house if both cameras work or do not work with their software and our controller. 

ARCES: System is currently up and usable. There was a recent report that flat fields are shifting. The orders appear to shift a few rows from image to image. The cause is unknown at this time especially since the instrument had been so stable for years. It is advised not to use super flats in your reductions unless you carefully compare individual raw images you are combining. 

DIS: System is cooled and usable.

NICFPS: System is cooled and usable.

TripleSpec: System is cooled and usable. 

APOLLO: The system is operational. The team is currently undergoing a campaign to find and receive returns off of the Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR-1) on the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Lander.

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

We had one on-site 3.5m user in February. The first of two groups of students from CU arrived on Sunday evening and they had their first night of training last night. Hopefully the weather will improve for them soon.

We continue to have troubles with the ARCTIC vacuum system. We warmed the camera up yesterday; today we should receive the replacement ion pumps (after the wrong model was sent to us originally). Once they arrive we are prepared to change them out and pump/cool the instrument before the next scheduled use in 1.5 weeks. We also hope to service the diffuser rotation mechanism during this down time.

Agile is back at the repair facility after lots of frustration with trying to get the camera working. It seems to perform fine while there but not at APO. We have a longer term plan for the replacement of Agile with a different camera (see below).

Other instruments are performing nominally. The KOSMOS mask/filter wheel had multiple failures during commanded moves; it gets stuck when moved often. When this happens it can be moved by hand and then it doesn't happen again for a while. Users will know when the failure takes place because it will show up as a non-completed command in TUI.

APOLLO is operational. We are trying to range to the new retroreflectors that were just placed on the Moon by the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost 1 lander. Lots of hard work from the APOLLO team at APO and GSFC has gone into preparing for this landing!

There is a new version of TUI available.

A user recently reported an issue with ARCES flats: their reduction software is choking on super-flats. Flats taken during the beginning of an observation may be shifted vertically on the chip compared to flats taken later during an observing session. The result is that when constructing a super flat from these multiple sets of flats, when the orders are combined the signal gets smeared out. It is not clear if the grating itself has moved or this is due to something else (e.g. a thermal effect?). Users are encourage to examine their flats, avoid using super-flats, and let us know if they see a similar issue so that we can try to diagnose the problem.

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=== 2025 Q1 3.5m scheduling ===

The Q1 schedule is almost full now. There are a couple of short slots still available (on Mar 19 and 22) but we have received requests for them already. We will not assign them until next week so we are still taking requests for those slots if there is something compelling or time critical.

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=== 2025 Q2 3.5m scheduling ===

We received everyone's requests for Q2. Amanda working to put together the schedule, which is a particularly challenging one due to multiple requests for short slots and some conflicts. It should be going out to the users next week. One concerning issue is that this quarter we received several requests for training without a lot of notice. We will try to accommodate these requests but our ability to do so decreases when we don't have a lot of advanced notice.

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=== 2025 Q1 0.5 scheduling ===

There is one open week remaining on the schedule, but a request was received this morning so it may actually be completely scheduled now. After the Q2 3.5m schedule goes out next week Ben will send out the Q2 ARCSAT call for proposals. 

Update on ARCSAT camera: Bill changed from FlareCam to another spare we had. This has not completed resolved the library support error problems but has significantly reduced the frequency of them. It has the same pixel scale and FOV as FlareCam.

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=== IT Security ===

No new announcements, but lots of work is going on behind the scenes. We will remove this item from the monthly agenda and add it back in when we have something new to report.

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=== Status of new instrument initiatives === 

We still have heard no news from NSF regarding the pre-proposal that was submitted for ASPEN. The UW Telescope Engineering Group has been working on their response to the Ocotillo Critical Design Review report. It will include a revised timeline, which Nancy will share with the Users Committee once the CDR Review Panel has had a chance to react. Preliminary discussions are ongoing about the possibility of replacing Agile with a more modern and capable high-speed imaging camera. There are several elements to the instrument (camera, focal reducer, computer/control software) that will require people power. This will be done on a non-interference basis with the Ocotillo development. We are preparing a white paper that describes the instrument and will share that with this group as things develop.

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=== DIS Decommissioning Plans ===

The general instrument decommissioning plan document is nearly complete. Once it is, it will be applied to DIS and shared with the ARC Board of Governors.

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=== ACTION ITEMS === 

Open action items from previous meetings:
  * Nancy: get Mt. Cuba Foundation proposal for new KOSMOS grisms submitted. STATUS: OPEN. The proposal is done; Nancy needs to confirm with NMSU's Office of Grants and Contracts whether they need to be involved in the submission since it's a small proposal. She plans to submit it before the next Users Committee meeting.
  * 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 Q1 schedule and request OPEN/DD time if they can make a good case for it. STATUS: OPEN.

New action items from this meeting: 

  * UC reps: notify your users that there is a new version of TUI that they should download and use.
  * UC reps: ask your ARCES users to look at their flat fields and let the APO staff know if they see issues with changes in flats over the course of an observation.

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=== All Other Business ===

None

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=== Next meeting ===

The next meeting will be on April 1 (no foolin'!), 2025 at 10:30 MDT.

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