tmo-wiki

aavso_flats

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2024-06-28T02:45:32+00:00

AAVSO Flats When the scheduler is running, it will take both Dawn and Dusk flats at the appreciate times. Currently, it is set up to take B, V, R, and Open flats. The auto flat script looks in the following files for what type of flats to take at Dawn and at Dusk.

engdata

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-03-26T19:36:20+00:00

TMO Engineering Data Feb 23rd and 24th, 2025 -> Arne's Response: “Hi Zach, That is truly weird. I think you don't see bouncing with short exposure as the worm might need to turn a full revolution before things fail. One thing that you could do is watch the worm when you move the telescope, and especially when it is just tracking, and see if you can see any peculiar motion. The worm/gear meshin…

errorlog

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2024-07-15T20:15:32+00:00

TMO Error Log Tracking Summer of 2024 / SSP Date Time Error Reason? Solution July 15th, 2024 11:00pm Shutter Error - wire hanging from the shutters - it appears as if the wire came off the pulley system. While fixing up the cabling system with F&S, we noticed that one of the 'clamps' on the bottom was very loose and not actually 'grabbing' the wire. We tightened this.

hardware

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-08-13T18:20:13+00:00

Telescope The telescope is a 24“ (61cm) Boller and Chivens reflector, serial number 3480. It was delivered in early 1967. It is an equatorial mount, with the RA counterweights in the base and the declination counterweights attached to the rear of the tube. [attachment:

howto

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2023-09-18T23:30:22+00:00

Running a remote observatory entails some risk; the situation with TMO is not the same as with remote observations at APO, where there is an observing specialist that keeps an eye on the telescope and weather. Please be conservative with TMO. Issues

internet

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2022-03-09T22:04:06+00:00

Internet Issues We (Jon and Zach) noticed bad connection to TMO (as indicated by slow connections and 'greyed' / blurred out images on remotely connected laptops). Jon contacted Anrafael Gonzalez Lopez - there were issues. The antenna should be pointed towards the big tower, but was not (got knocked due to the wind).

log

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-09-05T17:47:30+00:00

Maintenance items * tension of dome wheel * oil dome rollers * oil shutter bearings * lube RA drive * tighten focuser set screws * check oil in dome gear box * keep things clean * Check to ensure bolt / thread that secures the dome wheel onto the motor shaft is tight.

mainchecklist

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2024-06-22T00:48:16+00:00

Routine Maintenance Checks * Check the bolts / screw on the exterior sign * Check USB connections * Check to ensure internet antenna is pointing towards the tower * Check to ensure weather station on north side of the building is not against the building

obslog

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2024-06-29T04:07:21+00:00

Observational Run Logs for TMO SSP Time frame June 25th through July Date Observer Notes Other 6-25-2024 SSP TA (Zach in the background) Cloudy / Lightening - Didn't open / no AAVSO SSP calibration files

openhouses

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2023-07-20T15:57:24+00:00

TMO Zoom Open House notes Set up the event: * create Zoom meeting (from template) * Send email to astroall@... if you include astroall@ in the general email, only BCC!!! * Send email to openhouse@... BUT ONLY INCLUDE openhouse@ in the BCC field!!!

software

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-26T04:45:45+00:00

Software at TMO is as follows: As of 07/16/2019 * Windows 10 (latest updates) * Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (also requires 2.5 and 3.0) * ASCOM Platform (6.4 - Service Pack 1) * SiTechExe (0.94N) * SiTech Servo II Driver (9.7) * MaxImDL (6.20)

ssp_procedures

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-07-03T14:10:42+00:00

These are procedures for remote, real-time observing at TMO during SSP 2025. last edited: 22 June 2025 (AWR) Remote Observing Center SSP NMSU 2025 will be using the 24“ B&C telescope at Tortugas Mountain Observatory. Observing will be done from Astronomy Building Rm 119, a.k.a. the TMO Remote Observing Center, a.k.a. the ROC.

start

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-07-09T12:26:19+00:00

Tortugas Mt. Observatory wiki Quick Links Telescope web interface (TM61/) Scheduler web interface Power controller 1 (admin/) Power controller 2 (admin/) Dome webcam (admin/) Telescope dials webcam (admin/) NMSU information page NMSU Data page ( Summary logs) AAVSO thumbnails (aavsonet/) Las Cruces Clear Sky Chart Overview Tortugas Mountain Observatory (henceforth TMO) is a facility atop Tortugas Mountain (“A” Mountain) on the eastern outskirts of Las Cruces. TMO's main opt…

sumjulyevent

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-08-06T18:28:28+00:00

Report of July 5th, 2025 events resulting in critical failure General Timeline * At ~1am July 5th, 2025 SSP TA Yujean reached out to Zach concerning and issue with the dome and weather station not talking / connecting to ACP. After restarting TMO's desktop and turning on/off the USB port controlling both of these devices, Zach was able to remotely recover. Everything was working and connected at the start of the night when Zach did their usually pre-SSP use checks. Zach monitored the entire …

weather_links

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-06-18T03:36:00+00:00

Las Cruces Clear Sky Chart Las Cruces weather.gov forecast Las Cruces weather.gov hourly charts Regional satellite loop National Center for Atmospheric Research forecast models (Try the RAP model with 18-hr loop for Clouds: all levels) Resources Zach Likes to Use Dust Tracker for Las Cruces from airnow.gov. - Also tracks fire and smoke plumes. College of DuPage Cloud Tracker My Lightning Tracker and Alert (iPhone App link, also available on the google store) Wunder Ground (Dr. Candace G…