June 30th -- Astro 581

Post date: Jul 02, 2015 4:52:34 AM

Water: 26-25 inches during our stay. One inch used for seven people for one night! Suzanne found that the foot pump's tubing is getting slimy where it sits in the water jug. We left it out to dry and recommend the next group clean the tubing before using.

Issues: Everything worked well except for one big jump in declination, but it looks like I (Oliver) mounted the camera-filterwheel-shutter assembly ninety degrees wrong. Sorry about that! The result is that north was to the right in our images, and east was up. The big jump was several arcminutes in a northerly direction, happened while the hour angle was ~3. 

Rodents: I placed a mouse trap in the dome near the mouse activity, and spread poison in two spots outside the coude room (the pictures attached to this log entry show where the green cubes of poison were). The next people up there will have to check for, and dispose, of any dead creatures. Sorry. There are rubber gloves in the bucket near the front door.

Electrical: I installed an additional light in the control room. The spot for the second light, which has bare wires, is actually safe (the wires aren't connected to anything), and I'll install the second light next time I'm up. With great help from the grads, we have finished installing all the switches, including some very fancy dimmers. Almost every light bulb at MRO is an LED bulb, although the day room still doesn't have red lights. 

Groceries: We bought ketchup and mustard, and there are two water containers in the fridge (and lots of blue jugs). Next group should bring paper plates, bowls (there's only one?), an ant trap for the men's room, and some captive mouse traps and nitrile gloves for the disposal.