Team L$$T Observation Run 1 (July 9 - July 13)

Post date: Jul 10, 2015 10:45:24 PM

7/10/15

Water: Upon arrival water level was 14 inches.  Before refill it was at 13 inches now it is at 28 inches.

Issues:

Computer Quirks: When starting up add_headers.py we were doing it from a pyraf instance which should not be done.  In a terminal just start ds9 then the add_header.py program.  A new terminal needs to be started for an instance of pyraf.  If you are not using Ureka then one needs to mkiraf in their data file made on Geezil (this file creation is in the check list), and then the login.cl needs a minor edit with instructions prescribed by Chris.  Maybe keep an eye out for an updated check list.  Ureka is automatically started with every new terminal, no ur_setup needed, and so we recommend using pyraf here instead as you won't need the login.cl in the working directory when using Geezle.  cl -ecl works to get IRAF going but it warns on not having a login.cl file, which would indicate a mkiraf is needed in the working directory.

Geezle hanged on shutting down, and in the morning found it was still trying to shut down.  A hard reset fixed it and the files were all there, and upon shut down it was instant.  Keep this in mind if it doesn't shut down right away.

Groceries:

Weather: Weather is really bad with smoke in the air from fires.  Do not open the dome if you can't see nearby ridges or soot could get in the mirror.

7/11/15

Water: Water level is now 24"

Issues: While taking dome flats, GTCC froze causing two of the green lights in the base of the telescope to turn red, we were unable to move the telescope with paddles. We had to hard boot the GTCC by holding down the power switch until it shut down. After using the bubble level to re-plumb the telescope, we attempted to slew to Vega but were unable to locate it through the clouds. We thought we were on Vega, but when we parked the telescope it was no longer plumb, We used the bubble level again and shut down the dome around 10 due to clouds. At around 12am the sky cleared up and we opened the dome. We targeted into Vega and were in the process of focusing the telescope when DS9 on Geezle had an error, more on that below. We closed the dome for the night without being able to focus or take science imagery.

Computer Quirks:

Weather: The weather has continued to be terrible, overcast clouds, high winds, and occasional thunderstorm. The clouds cleared around midnight and the central band of the Milky Way was visible with the naked eye.

7/12/15

Water: The water tank in the pump room is at 24", the main water tank is at 64" (7456 gal).

Computer Quirks: A bug with ds9 and IRAF on Geezle popped up where IRAF and the ds9 cursor were not lined up (potentially by a lot).  After some undergrad hot fixes we promptly broke the Ureka install, not that it was doing us any good anyway.  Luckily, we had a current copy of a Ureka install and were able to get a new copy of Ureka up with everything working, no bug included.  For all intents and purposes it should feel like nothing happened for future trips.

Issues: The women's toilet would not flush. After plunging the toilet for several minutes with no success, we noticed raw sewage coming out of the shower stall drains. We called Chris who walked us through the usual fix for this issue. We went outside to the east side of the building, just south of the bubble window and opened up the cleanout riser (metal pipe with a board and rocks on top of it. We duct taped a plunger to the riser and plunged the pipe to create a vacuum seal. This cleared the obstruction and the sewage drained out of the showers. There is also a drain in the pump room that flooded the floor. We cleaned up the minor flooding and checked the water level of the main tank. Chris informed us to flush the toilets as much as possible to keep the septic pipe flowing. This is a known issue and may repeat throughout the summer.

Weather: The weather was worse than the previous days, we had a serious downpour with wind that forced us to close the shutters in the living room.

Final Thoughts

Water: Water level when we left was 17 and 1/2 inches.  That leaves a total of 11 and 1/2 inches used on our part.

Groceries: Need a restock on paper bowls, large paper plates (plenty of medium sized ones), and plastic forks and spoons.

Computer Quirks: Keep the Popeye mouse on a mouse pad otherwise it is extremely jittery.