MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observing Report for 2017 Sep 07

Observer(s): Li Jiangtao
Institution(s): University of Michigan

Instrument: TIFKAM

Worked for 7 hours (first half of the night)
Conditions were Photometric most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   Clouds all night.
   Beg: Patchy Clouds, Winds Calm
   Mid: Patchy Clouds, Winds Calm
   End: Patchy Clouds, Winds Calm

Observing Summary:

It seems the light does not reach the detector. I tried different filter and prefilter 
configurations and different exposure times, but the images are always just like 
bias frames, without any stars or dirts. Eric tried to restart something remotely, 
while I also tried to seqinit and restart IC, but this problem still exists. I have 
carefully checked the dark hatch and the mirror petals. They are all open. The 
guider camera sometimes can see stars, so it is not because of any blocks or
clouds. The most likely problem may be the shutter, which may not work well, as 
the pixel value of the image is always close to 900, no matter how long exposure 
time is adopted.

Initially I also met some other problems such as I cannot close the dome. This is
mainly because I'm not familiar enough with the telescope. The problem is caused
because the Dome Azimuth is not at 320 deg. It can be solved by turn on the Auto
Dome for a while until the dome moves to 320 deg.  

------------------------------

Submitted on 2017 Sep 8 [16:08:03]