MDM Trouble Report for 2006 Jun 17

Telescope: 2.4m
Observer(s): Thorstensen (Dartmouth)
Instrument: modspec + echelle CCD

Problem(s) Encountered:
The dome went into its endless-turning state three times, twice
during auto-pointings.  Another auto-pointing refused to complete
even after it had been stopped and Go had been pressed again. 
On one of the failed autopointings the hour angle appeared to
freeze, but I was able to free it by manually slewing a little
bit.  The telescope tracking hasn't seemed very consistent, 
either, but I'm not certain of this yet.

The cure for the dome turning-and-turning state seems to be to
disable dome control with the yellow button, set the dome
manually outside, and observe for a while -- then re-set the 
dome coordinates (they'll be off somewhat), and enable the
auto-dome again.  

The uncompleted set correlated with a runaway dome is new to
me.  Also, uncompleted sets that do not complete when Stop
and Go are pressed is new.  I don't have any good suggestions
for diagnostics to run during the day; the problems are not
at all acute and very little time was lost.  A less experienced
hand might have had more difficulty with them, though.

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Submitted on 2006 Jun 18 [5:27:23]