MDM Trouble Report for 2006 May 18

Telescope: 2.4m
Observer(s): Sebastien Lepine (AMNH)
Instrument: Direct + Echelle

Problem(s) Encountered:
I got the following errors on CCDCOM

  *** WARNING: Unexpected change of format to 1792x1760 binned 0x0
      (updating to reflect this)
  Beginning CCD read of 1792 by 1760 (3153920 pixels)...
  ccd_aread: timed out
  *** Error encountered in asynchronous read: data suspect
  Failed, return code = 3112960, elapsed = 113.865997

I tried clearing the chip, then on the next exposure got:

  Beginning CCD read of 1792 by 1760 (3153920 pixels)...
  ccd_aread: timed out
  *** Error encountered in asynchronous read: data suspect
  Failed, return code = 3145728, elapsed = 113.632004

I cycled the gold power supply, and was then able to do
5 exposures without problems. But then I got this error again:

  *** WARNING: Unexpected change of format to 1792x1760 binned 0x0
      (updating to reflect this)
  Beginning CCD read of 1792 by 1760 (3153920 pixels)...
  ccd_aread: timed out
  *** Error encountered in asynchronous read: data suspect
  Failed, return code = 3145728, elapsed = 113.632004

With Bob over the phone, we tried a hardware reset, and 
reinitialisation of CCDCOM and got similar errors. It appeared
that the chip format kept being reset to a  0x0  binning. 

Finally, I recyled both the fiber optic interface and gold 
power supply. This appeared to fix the problem, although it
is unclear why it did. The rest of the night went without 
problem.

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Submitted on 2006 May 19 [5:48:23]