MDM Trouble Report for 2007 May 5

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

Problem(s) Encountered:
Trouble in adjusting the telescope focus: with any of the
 set focus  commands sent from xtcs, or any  tel focus  command
from CCDCOM, the secondary would first move (slowly) by the 
desired step, but then start moving (fast) in the opposite 
direction, without stopping. For example, a  tel focus +10  
in CCDCOM would move the focus  in  by 10 units, but then 
suddenly the focus would start moving  out  very fast without 
stopping. Only pushing one of the focus buttons on the paddle 
would stop this runaway motion.

I tried restarting both CCDCOM and xtcs, but the problem
persisted. I could only move the focus predictably with the
paddle.

1.5 hour was lost figuring out the problem and refocusing
the telescope. I also couldn't use any of my focus sequence
scripts, which slowed down the observations a bit. Manual
focus required an additional 2-3 minutes overhead per target.

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Submitted on 2007 May 5 [6:26:15]