MDM Trouble Report for 2009 Sep 19

Telescope: 1.3m
Observer(s): S. Lepine (AMNH)
Instrument: MkIII + Nellie

Problem(s) Encountered:
The telescope began spontaneously losing the
tracking during the evening. First it was happening
intermittently, about every 10-15 minutes, and I simply
kept an eye on the guide camera and manually restarted
the tracking whenever it happened.

But things got worse after 9PM, with the telescope unable
to hold the tracking for more than 5-10 seconds. I reached
Bob on the phone, who suggested readjusting the preloads
but adjusting the knob in the southern pillar. This didn't 
work at first, but after tinkering with the knob, moving 
the telescope around in HA and Dec, and monitoring the 
tracking for over a hour, the telescope eventually could 
hold the tracking for more than 15 minutes, after which 
I decided to resume the observing program.

The telescope then lost tracking only once, just before 
midnight, and everything was OK after that.


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Submitted on 2009 Sep 19 [6:05:29]