MDM Trouble Report for 2009 Jan 26

Telescope: 2.4m
Observer(s): Joe Shields (Ohio University)
Instrument: CCDS

Problem(s) Encountered:
The telescope had problems with pointing and tracking which
seemed to get worse during the night.  This could be related
to the fact that it got quite a bit cooler (-3 C) than previous
nights (+3 C and higher).  During observations the telescope
would sometimes stop tracking or undergo an abrupt offset.
Things got pretty weird e.g. after hitting  Send  on coordinates
entered in xtcs, the telescope would *immediately* start to slew
in RA while waiting in DEC until I hit the GO button.  This 
prompted me to restart the tcs computer which helped, but there
were still problems just slewing to the proper position - it
couldn't quite get there.  A common example was to end up at RA
30 seconds beyond the target position and the telescope couldn't
go the rest of the way.  After hitting Stop on xtcs the hand
paddle was responsive only some of the time.  In short, it
became rather laborious just to get set up on a target and
more than a few exposures had to be stopped early because the
tracking got fouled up.  This happened both with the autoguider
on and off.

One more small but important thing.  On the hand paddle that
controls the instrument rotator I somehow bumped the plug
holding the fuse such that it came loose.  After fooling
around with it quite a bit I was unable to get it to seat
back properly with the result that the fuse and cover plug
are sitting loose on the paddle.  You can still use the paddle
but have to hold the plug + fuse in to make sure it retains
contact.  This needs to be fixed so the fuse cover plug
seats properly and is at risk of falling out.

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Submitted on 2009 Jan 27 [7:14:57]