MDM Trouble Report for 2010 Jun 14

Telescope: 1.3m
Observer(s): Jules Halpern (Columbia)
Instrument: Templeton

Problem(s) Encountered:
1. Telescope still oscillates in N-S direction only.  Sometimes slowly,
but sometimes in a rapid, jerky motion.   This happens not only at
extreme hour angle, but at zenith as well.  Changing the declination
guider rate to 4-5 from the default of 2.0 seems to do a reasonable job
of damping the motion, but it isn't ideal for long exposures, which can
drift in declination after 10 minutes or so.  In this alternative, the 
star remains off center by 0.5-1.5 pixels in x forever, being unable to
get back to the center of the box.  I need to experiment with this
some more in different pointings.

Also, it seems necessary to use: tx paddle gain=0.01
A value of 0.02 causes oscillations.

2. After a while I realized that the dome was not tracking the telescope
even though the center dome and auto dome functions were selected in
the dome control window.  The separate center dome button on the left
did not move the dome.  Going into the dome control window and hitting
apply was the only way to get it started tracking.  Now, I really believe
that I was careful to hit the apply button at the beginning of the night,
so there was no reason for the dome tracking to be off.   I guess I'll
just have to be extra careful tomorrow, and see if it happens again. 

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Submitted on 2010 Jun 15 [4:57:35]